Monday, January 31, 2011
New Zealand - Aussie Gangs And Drugs - Prohibition Is Great For Business And Increasing Violence
OFF THE WIRE
voxy.co.nz
Aussie biker gangs like the Rebels gain power through violence and trafficking in illegal drugs; that means prohibition is great for business and will only help them get a stake established more quickly in New Zealand.
"It isn't surprising that a gang like the Rebels is looking at starting an operation here," says NORML President Stephen McIntyre. "400,000 Kiwis are current users of cannabis."
"In addition, Aotearoa/New Zealand has the highest teenage drug use in the world, one result of our criminalisation policy that prohibits but does not prevent."
"No doubt the Rebels think New Zealand is a great business opportunity; thanks to prohibition."
"If the Government were serious about keeping overseas organised crime out of the country, it would regulate and control drugs rather than make them illegal, thereby taking that huge cash cow away from groups like the Rebels." Mr McIntyre said.
Last year, the International Center for Science in Drug Policy (ICSDP) found that contrary to expectation, drug prohibition contributes to drug market violence and higher rates of gun violence. ***
Recently, the former President of Mexico, Vincente Fox, called for the legalisation and regulation of the cannabis market, as an alternative to the appalling carnage in his country.
"Judith Collins should look at Mexico for a terrible example of turf warfare over drugs," Mr McIntyre said. "Last year, there were 12,000 deaths in Mexico related to turf wars and government attacks on traffickers."
"NORML will be writing to the New Zealand government asking them to seriously reconsider our failing drug policies when the Law Commission reports in April on drug control laws."
A year ago, the Prime Minister told Paul Holmes: "I don't think you can eradicate drugs from your community ... any politician who tells you they can do that is either being dishonest or a bit deluded in their outlook." "The Prime Minister is right, and the government needs to understand that a regulated, adults-only, taxable market for cannabis and other low-risk drugs is the safest alternative for our future," Mr McIntyre concluded.
voxy.co.nz
Aussie biker gangs like the Rebels gain power through violence and trafficking in illegal drugs; that means prohibition is great for business and will only help them get a stake established more quickly in New Zealand.
"It isn't surprising that a gang like the Rebels is looking at starting an operation here," says NORML President Stephen McIntyre. "400,000 Kiwis are current users of cannabis."
"In addition, Aotearoa/New Zealand has the highest teenage drug use in the world, one result of our criminalisation policy that prohibits but does not prevent."
"No doubt the Rebels think New Zealand is a great business opportunity; thanks to prohibition."
"If the Government were serious about keeping overseas organised crime out of the country, it would regulate and control drugs rather than make them illegal, thereby taking that huge cash cow away from groups like the Rebels." Mr McIntyre said.
Last year, the International Center for Science in Drug Policy (ICSDP) found that contrary to expectation, drug prohibition contributes to drug market violence and higher rates of gun violence. ***
Recently, the former President of Mexico, Vincente Fox, called for the legalisation and regulation of the cannabis market, as an alternative to the appalling carnage in his country.
"Judith Collins should look at Mexico for a terrible example of turf warfare over drugs," Mr McIntyre said. "Last year, there were 12,000 deaths in Mexico related to turf wars and government attacks on traffickers."
"NORML will be writing to the New Zealand government asking them to seriously reconsider our failing drug policies when the Law Commission reports in April on drug control laws."
A year ago, the Prime Minister told Paul Holmes: "I don't think you can eradicate drugs from your community ... any politician who tells you they can do that is either being dishonest or a bit deluded in their outlook." "The Prime Minister is right, and the government needs to understand that a regulated, adults-only, taxable market for cannabis and other low-risk drugs is the safest alternative for our future," Mr McIntyre concluded.
Highway to Heil - How common is Nazi iconography among bikers?
OFF THE WIRE
By Christopher Beam
Another day, another photo associating Jesse James with Nazi iconography.
US Weekly released an undated photo on Wednesday of James, former husband of Sandra Bullock, sitting in a car next to a man giving a "sieg heil" salute. Another picture, posted on Facebook by an employee of James's motorcycle company, West Coast Choppers, features the children's book character Flat Stanley dressed as Adolf Hitler. These pictures might be surprising if it weren't for the previously published photo of James from 2004 saluting while wearing a Nazi hat, plus pictures of his former mistress, Michelle McGee, posing with a Nazi hat and swastika armband.
A friend of James explained to US Weekly that the Nazi pictures don't make James a neo-Nazi or a racist, "He's into history," the person says. "The swastika deal is to scare people. It's part of biker culture."
That might be true—if this were 1969. Anyone who's read Hunter S. Thompson's Hell's Angels or seen older biker movies like The Glory Stompers (1968) knows that biker gangs would sometimes wear swastikas or iron crosses—a German decoration during World War II.
But Nazi symbolism is a lot less common among bikers than it used to be, says Tom Barker, a professor of criminal justice at Eastern Kentucky University who studies motorcycle gangs. "It's really unusual," says Barker. Biker gangs used to roam American highways with all kinds of Nazi insignia—swastikas, iron crosses, SS-style lightning bolts, steel helmets, peaked caps. But that stuff has gone out of fashion in the last decade or two, says Barker.
The main reason: marketing. As motorcycle organizations like the Hells Angels and the Banditos and the Outlaws have established chapters across the world—including Germany, where Nazi symbols are illegal—they've toned down the regalia. At the same time, the Hells Angels—sorry, the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corp.—have become a profitable business, selling merchandise and trademarking their logo. (When Disney used a similar-looking image in the movie Wild Hogs, the Angels filed suit.)
There's always been a connection between motorcycle gangs and white supremacy. None of the five major American gangs—Hells Angels, Banditos, Outlaws, Mongols, and Pagans—are said to allow black people to become members (there's the occasional reported exception), although some have begun to recruit Latinos. And some members sport tattoos that explicitly endorse white power, like the "W" and "P" on the back of Michelle McGee's legs. Some chapters of the Hells Angels have even reportedly linked up with neo-Nazis.
But for most bikers, Nazi iconography has less to do with supporting Nazi ideology than wanting to piss people off, says Barker. Modern American motorcycle gangs started in the late 1940s and early 1950s, just after veterans of World War II brought home iron crosses and other trophies. "One-percenters"—so named in response to the claim that 99 percent of bikers are law-abiding—adopted the Nazi insignia as a form of patriotic rebellion: By using it, they showed their love of country (we defeated the Nazis) and their indifference toward their countrymen (they know it makes you uncomfortable). "This stuff—iron crosses, the Nazi insignia, the German helmets—that's to shock people. To let them know we're individualists," Hells Angels icon Sonny Barger told the Los Angeles Times in the 1960s. "If a Hells Angels guy is wearing Nazi paraphernalia, it's basically their equivalent of sticking up a finger to some middle class family they see in a Volvo," says Julian Sher, a Globe and Mail correspondent and co-author of Angels of Death: Inside the Biker Gangs' Global Crime Empire.
In Hell's Angels, Thompson argues the paraphernalia was mostly to épater le bourgeoisie: "They insist and seem to believe that their swastika fetish is no more than an antisocial joke, a guaranteed gimmick to bug the squares, the taxpayers—all those they spitefully refer to as 'citizens.' … If they wanted to be artful about bugging the squares they would drop the swastika and decorate their bikes with the hammer and sickle."
That's the funny thing about the claim by James's friend that he wears Nazi memorabilia because he's "into history." To most bikers, a swastika is no more about killing Jews than it was about Hindu good luck to the Nazis. It's about being a badass—and that's it. The whole point is that it's divorced from history. The fact that many profiles of James describe the logo of West Coast Choppers not as an iron cross (to which it's identical) but a Maltese cross (to which it's not identical) gives you a sense of how little the history matters. The symbol has become so assimilated that some people just call it the biker cross.
Ripped from that context, though—the context of macho bikers wanting to look cool and scary—and splashed it across celebrity blogs, it makes everyone involved seem like a Nazi sympathizer. For a true outlaw biker, that wouldn't be so bad. The whole point is to horrify people. But for a celebrity like James, it's a career killer. So he has to play the "history buff" card. James wants to be a celebrity and to have biker cred. It turns out you can't have both.
By Christopher Beam
Another day, another photo associating Jesse James with Nazi iconography.
US Weekly released an undated photo on Wednesday of James, former husband of Sandra Bullock, sitting in a car next to a man giving a "sieg heil" salute. Another picture, posted on Facebook by an employee of James's motorcycle company, West Coast Choppers, features the children's book character Flat Stanley dressed as Adolf Hitler. These pictures might be surprising if it weren't for the previously published photo of James from 2004 saluting while wearing a Nazi hat, plus pictures of his former mistress, Michelle McGee, posing with a Nazi hat and swastika armband.
A friend of James explained to US Weekly that the Nazi pictures don't make James a neo-Nazi or a racist, "He's into history," the person says. "The swastika deal is to scare people. It's part of biker culture."
That might be true—if this were 1969. Anyone who's read Hunter S. Thompson's Hell's Angels or seen older biker movies like The Glory Stompers (1968) knows that biker gangs would sometimes wear swastikas or iron crosses—a German decoration during World War II.
But Nazi symbolism is a lot less common among bikers than it used to be, says Tom Barker, a professor of criminal justice at Eastern Kentucky University who studies motorcycle gangs. "It's really unusual," says Barker. Biker gangs used to roam American highways with all kinds of Nazi insignia—swastikas, iron crosses, SS-style lightning bolts, steel helmets, peaked caps. But that stuff has gone out of fashion in the last decade or two, says Barker.
The main reason: marketing. As motorcycle organizations like the Hells Angels and the Banditos and the Outlaws have established chapters across the world—including Germany, where Nazi symbols are illegal—they've toned down the regalia. At the same time, the Hells Angels—sorry, the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corp.—have become a profitable business, selling merchandise and trademarking their logo. (When Disney used a similar-looking image in the movie Wild Hogs, the Angels filed suit.)
There's always been a connection between motorcycle gangs and white supremacy. None of the five major American gangs—Hells Angels, Banditos, Outlaws, Mongols, and Pagans—are said to allow black people to become members (there's the occasional reported exception), although some have begun to recruit Latinos. And some members sport tattoos that explicitly endorse white power, like the "W" and "P" on the back of Michelle McGee's legs. Some chapters of the Hells Angels have even reportedly linked up with neo-Nazis.
But for most bikers, Nazi iconography has less to do with supporting Nazi ideology than wanting to piss people off, says Barker. Modern American motorcycle gangs started in the late 1940s and early 1950s, just after veterans of World War II brought home iron crosses and other trophies. "One-percenters"—so named in response to the claim that 99 percent of bikers are law-abiding—adopted the Nazi insignia as a form of patriotic rebellion: By using it, they showed their love of country (we defeated the Nazis) and their indifference toward their countrymen (they know it makes you uncomfortable). "This stuff—iron crosses, the Nazi insignia, the German helmets—that's to shock people. To let them know we're individualists," Hells Angels icon Sonny Barger told the Los Angeles Times in the 1960s. "If a Hells Angels guy is wearing Nazi paraphernalia, it's basically their equivalent of sticking up a finger to some middle class family they see in a Volvo," says Julian Sher, a Globe and Mail correspondent and co-author of Angels of Death: Inside the Biker Gangs' Global Crime Empire.
In Hell's Angels, Thompson argues the paraphernalia was mostly to épater le bourgeoisie: "They insist and seem to believe that their swastika fetish is no more than an antisocial joke, a guaranteed gimmick to bug the squares, the taxpayers—all those they spitefully refer to as 'citizens.' … If they wanted to be artful about bugging the squares they would drop the swastika and decorate their bikes with the hammer and sickle."
That's the funny thing about the claim by James's friend that he wears Nazi memorabilia because he's "into history." To most bikers, a swastika is no more about killing Jews than it was about Hindu good luck to the Nazis. It's about being a badass—and that's it. The whole point is that it's divorced from history. The fact that many profiles of James describe the logo of West Coast Choppers not as an iron cross (to which it's identical) but a Maltese cross (to which it's not identical) gives you a sense of how little the history matters. The symbol has become so assimilated that some people just call it the biker cross.
Ripped from that context, though—the context of macho bikers wanting to look cool and scary—and splashed it across celebrity blogs, it makes everyone involved seem like a Nazi sympathizer. For a true outlaw biker, that wouldn't be so bad. The whole point is to horrify people. But for a celebrity like James, it's a career killer. So he has to play the "history buff" card. James wants to be a celebrity and to have biker cred. It turns out you can't have both.
Bachmann eyes cuts to veterans health benefits
WASHINGTON – Tea party hero Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) this week proposed a blueprint to eliminate $400 billion from the federal budget, which included billions in cuts to veterans' health care and disability benefits.
Her plan would freeze health care funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and slash $4.5 billion in disability benefits to military veterans.
Bachmann posted the document on her official Web site, calling the spending cuts "real and necessary" to avoid increasing the debt ceiling above $14.3 trillion. She supports the United States wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Oh hell no! In the middle of 2 wars?" remarked Paul Rieckhoff, a veterans advocate who served during the Iraq war, in a Twitter post echoed by dozens.
The Minnesota Republican's plan seeks to "[c]ap increases in Department of Veterans Affairs health care spending, and reduce disability compensation to account for SS disability payments. Reduce Veterans’ Disability Compensation to account for Social Security Disability Insurance payments."
The US federal deficit is poised to hit $1.5 trillion in 2011, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected this week, and while Congress debates ways to cut spending, veterans' benefits have not yet been targeted.
"It is really astonishing to see this," Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, told the Army Times, noting that VA expenses have risen in recent years with thousands of US troops in need of medical attention.
Bachmann has garnered something of a cult following among tea partyers across the nation, and recently elevated her profile by offering her own "tea party" response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday.
Her plan would freeze health care funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and slash $4.5 billion in disability benefits to military veterans.
Bachmann posted the document on her official Web site, calling the spending cuts "real and necessary" to avoid increasing the debt ceiling above $14.3 trillion. She supports the United States wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Oh hell no! In the middle of 2 wars?" remarked Paul Rieckhoff, a veterans advocate who served during the Iraq war, in a Twitter post echoed by dozens.
The Minnesota Republican's plan seeks to "[c]ap increases in Department of Veterans Affairs health care spending, and reduce disability compensation to account for SS disability payments. Reduce Veterans’ Disability Compensation to account for Social Security Disability Insurance payments."
The US federal deficit is poised to hit $1.5 trillion in 2011, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected this week, and while Congress debates ways to cut spending, veterans' benefits have not yet been targeted.
"It is really astonishing to see this," Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, told the Army Times, noting that VA expenses have risen in recent years with thousands of US troops in need of medical attention.
Bachmann has garnered something of a cult following among tea partyers across the nation, and recently elevated her profile by offering her own "tea party" response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday.
OREGON PROPOSES DUI CHECKPOINT LEGISLATION
OFF THE WIRE
Oregon Senator (D) District 24 (Portland) has proposed Senate Bill 32, that would make DUI Checkpoints legal in Oregon.
The catch is that checkpoints are illegal under the current Oregon Constitution, so.........
The wording of the proposed legislation includes a disclaimer that the law "Takes effect only if Senate Joint Resolution 1 (2011) is approved by people at next regular general election. Takes effect on effective date of constitutional amendment proposed in Senate Joint Resolution 1 (2011)".
WTF!!! Pass a law and then change the Constitutional amendment to make the law legal? Talk about drinking kool-aid....that is force feeding!
Full text of proposed bill (make sure you read section 2):
76th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2011 Regular Session
Senate Bill 32
Sponsored by Senator MONROE (Presession filed.)
SUMMARY
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject
to consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor’s brief statement of the essential features of the
measure as introduced.
Authorizes law enforcement agencies to establish sobriety checkpoints.
Takes effect only if Senate Joint Resolution 1 (2011) is approved by people at next regular
general election. Takes effect on effective date of constitutional amendment proposed in Senate Joint
Resolution 1 (2011).
A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to sobriety checkpoints; and prescribing an effective date.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. (1) As used in this section, “sobriety checkpoint” means a roadblock established
for the purpose of apprehending persons who are driving while under the influence of
intoxicants in violation of ORS 813.010.
(2) A law enforcement agency may establish sobriety checkpoints in its jurisdiction if the
checkpoints follow guidelines issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
in the publication titled “The Use of Sobriety Checkpoints for Impaired Driving
Enforcement” (DOT HS 807 656, November 1990).
SECTION 2. This 2011 Act does not become effective unless the amendment to the
Oregon Constitution proposed by Senate Joint Resolution 1 (2011) is approved by the people
at the regular general election held in November 2012. This 2011 Act becomes effective on the
effective date of that amendment.
Oregon Senator (D) District 24 (Portland) has proposed Senate Bill 32, that would make DUI Checkpoints legal in Oregon.
The catch is that checkpoints are illegal under the current Oregon Constitution, so.........
The wording of the proposed legislation includes a disclaimer that the law "Takes effect only if Senate Joint Resolution 1 (2011) is approved by people at next regular general election. Takes effect on effective date of constitutional amendment proposed in Senate Joint Resolution 1 (2011)".
WTF!!! Pass a law and then change the Constitutional amendment to make the law legal? Talk about drinking kool-aid....that is force feeding!
Full text of proposed bill (make sure you read section 2):
76th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2011 Regular Session
Senate Bill 32
Sponsored by Senator MONROE (Presession filed.)
SUMMARY
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject
to consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor’s brief statement of the essential features of the
measure as introduced.
Authorizes law enforcement agencies to establish sobriety checkpoints.
Takes effect only if Senate Joint Resolution 1 (2011) is approved by people at next regular
general election. Takes effect on effective date of constitutional amendment proposed in Senate Joint
Resolution 1 (2011).
A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to sobriety checkpoints; and prescribing an effective date.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. (1) As used in this section, “sobriety checkpoint” means a roadblock established
for the purpose of apprehending persons who are driving while under the influence of
intoxicants in violation of ORS 813.010.
(2) A law enforcement agency may establish sobriety checkpoints in its jurisdiction if the
checkpoints follow guidelines issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
in the publication titled “The Use of Sobriety Checkpoints for Impaired Driving
Enforcement” (DOT HS 807 656, November 1990).
SECTION 2. This 2011 Act does not become effective unless the amendment to the
Oregon Constitution proposed by Senate Joint Resolution 1 (2011) is approved by the people
at the regular general election held in November 2012. This 2011 Act becomes effective on the
effective date of that amendment.
New Zealand - The police in Porirua say four motorcyclists involved in a crash with a car are gang members.
OFF THE WIRE
The police in Porirua say four motorcyclists involved in a crash with a car are gang members.
The crash happened on State Highway 1 north of Wellington at about 12.30pm on Saturday.
Police say the motorcyclists, from the Highway 61 gang, were riding from Wellington to Paraparaumu.
Constable Grant Nalder says five motorcycles were travelling together in a group from Wellington to Paraparaumu when two of them tried to pass two cars on a bend.
"Two motorcycle riders have attempted to pass two vehicles, they were travelling side by side. One of them has got through safely, the second bike has clipped one of the vehicles and then that has created pile-ups.
"There were four bikes went down in total."
Mr Nalder says the car went into the barrier arm.
Police appeal for witnesses
Six men aged in their 40s to 50s have been taken to the Wellington and Hutt hospitals.
A Dannevirke man, 47, has a suspected head injury and another of those injured has serious back and abdominal injuries.
The police are appealing for witnesses to the crash as well as the first motorcyclist, who succeeded in overtaking the cars and carried on.
The road was closed to northbound traffic for several hours, causing long delays for motorists, but it has since reopened.
http://www.blogger.com/goog_915534014
The police in Porirua say four motorcyclists involved in a crash with a car are gang members.
The crash happened on State Highway 1 north of Wellington at about 12.30pm on Saturday.
Police say the motorcyclists, from the Highway 61 gang, were riding from Wellington to Paraparaumu.
Constable Grant Nalder says five motorcycles were travelling together in a group from Wellington to Paraparaumu when two of them tried to pass two cars on a bend.
"Two motorcycle riders have attempted to pass two vehicles, they were travelling side by side. One of them has got through safely, the second bike has clipped one of the vehicles and then that has created pile-ups.
"There were four bikes went down in total."
Mr Nalder says the car went into the barrier arm.
Police appeal for witnesses
Six men aged in their 40s to 50s have been taken to the Wellington and Hutt hospitals.
A Dannevirke man, 47, has a suspected head injury and another of those injured has serious back and abdominal injuries.
The police are appealing for witnesses to the crash as well as the first motorcyclist, who succeeded in overtaking the cars and carried on.
The road was closed to northbound traffic for several hours, causing long delays for motorists, but it has since reopened.
http://www.blogger.com/goog_915534014
New Jersey - Police survey reveals motorcycle gang problem in Independence Township
OFF THE WIRE
There are six gangs with 115 members in Independence Township, according to a New Jersey State Police gang survey conducted last year.
The same report listed Independence as one of 23 New Jersey municipalities where there is "potential for open conflict" involving gangs, specifically outlaw biker clubs the Hells Angels and the Pagans.
Local police said biker club members used to pass through the township and stop at bars.
There are 10 gangs with 85 members in Phillipsburg, the survey says.
Read Tom Quigley's complete report: Statistics in New Jersey State Police gang survey hit a nerve in Independence Township.
http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/warren-county/express-times/index.ssf/2011/01/police_survey_reveal_motorcycl.html
There are six gangs with 115 members in Independence Township, according to a New Jersey State Police gang survey conducted last year.
The same report listed Independence as one of 23 New Jersey municipalities where there is "potential for open conflict" involving gangs, specifically outlaw biker clubs the Hells Angels and the Pagans.
Local police said biker club members used to pass through the township and stop at bars.
There are 10 gangs with 85 members in Phillipsburg, the survey says.
Read Tom Quigley's complete report: Statistics in New Jersey State Police gang survey hit a nerve in Independence Township.
http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/warren-county/express-times/index.ssf/2011/01/police_survey_reveal_motorcycl.html
New Zealand - Alcohol suspected in motorcycle crash
OFF THE WIRE
radionz.co.nz
Police in Porirua believe alcohol was a factor in a crash involving a car and four gang members riding motorcycles just north of Wellington.
The Highway 61 gang members were on State Highway One from Wellington to Paraparumu, when the crash happened.
Police say two motorcyclists tried to pass two cars on a bend. One passed safely, but the other clipped a cars and three motorcyclists travelling behind were caught in the pile-up.
Constable Grant Nalder says he could tell some of the motorcyclists had been drinking when he talked to them at the crash site. He says charges could be laid.
radionz.co.nz
Police in Porirua believe alcohol was a factor in a crash involving a car and four gang members riding motorcycles just north of Wellington.
The Highway 61 gang members were on State Highway One from Wellington to Paraparumu, when the crash happened.
Police say two motorcyclists tried to pass two cars on a bend. One passed safely, but the other clipped a cars and three motorcyclists travelling behind were caught in the pile-up.
Constable Grant Nalder says he could tell some of the motorcyclists had been drinking when he talked to them at the crash site. He says charges could be laid.
Florida - Trial date set in biker fatalities
OFF THE WIRE
BUSHNELL
BRAD BUCK
Staff Writer
http://www.blogger.com/goog_194383597
A judge has set a tentative trial date of April 4 for a Bushnell man involved in an accident that resulted in the deaths of four motorcyclists.
Paul Sermons, 45, faces four counts of vehicular manslaughter DUI, according to court records.
He is accused in the deaths of four bikers who died March 13, 2010, in a crash just west of Bushnell. Three died at the scene, and one died later at a hospital.
Bikers are attending every court hearing involving the case against Sermons.
According to a Florida Highway Patrol accident report, the motorcyclists were killed just before 7 p.m. after a truck driven by Sermons tried to pass another vehicle, but wound up striking two motorcycles head on.
The wreck happened on County Road 476 near County Road 629, troopers said.
Sermons was driving a 1991 GMC truck and was passing a 2003 Dodge truck, traveling westbound on CR 476, according to the report. At the same time, two motorcycles were eastbound.
When he realized the motorcycles were closer than he thought, Sermons tried to slow down, according to the FHP report, but he could not slow down enough to avoid a crash.
His truck hit both motorcycles, ejecting both drivers and both passengers.
Sumter County Fire Rescue pronounced three of the motorcyclists dead at the scene. A fourth was taken to an area hospital and died later.
The dead were listed as John Holmes, 52, of Beverly Hills, and his passenger, Patricia Beihayn, 52, of Hernando, according to the report. William Barker, 54, of Stuart, the driver of the other motorcycle, and his passenger, Patrice Poole, 55, of Mount Dora, also were killed in the wreck.
BUSHNELL
BRAD BUCK
Staff Writer
http://www.blogger.com/goog_194383597
A judge has set a tentative trial date of April 4 for a Bushnell man involved in an accident that resulted in the deaths of four motorcyclists.
Paul Sermons, 45, faces four counts of vehicular manslaughter DUI, according to court records.
He is accused in the deaths of four bikers who died March 13, 2010, in a crash just west of Bushnell. Three died at the scene, and one died later at a hospital.
Bikers are attending every court hearing involving the case against Sermons.
According to a Florida Highway Patrol accident report, the motorcyclists were killed just before 7 p.m. after a truck driven by Sermons tried to pass another vehicle, but wound up striking two motorcycles head on.
The wreck happened on County Road 476 near County Road 629, troopers said.
Sermons was driving a 1991 GMC truck and was passing a 2003 Dodge truck, traveling westbound on CR 476, according to the report. At the same time, two motorcycles were eastbound.
When he realized the motorcycles were closer than he thought, Sermons tried to slow down, according to the FHP report, but he could not slow down enough to avoid a crash.
His truck hit both motorcycles, ejecting both drivers and both passengers.
Sumter County Fire Rescue pronounced three of the motorcyclists dead at the scene. A fourth was taken to an area hospital and died later.
The dead were listed as John Holmes, 52, of Beverly Hills, and his passenger, Patricia Beihayn, 52, of Hernando, according to the report. William Barker, 54, of Stuart, the driver of the other motorcycle, and his passenger, Patrice Poole, 55, of Mount Dora, also were killed in the wreck.
Motorcycle ride to benefit Flight 93 memorial
BY STEPHEN J. PYTAK (STAFF WRITER spytak@republicanherald.com )
Cherie Schaeffer-Bogotuik, Orwigsburg, is planning to rev up her merlot-colored 2011 Harley-Davidson Street Glide for a special salute to fallen heroes this September.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Schaeffer-Bogotuik said of the Let's Roll Flight 93 Memorial Ride, a motorcycle event to raise funds for the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville. Scheduled for Sept. 10-11, it will mark the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The event is being hosted by the Manufacturer & Business Association, Erie, which is aiming to raise $360,000 by encouraging motorcyclists from across the state to participate.
Organizers met with Schaeffer-Bogotuik, business manager of Schaeffer's Harley-Davidson, Orwigsburg, other representatives of the business and members of The Deer Lake Harley Owners Group at the Pottsville Club on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the project.
The cost to participate is $1,000 per rider, and the association is hoping to have at least 40 to represent the Pottsville area on the ride. The time and location for the launch has not been determined, according to Tracie Black, Erie, the Manufacturer & Business Association's Flight 93 Memorial Ride coordinator.
John Farkas, North Whitehall Township, Berks County, assistant director of the Deer Lake HOG, said he's planning to ride in the event.
"The money's all for a good cause," Farkas said. But he's not sure how many riders will participate, considering the price.
Schaeffer-Bogotuik encouraged community organizations to hold fund drives to host local motorcycle riders who can't afford the $1,000 on their own. Schaeffer's Harley-Davidson is also going to look into possibly starting a fund drive to offer them support, she said.
On 9/11, Flight 93 was scheduled to depart shortly after 8 a.m. from Newark, N.J., en route to San Francisco, Calif. The Boeing 757, with 44 people on board, was delayed on the runway for several minutes before taking off. Less than an hour into the flight, as the plane was nearing Cleveland, Ohio, the plane suddenly and abruptly changed course, heading southeast.
The 40 passengers on board, including Louis "Joey" Nacke II, 42, of New Hope, Bucks County, learned the plane had been hijacked. Terrorists on a suicide mission were planning to target the Capitol. The passengers banded together to stop the plot and the plane crashed in a remote field near Shanksville, Somerset County, according to honorflight93.org.
Within a year after 9/11, Congress passed the Flight 93 National Memorial Act, designating the crash site as a national memorial and appointing the National Park Service as its steward, Black said.
"The Flight 93 National Memorial will be paid for through a combination of public funding and private donations. Local and federal government and the State of Pennsylvania have contributed funds. Neither, actually, can afford the total cost to complete the memorial as planned, not without the help of private contributions," Black said.
It's a $58 million project, according to The Associated Press.
The memorial will be the centerpiece of a large and expansive 2,220-acre park. It will include the "Sacred Ground," which is the site of the crash; a mile-wide "Field of Honor" to include panoramic overlooks; a "Visitor Center;" memorial tree groves; and a sentinel-like "Tower of Voices," an elaborate collection of wind chimes, according to Black.
Four years ago, the Manufacturer & Business Association started The Roar On The Shore, a motorcycle rally fundraiser in Erie.
"When we realized we were coming up on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, and we found out about the memorial and the necessity to raise private funds in order to complete it, we felt compelled to do something," said Tammy Polanski, Erie, director of marketing for the Manufacturer & Business Association.
The participating motorcycle riders will be put in groups of 40 to represent the 40 heroes on Flight 93.
"Currently, there are nine groups of 40 bikes located in eight flight paths - Erie, Meadville/Conneaut Lake, Pittsburgh, Williamsport, Harrisburg, Cranberry Township, Pottsville and Philadelphia. On Sept. 10, 2011, each group will converge at the memorial site in Shanksville," Black said.
Each bike will be issued a memorial flag bearing the name of one of the 40 heroes of Flight 93 that will be attached to their motorcycle during the ride to Shanksville. They also will receive an exclusive patch and T-shirt bearing the official Let's Roll: Flight 93 Memorial Ride design, Black said.
All proceeds raised from the ride will directly benefit the Flight 93 National Memorial Campaign.
To sign up, interested persons can contact Darlene J. Robbins, president of the Northeast PA Manufacturers & Employers Association, Pottsville, at 622-0992.
For further information, visit letsrollride.com or honorflight93.org.
Cherie Schaeffer-Bogotuik, Orwigsburg, is planning to rev up her merlot-colored 2011 Harley-Davidson Street Glide for a special salute to fallen heroes this September.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Schaeffer-Bogotuik said of the Let's Roll Flight 93 Memorial Ride, a motorcycle event to raise funds for the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville. Scheduled for Sept. 10-11, it will mark the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The event is being hosted by the Manufacturer & Business Association, Erie, which is aiming to raise $360,000 by encouraging motorcyclists from across the state to participate.
Organizers met with Schaeffer-Bogotuik, business manager of Schaeffer's Harley-Davidson, Orwigsburg, other representatives of the business and members of The Deer Lake Harley Owners Group at the Pottsville Club on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the project.
The cost to participate is $1,000 per rider, and the association is hoping to have at least 40 to represent the Pottsville area on the ride. The time and location for the launch has not been determined, according to Tracie Black, Erie, the Manufacturer & Business Association's Flight 93 Memorial Ride coordinator.
John Farkas, North Whitehall Township, Berks County, assistant director of the Deer Lake HOG, said he's planning to ride in the event.
"The money's all for a good cause," Farkas said. But he's not sure how many riders will participate, considering the price.
Schaeffer-Bogotuik encouraged community organizations to hold fund drives to host local motorcycle riders who can't afford the $1,000 on their own. Schaeffer's Harley-Davidson is also going to look into possibly starting a fund drive to offer them support, she said.
On 9/11, Flight 93 was scheduled to depart shortly after 8 a.m. from Newark, N.J., en route to San Francisco, Calif. The Boeing 757, with 44 people on board, was delayed on the runway for several minutes before taking off. Less than an hour into the flight, as the plane was nearing Cleveland, Ohio, the plane suddenly and abruptly changed course, heading southeast.
The 40 passengers on board, including Louis "Joey" Nacke II, 42, of New Hope, Bucks County, learned the plane had been hijacked. Terrorists on a suicide mission were planning to target the Capitol. The passengers banded together to stop the plot and the plane crashed in a remote field near Shanksville, Somerset County, according to honorflight93.org.
Within a year after 9/11, Congress passed the Flight 93 National Memorial Act, designating the crash site as a national memorial and appointing the National Park Service as its steward, Black said.
"The Flight 93 National Memorial will be paid for through a combination of public funding and private donations. Local and federal government and the State of Pennsylvania have contributed funds. Neither, actually, can afford the total cost to complete the memorial as planned, not without the help of private contributions," Black said.
It's a $58 million project, according to The Associated Press.
The memorial will be the centerpiece of a large and expansive 2,220-acre park. It will include the "Sacred Ground," which is the site of the crash; a mile-wide "Field of Honor" to include panoramic overlooks; a "Visitor Center;" memorial tree groves; and a sentinel-like "Tower of Voices," an elaborate collection of wind chimes, according to Black.
Four years ago, the Manufacturer & Business Association started The Roar On The Shore, a motorcycle rally fundraiser in Erie.
"When we realized we were coming up on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, and we found out about the memorial and the necessity to raise private funds in order to complete it, we felt compelled to do something," said Tammy Polanski, Erie, director of marketing for the Manufacturer & Business Association.
The participating motorcycle riders will be put in groups of 40 to represent the 40 heroes on Flight 93.
"Currently, there are nine groups of 40 bikes located in eight flight paths - Erie, Meadville/Conneaut Lake, Pittsburgh, Williamsport, Harrisburg, Cranberry Township, Pottsville and Philadelphia. On Sept. 10, 2011, each group will converge at the memorial site in Shanksville," Black said.
Each bike will be issued a memorial flag bearing the name of one of the 40 heroes of Flight 93 that will be attached to their motorcycle during the ride to Shanksville. They also will receive an exclusive patch and T-shirt bearing the official Let's Roll: Flight 93 Memorial Ride design, Black said.
All proceeds raised from the ride will directly benefit the Flight 93 National Memorial Campaign.
To sign up, interested persons can contact Darlene J. Robbins, president of the Northeast PA Manufacturers & Employers Association, Pottsville, at 622-0992.
For further information, visit letsrollride.com or honorflight93.org.
Prosecutors: 4 witnesses identify suspect in 1982 motorcycle club slaying
OFF THE WIRE
By Ruth Fuller
Four witnesses have told investigators Robert Bostic was the gunman who killed Carlton Richmond at a motorcycle group’s clubhouse in Round Lake Beach nearly 30 years ago, prosecutors said in court today.
A Lake County judge this morning kept Bostic’s bond at $2.5 million, the figure set in the arrest warrant charging him with murdering 31-year-old Carlton Richmond in a garage on June 25, 1982.
Bostic, now of Kingston, Tenn., was identified as the suspect early in the investigation, but witnesses from the party in the 800 block of Oakwood Drive were reluctant to talk with investigators until recently, police and prosecutors said.
Police said Bostic and Richmond had a “discussion” at the party, and the witnesses who are now cooperating said Bostic pulled a handgun and shot Richmond, Steve Scheller of the Lake County state’s attorney’s office said in court today.
Bostic, arrested on the warrant Tuesday in Tennessee, compiled a lengthy record of arrests for violent crimes in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, Scheller said. Court records show Bostic was convicted in 1977 of aggravated battery in Lake County.
Lake County Judge Raymond Collins asked Bostic in court if he thought he would be able to hire a lawyer.
“I don’t know, maybe,” Bostic said. “My brother is going to check into it.”
Collins set a hearing on the status of Bostic’s legal representation for Feb. 2 2011
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chibrknews-prosecutors-4-witnesses-id-1982-slaying-suspect-20110127,0,4152825.story
By Ruth Fuller
Four witnesses have told investigators Robert Bostic was the gunman who killed Carlton Richmond at a motorcycle group’s clubhouse in Round Lake Beach nearly 30 years ago, prosecutors said in court today.
A Lake County judge this morning kept Bostic’s bond at $2.5 million, the figure set in the arrest warrant charging him with murdering 31-year-old Carlton Richmond in a garage on June 25, 1982.
Bostic, now of Kingston, Tenn., was identified as the suspect early in the investigation, but witnesses from the party in the 800 block of Oakwood Drive were reluctant to talk with investigators until recently, police and prosecutors said.
Police said Bostic and Richmond had a “discussion” at the party, and the witnesses who are now cooperating said Bostic pulled a handgun and shot Richmond, Steve Scheller of the Lake County state’s attorney’s office said in court today.
Bostic, arrested on the warrant Tuesday in Tennessee, compiled a lengthy record of arrests for violent crimes in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, Scheller said. Court records show Bostic was convicted in 1977 of aggravated battery in Lake County.
Lake County Judge Raymond Collins asked Bostic in court if he thought he would be able to hire a lawyer.
“I don’t know, maybe,” Bostic said. “My brother is going to check into it.”
Collins set a hearing on the status of Bostic’s legal representation for Feb. 2 2011
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chibrknews-prosecutors-4-witnesses-id-1982-slaying-suspect-20110127,0,4152825.story
Proof Obama wants to continue overspending...... WHAT THE FUCK...
Thanks, Mark
What if I told you that the Chairman and CEO of IBM , Samuel J. Palmisano, approached President Obama and members of his administration before the healthcare bill debates with a plan that would reduce healthcare expenditures by $900 billion?
Given the Obama Administration’s adamancy that the United States of America simply had to make healthcare (read: health insurance) affordable for even the most dedicated welfare recipient, one would think he would have leaned forward in his chair, cupped his ear and said, “Tell me more!”
And what if I told you that the cost to the federal government for this program was nothing, zip, nada, zilch?
And, what if I told you that, in the end and after two meetings, President Obama and his team, instead of embracing a program that was proven to save money and one that was projected to save almost one trillion dollars – a private sector program costing the taxpayers nothing, zip, nada, zilch – said, “Thanks but no thanks” and then embarked on passing one of the most despised pieces of legislation in US history?
Well, it’s all true.
Samuel J. Palmisano, the Chairman of the Board and CEO for IBM, said in a recent Wall Street Journalinterview that he offered to provide the Obama Administration with a program that would curb healthcare claims fraud and abuse by almost one trillion dollars but the Obama White House turned the offer down.
Mr. Palmisano is quoted as saying during a taping (click to see) of The Wall Street Journal's Viewpoints program on September 14, 2010:
"We could have improved the quality and reduced the cost of the healthcare system by $900 billion...I said we would do it for free to prove that it works. They turned us down."
A second meeting between Mr. Palmisano and the Obama Administration took place two weeks later, with no change in the Obama Administration's stance. A call placed to IBM on October 8, 2010, by FOX News confirmed, via a spokesperson, that Mr. Palmisano stands by his statement.
Speaking with FOX News' Stuart Varney, Mort Zuckerman, Editor-in-Chief of US News & World Report, said,
"It's a little bit puzzling because I think there is a huge amount of both fraud and inefficiency that American business is a lot more comfortable with and more effective in trying to reduce. And this is certainly true because the IBM people have studied this very carefully. And when Palmisano went to the White House and made that proposal, it was based upon a lot of work and it was not accepted. And it's really puzzling...These are very, very responsible people. They don't have a political ax to grind. They are very familiar with the subject; they understand exactly what the issues are."
Given the fact that Mr. Obama’s own Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services actuary debunked the claim that health insurance costs would diminish over the next decade and given that the budget deficits for 2010 and 2011 are in the $1.2 trillion–$1..4 trillion ballpark, the question begs to be asked: Why would Mr. Obama balk at a sure-thing savings of almost $1 trillion?
Cost projections prepared by economists at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), revealed the nation's healthcare spending, as a share of the economy, will be 0.3 percentage points higher in 2019 than estimated before the law was passed. That CMS report, published September 9, 2010, in the journal Health Affairs, also revealed healthcare spending will grow by an average of 6.3 percent each year over the next decade, whereas pre-reform projections pegged annual growth at 6.1 percent.
CMS actuaries also say that Medicare cuts mandated by the law are unrealistic and unsustainable. An April 22, 2010, CMS report about the financial and coverage effects of selected provisions of the new law estimates that about 15 percent of hospitals and other healthcare providers could lose money treating Medicare beneficiaries as a result of the proposed cuts.
And the Congressional Budget Office is projecting that the deficit for the 2010 budget year, which ended Sept. 30, will total $1.29 trillion. The Obama administration has projected that the deficit for the 2011 budget year, which began on Oct. 1, will climb to $1.4 trillion and that over the next decade, it will total $8.47 trillion.
So, again, I ask you, with the main issue being the economy, including the audacious spending habits of elected officials in Washington DC, why would Mr. Obama and his team balk at facilitating not only the saving of almost $1 trillion in healthcare expenditures, but the opportunity to affect an issue victory in the 2010 midterm election cycle?
Mr. Zuckerman concluded,
"When you are in a situation where this country is facing a huge deficit and where anybody who knows anything at all about the healthcare system knows how much waste, fraud and abuse is involved in that system...not to take this offer up, frankly, does not make sense."
Mr. Zuckerman is correct, but only to a point. It doesn’t make sense if Mr. Obama is trying to reduce waste and fraud, and make health insurance affordable for all Americans. It does make sense if those were never the goals in the first place.
As I wrote in an article titled, Cloward, Piven & Obamacare ,
“...the goal of the Progressives is to crash the system; to overwhelm the system to such an extent that it fails. It is at this moment of failure that Progressives believe they can enter the situation as the “knight in shining armor.” It is at this particular moment of vulnerability that Progressives believe the American public will acquiesce to the false choice of “something is better than nothing”; to a government-run universal healthcare plan to rescue the devastated American healthcare system, a system Progressives themselves threw into chaos, courtesy of their ridiculous health insurance reform law.
“As an aside, keeping this plan in mind, it makes perfect sense that Progressives and Liberal Democrats wouldn’t waste their time reading the massive health insurance reform bill. They never intended for it to be around long enough for it to matter.”
It is one thing to be – as a good many elected officials in Washington DC are – arrogant, self-absorbed Progressive spendthrifts, so detached from the actualities of what Americans require and want from their government. It is quite another to willfully abuse the system – and the American people – in an attempt to bring about and ideological “change” – a “fundamental transformation” (Obama's own words) – of the very system of government that has made the United States the most prosperous nation in the history of the Western Civilization and the last best hope for freedom and liberty for all in the world.
In Mr. Obama’s shunning of a private sector program that would have saved our country almost $1 trillion in healthcare expenditures, presented to him as he declared a “crisis in healthcare,” he proves two things beyond any doubt: that he is anti-Capitalist and anti-private sector in nature and that he can no longer be trusted to tell the truth in both his political declarations or espoused goals.
Investigate every link cited above.
Point out any fact above that is incorrect and cite your source.
Thanks, Mark
"The two enemies of the people are criminals and government,
so let us tie the second down with the chains of the constitution
so the second will not become the legalized version of the first."
Thomas Jefferson
What if I told you that the Chairman and CEO of IBM , Samuel J. Palmisano, approached President Obama and members of his administration before the healthcare bill debates with a plan that would reduce healthcare expenditures by $900 billion?
Given the Obama Administration’s adamancy that the United States of America simply had to make healthcare (read: health insurance) affordable for even the most dedicated welfare recipient, one would think he would have leaned forward in his chair, cupped his ear and said, “Tell me more!”
And what if I told you that the cost to the federal government for this program was nothing, zip, nada, zilch?
And, what if I told you that, in the end and after two meetings, President Obama and his team, instead of embracing a program that was proven to save money and one that was projected to save almost one trillion dollars – a private sector program costing the taxpayers nothing, zip, nada, zilch – said, “Thanks but no thanks” and then embarked on passing one of the most despised pieces of legislation in US history?
Well, it’s all true.
Samuel J. Palmisano, the Chairman of the Board and CEO for IBM, said in a recent Wall Street Journalinterview that he offered to provide the Obama Administration with a program that would curb healthcare claims fraud and abuse by almost one trillion dollars but the Obama White House turned the offer down.
Mr. Palmisano is quoted as saying during a taping (click to see) of The Wall Street Journal's Viewpoints program on September 14, 2010:
"We could have improved the quality and reduced the cost of the healthcare system by $900 billion...I said we would do it for free to prove that it works. They turned us down."
A second meeting between Mr. Palmisano and the Obama Administration took place two weeks later, with no change in the Obama Administration's stance. A call placed to IBM on October 8, 2010, by FOX News confirmed, via a spokesperson, that Mr. Palmisano stands by his statement.
Speaking with FOX News' Stuart Varney, Mort Zuckerman, Editor-in-Chief of US News & World Report, said,
"It's a little bit puzzling because I think there is a huge amount of both fraud and inefficiency that American business is a lot more comfortable with and more effective in trying to reduce. And this is certainly true because the IBM people have studied this very carefully. And when Palmisano went to the White House and made that proposal, it was based upon a lot of work and it was not accepted. And it's really puzzling...These are very, very responsible people. They don't have a political ax to grind. They are very familiar with the subject; they understand exactly what the issues are."
Given the fact that Mr. Obama’s own Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services actuary debunked the claim that health insurance costs would diminish over the next decade and given that the budget deficits for 2010 and 2011 are in the $1.2 trillion–$1..4 trillion ballpark, the question begs to be asked: Why would Mr. Obama balk at a sure-thing savings of almost $1 trillion?
Cost projections prepared by economists at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), revealed the nation's healthcare spending, as a share of the economy, will be 0.3 percentage points higher in 2019 than estimated before the law was passed. That CMS report, published September 9, 2010, in the journal Health Affairs, also revealed healthcare spending will grow by an average of 6.3 percent each year over the next decade, whereas pre-reform projections pegged annual growth at 6.1 percent.
CMS actuaries also say that Medicare cuts mandated by the law are unrealistic and unsustainable. An April 22, 2010, CMS report about the financial and coverage effects of selected provisions of the new law estimates that about 15 percent of hospitals and other healthcare providers could lose money treating Medicare beneficiaries as a result of the proposed cuts.
And the Congressional Budget Office is projecting that the deficit for the 2010 budget year, which ended Sept. 30, will total $1.29 trillion. The Obama administration has projected that the deficit for the 2011 budget year, which began on Oct. 1, will climb to $1.4 trillion and that over the next decade, it will total $8.47 trillion.
So, again, I ask you, with the main issue being the economy, including the audacious spending habits of elected officials in Washington DC, why would Mr. Obama and his team balk at facilitating not only the saving of almost $1 trillion in healthcare expenditures, but the opportunity to affect an issue victory in the 2010 midterm election cycle?
Mr. Zuckerman concluded,
"When you are in a situation where this country is facing a huge deficit and where anybody who knows anything at all about the healthcare system knows how much waste, fraud and abuse is involved in that system...not to take this offer up, frankly, does not make sense."
Mr. Zuckerman is correct, but only to a point. It doesn’t make sense if Mr. Obama is trying to reduce waste and fraud, and make health insurance affordable for all Americans. It does make sense if those were never the goals in the first place.
As I wrote in an article titled, Cloward, Piven & Obamacare ,
“...the goal of the Progressives is to crash the system; to overwhelm the system to such an extent that it fails. It is at this moment of failure that Progressives believe they can enter the situation as the “knight in shining armor.” It is at this particular moment of vulnerability that Progressives believe the American public will acquiesce to the false choice of “something is better than nothing”; to a government-run universal healthcare plan to rescue the devastated American healthcare system, a system Progressives themselves threw into chaos, courtesy of their ridiculous health insurance reform law.
“As an aside, keeping this plan in mind, it makes perfect sense that Progressives and Liberal Democrats wouldn’t waste their time reading the massive health insurance reform bill. They never intended for it to be around long enough for it to matter.”
It is one thing to be – as a good many elected officials in Washington DC are – arrogant, self-absorbed Progressive spendthrifts, so detached from the actualities of what Americans require and want from their government. It is quite another to willfully abuse the system – and the American people – in an attempt to bring about and ideological “change” – a “fundamental transformation” (Obama's own words) – of the very system of government that has made the United States the most prosperous nation in the history of the Western Civilization and the last best hope for freedom and liberty for all in the world.
In Mr. Obama’s shunning of a private sector program that would have saved our country almost $1 trillion in healthcare expenditures, presented to him as he declared a “crisis in healthcare,” he proves two things beyond any doubt: that he is anti-Capitalist and anti-private sector in nature and that he can no longer be trusted to tell the truth in both his political declarations or espoused goals.
Investigate every link cited above.
Point out any fact above that is incorrect and cite your source.
Thanks, Mark
"The two enemies of the people are criminals and government,
so let us tie the second down with the chains of the constitution
so the second will not become the legalized version of the first."
Thomas Jefferson
Sweden - Hells Angels wrap themselves in the law to fight against ban
OFF THE WIRE
thelocal.de
The Hells Angels motorcycle Club says it will challenge any legal bid to ban it across in Germany – as far as the European Court of Justice.
There is no legal basis for such a ban, Frank Hanebuth, president of the Hells Angels in Hannover, told Focus magazine.
“We will defend ourselves with all legal tools and if necessary take it to the European Court of Justice,” he said.
Hanebuth, who masterminded the peace pact with the rival Bandido gang last May, said the criminalisation of the Hells Angels was unfair and that comparisons with the Mafia were completely excessive. “Do we shoot state prosecutors, judges or politicians?” he said.
“Do we blow up buildings? Do we deal weapons or tons of cocaine? No! We would never do that.”
But interior ministers have long been looking to ban the clubs which are repeatedly involved in serious crimes. A report on biker-rocker crime written in 2009 by the Federal Criminal Police (BKA) described clubs like the Hells Angels as organisations whose members live by their own, strict rules and show only low readiness to cooperate with the police.
The groups often use violence in the conduct of their business, the report said, while the main aim was to increase territorial and financial power.
A new biker club has arrived on the Berlin scene, it was reported late last week, with the appearance of the Mongols, which allegedly attracts violent immigrants as members.
A Berlin criminal police report Der Spiegel predicts violent clashes with the capital’s Hells Angels. Last Monday a member of the Mongols was stabbed by two unidentified men in the Tegel district of the city.
thelocal.de
The Hells Angels motorcycle Club says it will challenge any legal bid to ban it across in Germany – as far as the European Court of Justice.
There is no legal basis for such a ban, Frank Hanebuth, president of the Hells Angels in Hannover, told Focus magazine.
“We will defend ourselves with all legal tools and if necessary take it to the European Court of Justice,” he said.
Hanebuth, who masterminded the peace pact with the rival Bandido gang last May, said the criminalisation of the Hells Angels was unfair and that comparisons with the Mafia were completely excessive. “Do we shoot state prosecutors, judges or politicians?” he said.
“Do we blow up buildings? Do we deal weapons or tons of cocaine? No! We would never do that.”
But interior ministers have long been looking to ban the clubs which are repeatedly involved in serious crimes. A report on biker-rocker crime written in 2009 by the Federal Criminal Police (BKA) described clubs like the Hells Angels as organisations whose members live by their own, strict rules and show only low readiness to cooperate with the police.
The groups often use violence in the conduct of their business, the report said, while the main aim was to increase territorial and financial power.
A new biker club has arrived on the Berlin scene, it was reported late last week, with the appearance of the Mongols, which allegedly attracts violent immigrants as members.
A Berlin criminal police report Der Spiegel predicts violent clashes with the capital’s Hells Angels. Last Monday a member of the Mongols was stabbed by two unidentified men in the Tegel district of the city.
UK - Bikers band together to help brave Darcie
OFF THE WIRE
Sue Carr
menmedia.co.uk
REVVING UP FOR CHARITY... Scout Rachel Firth, Josh Hall, Victoria and Darcie Holmes, Den Whittaker and Cllr John Taylor
Get ready to rock at a charity gig to help youngsters. Stalybridge Motorcycle Club has teamed up with Tameside council for its annual rock concert at Dukinfield town hall.
The night will showcase some of the borough’s best up and coming bands and will also raise money for two worthy causes. Proceeds will be split between Tame Valley district scouts to go to this year’s World Scout Jamboree in Sweden and two-year-old Darcie Holmes, from Hyde, who needs £50,000 for surgery in America to help her cerebral palsy.
Biker Den Whittaker has helped to organise the gig featuring five bands including the Jalapenos, Snakewater and SMC Rock Disco.
He said: "We have a meeting every year to decide on the charities so we chose the scouts and Darcie.
"She’s such a lovely little girl and despite all her ailments she is a very happy child, she’s an inspiration to us all."
The fundraiser takes place at the town hall, on King Street, at 7pm on Saturday February 5.
Tickets are £5 and there will also be a raffle and licensed late bar. Call Den on 0161 303 8862, Daz on 01457 839 201 or pay on the door.
Sue Carr
menmedia.co.uk
REVVING UP FOR CHARITY... Scout Rachel Firth, Josh Hall, Victoria and Darcie Holmes, Den Whittaker and Cllr John Taylor
Get ready to rock at a charity gig to help youngsters. Stalybridge Motorcycle Club has teamed up with Tameside council for its annual rock concert at Dukinfield town hall.
The night will showcase some of the borough’s best up and coming bands and will also raise money for two worthy causes. Proceeds will be split between Tame Valley district scouts to go to this year’s World Scout Jamboree in Sweden and two-year-old Darcie Holmes, from Hyde, who needs £50,000 for surgery in America to help her cerebral palsy.
Biker Den Whittaker has helped to organise the gig featuring five bands including the Jalapenos, Snakewater and SMC Rock Disco.
He said: "We have a meeting every year to decide on the charities so we chose the scouts and Darcie.
"She’s such a lovely little girl and despite all her ailments she is a very happy child, she’s an inspiration to us all."
The fundraiser takes place at the town hall, on King Street, at 7pm on Saturday February 5.
Tickets are £5 and there will also be a raffle and licensed late bar. Call Den on 0161 303 8862, Daz on 01457 839 201 or pay on the door.
Australia - Suspected Comancheros boss to finally stand trial
OFF THE WIRE
Chalpat Sonti
watoday.com.au
The suspected head of the WA chapter of the Comancheros outlaw motorcycle club and five others will finally stand trial over charges of trying to supply about eight kilograms of methylamphetamine.
Steve Milenkovski, 33, of Tuart Hill, has been in jail since February last year after being arrested following police raids of 12 properties across Perth and one in NSW.
The Perth properties included the Comancheros clubhouse at a Northbridge gymnasium during the raids, dubbed Operation Baystone.
Police - who claim Mr Milenkovski was the head of the club's fledgling Perth chapter - seized 5kg of the drug from the spare tyre of a a car transported from Sydney, and 2.7kg two months earlier at a Stirling house.
Mr Milenkovski was charged with two conspiracy offences relating to the drugs, as was a NSW man, Yuvaz Ozan, 32.
Four other men were also charged with the offences.
It was claimed one man flew to Perth, collected the car, drove it to a Bayswater address, before meeting another of the arrested men in North Perth.
Police also seized cash or property valued at $3.6m during the raids.
They claim Mr Milenkovski and his associates were using code words in text messages and phone conversations to move and sell the drugs.
Mr Milenkovski and Mr Ozan appeared in the District Court in Perth on Friday, where Chief Judge Peter Martino set a tentative trial date in July for the pair and their four co-accused.
The trial is expected to take five weeks but the date is dependent on agreement with counsel for the four co-accused.
Mr Milenkovski has been refused bail, but is appealing that decision, with a hearing due in February.
Chalpat Sonti
watoday.com.au
The suspected head of the WA chapter of the Comancheros outlaw motorcycle club and five others will finally stand trial over charges of trying to supply about eight kilograms of methylamphetamine.
Steve Milenkovski, 33, of Tuart Hill, has been in jail since February last year after being arrested following police raids of 12 properties across Perth and one in NSW.
The Perth properties included the Comancheros clubhouse at a Northbridge gymnasium during the raids, dubbed Operation Baystone.
Police - who claim Mr Milenkovski was the head of the club's fledgling Perth chapter - seized 5kg of the drug from the spare tyre of a a car transported from Sydney, and 2.7kg two months earlier at a Stirling house.
Mr Milenkovski was charged with two conspiracy offences relating to the drugs, as was a NSW man, Yuvaz Ozan, 32.
Four other men were also charged with the offences.
It was claimed one man flew to Perth, collected the car, drove it to a Bayswater address, before meeting another of the arrested men in North Perth.
Police also seized cash or property valued at $3.6m during the raids.
They claim Mr Milenkovski and his associates were using code words in text messages and phone conversations to move and sell the drugs.
Mr Milenkovski and Mr Ozan appeared in the District Court in Perth on Friday, where Chief Judge Peter Martino set a tentative trial date in July for the pair and their four co-accused.
The trial is expected to take five weeks but the date is dependent on agreement with counsel for the four co-accused.
Mr Milenkovski has been refused bail, but is appealing that decision, with a hearing due in February.
Atlanta, GA - Chief Turner: 'No Decision To Disband Red Dog Unit'
OFF THE WIRE
ATLANTA -- Atlanta Police Chief George Turner called a special meeting Friday with members of the department's Red Dog unit following allegations of inappropriate conduct by some of its members.
Turner spoke to Channel 2 Action News reporter Eric Philips after the meeting. Philips was the first reporter to investigate the victims' claims and began piecing together the story after two men came forward and complained about possible officer misconduct during a June traffic stop on Fulton Street.
"There's a lot of stuff that's happening around that unit. I thought it was the right thing for me to do ... just bring them together and let them know what was happening," Turner said.
Atlanta police are currently conducting an internal investigation into the accusations.
"We're very close to concluding the investigation," Turner said. The three officers involved have been placed on administrative duty pending disciplinary decisions.
When asked whether he planned to disband the Red Dog unit, which has been under scrutiny before, Turner responded: "No. I’ve not made that decision."
In an exclusive interview with Philips, the passenger in the car said members of the Red Dog unit pulled over his friend's vehicle and forced the driver, Shawn Venegas, to pull down his pants on the side of the road in broad daylight. He says officers conducted a body cavity search for drugs on Venegas. No drugs were ever found, passenger Brian Kidd said.
“They went to his bottom part. That’s as low as you can go. I don’t think anybody should be subjected to that kind of search,” Kidd said. “I had to look away because I couldn’t watch my friend be done like that.”
Kidd told Philips that an officer also reached down his pants searching his private parts for drugs.
Venegas said he was so traumatized by the incident that he moved to another state.
"I feel molested, and I feel like I was raped," Venegas told Philips in a phone interview.
“There’s absolutely no justification under these or any other circumstances even, if they had shown any kind of resistance to the officers, to make Shawn take his pants and underwear down in the middle of a city street,” attorney Mark Bullman said.
Turner said he is taking the allegations seriously.
"They can be assured that we're going to do everything we can to get to the truth," said Turner.
Two of the three officers involved in the stop were also named in the infamous Atlanta Eagle bar raid that the city recently settled. Co-counsel on the traffic stop case, Dan Grossman, was the lead attorney in the Atlanta Eagle case.
“I’ve heard many stories from citizens who were stripped in public by Red Dog,” Grossman said.
WSB-TV
Brian Kidd
On Thursday, Atlanta police spokesman Carlos Campos e-mailed a statement to Channel 2 in response to the accusations.
"The Atlanta Police Department is in the process of concluding the internal investigation into this matter. There is evidence to suggest that some of the officers' actions during this traffic stop were inappropriate,” Campos said. “As a result, Chief Turner intends to move swiftly to discipline some of the officers with actions - up to, and including, dismissal.”
According to the department’s website, the Red Dog unit’s mission is to provide a police presence in areas where drug sales and drug-related activities are prevalent.
“The Atlanta Police Department expects its officers to be truthful at all times, to follow all policies and procedures and to follow all of the local, state and federal laws they are sworn to uphold. Failure to do so will not be tolerated," Campos said.
ATLANTA -- Atlanta Police Chief George Turner called a special meeting Friday with members of the department's Red Dog unit following allegations of inappropriate conduct by some of its members.
Turner spoke to Channel 2 Action News reporter Eric Philips after the meeting. Philips was the first reporter to investigate the victims' claims and began piecing together the story after two men came forward and complained about possible officer misconduct during a June traffic stop on Fulton Street.
"There's a lot of stuff that's happening around that unit. I thought it was the right thing for me to do ... just bring them together and let them know what was happening," Turner said.
Atlanta police are currently conducting an internal investigation into the accusations.
"We're very close to concluding the investigation," Turner said. The three officers involved have been placed on administrative duty pending disciplinary decisions.
When asked whether he planned to disband the Red Dog unit, which has been under scrutiny before, Turner responded: "No. I’ve not made that decision."
In an exclusive interview with Philips, the passenger in the car said members of the Red Dog unit pulled over his friend's vehicle and forced the driver, Shawn Venegas, to pull down his pants on the side of the road in broad daylight. He says officers conducted a body cavity search for drugs on Venegas. No drugs were ever found, passenger Brian Kidd said.
“They went to his bottom part. That’s as low as you can go. I don’t think anybody should be subjected to that kind of search,” Kidd said. “I had to look away because I couldn’t watch my friend be done like that.”
Kidd told Philips that an officer also reached down his pants searching his private parts for drugs.
Venegas said he was so traumatized by the incident that he moved to another state.
"I feel molested, and I feel like I was raped," Venegas told Philips in a phone interview.
“There’s absolutely no justification under these or any other circumstances even, if they had shown any kind of resistance to the officers, to make Shawn take his pants and underwear down in the middle of a city street,” attorney Mark Bullman said.
Turner said he is taking the allegations seriously.
"They can be assured that we're going to do everything we can to get to the truth," said Turner.
Two of the three officers involved in the stop were also named in the infamous Atlanta Eagle bar raid that the city recently settled. Co-counsel on the traffic stop case, Dan Grossman, was the lead attorney in the Atlanta Eagle case.
“I’ve heard many stories from citizens who were stripped in public by Red Dog,” Grossman said.
WSB-TV
Brian Kidd
On Thursday, Atlanta police spokesman Carlos Campos e-mailed a statement to Channel 2 in response to the accusations.
"The Atlanta Police Department is in the process of concluding the internal investigation into this matter. There is evidence to suggest that some of the officers' actions during this traffic stop were inappropriate,” Campos said. “As a result, Chief Turner intends to move swiftly to discipline some of the officers with actions - up to, and including, dismissal.”
According to the department’s website, the Red Dog unit’s mission is to provide a police presence in areas where drug sales and drug-related activities are prevalent.
“The Atlanta Police Department expects its officers to be truthful at all times, to follow all policies and procedures and to follow all of the local, state and federal laws they are sworn to uphold. Failure to do so will not be tolerated," Campos said.
New Zealand - Whanganui debates ban on 'outlaw' gang patches
OFF THE WIRE
Wanganui District Council will decide at a special meeting on Monday whether to ban patches belonging to Australia's largest outlaw motorcycle gang after concerns from police that it could be setting up a chapter in New Zealand.
Mayor Annette Main admitted she had never heard of the Rebels Motorcycle Club till police wrote to her two weeks ago, requesting the council to add its patch to the city's list of illegal insignia.
"In the letter that I got, it was quite clear the police were concerned about them, and I don't believe they would rush to add anything to the list if they didn't feel it would be a worry for them," she said. "Apparently the members of that particular gxxg have been seen in Palmerston North, which is pretty near by."
Detective Superintendent Brett Kane, of the Organised and Financial Crime Agency, said it had been aware "for several months" of the Rebels' attempts to set up a chapter in New Zealand.
The Rebels Motorcycle Club was involved in serious violence as well as drug manufacture and trafficking in Australia, he said. "Rebels gxxg members have been sighted in a number of localities throughout the North Island recently and been the focus of police attention already."
As recently as last Wednesday, Auckland police dealt with more than a dozen patched Rebels members near Auckland Airport.
"At the same time an Australian Rebels member trying to get into New Zealand was turned around upon arrival at Auckland International Airport and sent back to where he came from."
The members that have been sighted wearing the Rebels patches in New Zealand were previously members of another outlaw motorcycle gxxg in New Zealand, he said.
Ms Main said she would happily ban Rebels' patches in Whanganui if police felt they presented a threat.
Whanganui area commander Inspector Duncan MacLeod confirmed there had been recent sightings in the Central police district of people wearing Rebels' patches.
Police Minister Judith Collins said the Australian Government considered the Rebels a criminal organisation. "Police have my full support to take whatever steps are necessary under the law to ensure that overseas crime gangs are made to feel as unwelcome as possible."
The Whanganui gxxg patch ban currently covers Black Power, Hells Angels, Magogs, Mothers, Mongrel Mob, Nomads, Tribesmen, Red Devils, Head Hunters and Mangu Kaha.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/4596082/Outlaw-gang-patch-ban-debated
Wanganui District Council will decide at a special meeting on Monday whether to ban patches belonging to Australia's largest outlaw motorcycle gang after concerns from police that it could be setting up a chapter in New Zealand.
Mayor Annette Main admitted she had never heard of the Rebels Motorcycle Club till police wrote to her two weeks ago, requesting the council to add its patch to the city's list of illegal insignia.
"In the letter that I got, it was quite clear the police were concerned about them, and I don't believe they would rush to add anything to the list if they didn't feel it would be a worry for them," she said. "Apparently the members of that particular gxxg have been seen in Palmerston North, which is pretty near by."
Detective Superintendent Brett Kane, of the Organised and Financial Crime Agency, said it had been aware "for several months" of the Rebels' attempts to set up a chapter in New Zealand.
The Rebels Motorcycle Club was involved in serious violence as well as drug manufacture and trafficking in Australia, he said. "Rebels gxxg members have been sighted in a number of localities throughout the North Island recently and been the focus of police attention already."
As recently as last Wednesday, Auckland police dealt with more than a dozen patched Rebels members near Auckland Airport.
"At the same time an Australian Rebels member trying to get into New Zealand was turned around upon arrival at Auckland International Airport and sent back to where he came from."
The members that have been sighted wearing the Rebels patches in New Zealand were previously members of another outlaw motorcycle gxxg in New Zealand, he said.
Ms Main said she would happily ban Rebels' patches in Whanganui if police felt they presented a threat.
Whanganui area commander Inspector Duncan MacLeod confirmed there had been recent sightings in the Central police district of people wearing Rebels' patches.
Police Minister Judith Collins said the Australian Government considered the Rebels a criminal organisation. "Police have my full support to take whatever steps are necessary under the law to ensure that overseas crime gangs are made to feel as unwelcome as possible."
The Whanganui gxxg patch ban currently covers Black Power, Hells Angels, Magogs, Mothers, Mongrel Mob, Nomads, Tribesmen, Red Devils, Head Hunters and Mangu Kaha.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/4596082/Outlaw-gang-patch-ban-debated
Michigan - Woman in critical condition after shooting at Flint motorcycle club
OFF THE WIRE
Kristin Longley
mlive.com
FLINT, Michigan — A 24-year-old woman is in critical condition today after an early morning shooting at a club on the city's north side, police said.
Kanalya Johnson was shot at about 5:20 a.m. today at the Boogie Down Motorcycle Club, 4210 Clio Road, Flint police said.
She was taken by her own vehicle to Hurley Medical Center.
There are no known suspects at this time, police said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Sgt. Brett Small at (810) 237-6917 or Crime Stoppers at (800) 422-JAIL.
Kristin Longley
mlive.com
FLINT, Michigan — A 24-year-old woman is in critical condition today after an early morning shooting at a club on the city's north side, police said.
Kanalya Johnson was shot at about 5:20 a.m. today at the Boogie Down Motorcycle Club, 4210 Clio Road, Flint police said.
She was taken by her own vehicle to Hurley Medical Center.
There are no known suspects at this time, police said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Sgt. Brett Small at (810) 237-6917 or Crime Stoppers at (800) 422-JAIL.
U.S. - It’s still January but state governments are on a roll proposing silly legislation
OFF THE WIRE
Jeff Winkler
dailycaller.com
It’s not yet even February, but lawmakers are already dumping an armload of bad ideas onto their respective state governments. The sheer ridiculousness of a few proposed laws has resulted in some legislators quickly abandoning their efforts with a shrug and an excuse. “Haha! J-K. I didn’t really think it would actually GO anywhere.”
On Tuesday, for instance, Arkansas state legislator Jimmy Jeffress abandoned his proposed bill banning pedestrians from using headphones on the sidewalk or street. Oh well. It was a bad idea while it lasted, which was about 24 hours.
Jeffress said in proposing the legislation he simply wanted to begin a “conversation” about the dangers of listening to Justin Bieber distracted bipedalists. In the days following the immediate backlash, however, Jeffress admitted he caved to pressure from opponents.
In New Jersey, assemblywoman Cleopatra Tucker proposed a law requiring every bicyclist 15-and-over to register with the state, pay a bi-yearly fee and attach an actual license plate to their 10-speed. A week after the legislation was proposed and about a day after the story began to make the rounds, Tucker dropped her bill and blamed crotchety old people for causing a stir about degenerate gangs of teenage bikers.
Despite being easy targets for the nation’s collective ridicule, Arkansas and New Jersey aren’t the only states that have legislators proposing silly laws in the new year.
Vermont legislature needs to put a bag around its head
Earlier this week, legislation was introduced that would ban plastic bags in all Vermont stores. There are only a few problems with this: (1) It’s Vermont (2) It’s a plastic bag ban (3) Even weirdo California bagged similar legislation.
Crazy gunman leads to not so crazy action
Almost a week after the tragic shooting in Arizona, a Virginia state senator decided to drop his proposed bill that would have decreased the restrictions imposed the mentally ill to buy a concealed weapon. Not that the two were related.
It wasn’t the concept that perhaps a firearm in the hands of someone with a history of confusing Jodi Foster with the voice of God may not be the best idea that led W. Roscoe Reynolds to nix his legislation. It was just a “misunderstanding.”
“When I started hearing about the misunderstanding, I contacted [the Commonwealth's Attorney] and indicated to him that there was a great deal of opposition that had been generated to this measure,” said Reynolds, according to Capitol News Service.
Clearly, the mentally well lacked some of Reynolds’ mental acumen.
NEXT PAGE: Big Brother says stay in school & heartless organ donors.
Stay in school or we will watch your every move
Lawmakers all over country have been freaking out since the Arizona shooting. As is always the case with such meltdowns, it’s the children who suffer.
Take South Carolina, where state Rep. Chip Limehouse has proposed a law that would require schools to turn over the records of any “disruptive” student who drops out.
As if societal stigma isn’t enough, South Carolina’s failed youth could now face the judgmental glare of Big Brother.
At least Montana has some sense when it comes to letting kids be. Legislation raising the age at which teenagers can legally drop out of school, from 16 to 18, failed to even make it out of committee last week in their state legislature.
There’s nothing smarter than someone knowing and accepting his or her limits, but proponents of the legislation don’t see it that way. One Montana superintendent said kids need an incentive to stay in school. One can only hope Montana doesn’t get any ideas from South Carolina, although nothing incentivizes someone like the fear that the government is writing up its own detention list.
Colorado has no heart … or at least refuses to give it away willy-nilly
Within a week, a bill that would have automatically classified all Colorado drivers as organ donors was both proposed and voted down.
Even though 66 percent of Coloradans already volunteer to be (potential) donors, the bill’s author said the public just doesn’t get what the state is trying to do.
“There is a lot of misinformation out there, and people are scared and upset,” said state Sen. Lucia Guzman, according to the Denver Post. “It’s just causing too much fear.”
While the bill would have had an “opt-out” option, Guzman just can’t imagine why anyone 16 and up would have an issue with implicit consent. “[There’s] so much need for it,” said Guzman. “The whole goal was to save lives, but people are not well with it.”
Hope isn’t lost for those figurative bleeding hearts who want to “save lives.” As Denver Post columnist Vincent Carroll remarked, if Guzman is still concerned with procuring much-needed organs, she could introduce legislation allowing people to freely choose to sell their own insides. To do that, though, Guzman would most likely need a particular pair of donated organs herself.
Email Jeff Winkler and follow him on The Twitter
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/01/28/its-still-january-but-state-governments-are-on-a-roll-proposing-silly-legislation/#ixzz1CRqy5AaP
Jeff Winkler
dailycaller.com
It’s not yet even February, but lawmakers are already dumping an armload of bad ideas onto their respective state governments. The sheer ridiculousness of a few proposed laws has resulted in some legislators quickly abandoning their efforts with a shrug and an excuse. “Haha! J-K. I didn’t really think it would actually GO anywhere.”
On Tuesday, for instance, Arkansas state legislator Jimmy Jeffress abandoned his proposed bill banning pedestrians from using headphones on the sidewalk or street. Oh well. It was a bad idea while it lasted, which was about 24 hours.
Jeffress said in proposing the legislation he simply wanted to begin a “conversation” about the dangers of listening to Justin Bieber distracted bipedalists. In the days following the immediate backlash, however, Jeffress admitted he caved to pressure from opponents.
In New Jersey, assemblywoman Cleopatra Tucker proposed a law requiring every bicyclist 15-and-over to register with the state, pay a bi-yearly fee and attach an actual license plate to their 10-speed. A week after the legislation was proposed and about a day after the story began to make the rounds, Tucker dropped her bill and blamed crotchety old people for causing a stir about degenerate gangs of teenage bikers.
Despite being easy targets for the nation’s collective ridicule, Arkansas and New Jersey aren’t the only states that have legislators proposing silly laws in the new year.
Vermont legislature needs to put a bag around its head
Earlier this week, legislation was introduced that would ban plastic bags in all Vermont stores. There are only a few problems with this: (1) It’s Vermont (2) It’s a plastic bag ban (3) Even weirdo California bagged similar legislation.
Crazy gunman leads to not so crazy action
Almost a week after the tragic shooting in Arizona, a Virginia state senator decided to drop his proposed bill that would have decreased the restrictions imposed the mentally ill to buy a concealed weapon. Not that the two were related.
It wasn’t the concept that perhaps a firearm in the hands of someone with a history of confusing Jodi Foster with the voice of God may not be the best idea that led W. Roscoe Reynolds to nix his legislation. It was just a “misunderstanding.”
“When I started hearing about the misunderstanding, I contacted [the Commonwealth's Attorney] and indicated to him that there was a great deal of opposition that had been generated to this measure,” said Reynolds, according to Capitol News Service.
Clearly, the mentally well lacked some of Reynolds’ mental acumen.
NEXT PAGE: Big Brother says stay in school & heartless organ donors.
Stay in school or we will watch your every move
Lawmakers all over country have been freaking out since the Arizona shooting. As is always the case with such meltdowns, it’s the children who suffer.
Take South Carolina, where state Rep. Chip Limehouse has proposed a law that would require schools to turn over the records of any “disruptive” student who drops out.
As if societal stigma isn’t enough, South Carolina’s failed youth could now face the judgmental glare of Big Brother.
At least Montana has some sense when it comes to letting kids be. Legislation raising the age at which teenagers can legally drop out of school, from 16 to 18, failed to even make it out of committee last week in their state legislature.
There’s nothing smarter than someone knowing and accepting his or her limits, but proponents of the legislation don’t see it that way. One Montana superintendent said kids need an incentive to stay in school. One can only hope Montana doesn’t get any ideas from South Carolina, although nothing incentivizes someone like the fear that the government is writing up its own detention list.
Colorado has no heart … or at least refuses to give it away willy-nilly
Within a week, a bill that would have automatically classified all Colorado drivers as organ donors was both proposed and voted down.
Even though 66 percent of Coloradans already volunteer to be (potential) donors, the bill’s author said the public just doesn’t get what the state is trying to do.
“There is a lot of misinformation out there, and people are scared and upset,” said state Sen. Lucia Guzman, according to the Denver Post. “It’s just causing too much fear.”
While the bill would have had an “opt-out” option, Guzman just can’t imagine why anyone 16 and up would have an issue with implicit consent. “[There’s] so much need for it,” said Guzman. “The whole goal was to save lives, but people are not well with it.”
Hope isn’t lost for those figurative bleeding hearts who want to “save lives.” As Denver Post columnist Vincent Carroll remarked, if Guzman is still concerned with procuring much-needed organs, she could introduce legislation allowing people to freely choose to sell their own insides. To do that, though, Guzman would most likely need a particular pair of donated organs herself.
Email Jeff Winkler and follow him on The Twitter
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/01/28/its-still-january-but-state-governments-are-on-a-roll-proposing-silly-legislation/#ixzz1CRqy5AaP
Cavity Search on the side of the Road?
OFF THE WIRE
Don't get pulled over in Atlanta
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/26647035/detail.html
Chief Turner: 'No Decision To Disband Red Dog Unit'
Embed this Video
Officers Investigated After Strip Search
Eric Philips reports
ATLANTA -- Atlanta Police Chief George Turner called a special meeting Friday with members of the department's Red Dog unit following allegations of inappropriate conduct by some of its members.
RAW: Atlanta Police Chief Addresses Red Dog Probe
Turner spoke to Channel 2 Action News reporter Eric Philips after the meeting. Philips was the first reporter to investigate the victims' claims and began piecing together the story after two men came forward and complained about possible officer misconduct during a June traffic stop on Fulton Street.
"There's a lot of stuff that's happening around that unit. I thought it was the right thing for me to do ... just bring them together and let them know what was happening," Turner said.
Atlanta police are currently conducting an internal investigation into the accusations.
"We're very close to concluding the investigation," Turner said. The three officers involved have been placed on administrative duty pending disciplinary decisions.
When asked whether he planned to disband the Red Dog unit, which has been under scrutiny before, Turner responded: "No. I’ve not made that decision."
In an exclusive interview with Philips, the passenger in the car said members of the Red Dog unit pulled over his friend's vehicle and forced the driver, Shawn Venegas, to pull down his pants on the side of the road in broad daylight. He says officers conducted a body cavity search for drugs on Venegas. No drugs were ever found, passenger Brian Kidd said.
Don't get pulled over in Atlanta
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/26647035/detail.html
Chief Turner: 'No Decision To Disband Red Dog Unit'
Embed this Video
Officers Investigated After Strip Search
Eric Philips reports
ATLANTA -- Atlanta Police Chief George Turner called a special meeting Friday with members of the department's Red Dog unit following allegations of inappropriate conduct by some of its members.
RAW: Atlanta Police Chief Addresses Red Dog Probe
Turner spoke to Channel 2 Action News reporter Eric Philips after the meeting. Philips was the first reporter to investigate the victims' claims and began piecing together the story after two men came forward and complained about possible officer misconduct during a June traffic stop on Fulton Street.
"There's a lot of stuff that's happening around that unit. I thought it was the right thing for me to do ... just bring them together and let them know what was happening," Turner said.
Atlanta police are currently conducting an internal investigation into the accusations.
"We're very close to concluding the investigation," Turner said. The three officers involved have been placed on administrative duty pending disciplinary decisions.
When asked whether he planned to disband the Red Dog unit, which has been under scrutiny before, Turner responded: "No. I’ve not made that decision."
In an exclusive interview with Philips, the passenger in the car said members of the Red Dog unit pulled over his friend's vehicle and forced the driver, Shawn Venegas, to pull down his pants on the side of the road in broad daylight. He says officers conducted a body cavity search for drugs on Venegas. No drugs were ever found, passenger Brian Kidd said.
Ocala, FLORIDA - Motorcyclists share hope with Lowell inmates
OFF THE WIRE
Carlos E. Medina
ocala.com
ROOT Ministry puts an emphasis on how people can change for the better in their ministry.
More than 20 motorcycles, complete with leather-clad bikers, roared into the yard at Lowell Correctional Institution in a surprise visit to the women's state prison on Saturday morning.
The motorcycles were part of a non-denominational Christian outreach program that visits correctional facilities across the state to try to spread hope to those inside.
Organizing the event was ROOT Outreach, based at Fellowship Baptist Church near Ocala (ROOT stands for Running Out of Time). Members of several other ministries attended the event as well.
Many of the bikers at the event have checkered pasts themselves — pasts that are used as examples of how anyone can be reformed.
"I usually end up talking to the mean ones, because I used to be a mean one," said Debbie Whisenant of ROOT. "At one time, I was property of a one-percenter biker gang. We've done exactly what they've done, but God saved us."
The one-percenter designation is biker slang for the 1 percent of bikers who belong to criminal and outlaw motorcycle clubs.
"We talk to people who are depressed and despondent because they think they have done too many things wrong. We're here to let them know that it's never too late," she said. "Some people don't like that we do this for the inmates. I feel that they might deserve to be in prison, but they don't have to go to hell."
Willie Allen, who spent 15 years on Florida's Death Row and 26 years in prison before his conviction was overturned, was back near familiar ground.
"I spent some time at Marion Correctional Institute (the men's prison) across the street. I'm familiar with this area," he said "I know what they are going through, but I can say Jesus got me out and kept me out. That can be true for anyone here. I was institutionalized for 26 years and broke that old theory that if you're in for more than five years, you won't stay out long."
Allen travels across the country and abroad, sharing his story to other prisoners.
Parked on the basketball court area inside the prison gates, the motorcycles drew the attention of the inmates. Dozens of them began filing into the area to get a closer look. The most popular was a custom chopper built by Al Paquette. The bike, named "Doin' Time," features a prison motif with a miniature working cell door on the gas tank. The rest of the bike is adorned with handcuffs, razor wire and other items seen at prisons.
The inmates freely mingled with those at the event, talked about motorcycles, compared tattoos and even started dancing to the ministry's music.
"I'm glad that they did this for us. It's great to just meet people and talk to them. In here it's a daily routine," said Debra Touchet, one of the inmates at the event.
Carlos E. Medina
ocala.com
ROOT Ministry puts an emphasis on how people can change for the better in their ministry.
More than 20 motorcycles, complete with leather-clad bikers, roared into the yard at Lowell Correctional Institution in a surprise visit to the women's state prison on Saturday morning.
The motorcycles were part of a non-denominational Christian outreach program that visits correctional facilities across the state to try to spread hope to those inside.
Organizing the event was ROOT Outreach, based at Fellowship Baptist Church near Ocala (ROOT stands for Running Out of Time). Members of several other ministries attended the event as well.
Many of the bikers at the event have checkered pasts themselves — pasts that are used as examples of how anyone can be reformed.
"I usually end up talking to the mean ones, because I used to be a mean one," said Debbie Whisenant of ROOT. "At one time, I was property of a one-percenter biker gang. We've done exactly what they've done, but God saved us."
The one-percenter designation is biker slang for the 1 percent of bikers who belong to criminal and outlaw motorcycle clubs.
"We talk to people who are depressed and despondent because they think they have done too many things wrong. We're here to let them know that it's never too late," she said. "Some people don't like that we do this for the inmates. I feel that they might deserve to be in prison, but they don't have to go to hell."
Willie Allen, who spent 15 years on Florida's Death Row and 26 years in prison before his conviction was overturned, was back near familiar ground.
"I spent some time at Marion Correctional Institute (the men's prison) across the street. I'm familiar with this area," he said "I know what they are going through, but I can say Jesus got me out and kept me out. That can be true for anyone here. I was institutionalized for 26 years and broke that old theory that if you're in for more than five years, you won't stay out long."
Allen travels across the country and abroad, sharing his story to other prisoners.
Parked on the basketball court area inside the prison gates, the motorcycles drew the attention of the inmates. Dozens of them began filing into the area to get a closer look. The most popular was a custom chopper built by Al Paquette. The bike, named "Doin' Time," features a prison motif with a miniature working cell door on the gas tank. The rest of the bike is adorned with handcuffs, razor wire and other items seen at prisons.
The inmates freely mingled with those at the event, talked about motorcycles, compared tattoos and even started dancing to the ministry's music.
"I'm glad that they did this for us. It's great to just meet people and talk to them. In here it's a daily routine," said Debra Touchet, one of the inmates at the event.
Profiling Bills to receive hearings by Washington State Legislators
OFF THE WIRE
Sent by Donnie
Wash State
The Washington Senate and House has stepped up to schedule seperate hearings on consecutive days next week.
I will be travelling to Olympia in order to testify in favor of passing a law to limit law enforcement from unfairly targeting motorcycists.
The full text of the bills can be seen at leg.wa.org; the hearings will be broadcast live online on TVW.org.
There is a lot of support in this years legislature. If the bills pass out of committee, we expect them to land on the Governors desk for signature.
HB1333 - Addressing Motorcycle Profiling has been scheduled for a public hearing in the House Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness Committee this coming Tuesday, February 1st at 10am
SB5242 - Addressing Motorcycle Profiling has been scheduled for a public hearing in the Seante Judiciary Committee this coming Wednesday, February 2nd at 1:30pm.
Sent by Donnie
Wash State
The Washington Senate and House has stepped up to schedule seperate hearings on consecutive days next week.
I will be travelling to Olympia in order to testify in favor of passing a law to limit law enforcement from unfairly targeting motorcycists.
The full text of the bills can be seen at leg.wa.org; the hearings will be broadcast live online on TVW.org.
There is a lot of support in this years legislature. If the bills pass out of committee, we expect them to land on the Governors desk for signature.
HB1333 - Addressing Motorcycle Profiling has been scheduled for a public hearing in the House Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness Committee this coming Tuesday, February 1st at 10am
SB5242 - Addressing Motorcycle Profiling has been scheduled for a public hearing in the Seante Judiciary Committee this coming Wednesday, February 2nd at 1:30pm.
Australia - Sydney bikie charged with stealing 12 cars
OFF THE WIRE
news.ninemsn.com.au
An outlaw motorcycle club member will face court for allegedly stealing 12 cars from a south-western Sydney caryard.
A group of 13 men entered the holding yard on Shepherd Street at Liverpool on February 14 2009 before assaulting three employees.
The men locked one of them in the boot of a car and the others in a separate car.
The group then stole keys from before driving off with a dozen cars.
Police will allege the total estimated value of the stolen vehicles was $500,000.
All 12 of the stolen vehicles have been recovered by police under Strike Force Eastbourne.
At about 9pm (AEDT) on Friday, a 26-year-old man, believed to be a member of Comanchero Outlaw Motorcycle Gang, was arrested at a hotel in Macquarie Street, Sydney.
He was charged with a string of robbery charges as well as resisting arrest and assaulting police.
The 26-year-old was also charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm in relation to an unrelated matter at Cremorne on March 13, 2010.
He was refused bail and appears in Parramatta Bail Court on saturday
news.ninemsn.com.au
An outlaw motorcycle club member will face court for allegedly stealing 12 cars from a south-western Sydney caryard.
A group of 13 men entered the holding yard on Shepherd Street at Liverpool on February 14 2009 before assaulting three employees.
The men locked one of them in the boot of a car and the others in a separate car.
The group then stole keys from before driving off with a dozen cars.
Police will allege the total estimated value of the stolen vehicles was $500,000.
All 12 of the stolen vehicles have been recovered by police under Strike Force Eastbourne.
At about 9pm (AEDT) on Friday, a 26-year-old man, believed to be a member of Comanchero Outlaw Motorcycle Gang, was arrested at a hotel in Macquarie Street, Sydney.
He was charged with a string of robbery charges as well as resisting arrest and assaulting police.
The 26-year-old was also charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm in relation to an unrelated matter at Cremorne on March 13, 2010.
He was refused bail and appears in Parramatta Bail Court on saturday
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Operation Home Base. Never Can Say Goodbye. 2 Projects my friend Theresa needs help with,Screwdriver
I am a Michigan Filmmaker who has a couple of projects that need help.
I need an executive producer or production company with strong network connections to partner with me on military series, Operation Home Base. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQbdtISzVUo
Combining MASH and Little House on the Prairie into a family of man drama, Operation Home Base combines the real life challenges of living the military life with a fictional world-wide conspiracy of intrigue, murder, and lies
I also need a director for my paranormal romance, Never Can Say Goodbye.
Never Can Say Good-bye is a paranormal romance reminiscent of the Reincarnation of Peter Proud and Fatal Attraction. Elizabeth arrives in Coyote Springs to help a friend. Instead she learns that love and hate survive death. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF-SZLflIM4
I would very much like to talk to you about my projects and yours. Please give me a call at 231-943-3298.
Thanks
Theresa Chaze
Described as a woman who has the courage to play with dragons, Theresa Chaze has gone where fools and angels fear to tread and has flourished. To read the treatment of her military series, Operation Home Base and excerpts of her screenplays go to her site at www.theresachaze.com
Courage isn't the lack of fear, but the ability to set it aside and focus on what is truly important
I need an executive producer or production company with strong network connections to partner with me on military series, Operation Home Base. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQbdtISzVUo
Combining MASH and Little House on the Prairie into a family of man drama, Operation Home Base combines the real life challenges of living the military life with a fictional world-wide conspiracy of intrigue, murder, and lies
I also need a director for my paranormal romance, Never Can Say Goodbye.
Never Can Say Good-bye is a paranormal romance reminiscent of the Reincarnation of Peter Proud and Fatal Attraction. Elizabeth arrives in Coyote Springs to help a friend. Instead she learns that love and hate survive death. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF-SZLflIM4
I would very much like to talk to you about my projects and yours. Please give me a call at 231-943-3298.
Thanks
Theresa Chaze
Described as a woman who has the courage to play with dragons, Theresa Chaze has gone where fools and angels fear to tread and has flourished. To read the treatment of her military series, Operation Home Base and excerpts of her screenplays go to her site at www.theresachaze.com
Courage isn't the lack of fear, but the ability to set it aside and focus on what is truly important
Westmoreland County, PA - 2 sides of Greensburg Salem School District employee emerge
OFF THE WIRE
Bob Stiles
pittsburghlive.com
David Greece is a likeable guy, a Greensburg Salem School District employee who rubbed shoulders with Westmoreland County community leaders, Average Joes and even police, said neighbors and others who know him.
But authorities said there was another side to Greece, 53, of 311 Twin Lakes Road, Unity. Behind the "nice guy" persona was a major drug trafficker who carried large amounts of cocaine in a thermos and associated with a biker gang.
"He was popular in the county, known in the county," county Detective Tony Marcocci said Friday.
Greece, a maintenance employee for Greensburg Salem; his wife, Paula J., 53; and Patricia L. Tuscano, 32, of 112 Tomato Farm Road, Unity, were charged Thursday with conspiracy and drug-distribution and possession charges after a year-long investigation involving state police at Greensburg, county detectives and Greensburg police.
Investigators said Greece ran the drug-distribution group, dispersing Colombian cocaine to mid-level street dealers for sale. They declined to say how Greece allegedly obtained the drugs.
Police said they had no evidence of Greece selling drugs to Greensburg Salem students.
"He was a major drug dealer," said Marcocci, one of the arresting officers. "He supplied various parts of Westmoreland County ... mostly in the Greensburg area."
Authorities seized 2.2 pounds of cocaine, about $135,000 and 42 firearms — many were loaded and some were assault rifles — during searches Thursday at the Greece and Tuscano homes. Three vehicles — a BMW, a Cadillac Escalade and a Chevrolet pickup — were confiscated. Police also seized a John Deere front loader, two lawn tractors, two motorized scooters, four Polaris ATVs, three snowmobiles, two snowmobile trailers and two motorcycles, including a Harley-Davidson Road King.
Yesterday, police were in the process of freezing the suspects' bank accounts. One account had a balance of more than $90,000.
Authorities said they have suspected David Greece of drug trafficking for at least three years, but they were unable to build a case against him until recently. Trooper Steve Limani, state police spokesman, said some recent drug arrests helped in the investigation. He declined to elaborate.
"We heard rumors for years," said Greensburg police Chief Walter "Wally" Lyons, "but we had no evidence to substantiate what we were hearing until this investigation began."
Marcocci said informants knew of Greece but were afraid of him.
"Everybody told me ... a lot of people were afraid of him because of the weapons," he said. "I don't know if he made it known (he had weapons), but people knew."
Because of the weapons, a heavily armed state police Special Emergency Response Team went to Greece's home Thursday for the search, Limani said. He wasn't home, but Paula Greece was in the driveway when police arrived. She was carrying a loaded handgun, more than $2,000 and an unspecified amount of cocaine, according to court papers. She was arrested, and her husband and Tuscano were taken into custody in unspecified locations at about the same time.
When police arrived at Tuscano's home nearby to search for bank records, photographs and other documents, they discovered suspected cocaine, investigators said.
"This item was discovered in a small canvas bag that was on the washer that is located in the hallway of the residence by the main door," states a search warrant affidavit.
At least two other search warrants involved in the investigation have been sealed from public view.
Greece and his wife moved into their well-maintained, middle-class home in a rural area. Police believe he spent some of his drug profits on the expensive vehicles parked there.
Greece and Tuscano's activities had been monitored for some time, court papers show.
"Surveillance had observed Tuscano and Greece meeting on numerous occasions, either at the Tuscano residence or the Greece residence," states an arrest warrant affidavit. "On one occasion, surveillance observed Greece carrying a large thermos in which, informants have advised (police), Greece kept his cocaine."
A thermos containing "a large quantity of cocaine" was seized at Tuscano's home, according to court papers.
Officers confiscated about $15,000 from a safe at the Greece residence, along with Inositol, a drug used to dilute cocaine, according to court papers.
Law enforcement sources said Greece knew members of the Pagans motorcycle gang, but he was not a member. They wouldn't elaborate on the connections.
Greensburg Salem Superintendent Tom Yarabinetz said Greece has been indefinitely suspended without pay. He was hired as a custodian in 1979, then worked out of the district's maintenance shed at Offutt Field.
"We were dismayed, obviously, that an employee would be involved in something like that," Yarabinetz said. "It was shocking."
He described Greece as a personable, likeable man who gave no indication he was involved in alleged drug dealing.
Neighbor Patricia King said she often saw David Greece jogging and his wife driving past in a pickup. The couple have two adult daughters.
"They were very friendly," King said. "We talked. They were nice. I never thought anything like that was going on up there."
David Greece grew up in Greensburg and graduated from Greensburg Salem High School in the 1970s. He and Paula J. Redding were married in 1976.
Tuscano, who grew up in the Bovard area, graduated from Greater Latrobe High School in 1998. Her brother, David Ness Jr., 33, of Greensburg, was among 14 people arrested in December by the county drug task force after a six-month investigation.
"It's shocking, and it's sad," said Trudy Ivory, school board president, who graduated from Greensburg Salem a few years before Greece. "I'm sorry (that) for whatever reason he got caught up in what he did and made the choices he did."
Read more: 2 sides of Greensburg Salem School District employee emerge - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/westmoreland/s_720415.html#ixzz1CRnXs9lj
Bob Stiles
pittsburghlive.com
David Greece is a likeable guy, a Greensburg Salem School District employee who rubbed shoulders with Westmoreland County community leaders, Average Joes and even police, said neighbors and others who know him.
But authorities said there was another side to Greece, 53, of 311 Twin Lakes Road, Unity. Behind the "nice guy" persona was a major drug trafficker who carried large amounts of cocaine in a thermos and associated with a biker gang.
"He was popular in the county, known in the county," county Detective Tony Marcocci said Friday.
Greece, a maintenance employee for Greensburg Salem; his wife, Paula J., 53; and Patricia L. Tuscano, 32, of 112 Tomato Farm Road, Unity, were charged Thursday with conspiracy and drug-distribution and possession charges after a year-long investigation involving state police at Greensburg, county detectives and Greensburg police.
Investigators said Greece ran the drug-distribution group, dispersing Colombian cocaine to mid-level street dealers for sale. They declined to say how Greece allegedly obtained the drugs.
Police said they had no evidence of Greece selling drugs to Greensburg Salem students.
"He was a major drug dealer," said Marcocci, one of the arresting officers. "He supplied various parts of Westmoreland County ... mostly in the Greensburg area."
Authorities seized 2.2 pounds of cocaine, about $135,000 and 42 firearms — many were loaded and some were assault rifles — during searches Thursday at the Greece and Tuscano homes. Three vehicles — a BMW, a Cadillac Escalade and a Chevrolet pickup — were confiscated. Police also seized a John Deere front loader, two lawn tractors, two motorized scooters, four Polaris ATVs, three snowmobiles, two snowmobile trailers and two motorcycles, including a Harley-Davidson Road King.
Yesterday, police were in the process of freezing the suspects' bank accounts. One account had a balance of more than $90,000.
Authorities said they have suspected David Greece of drug trafficking for at least three years, but they were unable to build a case against him until recently. Trooper Steve Limani, state police spokesman, said some recent drug arrests helped in the investigation. He declined to elaborate.
"We heard rumors for years," said Greensburg police Chief Walter "Wally" Lyons, "but we had no evidence to substantiate what we were hearing until this investigation began."
Marcocci said informants knew of Greece but were afraid of him.
"Everybody told me ... a lot of people were afraid of him because of the weapons," he said. "I don't know if he made it known (he had weapons), but people knew."
Because of the weapons, a heavily armed state police Special Emergency Response Team went to Greece's home Thursday for the search, Limani said. He wasn't home, but Paula Greece was in the driveway when police arrived. She was carrying a loaded handgun, more than $2,000 and an unspecified amount of cocaine, according to court papers. She was arrested, and her husband and Tuscano were taken into custody in unspecified locations at about the same time.
When police arrived at Tuscano's home nearby to search for bank records, photographs and other documents, they discovered suspected cocaine, investigators said.
"This item was discovered in a small canvas bag that was on the washer that is located in the hallway of the residence by the main door," states a search warrant affidavit.
At least two other search warrants involved in the investigation have been sealed from public view.
Greece and his wife moved into their well-maintained, middle-class home in a rural area. Police believe he spent some of his drug profits on the expensive vehicles parked there.
Greece and Tuscano's activities had been monitored for some time, court papers show.
"Surveillance had observed Tuscano and Greece meeting on numerous occasions, either at the Tuscano residence or the Greece residence," states an arrest warrant affidavit. "On one occasion, surveillance observed Greece carrying a large thermos in which, informants have advised (police), Greece kept his cocaine."
A thermos containing "a large quantity of cocaine" was seized at Tuscano's home, according to court papers.
Officers confiscated about $15,000 from a safe at the Greece residence, along with Inositol, a drug used to dilute cocaine, according to court papers.
Law enforcement sources said Greece knew members of the Pagans motorcycle gang, but he was not a member. They wouldn't elaborate on the connections.
Greensburg Salem Superintendent Tom Yarabinetz said Greece has been indefinitely suspended without pay. He was hired as a custodian in 1979, then worked out of the district's maintenance shed at Offutt Field.
"We were dismayed, obviously, that an employee would be involved in something like that," Yarabinetz said. "It was shocking."
He described Greece as a personable, likeable man who gave no indication he was involved in alleged drug dealing.
Neighbor Patricia King said she often saw David Greece jogging and his wife driving past in a pickup. The couple have two adult daughters.
"They were very friendly," King said. "We talked. They were nice. I never thought anything like that was going on up there."
David Greece grew up in Greensburg and graduated from Greensburg Salem High School in the 1970s. He and Paula J. Redding were married in 1976.
Tuscano, who grew up in the Bovard area, graduated from Greater Latrobe High School in 1998. Her brother, David Ness Jr., 33, of Greensburg, was among 14 people arrested in December by the county drug task force after a six-month investigation.
"It's shocking, and it's sad," said Trudy Ivory, school board president, who graduated from Greensburg Salem a few years before Greece. "I'm sorry (that) for whatever reason he got caught up in what he did and made the choices he did."
Read more: 2 sides of Greensburg Salem School District employee emerge - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/westmoreland/s_720415.html#ixzz1CRnXs9lj
New Zealand - Turf wars expected as gang sets up..
OFF THE WIRE
Turf wars could follow as the Rebels seek to build their presence. (NZ Herald)
The establishment of a branch of the Australia Rebels in New Zealand could involve fights over territory with rivals says expert.
Rival gangs could be drawn into turf wars as the Australia Rebels seek to gain a foothold in New Zealand.
The Rebels Motorcycle Club is moving in on the Tribesmen and Canterbury University gang researcher, Jarrod Gilbert, says there's probably little authorities can do to stop them."There maybe some territorial conflict if the rebels choose to expand quickly, as they did in Australia and step on other gangs' toes."
He says the Rebels have already been here for some time, but doesn't see any reason to be alarmist about the gang. While gangs and the underworld are closely related he says it's often only a few members who are involved in crime.
Mr Gilbert says it leaves the authorities in a tricky position. "They clearly don't want the rebels here" he says, "but there's very little they can do about it. They'll be diligent, as they always are with the clubs and the gangs, and they'll police them as they need to be policed."
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/newsdetail1.asp?storyID=189873
Turf wars could follow as the Rebels seek to build their presence. (NZ Herald)
The establishment of a branch of the Australia Rebels in New Zealand could involve fights over territory with rivals says expert.
Rival gangs could be drawn into turf wars as the Australia Rebels seek to gain a foothold in New Zealand.
The Rebels Motorcycle Club is moving in on the Tribesmen and Canterbury University gang researcher, Jarrod Gilbert, says there's probably little authorities can do to stop them."There maybe some territorial conflict if the rebels choose to expand quickly, as they did in Australia and step on other gangs' toes."
He says the Rebels have already been here for some time, but doesn't see any reason to be alarmist about the gang. While gangs and the underworld are closely related he says it's often only a few members who are involved in crime.
Mr Gilbert says it leaves the authorities in a tricky position. "They clearly don't want the rebels here" he says, "but there's very little they can do about it. They'll be diligent, as they always are with the clubs and the gangs, and they'll police them as they need to be policed."
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/newsdetail1.asp?storyID=189873
Australia - Bikies stopped by cops in Thomastown
OFF THE WIRE
Cheryl Balfour
whittlesea-leader.whereilive.com.au
POLICE intercepted almost 100 Hells Angels bikies just metres from their Thomastown headquarters in Lipton Drive today.
Preston police Sen-Sgt Trevor Lockwood said about 90 Angels were pulled over while police inspected their bikes and licences.
Sen-Sgt Lockwood said he was pleased that all the bikies were found compliant of licensing regulations and road worthiness.
“It wasn’t targeting Hells Angels in particular, it was a proactive operation,’’ Sen-Sgt Lockwood said.
“A lot of cars were pulled up too.’’
Cheryl Balfour
whittlesea-leader.whereilive.com.au
POLICE intercepted almost 100 Hells Angels bikies just metres from their Thomastown headquarters in Lipton Drive today.
Preston police Sen-Sgt Trevor Lockwood said about 90 Angels were pulled over while police inspected their bikes and licences.
Sen-Sgt Lockwood said he was pleased that all the bikies were found compliant of licensing regulations and road worthiness.
“It wasn’t targeting Hells Angels in particular, it was a proactive operation,’’ Sen-Sgt Lockwood said.
“A lot of cars were pulled up too.’’
New Zealand - Kiwi police ready to fight Aussie gangs
OFF THE WIRE
nzherald.co.nz
New Zealand police will be on guard against letting any Australian gangs set up shop here, Police Minister Judith Collins says.
The Rebels MC, Australia's largest outlaw motorcycle gang with a reported 2000 members, has been looking to expand into New Zealand, she said. The Australian government considers them a criminal organisation.
The gang is involved in serious violence, and the manufacture and trafficking of drugs, according to New Zealand police.
"A very clear message needs to be sent to crime gangs from Australia and elsewhere that they are not welcome in New Zealand," Ms Collins said.
"Efforts by these gangs to set up shop and begin their criminal activities in New Zealand will meet with a very firm response from police and Ofcanz (the Organised and Financial Crime Agency) who will work with other government agencies.
"Efforts by this Australian gang to gain a foothold on this side of the Tasman underline how crime gangs are now big businesses with connections all around the world."
She said the Government had taken a hard line against gangs and gave police new powers to intercept gang communications, dismantle gang fortresses and seize property from criminals.
"Police and Ofcanz have my full support to take whatever steps are necessary under the law to ensure that overseas crime gangs are made to feel as unwelcome as possible."
Detective Superintendent Brett Kane, of Ofcanz, said police had known for several months the gang wanted to set up a chapter in New Zealand.
He said Wanganui police had started the process to have the Rebels designated as a gang under the local bylaw. If that succeeded, they would be added to the list of gangs under the bylaw which stopped the wearing of gang patches.
"OFCANZ and police in all districts will be very proactive in policing members of this gang. Rebels gang members have been sighted in a number of localities throughout the North Island recently and been the focus of police attention already," said Mr Kane.
He said they were wearing Rebels patches, were well known to police and had been members of another outlaw motorcycle gang in New Zealand.
Earlier this week, police dealt with more than a dozen patched Rebels members near Auckland Airport.
"At the same time an Australian Rebels member trying to get into New Zealand was turned around upon arrival at Auckland International Airport and sent back to where he came from.
"They will continue to be the focus of concentrated law enforcement attention as we intend to disrupt their plans to establish this gang here,'' Mr Kane said.
"We don't intend to put a welcome mat out for these people."
nzherald.co.nz
New Zealand police will be on guard against letting any Australian gangs set up shop here, Police Minister Judith Collins says.
The Rebels MC, Australia's largest outlaw motorcycle gang with a reported 2000 members, has been looking to expand into New Zealand, she said. The Australian government considers them a criminal organisation.
The gang is involved in serious violence, and the manufacture and trafficking of drugs, according to New Zealand police.
"A very clear message needs to be sent to crime gangs from Australia and elsewhere that they are not welcome in New Zealand," Ms Collins said.
"Efforts by these gangs to set up shop and begin their criminal activities in New Zealand will meet with a very firm response from police and Ofcanz (the Organised and Financial Crime Agency) who will work with other government agencies.
"Efforts by this Australian gang to gain a foothold on this side of the Tasman underline how crime gangs are now big businesses with connections all around the world."
She said the Government had taken a hard line against gangs and gave police new powers to intercept gang communications, dismantle gang fortresses and seize property from criminals.
"Police and Ofcanz have my full support to take whatever steps are necessary under the law to ensure that overseas crime gangs are made to feel as unwelcome as possible."
Detective Superintendent Brett Kane, of Ofcanz, said police had known for several months the gang wanted to set up a chapter in New Zealand.
He said Wanganui police had started the process to have the Rebels designated as a gang under the local bylaw. If that succeeded, they would be added to the list of gangs under the bylaw which stopped the wearing of gang patches.
"OFCANZ and police in all districts will be very proactive in policing members of this gang. Rebels gang members have been sighted in a number of localities throughout the North Island recently and been the focus of police attention already," said Mr Kane.
He said they were wearing Rebels patches, were well known to police and had been members of another outlaw motorcycle gang in New Zealand.
Earlier this week, police dealt with more than a dozen patched Rebels members near Auckland Airport.
"At the same time an Australian Rebels member trying to get into New Zealand was turned around upon arrival at Auckland International Airport and sent back to where he came from.
"They will continue to be the focus of concentrated law enforcement attention as we intend to disrupt their plans to establish this gang here,'' Mr Kane said.
"We don't intend to put a welcome mat out for these people."
New Zealand - Rebels not welcome here
OFF THE WIRE
police.govt.nz
Australia's largest outlaw motorcycle gang is trying to set up shop in New Zealand but enforcement agencies here say they are actively working to ensure the gang does not get a foothold and intend to disrupt their establishment plans.
Detective Superintendent Brett Kane, Organised and Financial Crime Agency (OFCANZ) said the gang, which calls itself the Rebel Motorcycle Club, was involved in serious violence as well as drug manufacture and trafficking in Australia.
"For several months we have been aware of their attempts to set up a chapter in New Zealand."
Whanganui Police have begun the process to have the Rebels designated as a gang under the local bylaw for enforcement purposes.
If that process is successful they will be added to the list of gangs under the bylaw which prohibits the wearing of gang patches within the Whanganui bylaw designated area.
"OFCANZ and Police in all districts will be very proactive in policing members of this gang. Rebels gang members have been sighted in a number of localities throughout the North Island recently and been the focus of Police attention already.
The members sighted wearing the Rebels patches are well known to Police and were previously members of another outlaw motorcycle gang in New Zealand.
As recently as last Wednesday (26 January 2011) Auckland Police dealt with more than a dozen patched Rebels members near Auckland Airport.
"At the same time an Australian Rebels member trying to get into New Zealand was turned around upon arrival at Auckland International Airport and sent back to where he came from."
"They will continue to be the focus of concentrated law enforcement attention as we intend to disrupt their plans to establish this gang here," Mr Kane said.
"We don't intend to put a welcome mat out for these people."
For further information
Jane Archibald
027 568 0267
04 474 9442
ENDS
police.govt.nz
Australia's largest outlaw motorcycle gang is trying to set up shop in New Zealand but enforcement agencies here say they are actively working to ensure the gang does not get a foothold and intend to disrupt their establishment plans.
Detective Superintendent Brett Kane, Organised and Financial Crime Agency (OFCANZ) said the gang, which calls itself the Rebel Motorcycle Club, was involved in serious violence as well as drug manufacture and trafficking in Australia.
"For several months we have been aware of their attempts to set up a chapter in New Zealand."
Whanganui Police have begun the process to have the Rebels designated as a gang under the local bylaw for enforcement purposes.
If that process is successful they will be added to the list of gangs under the bylaw which prohibits the wearing of gang patches within the Whanganui bylaw designated area.
"OFCANZ and Police in all districts will be very proactive in policing members of this gang. Rebels gang members have been sighted in a number of localities throughout the North Island recently and been the focus of Police attention already.
The members sighted wearing the Rebels patches are well known to Police and were previously members of another outlaw motorcycle gang in New Zealand.
As recently as last Wednesday (26 January 2011) Auckland Police dealt with more than a dozen patched Rebels members near Auckland Airport.
"At the same time an Australian Rebels member trying to get into New Zealand was turned around upon arrival at Auckland International Airport and sent back to where he came from."
"They will continue to be the focus of concentrated law enforcement attention as we intend to disrupt their plans to establish this gang here," Mr Kane said.
"We don't intend to put a welcome mat out for these people."
For further information
Jane Archibald
027 568 0267
04 474 9442
ENDS
"Secret account" motorcycles being returned to dealer
OFF THE WIRE
http://www2.journalnow.com/news/2011/jan/28/wsmain01-quotsecret-accountquot-motorcycles-being--ar-733056/
YADKINVILLE --
A Harley-Davidson motorcycle used by former Yadkin County Sheriff Mike Cain and paid for through a secret account has been returned to the dealer, and two motorcycles used by his top deputies are being returned.
The motorcycles were the key to investigators finding the secret Sheriff Mike Cain Officers Fund that Cain had set up at a bank using his own Social Security number, authorities said. The account included money he'd diverted from operations at the jail.
Cain, who used his Harley for trips to a national rally in Sturgis, S.D., as well as to the beach, resigned as sheriff Wednesday morning. He also used money in the account for personal items such as riding chaps, a leather jacket, a cowboy hat and cowboy boots.
Minutes after he resigned in the wake of a State Bureau of Investigation probe, Cain pleaded guilty in Superior Court to 9 misdemeanor counts related to misusing the money. He must pay $20,000 in restitution, do 200 hours of community service and surrender his law enforcement certification, among other punishments.
Shortly after, in District Court, Maj. Danny Widener pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor counts of private use of a publicly owned vehicle in connection with his use of one of the Harleys. Lt. Tom Helms entered an Alford plea on one count of private use of a publicly owned vehicle. Under an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges that prosecutors have enough evidence for a conviction.
Both Widener and Helms were working at the sheriff's office on Thursday.
The sheriff's secretary, Lynn Crater, resigned Thursday. She had been working at the sheriff's office since 1988. She was not charged in connection with the crimes.
The sheriff's daughter, Heather Cain Shew, resigned from her clerical job in the sheriff's office last Friday, the day her father notified county commissioners that he intended to resign. She had been hired last June.
Ricky Oliver, who was voted in as sheriff by county commissioners on Wednesday, said he hasn't fired anyone or asked for resignations. He spent much of his first day making sure operations were being properly carried out on patrol, at the jail and for the session of Superior Court that ended Thursday.
Oliver said he's talking to investigators now to determine the extent of anyone's involvement in Cain's crimes before making any personnel decisions.
He said that the office has a lot of good people who have done their jobs and weren't involved in any wrongdoing, but that morale is extremely low and the agency must rebuild its reputation in the community.
"It's going to take time and the opportunity for officers to get out on the streets and do their jobs," he said. "I'm going to do the things I can, such as returning the motorcycles which were a part of that, and ensure there's no abuse in these areas. The public is going to draw their own judgments after they've seen the performance of this agency."
The Sheriff Mike Cain Officers Fund was established on Oct. 26, 2004, with deposit of a $492.60 check from Pay-Tel Communications, prosecutors said. Pay-Tel is a company that provides telephone services for inmates in jails and prisons.
It's standard practice that counties receive commissions or other payments from companies that do business in jails. Those monies, by law, must be deposited in the county's general fund.
But without the knowledge of county commissioners, Cain set up the Yadkin County Detention Center Commissary Fund to accept money for those kinds of receipts, which were then moved into his secret Sheriff Mike Cain Officers Fund, prosecutors said.
Nearly $40,000 was moved into the secret account from payments from Pay-Tel, Northwest Food Service, Pepsi Bottling and the commissary fund from 2004 until Aug. 31, 2010.
Meanwhile and independent of the ongoing SBI investigation, the county's new auditors, Martin Starnes & Associates, found the Yadkin County Detention Center Commissary Fund that previous auditors had missed. The audit was released to board members in late October. The county's finance officer, Sheron Church, resigned Nov. 5.
Yadkin County, which paid $42,500 for its audit, has so far agreed to pay auditors an additional amount of more than $32,000 for further services related to the sheriff's secret checking account issue, including reviewing internal controls and training employees to use software to implement internal controls.
District Attorney Tom Horner said the Sheriff Mike Cain Officers Fund paid $15,595 for motorcycle-related expenses and lease payments. It also paid $12,193 for Christmas-related expenses such as a party and Christmas bonuses, including bonuses to Cain, Widener and Helms.
It paid out $35,184 for cancer services fundraising.
Sixty checks were written for "Cash" and added up to $10,946. It's uncertain what those checks paid for.
Prosecutors said some money in the account was donated by people who wanted to support the sheriff's office, but that money was mingled with money that should have gone to the county. Some of the spending from the secret account was for things that might have been legitimate, reimbursable expenses, prosecutors said, but others were for things such as Cain's personal golfing expenses.
Horner said he consulted with Jim Coman, the state's Department of Justice's senior deputy attorney general in charge of special prosecutions, and they were in agreement on how to resolve the cases.
Among the issues was the expense of moving a trial outside of Yadkin County and the potential legal fight that Cain could have waged in seeking to fight removal as an elected official.
Horner said if it wasn't for the Harley-Davidson motorcycle issue, the secret account would not have been discovered.
"He had crossed the line and it was in the best interest for the county and state to prosecute him and remove him from office," Horner said. "That was the key, that the county could heal and the sheriff's department do what it needed to do."
http://www2.journalnow.com/news/2011/jan/28/wsmain01-quotsecret-accountquot-motorcycles-being--ar-733056/
YADKINVILLE --
A Harley-Davidson motorcycle used by former Yadkin County Sheriff Mike Cain and paid for through a secret account has been returned to the dealer, and two motorcycles used by his top deputies are being returned.
The motorcycles were the key to investigators finding the secret Sheriff Mike Cain Officers Fund that Cain had set up at a bank using his own Social Security number, authorities said. The account included money he'd diverted from operations at the jail.
Cain, who used his Harley for trips to a national rally in Sturgis, S.D., as well as to the beach, resigned as sheriff Wednesday morning. He also used money in the account for personal items such as riding chaps, a leather jacket, a cowboy hat and cowboy boots.
Minutes after he resigned in the wake of a State Bureau of Investigation probe, Cain pleaded guilty in Superior Court to 9 misdemeanor counts related to misusing the money. He must pay $20,000 in restitution, do 200 hours of community service and surrender his law enforcement certification, among other punishments.
Shortly after, in District Court, Maj. Danny Widener pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor counts of private use of a publicly owned vehicle in connection with his use of one of the Harleys. Lt. Tom Helms entered an Alford plea on one count of private use of a publicly owned vehicle. Under an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges that prosecutors have enough evidence for a conviction.
Both Widener and Helms were working at the sheriff's office on Thursday.
The sheriff's secretary, Lynn Crater, resigned Thursday. She had been working at the sheriff's office since 1988. She was not charged in connection with the crimes.
The sheriff's daughter, Heather Cain Shew, resigned from her clerical job in the sheriff's office last Friday, the day her father notified county commissioners that he intended to resign. She had been hired last June.
Ricky Oliver, who was voted in as sheriff by county commissioners on Wednesday, said he hasn't fired anyone or asked for resignations. He spent much of his first day making sure operations were being properly carried out on patrol, at the jail and for the session of Superior Court that ended Thursday.
Oliver said he's talking to investigators now to determine the extent of anyone's involvement in Cain's crimes before making any personnel decisions.
He said that the office has a lot of good people who have done their jobs and weren't involved in any wrongdoing, but that morale is extremely low and the agency must rebuild its reputation in the community.
"It's going to take time and the opportunity for officers to get out on the streets and do their jobs," he said. "I'm going to do the things I can, such as returning the motorcycles which were a part of that, and ensure there's no abuse in these areas. The public is going to draw their own judgments after they've seen the performance of this agency."
The Sheriff Mike Cain Officers Fund was established on Oct. 26, 2004, with deposit of a $492.60 check from Pay-Tel Communications, prosecutors said. Pay-Tel is a company that provides telephone services for inmates in jails and prisons.
It's standard practice that counties receive commissions or other payments from companies that do business in jails. Those monies, by law, must be deposited in the county's general fund.
But without the knowledge of county commissioners, Cain set up the Yadkin County Detention Center Commissary Fund to accept money for those kinds of receipts, which were then moved into his secret Sheriff Mike Cain Officers Fund, prosecutors said.
Nearly $40,000 was moved into the secret account from payments from Pay-Tel, Northwest Food Service, Pepsi Bottling and the commissary fund from 2004 until Aug. 31, 2010.
Meanwhile and independent of the ongoing SBI investigation, the county's new auditors, Martin Starnes & Associates, found the Yadkin County Detention Center Commissary Fund that previous auditors had missed. The audit was released to board members in late October. The county's finance officer, Sheron Church, resigned Nov. 5.
Yadkin County, which paid $42,500 for its audit, has so far agreed to pay auditors an additional amount of more than $32,000 for further services related to the sheriff's secret checking account issue, including reviewing internal controls and training employees to use software to implement internal controls.
District Attorney Tom Horner said the Sheriff Mike Cain Officers Fund paid $15,595 for motorcycle-related expenses and lease payments. It also paid $12,193 for Christmas-related expenses such as a party and Christmas bonuses, including bonuses to Cain, Widener and Helms.
It paid out $35,184 for cancer services fundraising.
Sixty checks were written for "Cash" and added up to $10,946. It's uncertain what those checks paid for.
Prosecutors said some money in the account was donated by people who wanted to support the sheriff's office, but that money was mingled with money that should have gone to the county. Some of the spending from the secret account was for things that might have been legitimate, reimbursable expenses, prosecutors said, but others were for things such as Cain's personal golfing expenses.
Horner said he consulted with Jim Coman, the state's Department of Justice's senior deputy attorney general in charge of special prosecutions, and they were in agreement on how to resolve the cases.
Among the issues was the expense of moving a trial outside of Yadkin County and the potential legal fight that Cain could have waged in seeking to fight removal as an elected official.
Horner said if it wasn't for the Harley-Davidson motorcycle issue, the secret account would not have been discovered.
"He had crossed the line and it was in the best interest for the county and state to prosecute him and remove him from office," Horner said. "That was the key, that the county could heal and the sheriff's department do what it needed to do."
Australia - Mercanti's partner breaks down while recounting a life of abuse
OFF THE WIRE
smh.com.au
The partner of a notorious Perth bikie, found guilty of stealing trust funds from the daughters of two dead bikies, broke down in court when her lawyer described her troubled childhood and relationship with her violent partner.
Tammy Cherie Kingdon, partner of Finks member Troy Mercanti, was due to be sentenced in the Perth District Court today after she was found guilty on four counts of stealing and one count of property laundering.
However, Judge Henry Wisbey had Kingdon's sentencing postponed until next week because the courtroom was needed for a trial.
Only part of the submissions were heard before the sentencing was adjourned.
Kingdon, 34, stole more than $53,500 from four Commonwealth Bank trust accounts set up after Coffin Cheater gang member Marc Chabriere was gunned down in 1998 and fellow Coffin Cheater Richard Vickers was killed in 2000.
At the time, Mercanti was a member of the Coffin Cheaters and Kingdon became the trustee of the account.
Mercanti later fell out with the members of the Coffin Cheaters and left the gang to become a nominee of the rival Finks in 2008, sparking a feud between the gangs.
In August 2008, Kingdon withdrew the money, putting it into one account in her name, using it to buy a property in Balga, which became the Finks clubhouse.
Kingdon, who was dressed in black, wiped tears from her eyes as her lawyer Stephen Shirrefs recounted her troubled childhood.
Mr Shirrefs said Kingdon had a "disturbed" childhood with her parents divorcing when she was five years old and her mother not wanting to care for her daughter.
He said Kingdon's mother was often abusive, "tormenting" her daughter and "ridiculing" her.
Kingdon suffered panic attacks and feared going home, Mr Shirrefs said.
She met Mercanti in Kalgoorlie when she was 19 years old and they began an on-off relationship for 15 years until he was jailed in 2008.
Mr Shirrefs said Kingdon described her relationship with Mercanti as "turbulent and at times disturbing" because he was violent.
He said she stayed with him for the sake of her children because she did not want them growing up in a broken home like she had done.
Mr Shirrefs said Kingdon was "naïve" and "wanted to please" Mercanti which was why she did whatever he wanted her to do, including being the trustee of the bank accounts.
Mr Shirrefs presented more than a dozen character references for Kingdon including letters from neighbours, family members, teachers and parents.
Kingdon, who is the sole carer of her two children, had her bail extended to Monday when she will be sentenced.
smh.com.au
The partner of a notorious Perth bikie, found guilty of stealing trust funds from the daughters of two dead bikies, broke down in court when her lawyer described her troubled childhood and relationship with her violent partner.
Tammy Cherie Kingdon, partner of Finks member Troy Mercanti, was due to be sentenced in the Perth District Court today after she was found guilty on four counts of stealing and one count of property laundering.
However, Judge Henry Wisbey had Kingdon's sentencing postponed until next week because the courtroom was needed for a trial.
Only part of the submissions were heard before the sentencing was adjourned.
Kingdon, 34, stole more than $53,500 from four Commonwealth Bank trust accounts set up after Coffin Cheater gang member Marc Chabriere was gunned down in 1998 and fellow Coffin Cheater Richard Vickers was killed in 2000.
At the time, Mercanti was a member of the Coffin Cheaters and Kingdon became the trustee of the account.
Mercanti later fell out with the members of the Coffin Cheaters and left the gang to become a nominee of the rival Finks in 2008, sparking a feud between the gangs.
In August 2008, Kingdon withdrew the money, putting it into one account in her name, using it to buy a property in Balga, which became the Finks clubhouse.
Kingdon, who was dressed in black, wiped tears from her eyes as her lawyer Stephen Shirrefs recounted her troubled childhood.
Mr Shirrefs said Kingdon had a "disturbed" childhood with her parents divorcing when she was five years old and her mother not wanting to care for her daughter.
He said Kingdon's mother was often abusive, "tormenting" her daughter and "ridiculing" her.
Kingdon suffered panic attacks and feared going home, Mr Shirrefs said.
She met Mercanti in Kalgoorlie when she was 19 years old and they began an on-off relationship for 15 years until he was jailed in 2008.
Mr Shirrefs said Kingdon described her relationship with Mercanti as "turbulent and at times disturbing" because he was violent.
He said she stayed with him for the sake of her children because she did not want them growing up in a broken home like she had done.
Mr Shirrefs said Kingdon was "naïve" and "wanted to please" Mercanti which was why she did whatever he wanted her to do, including being the trustee of the bank accounts.
Mr Shirrefs presented more than a dozen character references for Kingdon including letters from neighbours, family members, teachers and parents.
Kingdon, who is the sole carer of her two children, had her bail extended to Monday when she will be sentenced.
Canada - Cops? Keep Em Coming, City’s burgeoning violent crime means no alternative.
OFF THE WIRE
Tom Brodbeck
winnipegsun.com
There are many good reasons why city hall approved 58 more cops for Winnipeg’s police force Wednesday. And not all of them have to do with this city’s burgeoning violent crime.
No doubt the single biggest reason we need more cops on the street — even though we’ve added close to 200 more officers since 2004 — is to tackle violent crime in our neighbourhoods.
It’s no secret violent crime and gang-related street crime is on the rise in Winnipeg. Punk criminals are now resorting to driving stolen vehicles right at cops, demonstrating a level of uncontrolled bravado never seen before in this city.
There are more guns on the street. And there is more organized crime driving the drug trade, prostitution and gang turf wars.
We simply need more law enforcement out on the streets to combat that. It doesn’t necessarily mean it will drive down crime rates. That’s up to the courts and Parliament to start getting serious with repeat, violent offenders.
But it will make our communities safer by having more cops to respond to and investigate crimes.
There are other reasons why we need more cops on the street, though. The truth is, we need more feet on the ground to help free up cops who have to deal with other growing parts of law enforcement.
For example, there is a whole new institutional aspect of organized crime that never existed before in Winnipeg, at least not at today’s levels.
Many organized crime rings are larger and more sophisticated than they were 20 years ago. We didn’t have the Hells Angels in Winnipeg in the 1990s, for example.
And it takes massive amounts of police resources to monitor, infiltrate and penetrate these organizations.
That manpower has to come from somewhere.
Police are also busier than ever with Internet crimes, which is a relatively new area of law enforcement.
There was a time not long ago, for example, when police didn’t have to devote the kind of resources they now do to fight online child pornography. It’s a massive, labour intensive undertaking and it requires significant personnel to do it properly.
That, too, takes away from front-line policing.
Even some variety of fraud, like sophisticated credit card and bank card fraud, didn’t exist 20 years ago the way it does today. Technology can bring great benefits to society but it also provides new opportunities for criminals to rip people off. And police agencies have to stay on top of that.
Unfortunately some aspects of street-level policing have suffered as a result of all of this, even with the increase in police officers.
Traffic policing in Winnipeg, for example — where cops pull drivers over for speeding, red-light infractions and impaired driving while also checking for stolen vehicles, unregistered vehicles and people driving without a licence — has declined in recent years.
Police Chief Keith McCaskill confirmed that to me a couple of years ago.
It’s been replaced in large part with automated photo enforcement, which unfortunately is geared towards revenue generation rather than safety.
Hopefully with more police officers added, McCaskill will help right that wrong.
The truth is, we probably need even more than the 58 officers that were approved this week.
But it’s a good start.
For more, visit Brodbeck’s blog Raise a Little Hell at winnipegsun.com. Reach Tom by e-mail at tom.brodbeck@sunmedia.ca.
Tom Brodbeck
winnipegsun.com
There are many good reasons why city hall approved 58 more cops for Winnipeg’s police force Wednesday. And not all of them have to do with this city’s burgeoning violent crime.
No doubt the single biggest reason we need more cops on the street — even though we’ve added close to 200 more officers since 2004 — is to tackle violent crime in our neighbourhoods.
It’s no secret violent crime and gang-related street crime is on the rise in Winnipeg. Punk criminals are now resorting to driving stolen vehicles right at cops, demonstrating a level of uncontrolled bravado never seen before in this city.
There are more guns on the street. And there is more organized crime driving the drug trade, prostitution and gang turf wars.
We simply need more law enforcement out on the streets to combat that. It doesn’t necessarily mean it will drive down crime rates. That’s up to the courts and Parliament to start getting serious with repeat, violent offenders.
But it will make our communities safer by having more cops to respond to and investigate crimes.
There are other reasons why we need more cops on the street, though. The truth is, we need more feet on the ground to help free up cops who have to deal with other growing parts of law enforcement.
For example, there is a whole new institutional aspect of organized crime that never existed before in Winnipeg, at least not at today’s levels.
Many organized crime rings are larger and more sophisticated than they were 20 years ago. We didn’t have the Hells Angels in Winnipeg in the 1990s, for example.
And it takes massive amounts of police resources to monitor, infiltrate and penetrate these organizations.
That manpower has to come from somewhere.
Police are also busier than ever with Internet crimes, which is a relatively new area of law enforcement.
There was a time not long ago, for example, when police didn’t have to devote the kind of resources they now do to fight online child pornography. It’s a massive, labour intensive undertaking and it requires significant personnel to do it properly.
That, too, takes away from front-line policing.
Even some variety of fraud, like sophisticated credit card and bank card fraud, didn’t exist 20 years ago the way it does today. Technology can bring great benefits to society but it also provides new opportunities for criminals to rip people off. And police agencies have to stay on top of that.
Unfortunately some aspects of street-level policing have suffered as a result of all of this, even with the increase in police officers.
Traffic policing in Winnipeg, for example — where cops pull drivers over for speeding, red-light infractions and impaired driving while also checking for stolen vehicles, unregistered vehicles and people driving without a licence — has declined in recent years.
Police Chief Keith McCaskill confirmed that to me a couple of years ago.
It’s been replaced in large part with automated photo enforcement, which unfortunately is geared towards revenue generation rather than safety.
Hopefully with more police officers added, McCaskill will help right that wrong.
The truth is, we probably need even more than the 58 officers that were approved this week.
But it’s a good start.
For more, visit Brodbeck’s blog Raise a Little Hell at winnipegsun.com. Reach Tom by e-mail at tom.brodbeck@sunmedia.ca.
REGION: Annual predawn count tracks homelessness locally, nationwide
OFF THE WIRE
State assemblyman joins volunteers on the streets in Mira Mesa, Ca
About 550 volunteers armed with flashlights and clipboards hit the streets of San Diego County in the predawn hours Friday to search back alleys, storefronts and other locations in an annual nationwide effort to track homelessness.
Called the "point-in-time" count because it represents how many people are in shelters or on the street at a particular point in time, the annual survey is conducted in late January throughout the country and is used by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to help determine funding for various agencies.
Last year's point-in-time count found 2,070 homeless people in North County, a 6.4 percent increase from the previous year. Countywide, last year's count found 4,531 people on the street, a 12.9 percent increase, and another 3,975 people in shelters, a 2.5 percent increase.
Peter Callstrom, executive director of the San Diego Regional Task Force on the Homeless, said raw data from Friday's count may be released by late next week.
Callstrom met with about 15 volunteers in Poway City Hall at 4 a.m. Friday to coordinate the search teams that would be covering parts of inland North County.
"Do the best that you can, and go with your gut," he said, acknowledging that finding homeless people in Poway and Mira Mesa would not be as easy as finding them in downtown San Diego, where an estimated 1,100 people live in shelters or on the street.
New to this year's homeless count, volunteers were asked to interview willing participants about their backgrounds and living conditions in exchange for a $10 gift card to Subway sandwich shops. Also this year, the task force has dropped a previous attempt at counting migrant workers in a separate category, a practice Callstrom described as imprecise.
Volunteers on Friday included state Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher of the 75th District, which includes Poway, parts of Escondido, Mira Mesa, La Jolla and other areas.
"It's estimated that around 20 percent of all homeless are veterans," said Fletcher, a former Marine who served in Iraq and Africa. "That really hit me when I came back from Iraq. I thought, 'My gosh, how can you have veterans who sacrificed so much be homeless?'"
On Friday, Fletcher and staff members Christina Di Leva and Sterling McHale were assigned to patrol Mira Mesa. Volunteers were given maps and asked to mark where they found a person on the street, living in a car or living in a hand-built structure.
"There's one," Fletcher said from the passenger seat of McHale's pickup truck shortly before 6 a.m. Within moments, he was out of the vehicle and interviewing two men on the median at Black Mountain Road and Mira Mesa Boulevard.
The interviews revealed the broad spectrum of backgrounds that can exist among the homeless.
"Have you ever done any time in jail?" he asked David, one of the men.
"Sure," David answered. "Everybody has."
David described himself as a problem child who stole a '57 Chevy and sideswiped 32 cars when he was 13 years old. Standing on crutches, he said medical problems were the main reason he was homeless.
"Do you have any income at all?" Fletcher asked.
"You're looking at it," David said, holding a sign that read, "Please help."
His companion, Scott Allen, 51, said he has a master's degree in quality science from Biola University.
"I'm in the medical device industry," he said. "I started my own company in '92, doing contract engineering for other medical companies. In '06, two of my best clients got bought out by other companies and moved away."
Allen said he lost the clients just after he took out a second mortgage on his home, which he lost to foreclosure in 2008. He now lives in his car.
Fletcher did similar interviews with homeless people for the city of San Diego last September.
"It hits you that everyone has a story, and none of them plan to be homeless," Fletcher said. "I found out that none of them wanted to stay homeless."
Call staff writer Gary Warth at 760-740-5410.
State assemblyman joins volunteers on the streets in Mira Mesa, Ca
About 550 volunteers armed with flashlights and clipboards hit the streets of San Diego County in the predawn hours Friday to search back alleys, storefronts and other locations in an annual nationwide effort to track homelessness.
Called the "point-in-time" count because it represents how many people are in shelters or on the street at a particular point in time, the annual survey is conducted in late January throughout the country and is used by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to help determine funding for various agencies.
Last year's point-in-time count found 2,070 homeless people in North County, a 6.4 percent increase from the previous year. Countywide, last year's count found 4,531 people on the street, a 12.9 percent increase, and another 3,975 people in shelters, a 2.5 percent increase.
Peter Callstrom, executive director of the San Diego Regional Task Force on the Homeless, said raw data from Friday's count may be released by late next week.
Callstrom met with about 15 volunteers in Poway City Hall at 4 a.m. Friday to coordinate the search teams that would be covering parts of inland North County.
"Do the best that you can, and go with your gut," he said, acknowledging that finding homeless people in Poway and Mira Mesa would not be as easy as finding them in downtown San Diego, where an estimated 1,100 people live in shelters or on the street.
New to this year's homeless count, volunteers were asked to interview willing participants about their backgrounds and living conditions in exchange for a $10 gift card to Subway sandwich shops. Also this year, the task force has dropped a previous attempt at counting migrant workers in a separate category, a practice Callstrom described as imprecise.
Volunteers on Friday included state Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher of the 75th District, which includes Poway, parts of Escondido, Mira Mesa, La Jolla and other areas.
"It's estimated that around 20 percent of all homeless are veterans," said Fletcher, a former Marine who served in Iraq and Africa. "That really hit me when I came back from Iraq. I thought, 'My gosh, how can you have veterans who sacrificed so much be homeless?'"
On Friday, Fletcher and staff members Christina Di Leva and Sterling McHale were assigned to patrol Mira Mesa. Volunteers were given maps and asked to mark where they found a person on the street, living in a car or living in a hand-built structure.
"There's one," Fletcher said from the passenger seat of McHale's pickup truck shortly before 6 a.m. Within moments, he was out of the vehicle and interviewing two men on the median at Black Mountain Road and Mira Mesa Boulevard.
The interviews revealed the broad spectrum of backgrounds that can exist among the homeless.
"Have you ever done any time in jail?" he asked David, one of the men.
"Sure," David answered. "Everybody has."
David described himself as a problem child who stole a '57 Chevy and sideswiped 32 cars when he was 13 years old. Standing on crutches, he said medical problems were the main reason he was homeless.
"Do you have any income at all?" Fletcher asked.
"You're looking at it," David said, holding a sign that read, "Please help."
His companion, Scott Allen, 51, said he has a master's degree in quality science from Biola University.
"I'm in the medical device industry," he said. "I started my own company in '92, doing contract engineering for other medical companies. In '06, two of my best clients got bought out by other companies and moved away."
Allen said he lost the clients just after he took out a second mortgage on his home, which he lost to foreclosure in 2008. He now lives in his car.
Fletcher did similar interviews with homeless people for the city of San Diego last September.
"It hits you that everyone has a story, and none of them plan to be homeless," Fletcher said. "I found out that none of them wanted to stay homeless."
Call staff writer Gary Warth at 760-740-5410.
Germany - Rocker War: large raid at the Hells Angels - special forces exert pressure
OFF THE WIRE
stadtmorgen.de
On Wednesday about 6:00 clock browse special forces and the police officers of four homes and an Eros-Center in Frankfurt (Main), Dietzenbach and Dreieich. In this case investigations in connection with the police action of 10 December 2010. At that time, five police officers were suspended from duty because they were suspected of having betrayed internal information to the rock scene.
In the current case, the defendants were charged with violations of the Arms Act. They should have acquired and possess firearms, but without seeming to be in possession of weapons. The accused is a 46-year-old from Frankfurt, a 29-year-old from Frankfurt, a 25-year-old from Dietzenbach and a 51-year-old from Dreieich. The investigation is continuing.
stadtmorgen.de
On Wednesday about 6:00 clock browse special forces and the police officers of four homes and an Eros-Center in Frankfurt (Main), Dietzenbach and Dreieich. In this case investigations in connection with the police action of 10 December 2010. At that time, five police officers were suspended from duty because they were suspected of having betrayed internal information to the rock scene.
In the current case, the defendants were charged with violations of the Arms Act. They should have acquired and possess firearms, but without seeming to be in possession of weapons. The accused is a 46-year-old from Frankfurt, a 29-year-old from Frankfurt, a 25-year-old from Dietzenbach and a 51-year-old from Dreieich. The investigation is continuing.
Marine Corps Bases Japan - Ginowan hosts annual Traffic Safety Campaign relay
OFF THE WIRE
http://www.marines.mil/unit/mcbjapan/Pages/2011/110128-tsc.aspx
Ginowan hosts annual Traffic Safety Campaign relay
1/28/2011 By Lance Cpl. Jovane M. Holland, Marine Corps Bases Japan
GINOWAN CITY, Okinawa, Japan — A team of 14 Marines from various units within III Marine Expeditionary Force participated in Ginowan City’s 34th annual Traffic Safety Campaign relay race at the Ginowan Civic Park Jan. 22.
The purpose of the event was to raise awareness and promote traffic safety with a run around the perimeter of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, according to Mayor Takeshi Asato, mayor of Ginowan City.
The safety campaign focused on four “pillars” of awareness: eliminating driving under the influence of alcohol, protecting children and senior citizens from traffic accidents, preventing motorcycle accidents and preventing traffic accidents at intersections.
The relay race was comprised of 61 teams of approximately 14 runners for nearly 900 runners. Participants ranged from school-aged children to senior citizens.
The Marine Corps team represented the sole foreign team competing in the race.
Runners ran relays of 700 - 1,500 meters during the eight-mile race, passing off a sash to teammates at checkpoints. Marines have been participating in the annual event for the last seven years, according to Elena Takaho, the community relations specialist for Futenma.
“Participating in this event every year gives Okinawans a chance to see Marines interacting and being involved in community matters,” Takaho said. “It shows they consider themselves part of this community as well.”
The Marine team consisted of 14 members ranging in rank from lance corporal to captain.
For Master Gunnery Sgt. Pete De La Rosa, G-1 chief, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, III MEF, participating in the event afforded him an excellent opportunity to interact with the community and get a workout in the process.
“Coming out and showing our support for the community lets (the Okinawan citizens) know we care about what goes on in our host country,” De La Rosa said.
“Regardless of rank, it’s our job as Marines to interact with the community and set a good example.”
Having the Marines present at the relay race was a great way to begin interaction in the new year, Asato said.
“Working together for a good cause leads to a friendly relationship, so I am very glad the Marines have come out today,” he said.
At the end of the day, the Marine team finished fourth out of 61 teams in the 14,000-meter run. First place went to Ginowan City’s fire department.
“Even if they didn’t take first place, the goal of working together with the community and having fun in the process was realized,” Takaho said. “I can’t wait for next year.”
Marines interested in participating in next year’s relay race should contact their unit’s community relations specialist.
http://www.marines.mil/unit/mcbjapan/Pages/2011/110128-tsc.aspx
Ginowan hosts annual Traffic Safety Campaign relay
1/28/2011 By Lance Cpl. Jovane M. Holland, Marine Corps Bases Japan
GINOWAN CITY, Okinawa, Japan — A team of 14 Marines from various units within III Marine Expeditionary Force participated in Ginowan City’s 34th annual Traffic Safety Campaign relay race at the Ginowan Civic Park Jan. 22.
The purpose of the event was to raise awareness and promote traffic safety with a run around the perimeter of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, according to Mayor Takeshi Asato, mayor of Ginowan City.
The safety campaign focused on four “pillars” of awareness: eliminating driving under the influence of alcohol, protecting children and senior citizens from traffic accidents, preventing motorcycle accidents and preventing traffic accidents at intersections.
The relay race was comprised of 61 teams of approximately 14 runners for nearly 900 runners. Participants ranged from school-aged children to senior citizens.
The Marine Corps team represented the sole foreign team competing in the race.
Runners ran relays of 700 - 1,500 meters during the eight-mile race, passing off a sash to teammates at checkpoints. Marines have been participating in the annual event for the last seven years, according to Elena Takaho, the community relations specialist for Futenma.
“Participating in this event every year gives Okinawans a chance to see Marines interacting and being involved in community matters,” Takaho said. “It shows they consider themselves part of this community as well.”
The Marine team consisted of 14 members ranging in rank from lance corporal to captain.
For Master Gunnery Sgt. Pete De La Rosa, G-1 chief, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, III MEF, participating in the event afforded him an excellent opportunity to interact with the community and get a workout in the process.
“Coming out and showing our support for the community lets (the Okinawan citizens) know we care about what goes on in our host country,” De La Rosa said.
“Regardless of rank, it’s our job as Marines to interact with the community and set a good example.”
Having the Marines present at the relay race was a great way to begin interaction in the new year, Asato said.
“Working together for a good cause leads to a friendly relationship, so I am very glad the Marines have come out today,” he said.
At the end of the day, the Marine team finished fourth out of 61 teams in the 14,000-meter run. First place went to Ginowan City’s fire department.
“Even if they didn’t take first place, the goal of working together with the community and having fun in the process was realized,” Takaho said. “I can’t wait for next year.”
Marines interested in participating in next year’s relay race should contact their unit’s community relations specialist.
Bond set at $2.5M for Round Lake Beach cold case suspect
OFF THE WIRE
Bond was set at $2.5 million today for the man accused in a 1982 killing in Round Lake Beach.
Robert Bostic, 70, allegedly shot Carlton Richmond in a garage at 811 Oakwood Drive, Round Lake Beach. The garage was used as a clubhouse at the time by a motorcycle gang called the Wheelmen, authorities said.
Richmond, 31, and the father of two children was shot in the chest with a handgun on June 25, 1982, according to Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Stephen Scheller.
Bostic, now a Tennesee resident, was a member of the Wheelmen and has a lengthy arrest record dating back to the 1960s, including battery, attempted murder and rape, Scheller said.
Circuit Court Judge Raymond Collins ordered Bostic back in court Feb. 9 for status of attorney. He remains in Lake County Jail.
http://newssun.suntimes.com/news/3521385-418/lake-beach-round-2.5-bond
Bond was set at $2.5 million today for the man accused in a 1982 killing in Round Lake Beach.
Robert Bostic, 70, allegedly shot Carlton Richmond in a garage at 811 Oakwood Drive, Round Lake Beach. The garage was used as a clubhouse at the time by a motorcycle gang called the Wheelmen, authorities said.
Richmond, 31, and the father of two children was shot in the chest with a handgun on June 25, 1982, according to Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Stephen Scheller.
Bostic, now a Tennesee resident, was a member of the Wheelmen and has a lengthy arrest record dating back to the 1960s, including battery, attempted murder and rape, Scheller said.
Circuit Court Judge Raymond Collins ordered Bostic back in court Feb. 9 for status of attorney. He remains in Lake County Jail.
http://newssun.suntimes.com/news/3521385-418/lake-beach-round-2.5-bond
Va. Beach delegate fails in bid to ban kids on motorcycles
OFF THE WIRE
http://hamptonroads.com/2011/01/va-beach-delegate-fails-bid-ban-kids-motorcycles
Va. Beach delegate fails in bid to ban kids on motorcycles
Posted to: News Politics State Government Traffic and Transportation Virginia
Del. Chris Stolle told a House subcommittee he was just trying to clarify existing child safety law. General Assembly news Blog: Pilot on Politics Citizens Guide: Get involved Bill tracking, links, video Related Bill would stop young children from riding on motorcycles - Jan. 18 Poll Should children younger than 8 be allowed to ride as passengers on motorcycles? Yes 43% (499 votes)
No 54% (624 votes)
Not sure 3% (40 votes)
Total votes: 1163 Background: Restrictions proposed
By Bill Sizemore The Virginian-Pilot © January 29, 2011 RICHMOND
A Virginia Beach lawmaker tried and failed today to prohibit children under 8 from riding on motorcycles.
Del. Chris Stolle, a physician, told a House subcommittee he was just trying to clarify existing law, which requires any child under 8 to be belted into an approved child safety seat when riding in a motor vehicle.
The problem, he said, is that there are no such seats available for motorcycles.
“I can put my child on the back of my motorcycle and say, ’Hang on tight,’ ” said Stolle, a Republican.
Sgt. Scott Wichtendahl of the Virginia Beach Police Department said young children don’t have the strength or dexterity to ride a motorcycle safely.
Matt Danielson, legal counsel to the Virginia Coalition of Motorcyclists, opposing the bill, said there have been no fatalities among children under 8 riding on motorcycles in the past 10 years.
That’s true, Wichtendahl said, but “we’re trying to be proactive and prevent it.”
The subcommittee tabled Stolle’s bill, HB1850, meaning it is unlikely to advance further. Panel members said biker parents should be entrusted with deciding whether their children can ride safely.
A recent Virginian-Pilot story provided the background behind Stolle's bill.
http://hamptonroads.com/2011/01/va-beach-delegate-fails-bid-ban-kids-motorcycles
Va. Beach delegate fails in bid to ban kids on motorcycles
Posted to: News Politics State Government Traffic and Transportation Virginia
Del. Chris Stolle told a House subcommittee he was just trying to clarify existing child safety law. General Assembly news Blog: Pilot on Politics Citizens Guide: Get involved Bill tracking, links, video Related Bill would stop young children from riding on motorcycles - Jan. 18 Poll Should children younger than 8 be allowed to ride as passengers on motorcycles? Yes 43% (499 votes)
No 54% (624 votes)
Not sure 3% (40 votes)
Total votes: 1163 Background: Restrictions proposed
By Bill Sizemore The Virginian-Pilot © January 29, 2011 RICHMOND
A Virginia Beach lawmaker tried and failed today to prohibit children under 8 from riding on motorcycles.
Del. Chris Stolle, a physician, told a House subcommittee he was just trying to clarify existing law, which requires any child under 8 to be belted into an approved child safety seat when riding in a motor vehicle.
The problem, he said, is that there are no such seats available for motorcycles.
“I can put my child on the back of my motorcycle and say, ’Hang on tight,’ ” said Stolle, a Republican.
Sgt. Scott Wichtendahl of the Virginia Beach Police Department said young children don’t have the strength or dexterity to ride a motorcycle safely.
Matt Danielson, legal counsel to the Virginia Coalition of Motorcyclists, opposing the bill, said there have been no fatalities among children under 8 riding on motorcycles in the past 10 years.
That’s true, Wichtendahl said, but “we’re trying to be proactive and prevent it.”
The subcommittee tabled Stolle’s bill, HB1850, meaning it is unlikely to advance further. Panel members said biker parents should be entrusted with deciding whether their children can ride safely.
A recent Virginian-Pilot story provided the background behind Stolle's bill.
Hells Angels Recruiting Heavily in AZ
OFF THE WIRE
PHOENIX - Haven't heard much from the Hells Angels motorcycle club lately? That doesn't mean there isn't a lot going on. There's word the motorcycle club known for its violent past is recruiting heavily in Arizona -- and the question is why.
The Hells Angels motorcycle gang in Arizona is rumored to be recruiting.
"They're the biggest baddest most powerful motorcycle company in the world," says Steve Tretheway, who spent 25 years with Arizona DPS.
Motorcycle gangs were his beat. He says the Hells Angels are always looking for so called prospects.
"That prospecting phase can be anywhere from six months to a year, you do tasks for the club, they're going to test you."
On the Hells Angels website, you will find pictures posted of club gatherings and a chance to buy T-shirts supporting the club.
We found pictures of some prospects wearing the patch they hope to trade in some day when they become full fledged Hells Angels.
The death head is one of the more prominent Hell's Angels symbols. They display it loud and proud on their club houses, which are usually tucked in low income neighborhoods.
They have a club house in a neighborhood south of downtown Phoenix. Trethewy says Hells Angels also have clubs in Tucson, Flagstaff, and Cave Creek.
No one would talk on camera in the neighborhoods with Hell Angels' Clubhouses located in the valley, though one resident told us when the H.A. club house moved in about two years ago, crime in the neighborhood dropped 30 percent.
"People fear these people. Fear and intimidation are interpreted as respect for the club, so who's going to go in and mess up the neighborhood when you have a gxxg that's predominant in that area," he says.
With their own constitution, leaders, and laws, Hells Angels club shun conformity. Tretheway estimates about 80 to 100 Hells Angels members are in the valley, but there's no way to tell.
"Those are guys that wear the patches. The rule of thumb is for every one you have 10 strong associates. If you say you have 100, you multiply that by 10. You see how big the network gets, it doesn't have to be patch member, it's someone associated, someone who can do something for the club."
If the Hells Angels club is actively recruiting, the question is why? Our sources say they don't know, and they won't speculate.
But logic says, you recruit to beef up your numbers because perhaps you're expecting trouble.
"It's about power and territory. Hells Angels want to claim Arizona as their territory."
http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/only_on_fox/hells-angels-recruits-1-27-2011#
PHOENIX - Haven't heard much from the Hells Angels motorcycle club lately? That doesn't mean there isn't a lot going on. There's word the motorcycle club known for its violent past is recruiting heavily in Arizona -- and the question is why.
The Hells Angels motorcycle gang in Arizona is rumored to be recruiting.
"They're the biggest baddest most powerful motorcycle company in the world," says Steve Tretheway, who spent 25 years with Arizona DPS.
Motorcycle gangs were his beat. He says the Hells Angels are always looking for so called prospects.
"That prospecting phase can be anywhere from six months to a year, you do tasks for the club, they're going to test you."
On the Hells Angels website, you will find pictures posted of club gatherings and a chance to buy T-shirts supporting the club.
We found pictures of some prospects wearing the patch they hope to trade in some day when they become full fledged Hells Angels.
The death head is one of the more prominent Hell's Angels symbols. They display it loud and proud on their club houses, which are usually tucked in low income neighborhoods.
They have a club house in a neighborhood south of downtown Phoenix. Trethewy says Hells Angels also have clubs in Tucson, Flagstaff, and Cave Creek.
No one would talk on camera in the neighborhoods with Hell Angels' Clubhouses located in the valley, though one resident told us when the H.A. club house moved in about two years ago, crime in the neighborhood dropped 30 percent.
"People fear these people. Fear and intimidation are interpreted as respect for the club, so who's going to go in and mess up the neighborhood when you have a gxxg that's predominant in that area," he says.
With their own constitution, leaders, and laws, Hells Angels club shun conformity. Tretheway estimates about 80 to 100 Hells Angels members are in the valley, but there's no way to tell.
"Those are guys that wear the patches. The rule of thumb is for every one you have 10 strong associates. If you say you have 100, you multiply that by 10. You see how big the network gets, it doesn't have to be patch member, it's someone associated, someone who can do something for the club."
If the Hells Angels club is actively recruiting, the question is why? Our sources say they don't know, and they won't speculate.
But logic says, you recruit to beef up your numbers because perhaps you're expecting trouble.
"It's about power and territory. Hells Angels want to claim Arizona as their territory."
http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/only_on_fox/hells-angels-recruits-1-27-2011#