Galesburg Council on Monday, July 19th tabled a measure that would set cemetery hours as open from sun up to sundown. All council members minus Larry Cox agreed to bring the measure back at a future meeting. Police Chief Russ Idle says that there’s not much police can do now if people are in cemeteries after dark right now. Alderman Dwight White proposed tabling the measure in hopes of getting input from city residents. He says a person shouldn’t have to get permission to go to their own “property”, referring to a relative’s grave. White also disputed the police department’s reasoning for requesting the ordinance, saying they could stop someone if they were causing mischief. Chief Idle says officers do normal checks of the cemeteries on a regular basis, as time allows based on call volume. Wayne Dennis agreed with Dwight White saying he sometimes will visit the cemetery after dark and would hate to be stopped by an officer for doing so.
