State Rep. Sue Tibbs was one of the sponsors of a bill that makes it unlawful for “any person to willfully fortify an access point into any dwelling, structure, building or other place where a felony offense prohibited by the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Act is being committed, or attempted, and the fortification is for the purpose of preventing or delaying entry or access by a law enforcement officer, or to harm or injure a law enforcement officer in the performance of official duties.”

The law took effect Nov. 1.

The law states that to “fortify an access point” means to willfully construct, install, position, use or hold any material or device designed to injure a person upon entry or to strengthen, defend, restrict or obstruct any door, window or other opening into a dwelling, structure, building or other place to any extent beyond the security provided by a commercial alarm system, lock or deadbolt, or a combination of alarm, lock or deadbolt.

The law carries punishment of imprisonment of not more than five years or by a fine up to $10,000 or by both.

This law is too ambiguous. If the dwelling is already being used for illegal activites, then what exactly is the point? This smells fishy.

The way they cover this is once you are in the store, some signs have the fine print where it’s not really 99 cents, it’s 99.99 cents. When you get to the cash register however the screen indicates that they are rounding the 99.99 cents up to a dollar, so it’s not really even 99.99 cents. It is actually $1.00.

When a store uses 99 cents as it’s identity stating that you will never pay more and 99 cents for anything and then you end up paying a dollar, that’s more than just a 1 cent fib. It makes the whole premise of your business model a lie. It makes your identity a lie. It makes your brand a lie. That’s a big lie. It takes the magic out of the 99 cent name. And once the magic is gone then you realize that you probably could get the same item at Walmart or Costco for even less.

So Dvorak/blog readers – How do you feel about paying a buck at the 99 cent store? Do you think they are being smart about this by milking the customer for that extra penny at the expense of their very identity?