Sneakers on Wires Have Lost Their Meaning

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-shoefiti_city_zonejan22,0,7233589.story

Chicago Tribune
22 January 2009

Sneakers on a wire

'Old-school' symbols of gang turf, drug dens and death, have lost their meaning, some say

By Ofelia Casillas

Tribune reporter

Tennis Shoes on Powerlines

http://www.mlive.com/flintjournal/index.ssf/2008/08/clio_police_make_pair_of_drug.html

The Flint Journal [MI]
21 August 2008

Clio police make pair of drug busts; Tennis shoes hang nearby -- just like urban legend says

by Bryn Mickle
The Flint Journal

CLIO, Michigan -- Urban legend has it that sneakers hanging from powerlines are a secret way to advertise spots to buy drugs. There might be some truth to that in Clio.

Twice this month, city police busted suspected drug dealers within spitting distance of tennis shoes dangling from utility lines.

That has Clio police Chief Jim McLellan wondering if the shoes are just a coincidence. [...]

Shoes on Power Lines, Ottawa, Ontario

http://ottsun.canoe.ca/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/04/13/5271556-sun.html

Ottawa Sun [ON]

13 April 2008

The shoes don't fit

Gang and drug connections urban myth

By JON WILLING, SUN MEDIA

That wet pair of dirty shoes dangling over Hawthorne Ave. near Colonel By Dr. has been wrapped around the power line for years.

But don't bother looking for street gangs or crackhouses. There are no obvious drug dealers around here.

"Just souvlaki dealers," Samantha Besharahi, 23, quipped from behind the counter of Greek On Wheels, the restaurant that shares street space with the shoes. [...]

Old Man Ponders Shoes on Power Lines

http://www.ktre.com/Global/story.asp?S=7805724&nav=2FH5

KTRE-TV [Lufkin/Nacogdoches, TX]
31 January 2008

Shoes On Wires

by Donna McCollum

Sneakers swinging from power lines are so common that we rarely notice they're there. "On the wire?," asked an elderly man who works near a pair of hanging shoes. That's right. They've been there for months. Still not quite aware, he asked, "Up against the pole, over there?" When Mr. A.j. Miller got his closer look, he was asked why he thought they were there. His only reply, "That's a hard question to answer." [...]

Are suspended sneakers sign of drugs? Gangs?

http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-8/1189917390313570.xml&coll=1

http://tinyurl.com/37dz3z

The Star-Ledger [Newark, NJ]
16 September 2007

Shoe mystery hangs over city
Are suspended sneakers sign of drugs? Gangs?

BY JEFFERY C. MAYS
Star-Ledger Staff

George Williams has no doubt that the gray suede tennis shoes dangling from the telephone wire high above his house on 18th Avenue in Newark signify that drugs are sold there. [...]