| Blog and Media Roundup - Sunday, July 5, 2009; News Roundup | |
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| Topic Started: Jul 5 2009, 06:13 AM (137 Views) | |
| abb | Jul 5 2009, 06:13 AM Post #1 |
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http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/durham/4-1178423.cfm Billboard officials pitching safety benefits By Ray Gronberg : The Herald-Sun gronberg@heraldsun.com Jul 5, 2009 Bookmark and Share DURHAM -- Lobbyists for a Georgia billboard company are scheduled to meet with the Durham Crime Cabinet this week to try to sell it on the public safety benefits on allowing digital billboards on the city's major highway corridors. The Crime Cabinet's meeting is scheduled for Friday and according to a preliminary agenda will feature an appearance by Patrick Byker, a lawyer from the RTP firm K&L Gates who's been representing Fairway Outdoor Advertising. One of the Crime Cabinet's co-chairs, County Commissioner Ellen Reckhow, said Byker and his clients made it onto the agenda at the request of Mike Andrews, chief deputy of the Durham County Sheriff's Office. "When the chief deputy makes a request, I feel like we should honor it," Reckhow said. "That's why it's on the agenda. We'll see what they have to say." Sheriff Worth Hill later confirmed that Fairway representatives had talked both with his office and the Durham Police Department about digital billboards. Senior officials in both departments think such billboards "would be of help to us" because of Fairway's willingness to post amber and silver alerts, public-service messages seeking help from the public in locating abducted children and other missing persons, Hill said. The sheriff added that local governments already allow many businesses here to have digital signs. "They're all over town," he said. "I don't see anything wrong with it." The upcoming presentation is part of a lobbying campaign Fairway's representatives are mounting to prod elected officials to loosen Durham's restrictions on the billboard industry. City and county law now forbids companies from placing new billboards or moving old ones. Supporters of those rules say they've led over the years to a decrease in the number of billboards along Durham's major roads. Fairway has signaled that it wants officials to change the law to allow it to replace some existing billboards with the new digital models, which can change messages every few seconds. It also wants permission to move some of the digital billboards to new locations. The company is targeting sites along U.S. 15-501, U.S. 70 and Interstate 85. In recent months company representatives have met with civic groups like the Inter-Neighborhood Council to pitch their ideas. Fairway's president, William S. Morris III, has also given campaign contributions to every current member of the City Council and a couple of county commissioners. The company's lobbying has sparked pushback from neighborhood activists, none more vocal than Tom Miller of the Watts Hospital-Hillandale Neighborhood Association. Miller last week declined to criticize Fairway representatives or local officials about the upcoming pitch to the Crime Cabinet but said the company's arguments should be taken skeptically. "They've been lobbying everyone and they have a right to do that," Miller said. "I'm not going to criticize them for pitching their program to anybody. But I'd caution anybody that this offer of 'Change the law because we'll put up public service announcements' is a red herring. After and if the law gets changed, the gift they give is one that's revocable. We can't compel them to do anything. The city doesn't have the authority to dictate content of speech." |
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| abb | Jul 5 2009, 06:16 AM Post #2 |
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http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/opinion/columnists/mccann/ Let's not see kids go extinct Jul 5, 2009 You've got to help me with something. Two 7-year-olds around here on separate occasions recently got shot. The gunfire wasn't fatal. But still, we're talking about two 7-year-olds. The same thing happened to a 16-year-old. Of course, we can broaden the discussion by talking about shooting victims around here who actually died. Now, what I'm struggling with is the other week we had city leaders begging and moaning harder than has-been R&B crooner Keith Sweat for folks to come forward with information about those crimes. And I'm telling you, I'm struggling, because we had a fake dinosaur get its head and neck ripped off by some pranksters, and that so-called tragedy still would have been dominating the news if Michael Jackson hadn't died. Why, the dinosaur -- the fake dinosaur -- even has its own Facebook group and a matching grant in its behalf. For a dinosaur, now. A fake dinosaur! Folks got mad because Museum of Life and Science officials, who expressed concern about the safety of the dinosaur vandals, chose not to have the pranksters prosecuted. But you're telling me city leaders have to jump up and down to get people to make anonymous calls to CrimeStoppers in order to get some justice for human beings? Here, the number to CrimeStoppers is (919) 683-1200 -- in case the dinosaur gets mugged again. But here's something else to think about. And I'm not trying to have it both ways. But think about this: Chances are the people who ripped off the dinosaur's head and neck are harmless, right? Real dangerous people don't go after statues. So if I'd been jogging over there by West Murray Avenue where the dinosaur lives and saw the vandals beating up that brontosaurus, and if those rascals found out I was the one who came off the information that nailed them, I'd like my chances if I were to ever meet up with them at Wal-Mart or somewhere. But are we asking too much when we implore people living in highly violent neighborhoods to step forward and tell the cops they saw Boo-Boo bust a fatal cap in Ray-Ray? See, cats like Boo-Boo roll with unsavory characters who show up in court winking their eyes and all to intimidate witnesses who testify against them. Boo-Boo's down with guys who'll show up at your mama's house and your grandmama's crib and shoot up the places because you told on their homeboy. So maybe it's not that we care more about fake dinosaurs than human beings. Maybe we're just some scared humans endeavoring to keep on being, to keep on breathing. Now, this matter of flourishing crime can't always come down to citizens needing to be the eyes and ears for police who can't be everywhere. Listen, I dig that, OK? But something's awry with a system of law enforcement that enables repeat offenders to repeatedly offend. If I tell on a bad guy but the system lets him burn the road up, lets him back on the streets, then why bother? Hear me, people: Before long, those stray bullets will become more focused. Evenbad shooters get better with practice. Then we'll be talking about two extinct 7-year-olds who were shot and killed. But long live the dinosaur. Reach John McCann at jmccann@heraldsun.com or (919) 419-6601. |
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| abb | Jul 5 2009, 06:23 AM Post #3 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1595507.html The News & Observer Published: Jul 05, 2009 02:00 AM Modified: Jul 04, 2009 10:23 PM Ethics law updates in the works Easley revelations spur measures to restrict lobbying and require greater openness. BY J. ANDREW CURLISS, Staff Writer The stream of revelations surrounding former Gov. Mike Easley and his family highlights the need for more changes in ethics and lobbying laws, according to a broad coalition now at work at the General Assembly. Stories about the Easleys and the resulting state and federal criminal investigations have shown weaknesses in the law: shrouded activities of major gubernatorial appointees, allowing public officials to avoid ethics disclosures in their final year in office, and providing little penalty for officials who do not comply with public records laws. "More sunshine and brighter lines would have prevented some of these activities we are reading about," said Jane Pinsky, who leads a bipartisan group of more than 50 members known as the N.C. Coalition for Lobbying and Government Reform. Influential state Sen. Tony Rand, the Democratic majority leader in the Senate and a longtime ally of the Easleys, said in an interview that there is a clear need for more openness and that he would actively support many reform ideas. "There's an appetite for transparency in things," Rand said. Easley has been targeted by state and federal investigators who have sought information and records about the job the former governor helped create for his wife at N.C. State University, his family's use of vehicles owned by dealers friendly to him, free flights he took on corporate jets, and a marina project in his hometown of Southport. Easley, for example, didn't disclose some trips he took during his last year in office. And key appointees did not disclose flying him for free. The State Board of Elections has opened a criminal inquiry into the Easley campaign's activities. Lawmakers appear ready to take action, agreeing to consider changes just three years after imposing stricter guidelines on themselves after the scandal surrounding former House Speaker Jim Black, who is imprisoned on corruption charges. With the unresolved state budget dominating attention, it is not clear what changes might occur. House and Senate leaders appear to be squarely behind one bill that would require more openness about the political activities of appointees to the state's major boards and commissions, as well as the governor's Cabinet secretaries and top judicial posts. Another provision with traction aims to prevent "pay to play," prohibiting campaign donations from state vendors or contractors while a contract is in place. Other government reform ideas in the works center on forcing more disclosure of travel by public officials no matter who is paying, more disclosure of corporate board positions, and setting a broader example by pushing ethics reforms across North Carolina to officials at the county, city and local levels. Ultimate passage of any ideas will take work until the last moments of the legislative session, reform advocates and several lawmakers said. 'Recommendations will come' One bill that was heard in a House committee Wednesday would create a unit within state government to help mediate public records disputes -- an effort led by Wake County Democratic Rep. Deborah Ross, designed to help average folks navigate what can be a difficult process. It also would help people and news organizations collect lawyers' fees from government agencies that release public records after lawsuits. Some of the key documents in the Easley case were not at first released by NCSU, though they are clearly public records. A costly lawsuit might have led to their release. But it was requests made by federal investigators instead that compelled NCSU to produce them -- and the documents then were released to the public. "The fact remains that when we ask for public records, we often don't get them," said Mark Prak, who represented the N.C. Association of Broadcasters and N.C. Press Association in support of the bill. Cities and counties are not in favor of the public records changes, saying they would lead to slower and more cumbersome compliance with records requests. Also, lawmakers are reluctant to make quick changes based on one situation. Rep. Rick Glazier, a Democrat from Fayetteville who is co-chairman of the legislature's ethics panel, said ongoing state and federal investigations surrounding Easley should run their course before legislators take up some of the issues. "Recommendations will come to us out of this; I expect that to occur," Glazier said. "But it is a little too early to react to all of that legislatively." Glazier also worries that more laws will only deter good people from serving. "Ethics and enforcement of ethics rules is as much in the culture of an institution and in the hearts of its people who are in it than it is about legislation itself," Glazier said. "There is simply no way to cover in a workable ethics code every conceivable scenario in which someone who wants to violate or skirt the rules -- to stop them from doing so." Ultimately, Gov. Beverly Perdue would have to sign off on any changes. She has generally signaled support, after running for the governor's office on a platform last year of seeking more openness and transparency in state government. acurliss@newsobserver .com or 919-829-4840 Easley-inspired efforts Several reform-oriented bills are working their way through the legislature, some getting attention because of the controversy surrounding former Gov. Mike Easley. A glance at a few: • DISCLOSURE BY APPOINTEES: Would require campaign fundraising disclosures by people appointed to 14 top state boards and commissions, such as the Board of Transportation, the Wildlife Resources Commission and the Utilities Commission. It also would cover appointees to the governor's Cabinet and judges on the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, and Superior and District Courts across the state. STATUS: In the Senate, after passing the House. (HB 944) • OPEN GOVERNMENT: Would create an open government unit of the Department of Justice, establish a fee for mediation by the open government unit, and provide that the successful plaintiff in a public records dispute is entitled to reasonable attorneys' fees. STATUS: In the House, expected to be heard this week. (HB 1134) • PAY TO PLAY REGULATION: Would prohibit campaign contributions from vendors that have entered into a contract worth more than $25,000. STATUS: In the Senate after passing the House. (HB 961) • LOCAL GOVERNMENT ETHICS: Would require all cities, counties, local boards of education, unified governments, sanitary districts and consolidated city-counties to adopt a code of ethics for the governing board, and to require the members of those governing boards to receive education on ethics laws applicable to local government officials. STATUS: Passed the House and on the calendar in the Senate for Wednesday. (HB 1452) • EXECUTIVE BRANCH REVOLVING DOOR: Would prohibit certain executive branch employees from registering as a lobbyist for six months after leaving employment with the state. STATUS: Passed the House and is in the Senate. (HB 1136) • PUBLIC MUNICIPAL CAMPAIGNS: Would establish a test program for public financing of municipal election campaigns. STATUS: Passed the House, and now in the Senate. (HB 120) LOOK THEM UP Follow the bills online at www .ncleg .net using the bill look-up feature. Some bills will not stand alone going forward but are expected to be included in other pieces of active legislation. |
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| abb | Jul 5 2009, 06:32 AM Post #4 |
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http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/blog.php?b=5915 And then there's Eric Frimpong (See comments - the Jane Doe was not white) |
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| Quasimodo | Jul 5 2009, 07:29 AM Post #5 |
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Also, apparently the defendant had a good (expensive) attorney (one who, however, appears not to have put up the best defense, IMHO--perhaps because he thought the accusations were hollow and a jury would never convict on such flimsy "evidence"? JMOO) Nevertheless, Frimpong appears to be another innocent victim of "DA creative fiction"... Edited by Quasimodo, Jul 5 2009, 07:32 AM.
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| abb | Jul 5 2009, 03:59 PM Post #6 |
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http://www.johnincarolina.com/ Sunday, July 05, 2009 Examiner.com’s Lombard Story Provides Research Data Examiner.com National has just posted a story which is sure to upset many gays and lesbians. The story concerns Duke University health administrator Frank Lombard. While much of the story simply restates already published allegations that Lombard sexually abused and drugged a child, now 5, whom he and his partner adopted shortly after the child’s birth, the story also reports research findings of the respected California School of Professional Psychology. The findings are not included in any other news story Ive read concerning Lombard and the charges against him: In a study by the California School of Professional Psychology, the research with 942 adult participants revealed that gay men and lesbian women reported a significantly higher rate of childhood molestation than did heterosexual men and women. Forty-six percent of the homosexual men in contrast to 7% of the heterosexual men reported homosexual molestation. Twenty-two percent of lesbian women in contrast to 1% of heterosexual women reported homosexual molestation. This research is apparently the first survey that has reported substantial homosexual molestation of girls. The Examiner’s publication of those research findings will surely anger many gays and lesbians who are no doubt pleased with the minimizing and “sweep it under the rug” treatments most MSM has so far given the Lombard story. The Examiner’s report is here. Be sure to read the background tag of its author, Jim Kouri. Posted by JWM at 1:53 PM 0 comments AddThis Sill, N&O Owe Retraction & Apologies To Players, Families, Readers In Mar. 2006 the N&O first “broke” the Duke lacrosse case with a guilt-presuming front page story in which, without once ever using the standard qualifier “alleged,” the N&O seven times referred to the accuser as either “the victim” or with the possessive “victim's” Melanie Sill was N&O executive editor then. She remained executive editor through all the months three innocent young men remained under indictment until Apr. 11, 2007 when the NC AG declared them innocent and called Mike Nifong a “rogue” prosecutor. In Oct. 2007 the McClatchy Company, which owns the N&O, moved Sill to the executive editor’s chair at what has been traditionally viewed as McClatchy’s flagship paper, The Sacramento Bee. Just as she did at the N&O, Sill publishes in Sacbee’s print and online editions a Sunday column. They usually read like infomercials, all with the same working title. The title: “At Sacbee all things would be bright and beautiful but for revenue and circulation declines and those pesky readers who tell lies about us. But we’re made of stern stuff and you can’t do without us.” This week Melanie looks back at Sacbee editions from the 1930s Great Depression and other tough times to find inspiration and assure readers Sacbee will always be there for them. ( Many Sacramentans fear she may be right. - JinC.) I just left the following comment on Sill’s column thread: jwmakm wrote on 07/05/2009 07:19:30 AM: Dear Melanie, Concerning a 1933 Sacbee front page you say: "the paper reported on President Franklin D. Roosevelt in London working to stabilize currency[.] FDR wasn't in London in 1933; he was never in Great Britain whilst President. His last visit there was in 1918 in connection with his duties as Asst. Sec. of the Navy in the Wilson cabinet. It was at a London banquet on that trip the he first met Winston Churchill. While on the topic of accuracy in newspapers - - - As executive editor of the N&O you refused to identify the "police documents" you say you relied on for the deliberately fraudulent 3/25/06 Duke lacrosse frame the N&O told readers was about a night which ended in "sexual violence." Why do you refuse to identify those documents? Since the Mar. 25 story is now so discredited, will you support its retraction and an apology to the players, their families and N&O readers? Both are long overdue. John in Carolina Posted by JWM at 11:29 AM 0 comments |
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| ~J~ is in Wonderland | Jul 6 2009, 06:34 PM Post #7 |
~J~ is in Wonderland
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http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/abc11_investigates&id=6901419 Cleanliness at WakeMed questioned In the basement of WakeMed in Raleigh, the hospital pharmacy prepares the medicine that helps make sick people better. But two people who work in the part of the pharmacy where IV bags and chemotherapy drugs are prepared came to Eyewitness News with concerns about cleanliness. They had pictures that showed dirty conditions. They said they were concerned about patients. "I don't want to be treated there," one of the workers told Eyewitness News investigator Steve Daniels. "It's not good situation. I am concerned about the safety - the health and welfare of the patients in that hospital." "There's a running joke that we're not dressing up to keep the room clean from us, we're dressing up to keep us clean from the room," the worker continued. The pictures the worker brought us show a dirty floor entering the IV room, a dirty ceiling and cabinets that are falling apart. "These things need to be [clean] as the body doesn't do well when there's bacteria, contaminants, glass shards, any other uncleanly or gross filth," a worker explained. The pictures also showed the vent hood where the IV bags are prepared had caked on residue. "It could be a combination of a dozen or more drugs, it could be dextrose, it could be multi-vitamin, it could be dust, it could be somebody sneezing, it could be all of the above plus more," said a worker. "None of which does one want to be blown into what's supposed to be a sterile product." "Could that cross contaminate other IV bags, could patients get something they shouldn't?" Daniels asked. "100 percent," answered the worker. The WakeMed insiders also brought us shoe covers with dirt on them that they said proved the floors weren't being kept clean. They also had rags that they said had been wiped on surfaces in the so-called "clean rooms" that showed dirt. "Those rags are just off a few surfaces from one room," said one worker. "Those are the surfaces on which drugs are being prepared," said the second. "Is there any proof that patients are getting sick because of what's in that room?" Daniels asked. "It's very hard to prove because these patients are sick anyway," said a worker. "It would require an autopsy and most people, most families, do not want to grant permission for autopsies to be done." When we approached WakeMed about the concerns, administrators took us on a tour of the pharmacy. What we saw looked very different from the photos. Sources at the hospital told us the pharmacy staff worked hard the night before to get it looking good and even did some painting. "Do you have any reason to doubt the information, the photos, the documents, the stories these people are telling us?" Daniels asked administrator Dr. Meera Kelley. "In terms of the photographs that were taken, they appear to be taken in the pharmacy department. So I don't, I don't deny that they were taken as they are. I do object to the idea that this is the way things normally look down there," said Kelley. "But you know it's disappointing to be confronted with pictures," she continued. "Certainly it's not where we want to be." "Is that consistent with what you'd like to see at WakeMed?" Daniels asked. "Certainly not," she responded. "Also not consistent with what I usually see at WakeMed." "But on occasion it happens, and that's why we have to all be working together," she continued. "As soon as we identify something like this we need to work together to make sure we clean ourselves or get somebody to clean it." "Should patients and their loved ones be concerned about conditions at WakeMed?" Daniels asked. "I believe patients and their families, their loved ones, should feel the utmost confidence in the care provided by WakeMed," Kelley offered. "We work very hard to keep patients safe, we work very hard to keep the environment clean and sterile where needed." WakeMed administrators told us they are committed to patient safety, quality and cleanliness. They also say there is no evidence any of the things we saw impacted patient care - which they say is their number one priority. |
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12:39 PM Dec 4
