| Blog and Media Roundup - Friday, Jan 30, 2009; News Roundup | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jan 30 2009, 05:24 AM (724 Views) | |
| abb | Jan 30 2009, 05:24 AM Post #1 |
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http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/durham/4-1084065.cfm City officials to probe troubled sludge-hauling contractor By Ray Gronberg : The Herald-Sun gronberg@heraldsun.com Jan 30, 2009 DURHAM -- City officials say they're going to check whether a company that's been hauling sludge from Durham's water and sewer plants remains in good odor with federal and state regulators after getting caught up in a Michigan bribery scandal. The Texas-based company, Synagro Technologies, has been a city contractor for 18 years and is in line to receive another five-year hauling contract. But questions surfaced after a Synagro vice president, James R. Rosendall Jr., pleaded guilty Monday to a federal charge of conspiring to bribe officials in Detroit to help the company nail down a 25-year, $1.2 billion hauling contract with that city. As part of a plea bargain, Rosendall agreed to turn state's evidence and admitted channeling hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cash and other concessions to Detroit officials, their relatives and their friends. Apprised of the federal investigation, Durham Deputy City Manager Ted Voorhees said Thursday that administrators would look into it before giving Synagro a new deal. "That's of interest to us and we only want to do business with folks who are exhibiting appropriate behavior and ethics," Voorhees said. "Particularly in a program ... that requires public trust and compliance with environmental regulations and reporting, we only want to deal with firms that have great integrity." The sludge-hauling deal pays Synagro to take leftovers from the water and sewer treatment process to area farmers who in turn use material as fertilizer. Synagro officials say their company isn't in trouble with the feds. "It's Synagro's understanding that it is not a target of the investigation," said Catherine Elkins, the company's chief compliance officer. "Synagro has cooperated with the federal investigation since it first learned of it." Elkins added that the firm has fired Rosendall and "understands no other current or former [company official] other than Mr. Rosendall is a target of the investigation." Here in Durham, Water Management Department officials had received "some information" about Synagro's problems in Detroit, said Vicki Westbrook, the department's deputy director. Voorhees said he'd been unaware of the Detroit case until The Herald-Sun asked him about it Thursday. City Manager Tom Bonfield, meanwhile, said the contract hadn't gotten to him yet and added that he doesn't "know the background about whatever may have happened in Michigan or the structure of the company." The firm's present sludge-hauling contract with Durham was due to expire soon. Synagro joined another firm, EMA, in answering a request for qualifications for a new contract, Westbrook said. An evaluation panel recommended that city officials open talks with Synagro. The company also got a six-month extension of its present contract so the talks could occur. But a decision on whether to open the talks "has been passed up to higher parties," Westbrook said, referring to the city manager's office. Westbrook and Voorhees said the city's never had any problems with Synagro. "We don't know of any irregularities in our area or with our program," Voorhees said. "They have a very good track record, and we've not heard any concerns from regulatory agencies or the [sludge] customers we work with." Rosendall was Synagro's vice president for business development and the president of its Michigan operations. He's been off the job since about June and was fired on Tuesday, the day after his court appearance. Officials in Synagro's Baltimore office handle the company's contract with Durham, Elkins said. |
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| abb | Jan 30 2009, 05:25 AM Post #2 |
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http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/durham/4-1083945.cfm Charge dropped in kidnap, rape case By Ray Gronberg : The Herald-Sun gronberg@heraldsun.com Jan 30, 2009 DURHAM -- County prosecutors on Thursday were forced to at least temporarily drop a charge against one of the people caught up in a bizarre rape and kidnapping case that's included allegations of Satanic rituals. The move for the moment tossed a charge of accessory after the fact that targeted Diana Palmer, a Cottage Woods Court resident. It came after District Judge Nancy Gordon refused a request from the Durham County district attorney's office for a continuance. Palmer's lawyer, Durham attorney Bill Thomas, opposed the continuance and prosecutors didn't explain why they wanted one. "My client wants her day in court," Thomas said, explaining that he was willing to have the matter go to trial immediately. "She strongly maintains her innocence of any criminal activity whatsoever with respect to this matter." Palmer was one of three people Durham police arrested last summer after a man and a woman alleged they were detained and sexually assaulted in a home on Albany Street. The others accused were Joseph Scott Craig and Joy Johnson. Craig faces three counts of second-degree kidnapping, one of second-degree rape, one of second-degree forcible sex offense and two of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury. Johnson faces three counts of felony aiding and abetting. Palmer was accused last July of helping the couple by removing evidence from their home at 2305 Albany St. Thomas said prosecutors have the option of taking the case to a grand jury and asking for new charges against Palmer. But it's not clear whether that move, if it happens, would come from Durham prosecutors. Noelle Talley, spokeswoman for state Attorney General Roy Cooper, confirmed Thursday that Durham authorities have spoken with Cooper's staff about the possibility of having the state's special prosecution section handle the cases against the three. Palmer and Johnson were -- and, in Palmer's case, still are -- officers of the Durham County Democratic Party. The county's new district attorney, Tracey Cline, is a Democrat and has strong ties to the local party and its activists. Cline on Thursday said she's received verbal indications, but not written confirmation, from Cooper's staff that it would take over the prosecution of Johnson and Palmer. Craig's case would stay with Durham prosecutors, as he wasn't involved with the Democratic Party. Cline said she's staying out of the case because she has a direct conflict of interest. Assistant District Attorney Jan Paul has been on the case instead. Talley said the attorney general's office has "not received a formal request from [Cline] yet" seeking a state takeover of the prosecution. The attorney general can step in only if a district attorney asks him to do so. |
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| abb | Jan 30 2009, 05:28 AM Post #3 |
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http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/opinion/hsedits/56-1083801.cfm Let people judge content of speech Jan 30, 2009 "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech." That's the First Amendment to the Constitution, which protects our most cherished freedoms: religion, speech, the press, the right to assemble. When we honor troops for protecting "our freedoms," this is what we mean. So we shouldn't take lightly any attempt to dilute them. But what about so-called "hate speech?" After Barack Obama was elected president, for example, someone wrote something awful on N.C. State University's "Free Expression Tunnel." "Let's shoot that n------ in the head!" and "KKK" were examples. Yes, the words were horrible, and the university community was appropriately upset. The perpetrators eventually confessed to what seemed to be more of an idiotic prank than a real threat to anyone. But a study commission was created that is looking into whether such words should be punishable as "hate speech." To us, it seems like an attempt to tweak the First Amendment, which we think has served us well and should be left alone. The main problem is that once government develops a taste for restricting speech, it can become habit-forming. If it becomes a hate crime to deride the president's ethnicity, it's not a huge step to make it an offense to impugn his intelligence. And if we bar speech that can be interpreted as advocating violence, the next step may be to criminalize speech that advocates protests or strikes. Those are disruptive to society's peace, after all. This isn't just a semantic exercise. Free speech took a beating in North Carolina in 1963 when the Speaker's Ban prohibited communists from speaking on campuses because they were believed to be stirring up the civil rights movement. The ban was declared unconstitutional, but it lasted for five years. Ironically, a civil rights leader, Rev. William Barber II, president of the state NAACP, is now lobbying for a crackdown on words like those written on the N.C. State tunnel. Yes, the words were hateful. But the Constitution, in its wisdom, says that we the people are smart enough to see that. |
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| abb | Jan 30 2009, 05:35 AM Post #4 |
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Published: Jan 30, 2009 12:30 AM Modified: Jan 30, 2009 05:20 AM Tasered man asks for reviews Concerns emerge about officers' use Anne Blythe, Staff Writer Comment on this story Reginald Woods still smarts from a traffic stop six months ago that ended with a Durham officer shocking him with a Taser gun. The 37-year-old Durham equipment operator had hoped to tell his story in court, but a judge tossed out the case before he had that opportunity. Now Woods and his attorney are using the details of the incident -- a traffic stop that a judge said the officer had no grounds to make -- as a reason for asking for more review and scrutiny of Taser use. "Tasers haven't been in Durham that long, but I think the cops here are too quick to draw them," Woods said. "I felt like I got Tasered because I was a black man, because I was questioning the officer." The Durham police's internal affairs division investigated the incident, but the department would not disclose the findings. Tasers, which resemble handguns, fire darts that, while connected to the device, carry an electric current that temporarily can paralyze muscles of the targeted person. The law enforcement agencies across the state and country that have been stocking their arsenals with the weapons say they are effective for subduing people and cause fewer injuries and deaths than guns. Scott Holmes, a civil rights and criminal defense lawyer who represented Woods, worries that no uniform state policies govern their use. Unless a Taser incident results in death, the State Bureau of Investigation does not have to be called to review the case. Easy to use "It is very nice for law enforcement to have something that is less lethal than guns but more than soft hands," Holmes said. "But I am very concerned with how easy a Taser is to use. Tasers should only be used when there's a threat of force to the officer, not as I fear they're being used -- just to facilitate an arrest." Dr. William P. Bozeman, an emergency medicine researcher at Wake Forest University, has been studying use of the weapons by six law enforcement agencies across the country. The study, funded by the National Institute of Justice, looked at the 1,201 times officers from the participating agencies used Tasers over the past three years and then tracked any resulting injuries. The results, released this month, show that 99.75 percent of the criminal suspects who were shocked either were not injured or only mildly injured. Key findings, Bozeman says, are that while Tasers appear to be safe, especially when compared with guns, they still pose troubling risks. The shocks could spark cardiac problems in pregnant women, smokers and others in vulnerable health. The electric currents could ignite flammable materials. And people stunned by the shock often fall and injure themselves. "There are still some real medical concerns," Bozeman said. A study released this month by two cardiologists at the University of California at San Francisco echoes those concerns and sounds greater alarms. Drs. Byron Lee and Zian Tseng, the study authors, found that the number of in-custody sudden deaths rose dramatically during the first year California law enforcement agencies began using stun guns, After that year, the researchers saw the rates drop close to what they were before the 50 law enforcement agencies in California began using the weapons. The doctors postulated that law enforcement agencies adjusted their protocols after the initial year. Reaching for a pen Woods was in the front seat of a Nissan Pathfinder when the officer shocked him. He said he repeatedly implored the officer to tell him why he had been stopped. Woods was angry and not getting a satisfactory response. Soon another officer arrived and looked on the passenger-side window of the Pathfinder. "I'm tired of being stereotyped," Woods said. "I go out and work every day. I pay my taxes. I know my rights, and I wanted to know why I was stopped." After failing to get a response, Woods took a clipboard from the front seat. He unhooked the pen and asked the officer for his badge number. "That's when he Tasered me," Woods said. "It hit me and shocked me so bad I urinated on myself." Woods said the officer should have been able to see his hands and not think he was reaching for a weapon. "I already had my pen out," Woods said. "I had a cigarette in my other hand. The other officer could see what I was doing." Judge James T. Hill ruled last month that Raul Garcia, the Durham police officer who fired the Taser at Woods, had no reasonable suspicion to stop Woods on Erwin Road on July 22 -- grounds that led to the dismissal of the resisting a public officer charge. Standard procedure for the Durham police department calls for the internal affairs division to review each use of force -- Tasers included. The Taser use by Garcia on July 22 was investigated by the Durham internal affairs division, according to Capt. Chris Allen. But Allen cited personnel privacy laws in refusing to disclose whether the officer's action was deemed appropriate. Holmes, the lawyer representing Woods, said he did not think internal affairs got a complete account of the incident. Woods was never contacted, even after filing a complaint, nor was the witness who was willing to testify in court. "My problem with this is the police officer had no right to stop Mr. Woods in the first place," Holmes said. "So this was a criminal assault. Who do you call when the police commit a crime?" anne.blythe@newsobserver.com or 919-932-8741 BY THE NUMBERS More than two-thirds of U.S. law enforcement agencies use Tasers, or stun guns. Dr. William Bozeman, an emergency medicine researcher at Wake Forest University, conducted a study of Taser use at six law enforcement agencies over the past three years and documented any resulting injuries. 1,201 Suspects in the study shocked by the weapons 99.75 Percentage of criminal suspects shocked by a "conducted electrical weapon" who received no injuries or mild injuries only, such as scrapes and bruises. 492 Suspects who suffered mild injuries, mostly (83 percent) superficial puncture wounds from the Taser probes. 3 People who sustained significant injuries. Two suffered from head injuries related to falls; the third developed rhabdomyolysis, or a rapid breakdown of muscle tissue. 94 Percentage of the suspects who were male. 49.5 Percentage of the cases in which alcohol or intoxication was documented. Edited by abb, Jan 30 2009, 05:37 AM.
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| abb | Jan 30 2009, 05:38 AM Post #5 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1387256.html Published: Jan 30, 2009 12:30 AM Modified: Jan 30, 2009 01:24 AM Charges dropped against ex-political official Anne Blythe, Staff Writer Comment on this story DURHAM - A District Court judge dismissed a charge Thursday against Diana Palmer, the former Durham County Democratic Party official accused this summer of being an accessory in a sexual assault case. But the case could be revived if the state Attorney General's Office chooses to seek an indictment, a Durham prosecutor says. "This case should end here," said Bill Thomas, the Durham lawyer who represented Palmer. An assistant district attorney had asked District Court Judge Nancy Gordon to continue the case Thursday, but Thomas objected. Palmer, a former first vice chairwoman of the Durham County Democratic Party, was jailed in July on a charge of being an accessory after the fact of an assault with a deadly weapon. Investigators claimed she removed possible evidence from the home of Joy Suzanne Johnson, who had been the party's third vice chairwoman, and Johnson's husband, Joseph Scott Craig. Police have accused Craig of beating and caging a man and sexually assaulting a woman in his and Johnson's home in Durham. He is charged with second-degree rape, second-degree forcible sexual offense, three counts of second-degree kidnapping and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon. Johnson is accused of standing by during the assaults. Tracey Cline, Durham's new district attorney, said earlier this month that she would ask the state Attorney General's Office to take over the Johnson and Palmer cases to avoid the possibility of a conflict of interest. As a Democrat who ran for office this past spring, Cline was in contact with Johnson. Discussions among Durham prosecutors and the state's special prosecution team about a transfer of the cases have occurred, but no formal request had been received in the Attorney General's Office as of Thursday morning, according to Noelle Talley, spokeswoman for the office. Defense lawyers have described the case as "consensual sadomasochism gone awry." James Frederick Bethard, 19, of Maryland, accused Craig of forcing him into a dog cage with his arms and legs shackled and beating him repeatedly with a cane. The woman who has accused Craig of raping her testified this summer that she also engaged in consensual oral sex with the accused more than once. The News & Observer is not identifying the woman in keeping with its general policy of not naming people who allege sex crimes. anne.blythe@newsobserver.com or 919-932-8741 |
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| ~J~ is in Wonderland | Jan 30 2009, 08:53 AM Post #6 |
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~J~ is in Wonderland
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http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=6631330 Conflict of Interest Could Send Case to AG's Office If a satanic sex case in Durham makes it to trial, the city's police chief could potentially be called as a witness for the defense. Eyewitness News has learned Chief Jose Lopez was questioned about visits he and his wife made to a home where a man and woman claimed they were beaten and raped over a six month period. snip- |
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| justice4all | Jan 30 2009, 09:38 AM Post #7 |
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Some good headlines today possibly deserving their own threads. Synagro involved in waste kickbacks in Detroit and they also have the contract in Durham that's administered out of Baltimore? I say, where there's smoke (Durham's Landfill) there's fire (Water & Sewer). Tracey Cline has a COI that leads to bungled charges within her first 30 days? She's already throwing assistants under the bus for the errors? She knew 3 months ago that she had a conflict in this case, does the AG's office respond this slowly? Or was this a plan to get the Dem official out of the headlines? |
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| Kerri P. | Jan 30 2009, 09:59 PM Post #8 |
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http://www.wral.com/news/local/politics/story/4437261/ Problems with state's payroll system fixed Posted: Today at 2:13 p.m. Updated: Today at 4:53 p.m. Raleigh, N.C. — Problems afflicting the state's payroll system should be resolved, the state controller is telling legislators. In a letter Friday, Controller David McCoy reported to the General Assembly on the troubled Beacon system, which processes paychecks for nearly 90,000 state workers. For almost a year, state employees have complained about paycheck errors, including wages coming up short and being overpaid. Those problems were linked to a number of errors dealing with benefits, overtime and differential pay. McCoy said the issues had to do with data and encoding problems, as well as input errors. The office went through all employees' records to make sure they were coded correctly. snip... |
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| Kerri P. | Jan 30 2009, 10:02 PM Post #9 |
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http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/4434866/ University faculty offer to cut pay Posted: Today at 10:55 a.m. Updated: Today at 7:27 p.m. Chapel Hill, N.C. — Faculty at some University of North Carolina campuses have offered to accept pay cuts to save other jobs amid tight budgets, officials said Friday. A UNC Board of Governors committee was discussing President Erskine Bowles' recent recommendation to limit tuition increases for in-state students next fall. Bowles on Tuesday called for slashing requests for higher tuition from the system's 16 campuses by a third, to an average of 2.8 percent. He also said the system's overall cap on tuition increases should be lowered from 6.5 to 4.5 percent, saying a college education needed to remain affordable to families hit hard by the recession. snip... |
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| Kerri P. | Jan 30 2009, 10:05 PM Post #10 |
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http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/4439438/ DOT chief: Gas tax doesn't work Posted: Today at 6:21 p.m. Updated: Today at 8:10 p.m. Raleigh, N.C. — Newly appointed North Carolina Transportation Secretary Gene Conti says his greatest challenge will be dealing with the current financial crisis. The DOT has in recent months been forced to postpone more than 75 percent of its planned projects. The department has been dogged by perceptions of patronage and inefficiency. An outside consultant issued a scathing report in 2007 that said the agency lacks priorities and accountability, resulting in project delays and low employee morale. snip... |
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| Kerri P. | Jan 30 2009, 10:06 PM Post #11 |
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http://www.wral.com/news/news_briefs/story/4437588/ Fire department treasurer charged with embezzlement Posted: Today at 2:42 p.m. Elm City, N.C. — The treasurer of a Nash County volunteer fire department was charged Thursday with stealing more than $100,000 from the department, authorities said. David Lowell Joyner Jr., 28, of Elm City, was charged with embezzlement and corporate malfeasance. An annual review of the accounts of Coopers Volunteer Fire and Rescue found numerous questionable checks and invoices, authorities said. The fire chief called the Nash County Sheriff's Office to investigate the case. Authorities said they haven't determined how much money was taken from the department, but they know it was at least $100,000. snip... |
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| Kerri P. | Jan 30 2009, 10:10 PM Post #12 |
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http://www.wral.com/news/news_briefs/story/4436490/ Man wanted for allegedly sexually abusing 6-year-old Posted: Today at 1:35 p.m. Fayetteville, N.C. — Fayetteville police asked for the public's help in finding a man accused of sexually abusing a 6-year-old girl. Detectives said more warrants are pending against Jahaurn Soles, 20, of 2907 Catalina Road, in a separate incident involving a different female juvenile victim. Soles faces charges of second-degree sexual offense and taking indecent liberties with a child. He is also wanted on separate charges for home break-ins. Soles is described as a black man standing 6 feet tall, with black hair and brown eyes. He is known to frequent the area around Baldoon Drive and Reilly Road. Police listed Sole among Fayetteville's Most Wanted Anyone with information about Soles' whereabouts was urged to call Detective J. Rosenberg at 910-433-1856. To leave an anonymous tip, call Crime Stoppers at 910-483-8477. |
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| Kerri P. | Jan 30 2009, 10:12 PM Post #13 |
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http://www.wral.com/news/news_briefs/story/4436179/ Two men face sex charges involving 15-year-old Posted: Today at 1:06 p.m. Fayetteville, N.C. — Fayetteville police detectives arrested two men accused of taking indecent liberties against a 15-year-old girl. Detectives first opened an investigation of Harry Bugler, 21, of 249 Westwood Drive, and his involvement with the victim. Police said that the investigation revealed that John Edmundson, 19, of 3006 Sigman St., had also been involved with the girl since November 2008. Detectives arrested Edmundson Wednesday and Bugler Thursday. Bugler was charged with three counts each of taking indecent liberties with a child and crimes against nature and two counts each of statutory sexual offenses and statutory rape. Edmundson was charged with two counts each of taking indecent liberties with a child and statutory rape. Both men were being held in the Cumberland County Jail Friday morning. Bugler had a $160,000 secured bond, and Edmundson had a $50,000 secured bond. Bugler's first court appearance was set for Friday afternoon. |
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| Quasimodo | Jan 31 2009, 12:37 AM Post #14 |
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[so, somebody who interrupts a courtroom with racist hate remarks gets 90 days in jail for contempt...but not in Durham...] http://www.theindychannel.com/news/18601698/detail.html Self-Proclaimed White Supremacist Jailed After Outburst POSTED: 6:29 am EST January 30, 2009 MUNCIE, Ind. -- A self-proclaimed white supremacist was jailed in Muncie on a contempt of court conviction after he shouted "Heil Hitler!" during a hearing.Dmitriy V. Sklyarov, who faces trial Feb. 17 on charges that he repeatedly bit a 9-year-old boy left in his care, also resisted urgings from his attorney and the judge that he undergo a mental health evaluation.After shouting "Heil Hitler" and "White Power!" and interrupting Delaware Circuit Judge Chris Teagle with profanities during a Dec. 1 hearing, Sklyarov, 20, was sentenced to 90 days in jail for contempt. |
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