Humidity Built the Snowman, Anchorage Brought Him Down

The city of Anchorage, Alaska has had it with "Snowzilla," a towering snowman that annually rises from the drifts of resident Billy Powers' yard.  The first Snowzilla stood about 16 feet tall.  But as Powers and friends began building this year's Snowzilla, the city sent Powers a cease and desist order, describing Snowzilla as a "public nuisance" and a "safety hazard."

The next morning, Snowzilla rose anyway, this time topping a whopping 25 feet. Powers coyly insists he doesn't know where the second Snowzilla came from.

Anchorage officials say Powers has a history of thumbing his nose at city code (he apparently owes $100,000 in fines for the junk and salvage shop he keeps on his property).  They also say Powers ignored their attempts to work with him to construct a more code-compliant Snowzilla this year.

The best part of the story has to be the Christmas Day pro-Snowzilla snowman protest outside of Anchorage City Hall, pictured above.  From a local TV station:

A group of small snowmen supporters were caught picketing outside of City Hall on the sidewalk, but they have since been removed.

The city says the building's maintenance worker who is in charge of clearing the sidewalk of snow removed Snowzilla's friends before the building opened Friday.

The city offered no comment about the snowmen.

The Anchorage Daily News describes a more gruesome scene, as if the city busted up the protest by calling in a squad of icepick-packing Pinkertons.

Today the remains of the protesters lay in frozen pieces. Their signs sat in a nearby Dumpster.

If you're wondering, yes, you can buy a "Save Snowzilla" t-shirt.

Obligatory link to Calvin & Hobbes snowman strips here.