Saturday morning fever
Another heat wave for the Inland Empire as the region heads into the summer months. Also more heat at the gas pumps as one newscaster said yesterday, the price of a gallon of gasoline rose a penny every hour.
By the fourth of July, that gallon of gas should cross the $5 threshold. And the news gets worse. Casino Drive has scratched out of the Belmont Stakes with a untimely stone bruise leaving the new spokesperson for UPS Shipping, Big Brown with a triple crown to win. The latest on the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner is that he's kicking up a storm in the detention barn at Belmont track. Hopefully, he's feeling his oats and won't leave his race there.
A collection of "fan" mail during and after the most recent county election cycle. All of them anonymous. They are off of Craigslist politics section, which had a really interesting discussion lately on the city's historical buildings including those in the downtown area. However, what often happens is that when there are those interesting and informative discussions in that forum, others don't seem to like that much and try to derail those discussions by nasty commentary.
Apparently, the commenters don't like this blog or me much or what I've been blogging about lately.
"Now that the election is over, I observed something really creepy over the past month or so when reading Mary’s blog.
She seems to be obsessed with Frank Schiavone. While there certainly were many topics to write about, the amount of space devoted to the topic of Frank Schiavone increased in frequency to the point of being a continual and constant obsession. This obsession is sort of like that of a fan of a celebrity.
Frank Schiavone should take note of her obsession with him because the next step might be stalking, if it hasn’t already become that.
I’m sure this posting will only cause more fodder for Mary to write about. Who knows, perhaps she has a sexual fascination with Frank. Alas, I hear he’s taken."
---Anonymous rock dweller who obviously doesn't like the county election coverage on this blog, which because it was a significant civic and political episode was written about extensively in this blog during the election cycle.
"....The crazy person who writes the 5-before-midnight blog, well, that person I could happily see marginalized. Or muzzled. I'm under the impression that the council's decision to limit public input is pretty much entirely her fault."
---"PD" who clearly doesn't realize that it was the city council which beginning in 2003 began restricting public input although the efforts didn't really begin in earnest until 2005. The city council did blame their own actions on specific members of the public (although my name was never mentioned) but it was not the public's doing, it was a city council decision that it wasn't willing to take responsibility for making especially during election cycles. After all, politicians know going in there that one of their tasks is to listen to public input including criticism. Most of them can handle it. Some can't and it's clear on the Riverside dais who can and who can't.
"You never disappoint Mary! Thanks! I'm still not who you think I am in your world of who is or who is not . . . . never spoke with you (narrows the pot down I guess). (Sorry for previous syntax error - I just can't help myself). I looked it up - it mostly pertains to computer errors or in the alternative - parenthesis errors. Guilty, I guess. But, run on sentences trumps that (you win) or sentences that perhaps you stopped in mid-stream with another thought and was careless. I know you try to make sense, it's just a little thing called proof-reading!
I heard that you even talk to yourself - often. I heard you wear "shades" in the elevator at City Hall - you know where the sun don't shine! Unless you have a eye condition, I don't "get" the purpose of the shades (and the plugged in music - or whatever you are listening to). Kind of creepy actually. The talking to yourself I chalked up to "making mental notes" - I've see you do it - in a anti-psychotic meds needing type of way."
---Anonymous (sort of) rock dweller who's just creepy.
Here and here and here is where you will find the above comments. As usual, from anonymous individuals crawling out from beneath their rocks. A strange mixture of creepiness, pathos and hysteria. But that's part of the experience of blogging in Riverside. The unpleasant part.
This one's actually kind of silly, mostly because the adage that some people write like they talk is often quite true. Though former councilman, Art Gage might disagree that he's more slimy than ectoplasm or that he's a liar. That's the part that preceded, "Mary, help me out here....how can I put it more clearly, I can't stand him..."
"Mary needs to consult her crystal ball, her runes, her whatever. Because she missed the target on her post about posters. Yeah, I know it's difficult when some of us are annonymous - but that's the way it goes. It's nature of the beast called Craigslist.
You missed the mark about one pro-Schiavone post and others coming from the same person. I was honest in my admiration comment about a previous poster's comments. I made the following two without knowing (but with admiration) who the first poster was. I'm in the dark just like you. I just happen to like what they said. Go figure - NOT ONE PERSON!
Then there was the comment about Art Gage having some loyalty to/from the poster(s). Mary obviously has an "idea" who is posting. Perhaps the first poster is who she thinks it is, but my comments (2) nowhere mentioned or insinuated a connection to Gage - nor do I think he's worthy of mention. Mary, help me out here . . . . . how can I put it more clearly (I can't stand him ((Gage)) or anything to do with him?) He's as slimy as an ectoplasym. Who ya gonna call?
You missed the mark here. Some people read your blog. You should at least find the decency to point out when you state the facts and when you are pontificating.
**** readers beware **** Mary has an agenda - which may or may not be truthful and disregards facts often (or at the very least - slants the truth often).
Guess which part of this will appear on her blog tomorrow? LMFAO."
---Not so anonymous individual who doesn't like Gage or...ectoplasm.
Back in Riverside County Superior Court, is the retrial of the capital murder case involving Riverside Police Department officers Dennis Doty and Phil Trust. The current trial date is set for March 2009. The case was last tried over 25 years ago.
(excerpt, Press Enterprise)
Papers filed with the court say 17 witnesses have died or are believed to be dead. Ruddy has a stack of death certificates to show the judge.
The same document lists 27 witnesses now 60 years of age or older, up to age 88. On that list, one witness has HIV and another has Parkinson's disease.
But the younger-than-60, healthy witnesses also present some challenges, Ruddy said.
"It's not like people are running from us," Ruddy said in an interview. "It's the feeling of despair on the part of some people that our legal system operates this way," he said.
"Many would probably prefer not to do this," Ruddy said, "And then it involves them wanting me to explain what happened in 25 years of appeals, and I can't give them all the answers. It is very tough and very emotional."
Ruddy declined to name witnesses.
With the extensive records already on file, the prosecution's case is not in any trouble, Ruddy said. Reliving the case is the challenge. "Justice delayed is justice denied," Ruddy said.
One of Daniels' two current attorneys said the frustration is misplaced.
"A lot of this happened because the case was dealt with so cavalierly to begin with," said John G. Cotsirilos in a phone interview. "It's kind of hypocritical now to blame the appellate courts for correcting errors that could have been avoided, if the case had been dealt with properly to begin with."
A panel in Riverside that was entrusted with producing recommendations of the upcoming expansions and renovations of the downtown library and museum believes that both projects should be done separately.
That recommendation mirrored that already given by hundreds of concerned city residents at earlier separate and joint meetings of the Metropolitan Museum Board and the Board of Library Trustees. It was one that was pretty much disregarded by City Hall and even argued against by some of its employees including City Manager Brad Hudson who wanted to combine both renovation projects and market them under the Riverside Renaissance umbrella.
It will be interesting to see what happens when the panel brings its recommendations to the city government. Historically, task forces have turned in reports and recommendations which are applauded in public, shelved in private and left to gather dust. Others are divided between what residents want and what the city wants and the city implements what it wants, then declares insufficient funds and often leaves what the residents want unfulfilled.
Still, some recommendations that arise from a process which involves the participation of city residents do get implemented.
Here are some remaining important dates.
June 11: The recommendations will be made available to the public.
June 18: A public hearing for input will be held between 6-8 p.m at City Hall
June 25: The task force finalizes its recommendations from 3-7 p.m. at City Hall.
Aug. 12: The city council may receive recommendations on this date.
Then the real fun begins but given that another election cycle is approaching beginning fairly early in 2009, there probably won't be overt attempts to counter the panel's recommendations. The panel is pretty much Mayor Ron Loveridge's creation and he'll probably want to be cautious with anything that's even said about the panel's recommendations in future meetings which discuss the panel's report and what comes next.
Governor Arnold Schwartzenegger is coming down to Riverside for a private meeting to discuss the state's budget.
Not attending the meeting will be Temecula's McDonald's own free-range hen that has taken up residence there.
While Eugene struggles with civilian review, it's also examining taser use by its police officers.
(excerpt, KVAL-TV)
The deputy auditor said an internal affairs investigator was just placed on the case that day. The investigator will interview witnesses and the five police officers linked to the incident.
He'll then rule if police violated procedures. But some at the protest were skeptical.
"It worries me because I don't necessary trust internal affairs of the Eugene Police Department will handle it correctly," said Amy Pincus Merwin, at right, who was among those who witnessed the Taser incident. "They have not handled issues similar to this in the past.
"I'm not sure that I have faith in internal affairs investigators' neutrality," she added.
The deputy auditor told us the investigator's report is due by July 29.
The police department in Madison, Connecticut has been rocked with scandal which has caused its already small police force to shrink further.
(excerpt, New Haven Register )
The police force, which has an authorized maximum of 26 officers, is operating with about 20 cops, including acting Police Chief Robert Nolan, available for duty.
Officer Harry Anderson retired over the winter amid an investigation into his conduct. Two other officers retired about the same time, although one continues to work part time. Another officer recently resigned from the department for reasons unrelated to the investigations.
Five officers have been terminated by the commission so far.
Officer Joseph Gambardella was fired in spring 2007 amid allegations he stole merchandise from local businesses. Officer Bernard Durgin Jr. was fired amid 50 administrative charges, including allegations of worker's compensation fraud, misusing a department database and consorting with prostitutes and felons on duty.
Gambardella and Durgin have been charged criminally; those cases are pending.
Officer Matthew Sterling was fired for allegedly visiting with prostitutes while off-duty, and failing to report his knowledge that Durgin met with prostitutes while on-duty.
Sgt. Timothy Heiden was fired, in part, because the commission ruled he failed to supervise officers on the midnight shift, during which much of the misconduct took place.
Officer Daniel Hedges was fired last week after he allegedly threatened the lives of superior officers and had tumultuous interactions with civilians before taking a sixth-month unauthorized leave from the department.
O'Connor, who is approaching his 20-year anniversary with the department, will face administrative charges similar to those levied against Heiden, officials said.
Heiden has appealed the decision in his case and is scheduled to appear before the state Labor Board in a closed session today.
Not surprisingly, the police chief has also been placed on administrative leave.
Also in Connecticut, this time New Haven, a police officer has been arrested on charges of sexual assault and unlawful restraint.
(excerpt, NBC30)
"We take these incidents very seriously as this type of behavior from an officer is unacceptable," Chief Stephanie Redding said in a news release. "Our residents count on us to be role models, to serve them and to provide them with effective community policing. We have a strong internal affairs team that works hard to make sure that we meet or exceed the expectations of our residents."
A former officer for the Chicago Police Department plead guilty to federal racketeering.
Visitors here include the following:
City of Riverside
County of Riverside
University of California, Riverside
University of Toronto
New York Institute Of Technology
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter& Hampton
Philadelphia City Paper
Belo Enterprises
Harvard University
iMed Consent dba Dialog Medical
NOAA
New York Historical
The Washington Post Newspaper
AMAZON.COM
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
US COURTS - Colorado
Kabel Baden-Wuerttemberg GmbH & Co. KG
And also, for a return visit: Opera man, from (not really) the beautiful city of Heidelberg, Germany who showed up during the latest round of hate mail.
By the fourth of July, that gallon of gas should cross the $5 threshold. And the news gets worse. Casino Drive has scratched out of the Belmont Stakes with a untimely stone bruise leaving the new spokesperson for UPS Shipping, Big Brown with a triple crown to win. The latest on the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner is that he's kicking up a storm in the detention barn at Belmont track. Hopefully, he's feeling his oats and won't leave his race there.
A collection of "fan" mail during and after the most recent county election cycle. All of them anonymous. They are off of Craigslist politics section, which had a really interesting discussion lately on the city's historical buildings including those in the downtown area. However, what often happens is that when there are those interesting and informative discussions in that forum, others don't seem to like that much and try to derail those discussions by nasty commentary.
Apparently, the commenters don't like this blog or me much or what I've been blogging about lately.
"Now that the election is over, I observed something really creepy over the past month or so when reading Mary’s blog.
She seems to be obsessed with Frank Schiavone. While there certainly were many topics to write about, the amount of space devoted to the topic of Frank Schiavone increased in frequency to the point of being a continual and constant obsession. This obsession is sort of like that of a fan of a celebrity.
Frank Schiavone should take note of her obsession with him because the next step might be stalking, if it hasn’t already become that.
I’m sure this posting will only cause more fodder for Mary to write about. Who knows, perhaps she has a sexual fascination with Frank. Alas, I hear he’s taken."
---Anonymous rock dweller who obviously doesn't like the county election coverage on this blog, which because it was a significant civic and political episode was written about extensively in this blog during the election cycle.
"....The crazy person who writes the 5-before-midnight blog, well, that person I could happily see marginalized. Or muzzled. I'm under the impression that the council's decision to limit public input is pretty much entirely her fault."
---"PD" who clearly doesn't realize that it was the city council which beginning in 2003 began restricting public input although the efforts didn't really begin in earnest until 2005. The city council did blame their own actions on specific members of the public (although my name was never mentioned) but it was not the public's doing, it was a city council decision that it wasn't willing to take responsibility for making especially during election cycles. After all, politicians know going in there that one of their tasks is to listen to public input including criticism. Most of them can handle it. Some can't and it's clear on the Riverside dais who can and who can't.
"You never disappoint Mary! Thanks! I'm still not who you think I am in your world of who is or who is not . . . . never spoke with you (narrows the pot down I guess). (Sorry for previous syntax error - I just can't help myself). I looked it up - it mostly pertains to computer errors or in the alternative - parenthesis errors. Guilty, I guess. But, run on sentences trumps that (you win) or sentences that perhaps you stopped in mid-stream with another thought and was careless. I know you try to make sense, it's just a little thing called proof-reading!
I heard that you even talk to yourself - often. I heard you wear "shades" in the elevator at City Hall - you know where the sun don't shine! Unless you have a eye condition, I don't "get" the purpose of the shades (and the plugged in music - or whatever you are listening to). Kind of creepy actually. The talking to yourself I chalked up to "making mental notes" - I've see you do it - in a anti-psychotic meds needing type of way."
---Anonymous (sort of) rock dweller who's just creepy.
Here and here and here is where you will find the above comments. As usual, from anonymous individuals crawling out from beneath their rocks. A strange mixture of creepiness, pathos and hysteria. But that's part of the experience of blogging in Riverside. The unpleasant part.
This one's actually kind of silly, mostly because the adage that some people write like they talk is often quite true. Though former councilman, Art Gage might disagree that he's more slimy than ectoplasm or that he's a liar. That's the part that preceded, "Mary, help me out here....how can I put it more clearly, I can't stand him..."
"Mary needs to consult her crystal ball, her runes, her whatever. Because she missed the target on her post about posters. Yeah, I know it's difficult when some of us are annonymous - but that's the way it goes. It's nature of the beast called Craigslist.
You missed the mark about one pro-Schiavone post and others coming from the same person. I was honest in my admiration comment about a previous poster's comments. I made the following two without knowing (but with admiration) who the first poster was. I'm in the dark just like you. I just happen to like what they said. Go figure - NOT ONE PERSON!
Then there was the comment about Art Gage having some loyalty to/from the poster(s). Mary obviously has an "idea" who is posting. Perhaps the first poster is who she thinks it is, but my comments (2) nowhere mentioned or insinuated a connection to Gage - nor do I think he's worthy of mention. Mary, help me out here . . . . . how can I put it more clearly (I can't stand him ((Gage)) or anything to do with him?) He's as slimy as an ectoplasym. Who ya gonna call?
You missed the mark here. Some people read your blog. You should at least find the decency to point out when you state the facts and when you are pontificating.
**** readers beware **** Mary has an agenda - which may or may not be truthful and disregards facts often (or at the very least - slants the truth often).
Guess which part of this will appear on her blog tomorrow? LMFAO."
---Not so anonymous individual who doesn't like Gage or...ectoplasm.
What's difficult about blogging is when people ask me how to set up their own blogs and ask me whether or not they will be exposed to creepy, nasty and sometime scary comments from anonymous rock dwellers.
I have to explain about the negative and sometimes scary aspects of blogging especially if you are female (something even the one who claimed not to know me, knew) and how some female bloggers like Kathy Sierra and others have been hit so hard with cyber harassment and stalking, they've felt unable to leave their homes. The intent is to get what they might see as uppity bitches like ourselves to keep our keyboards silent and our mouths shut. Women after all are to seen and not heard in many corners of society even with the progress made.
But there's lots of positives with blogging as well as the negatives. And often the creepy comments serve as a litmus test for what issues need more attention.
Back in Riverside County Superior Court, is the retrial of the capital murder case involving Riverside Police Department officers Dennis Doty and Phil Trust. The current trial date is set for March 2009. The case was last tried over 25 years ago.
(excerpt, Press Enterprise)
Papers filed with the court say 17 witnesses have died or are believed to be dead. Ruddy has a stack of death certificates to show the judge.
The same document lists 27 witnesses now 60 years of age or older, up to age 88. On that list, one witness has HIV and another has Parkinson's disease.
But the younger-than-60, healthy witnesses also present some challenges, Ruddy said.
"It's not like people are running from us," Ruddy said in an interview. "It's the feeling of despair on the part of some people that our legal system operates this way," he said.
"Many would probably prefer not to do this," Ruddy said, "And then it involves them wanting me to explain what happened in 25 years of appeals, and I can't give them all the answers. It is very tough and very emotional."
Ruddy declined to name witnesses.
With the extensive records already on file, the prosecution's case is not in any trouble, Ruddy said. Reliving the case is the challenge. "Justice delayed is justice denied," Ruddy said.
One of Daniels' two current attorneys said the frustration is misplaced.
"A lot of this happened because the case was dealt with so cavalierly to begin with," said John G. Cotsirilos in a phone interview. "It's kind of hypocritical now to blame the appellate courts for correcting errors that could have been avoided, if the case had been dealt with properly to begin with."
A panel in Riverside that was entrusted with producing recommendations of the upcoming expansions and renovations of the downtown library and museum believes that both projects should be done separately.
That recommendation mirrored that already given by hundreds of concerned city residents at earlier separate and joint meetings of the Metropolitan Museum Board and the Board of Library Trustees. It was one that was pretty much disregarded by City Hall and even argued against by some of its employees including City Manager Brad Hudson who wanted to combine both renovation projects and market them under the Riverside Renaissance umbrella.
It will be interesting to see what happens when the panel brings its recommendations to the city government. Historically, task forces have turned in reports and recommendations which are applauded in public, shelved in private and left to gather dust. Others are divided between what residents want and what the city wants and the city implements what it wants, then declares insufficient funds and often leaves what the residents want unfulfilled.
Still, some recommendations that arise from a process which involves the participation of city residents do get implemented.
Here are some remaining important dates.
June 11: The recommendations will be made available to the public.
June 18: A public hearing for input will be held between 6-8 p.m at City Hall
June 25: The task force finalizes its recommendations from 3-7 p.m. at City Hall.
Aug. 12: The city council may receive recommendations on this date.
Then the real fun begins but given that another election cycle is approaching beginning fairly early in 2009, there probably won't be overt attempts to counter the panel's recommendations. The panel is pretty much Mayor Ron Loveridge's creation and he'll probably want to be cautious with anything that's even said about the panel's recommendations in future meetings which discuss the panel's report and what comes next.
Governor Arnold Schwartzenegger is coming down to Riverside for a private meeting to discuss the state's budget.
Not attending the meeting will be Temecula's McDonald's own free-range hen that has taken up residence there.
While Eugene struggles with civilian review, it's also examining taser use by its police officers.
(excerpt, KVAL-TV)
The deputy auditor said an internal affairs investigator was just placed on the case that day. The investigator will interview witnesses and the five police officers linked to the incident.
He'll then rule if police violated procedures. But some at the protest were skeptical.
"It worries me because I don't necessary trust internal affairs of the Eugene Police Department will handle it correctly," said Amy Pincus Merwin, at right, who was among those who witnessed the Taser incident. "They have not handled issues similar to this in the past.
"I'm not sure that I have faith in internal affairs investigators' neutrality," she added.
The deputy auditor told us the investigator's report is due by July 29.
The police department in Madison, Connecticut has been rocked with scandal which has caused its already small police force to shrink further.
(excerpt, New Haven Register )
The police force, which has an authorized maximum of 26 officers, is operating with about 20 cops, including acting Police Chief Robert Nolan, available for duty.
Officer Harry Anderson retired over the winter amid an investigation into his conduct. Two other officers retired about the same time, although one continues to work part time. Another officer recently resigned from the department for reasons unrelated to the investigations.
Five officers have been terminated by the commission so far.
Officer Joseph Gambardella was fired in spring 2007 amid allegations he stole merchandise from local businesses. Officer Bernard Durgin Jr. was fired amid 50 administrative charges, including allegations of worker's compensation fraud, misusing a department database and consorting with prostitutes and felons on duty.
Gambardella and Durgin have been charged criminally; those cases are pending.
Officer Matthew Sterling was fired for allegedly visiting with prostitutes while off-duty, and failing to report his knowledge that Durgin met with prostitutes while on-duty.
Sgt. Timothy Heiden was fired, in part, because the commission ruled he failed to supervise officers on the midnight shift, during which much of the misconduct took place.
Officer Daniel Hedges was fired last week after he allegedly threatened the lives of superior officers and had tumultuous interactions with civilians before taking a sixth-month unauthorized leave from the department.
O'Connor, who is approaching his 20-year anniversary with the department, will face administrative charges similar to those levied against Heiden, officials said.
Heiden has appealed the decision in his case and is scheduled to appear before the state Labor Board in a closed session today.
Not surprisingly, the police chief has also been placed on administrative leave.
Also in Connecticut, this time New Haven, a police officer has been arrested on charges of sexual assault and unlawful restraint.
(excerpt, NBC30)
"We take these incidents very seriously as this type of behavior from an officer is unacceptable," Chief Stephanie Redding said in a news release. "Our residents count on us to be role models, to serve them and to provide them with effective community policing. We have a strong internal affairs team that works hard to make sure that we meet or exceed the expectations of our residents."
A former officer for the Chicago Police Department plead guilty to federal racketeering.
Visitors here include the following:
City of Riverside
County of Riverside
University of California, Riverside
University of Toronto
New York Institute Of Technology
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter& Hampton
Philadelphia City Paper
Belo Enterprises
Harvard University
iMed Consent dba Dialog Medical
NOAA
New York Historical
The Washington Post Newspaper
AMAZON.COM
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
US COURTS - Colorado
Kabel Baden-Wuerttemberg GmbH & Co. KG
And also, for a return visit: Opera man, from (not really) the beautiful city of Heidelberg, Germany who showed up during the latest round of hate mail.
Labels: corruption 101, mail call, public forums in all places
posted by Five Before Midnight | 12:19 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home