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Blog and Media Roundup - Tuesday, January 27, 2009; News Roundup
Topic Started: Jan 27 2009, 05:55 AM (1,306 Views)
abb
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sceptical
Jan 27 2009, 12:46 PM
http://durhamwonderland.blogspot.com/2009/01/newest-promotion-for-group-of-88er.html

Another Group of 88 member becomes a Dean of Humanities at Duke :pu:
Amazing...
:bman:
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Baldo
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abb
Jan 27 2009, 09:14 AM
check out the thread on this decision over in the other topic. Actually good news for us.
abb how many times have we seen this in the Duke Lacrosse Frame/Hoax from AP and their reporters?

Not only do they get the story wrong but the twist it to mean the opposite.

Scary when you think how much the public are dependent on the MSM
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abb
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One day, perhaps, the future of CowBell

http://www.courant.com/community/news/hfd/hc-perez0127.artjan27,0,5012043.story

Perez Faces Charges
Mayor To Surrender Today On Allegations Of Bribery, Fabricating Evidence

By JEFFREY B. COHEN and MARK PAZNIOKAS

The Hartford Courant

January 27, 2009

Hartford Mayor Eddie A. Perez will walk into a state police barracks this morning and surrender himself on bribery charges, a dramatic step in the corruption probe that has hung over the city and his administration for nearly two years.

State criminal investigators have circled Perez since early 2007, seeking documents and secret testimony on issues ranging from the city's nearly $1 billion school construction project to parking lot deals for an aging North End politician. In October 2007, the state formed an investigatory grand jury to probe allegations of political corruption in the mayor's administration.

In an interview in the office of his attorney, Hubert J. Santos, on Monday, Perez said the state's case against him appears to be related to the roughly $20,000 he paid city contractor Carlos Costa for a new kitchen counter and a renovated bathroom with two sinks, a whirlpool tub and a steam shower.

Costa, who has done millions in work for the city on a troubled and long-overdue streetscape project, was arrested Monday and charged with bribery, fabricating evidence and conspiracy to fabricate evidence, according to his lawyer, William Gerace. Gerace said Costa is charged in connection with Perez's home renovations.

As Costa worked on the city's Park Street streetscape, he also worked on its mayor's Bloomfield Avenue house beginning in 2005. He did so without proper permits, and some of the work was done by an unlicensed contractor. The work was completed in 2006, and Perez has said he did not pay Costa for it until July 2007.

Perez will face charges of bribery, fabricating evidence and conspiracy to fabricate evidence when he is arrested at the Troop H barracks in Hartford this morning. Despite the anticipated charges, Perez said he has no plans to resign or temporarily step aside. Echoing what he said after investigators executed a search warrant on his home in August 2007, Perez called his decision to hire Costa a "lapse in judgment."

"There is no excuse for it. I apologize for putting my family and my city under this situation," Perez said. But he added, "At the end of the day, a lapse in judgment is not a crime."

Chief State's Attorney Kevin Kane declined comment Monday. Santos said he did not know whether more charges were forthcoming.

Investigators began their probe in early 2007, but they formalized their interest in October of that year, when the state formed an investigatory grand jury to, among other things, compel testimony.

In December of 2007, the grand jury began its work in earnest, and in secret, as investigators brought witnesses one by one to a third-floor courtroom at Superior Court in New Britain.

The parade of city characters — elected officials, city employees, parking lot operators, developers and others — walked into a courtroom kept private by nothing more than a closed door and a few pieces of paper taped over its glass window.

Behind the door were investigators and lawyers from the chief state's attorney's office and a judge who served as the panel's sole grand juror. Initially put in place for six months, the grand jury has been given two six-month extensions. By law, it can last no longer than April of this year.

The investigation has dominated conversation in the city, as rumors of criminal charges have come and gone several times in the past 18 months, even as Perez handily won re-election in 2007. Through it all, the Democratic mayor has stayed largely silent on the investigation, ignoring criticism from some on the city council and from members of the public.

Now begins the defense.

The first step came Monday, as Perez and Santos sought an interview on the eve of the mayor's arrest.

The second step will come at noon today at city hall, where Perez intends to make a public statement and Santos will take questions. Santos counseled Perez Monday to refrain from answering questions directly related to the charges.

Santos said he will seek a speedy trial that could bring the mayor before a jury within two to three months. A long wait for a trial "basically emasculates his ability to govern," Santos said.

"We're going to ask for an immediate trial," Santos said. "We're ready to go to trial tomorrow."

Perez asked the public for its patience.

"I'm asking for the benefit of two to three months" to offer a defense, Perez said.

Santos said he has tried to shape the grand jury investigation, offering prosecutors the names of character witnesses willing to testify to Perez's honesty in handling the multimillion-dollar Learning Corridor project.

The mayor's last job before his election was to manage the construction of the education project sponsored by two neighboring institutions, Trinity College and Hartford Hospital.

Santos said that three witnesses offered to testify: Evan Dobelle, the former Trinity president; James Meehan, the former chief executive of Hartford Hospital; and Jerry Franklin, the chief executive of Connecticut Public Broadcasting. All were prepared to say there was no wrongdoing on the Learning Corridor project, Santos said.

"[Perez] had access to millions of dollars," Santos said. "There was a lot of temptation there, I imagine. He never succumbed to any of it."

In 2003, Costa was awarded a $7.3 million contract to remake Park Street with new streetlights and sidewalks. But the project has dragged on far longer than Hartford officials had hoped. At one point, the city's public works department tried to declare Costa in default of his contract, and put his professional insurer on notice. A mayoral aide later intervened to reverse the city's course.

As recently as last month, legal wrangling over the project continued.

To convict Perez, the state will have to prove a quid pro quo — that Perez provided Costa with something of value in return for home improvements, Santos said. The defense will argue that free home improvements would have been an odd way to pay a bribe, he said.

Santos said that the mayor's house sits on Bloomfield Avenue, a heavily traveled commuter route, down the street from one of his political opponents in the 2007 mayoral race, Frank Barrows.

"It's just an odd place to accept a bribe," Santos said.

Perez said Costa was a friend he initially approached for advice on a do-it-yourself home-improvement project, then hired to do the work.

Santos said he believes prosecutors will claim that the invoice was fabricated to cover up an illicit deal.

In a prepared statement and again during Monday's interview, Perez said he was wrong to use Costa, a city contractor, under any circumstances.

"The perception in today's environment has the potential to undermine public confidence in government," Perez said. "That being said, I firmly believe that I did not commit a criminal act."

Former city employee Edward Lazu also will be arrested today, according to his attorney, Richard Brown. As a city contract compliance supervisor, Lazu was in charge of overseeing the employee who monitored Costa's work on Park Street.

But state investigators also have asked questions about a driveway that Costa partially built for Lazu in 2004. Lazu paid Costa $1,100 to begin work on the driveway at Lazu's Broadview Terrace house, Brown has said. Costa did some work until a neighbor complained, and the work was never completed. Brown said his client will be charged today with forgery and the "purported acceptance of a bribe," and that he eventually will plead not guilty.

Gerace, Costa's attorney, said he told his client not to worry.

"I feel that Carlos is in a great position to prevail here," Gerace said. "His conduct was minimally offensive in the whole scheme of things."

City council President Calixto Torres did not return a call for comment late Monday. But two others expressed concern.

"This is a very sad day for the city of Hartford," said city Councilman Matt Ritter, a Democrat, adding that he expects the council to take "some immediate steps" to assure the public that it understands the seriousness of the allegations.

"This is not about political parties. This is not about political endorsements. This is about doing what's right for the city of Hartford," Ritter said.

Councilman Kenneth Kennedy, also a Democrat, said that the council has some work ahead.

"The council is going to have to make a judgment on whether or not the duties of the office are being carried out appropriately and what's in the best interest of the city," Kennedy said. "It's extremely sad for the city."

Statement from Mayor Eddie A. Perez: First, I wish to apologize to the people of Hartford. My lapse in judgment in using a city contractor to perform work on my house was inexcusable. Though I firmly believe that I have not committed a crime, I have allowed the appearance of impropriety to color how those may view my administration. For this, I am truly sorry and take full responsibility. >>For the mayor's full comments, see courant.com/eddieperez
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Kerri P.
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Quote:
 
Perez Faces Charges
Mayor To Surrender Today On Allegations Of Bribery, Fabricating Evidence


Hartford, CT was the home of Current DPD Police Chief Lopez. Need I say more. :roflmao:
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abb
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Clowns
Jan 27 2009, 03:09 PM
Quote:
 
Perez Faces Charges
Mayor To Surrender Today On Allegations Of Bribery, Fabricating Evidence


Hartford, CT was the home of Current DPD Police Chief Lopez. Need I say more. :roflmao:
Good catch. No wonder he left.

Well, maybe the feds will still get him.
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chatham
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I dont remember if this was ever posted. It is an article by KC Johnson about the Duke case and the blogs and the title is

"The Duke Lacrosse Case and the Blogosphere" from 11/18/2008


www.law.duke.edu/shell/cite.pl?71+Law+&+Contemp.+Probs.+155+(autumn +2008)+pdf -


this is the HTML version

http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:mHHoYxoHGqIJ:www.law.duke.edu/shell/cite.pl%3F71%2BLaw%2B%26%2BContemp.%2BProbs.%2B155%2B(autumn%2B2008)%2Bpdf+duke+lax+case&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=7&gl=us&client=safari
Edited by chatham, Jan 27 2009, 04:32 PM.
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~J~ is in Wonderland
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~J~ is in Wonderland
http://www.newsobserver.com/front/story/1383820.html

Bowles: lower UNC system tuition, fee increases

Citing the lagging economy and its effect on North Carolina families, UNC system President Erskine Bowles is recommending lower tuition and fee increases for next year than many campuses have requested.

Though the UNC system sets a 6.5 percent cap on year-to-year tuition and fee increases, Bowles wants that ceiling reduced to 4.5 percent and recommends cutting the proposed tuition hike requested by each UNC system campus by 33 percent.

Doing so would mean that on average, in-state undergraduate tuition would increase by 2.8 percent in 2009-10. If the campus requests had been honored, the average tuition hike would have been 3.8 percent across the state.

"Put plainly, most North Carolina families cannot afford a 6.5 percent increase in undergraduate tuition and fees," Bowles wrote in a Monday memo to members of the UNC system's Board of Governors. "At the same time, we need additional resources and the flexibility to use those resources wisely in order to lessen the impact on this recession and related budget cuts on our university."

UNC Chapel Hill has requested a 6.1 percent increase that would bring tuition and fees next year to $5,355.66. N.C. State requested a 4.2 percent increase to $5,206. N.C. Central University asked to increase rates 4.3 percent, to 3,764.21.

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~J~ is in Wonderland
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~J~ is in Wonderland
http://www.newsobserver.com/104/story/1383859.html

Bailout: Treasury distributes $386M to 23 banks

The Treasury Department said Tuesday it has distributed another $386 million to 23 banks, the first awards from the federal bailout fund since President Barack Obama took office.

The department said the latest capital infusions went to banks in 16 states, bringing the total number of institutions that have been helped to 317.

The new distributions were made Friday and mark the first money from the $700 billion bailout fund distributed since Obama became president last week. Under the law that established the fund, the administration has to publicly disclose its funding actions within two business days after the money is disbursed.

The latest capital infusions ranged from $111 million for 1st Source Corp. in South Bend, Ind., to $1.04 million for Calvert Financial Corp. in Ashland, Mo.

With the new awards, a total of $194.2 billion has been provided in the program that is purchasing bank stock as a way to bolster banks' capital reserves and get them to resume more normal lending patterns. The money has gone to 317 institutions in 43 states and Puerto Rico.

Separately, the Federal Reserve - as required by a 2008 law that set up the $700 billion bailout fund - adopted a policy Tuesday aimed at preventing home foreclosures. The goal is to avoid foreclosures on residential mortgages that are held, owned or controlled by any Federal Reserve bank. The Fed said it will apply the policy to residential mortgage assets that serve as collateral for emergency loans provided by the Fed as well as to special entities it set up to hold certain assets of Bear Stearns and insurer American International Group.

Also on Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced on his first full day in office that the administration was implementing new rules to limit special-interest influences on the bailout program.

The new rules will restrict the contact that government officials can have with lobbyists for the financial institutions seeking awards. They also will require reports in which the officials operating the rescue fund will have to provide Congress with a detailed description of how their review process was conducted.

The Bush administration committed the first $350 billion of the rescue fund in ways that left many lawmakers fuming about a lack of accountability and transparency in the program. While lawmakers failed in an effort to block release of the second $350 billion, the Obama administration said it would institute a number of reforms.

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abb
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http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/090127/mcclatchy_dividend.html?.v=1

McClatchy suspends quarterly dividend indefinitely
Tuesday January 27, 7:21 pm ET
McClatchy to pay 1Q dividend but suspend quarterly dividend after that to conserve cash

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- McClatchy Co., the nation's third-largest newspaper publisher, said Tuesday it is suspending its quarterly dividend after paying out its dividend for the first quarter of 2009 so it can save up cash to repay its debts.

The publisher of papers such as The Miami Herald and The Sacramento Bee said it declared a quarterly cash dividend of 9 cents payable on April 1 to shareholders of record on March 11.

But the company said in a news release that after that, the dividend would be suspended "for the foreseeable future" so it could conserve its cash.

McClatchy, like others in the newspaper industry, is seeing a decline in advertising revenue which is hurting profit. Advertisers have been pulling back amid the recession, and increasingly shifting their marketing dollars to the Web.

McClatchy said its first-quarter dividend is worth half the per-share dividend paid in the same period last year.

Shares of McClatchy rose 2 cents, or 2.4 percent, to close at 85 cents.
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abb
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http://www.johnincarolina.com/

Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Tim Tyson, the Raleigh N&O & Whiteys’ Place

On March 27, 2006 the Raleigh News & Observer ran a story, “Rally calls for action at Duke” (reg. req’d), which began:

A cacophony of clanging pans pierced the crisp morning air Sunday as a group of Duke University students, neighbors and activists spoke out against sexual violence.

Bundled in sweaters and sweatshirts, about 100 people gathered at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd., where a woman said she was raped this month at a party hosted by Duke men's lacrosse team players. …

"This is a wake-up call to challenge sexual assault and racial violence," Manju Rajendran, 25, a Durham resident and organizer of Sunday's event, said through a bullhorn just after 9 a.m. "We're trying to break the silence. ... Women have a right to dignity and respect." ...

Attendees at the event Sunday criticized Duke for being too lenient on team members.

Some protesters carried signs including one that read, "All rapes deserve outrage." ...

The biggest signs the protesters carried were banners; one reading “CASTRATE” and another “GIVE THEM EQUAL MEASURE”

But the N&O’s story said nothing about those threatening banners; nor were there any N&O editorials, op-ed or “news analysis” stories condemning the threatening crowd and their banners.

Does the N&O’s silence tell you the mob and its banners were targeting Whiteys? If it doesn't, you must still be waiting for Mike Nifong to produce his “smoking gun.”

The same goes for understanding why the N&O used only one sentence to describe a group of racists on May 18, 2006 shouting threats, including death threats, at a man outside and then again inside the Durham County Courthouse.

The man, one of those whose attempted frame-up Tyson enabled, had to be a Whitey and the racists black.

If the frame-up victim and his racist threateners races were reversed, the story would’ve started on the N&O’s front page with banner headlines.

All the above came to mind today when I read on the N&O’s editorial page an opinion piece by Duke professor Tim Tyson and saw the headline the N&O’d given it.

Tyson, one of the most attention seeking of the Duke faculty members who eagerly embraced false accuser Crystal Mangum’s hoax and the frame-up attempt led by a now disbarred Mike Nifong, begins by telling readers:

God probably dozes off during public prayer anyway. But the Rev. Joseph Lowery's mischievous benediction for the Obama inaugural may have made the Creator giggle. It ended with a plea to "help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man, and when white will embrace what is right. Let all those who do justice and love mercy say amen." Loud laughter and a chorus of "amens" followed.

Tyson uses the rest of his op-ed to persuade us Rev. Lowery’s singling out only whites as needing to “embrace what is right” was not in any way inappropriate or racist. It was a just a joke.

You know about "Jew" jokes, "Amos and Andy" jokes and "Whitey" jokes, don't you?

Tyson likes the one he says Lowery told at President Obama's Inauguration. He found it a God-given knee-slapper.

Tyson's upset that others didn't get what he says was Lowery's great joke about Whitey.

Tyson want’s Whiteys to lighten up and understand “God has a sense of humor” The N&O went along headlining the op-ed: “Amen to a spirited blessing.”

Suggestion for the N&O:

Start a new section called Whiteys’ Place for stories like “Rally calls for action at Duke” and op-eds like “Amen to a spirited blessing.”
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