Month: March 2008

POS terrorist back in prison.

And that makes today a good day: LA Times:

California authorities rearrested Sara Jane Olson at noon Saturday, just hours after she was prevented from flying home to Minnesota from Los Angeles, and said she must serve one more year in prison because they miscalculated her release date.

The former member of the radical Symbionese Liberation Army had been paroled Monday from a California women’s prison after serving about six years for her role in a 1975 plot to kill Los Angeles police officers by blowing up their patrol cars.

Officials from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said at a news conference that they had made a mistake in computing the amount of time Olson should serve in a separate case in which she pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for participating in a Sacramento-area bank robbery in which another SLA member killed a customer.

She should be joining Tookie Williams but I guess we have to settle for another year in prison:

But [Los Angeles Police Protective League President Tim] Sands said the organization was “far from satisfied. Parole shouldn’t even be an option for terrorists who are convicted of murdering innocent bystanders and attempting to murder police officers. Anyone who tries to kill police officers should get significant jail time and serve their full sentence.”

H/t: Patterico’s Pontifications

SNAFU at the State Board of Elections

From a recent press release from the State Board of Elections:

A Democratic primary election, to determine the party’s candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives, will be held in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 7th, 8th, 10th, and 11th Congressional Districts.

That would be a negatory, sirs.

The First Congressional District Democratic Committee is using a convention, not a primary, to decide their candidate for November.

From the First Congressional District’s Democratic Committee’s Call to Convention:

CALL TO CONVENTION 2008
FIRST CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE

[…]

3. Purposes. The purposes of the District Convention shall be:

A. To nominate a candidate to the U.S. House of Representatives;

S-bag robs paraplegic, gets arrested, gets charged with four felonies.

The Free Lance–Star: Paraplegic’s prescriptions object of residential heist:

It was about 4:30 a.m. yesterday morning when Robert Newcomb’s front door was kicked in.

[…]

Newcomb, a paraplegic, soon realized what the intruder was looking for: prescription drugs.

The robber made his way through the mobile home, located in the Cedar Ridge Mobile Home Park in Woodford, near Corbin. He then came into Newcomb’s bedroom, which was lit only by the TV.

“He pointed the sawed-off 20-gauge shotgun at me and he asked for my pain medication,” Newcomb said. “Then he demanded oxycontin.”

After getting some drugs he didn’t want the moron came back looking for the “good stuff”.

And he was arrested the next day:

Sheriff Tony Lippa announced tonight the arrest of Joshua Thomas, 20, of Corbin. Thomas has been charged with breaking and enter with the intent to commit larceny; armed robbery; possession of a sawed off shotgun; and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. The charges stem from a home invasion robbery that was reported to the Caroline Sheriff’s Office on March 19, 2008 at approximately 3 a.m. Case Investigator M. M. Ellett handled the investigation and placed the charges.

Thomas is being held without bond in Pamunkey Regional Jail. As this is still an ongoing investigation, no further information is being released at this time.

And considering the fact that the media loves reporting all the bad things that happens in Caroline County, NBC 4 has ran a story about the crime (but not the arrest) and the crime has also made the Associated Press’s Virginia wire — hooray.

WWBT’s story:

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7922909965727967075]

Gilmore and Marshall have company…

The WaPo: Another Conservative Enters Senate Race:

There are now three candidates running for the GOP nomination to replace retiring Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va).

Robert D. “Bob” Berry, a longtime conservative activist from Springfield, says he filed paperwork with the state party last month and has begun making the rounds to local GOP committees.

“The Republican Party is losing its way on a number of very important issues and it needs some serious guidance in terms of resting on its foundational principles,” said Berry, who will face former governor James S. Gilmore III and Del. Robert G. Marshall (R-Prince William) at the GOP state convention in May. “I decided to run because the party needs a lot of help in returning to its roots.”

Okay, maybe a couple of people at the General Assembly aren’t complete idiots…

Well, at least a couple of the Delegates and Senators that worked out the budget had some sense. The following was included in the budget that was passed on March 13, 2008, in both the House of Delegates (99-Y 0-N) and the Senate of Virginia (26-Y 14-N):

Administration FY 08-09 FY 09-10
Compensation Board $337,007 $318,907 GF
Language:
Page 53, line 19, strike “$67,102,122” and insert “$67,439,129”.
Page 53, line 19, strike “$67,102,122” and insert “$67,421,029”.
Explanation:
(This amendment provides general funds to convert four part-time Commonwealth’s Attorneys’ offices for Buckingham, Caroline, Charles City, and Middlesex counties from part-time to full-time status in accordance with § 15.2-1629, Code of Virginia.)

Interestingly, this was after the Senate of Virginia had previously decided not to convert any of the offices and the House’s budget only included money for one office — Buckingham County. And that was only because the subcommittee that approved the money had the Delegate (Abbitt) that represents Buckingham County as its chairman.

Looks like the conferees that worked it out had some sense.

I’m still going over the conference report and will post anything else interesting I find.

Weekly News Media Briefs – Week Ending March 15, 2008

From the Caroline County Sheriff’s Office: Weekly News Media Briefs – Week Ending March 15, 2008:

On March 7, 2008, Deputy T. P. Connolly stopped a vehicle for a traffic infraction. After investigating, Lawrence J. Minnick, 27, of King George was charged with driving on a suspended license – 3rd offense. He was released on a personal recognizance bond and an arraignment date of March 12, 2008 was set.

On March 7, 2008, Deputy C. A. Heywood responded to a burglary. After investigating, Ryan K. Kellum, 21, of Richmond was charged with property damage, possession of burglary tools, burglary and grand larceny. His bond and court information were not available.

On March 9, 2008, Deputy T. J. Ketchem stopped a vehicle for a traffic infraction. After investigating, Timothy L. Harris, 32, of Stafford was charged with driving under the influence and refusal to submit to a breath test. He was held under a $2500 bond and an arraignment date of March 14, 2008 was set.

On March 9, 2008, Deputy D. W. Mundie stopped a vehicle for a traffic infraction. After investigating, Arthur L. Carter, 49, of Milford was charged with driving after being declared an habitual offender, driving under the influence, and refusal to submit to a breath test. He was ordered held under a $3500 bond and a court date of March 12, 2008 was set.

On March 9, 2008, Deputy P. E. Ford stopped a vehicle for a traffic infraction. After investigating, Dwight C. Brown, Jr., was charged with driving on a suspended license. He was released on a personal recognizance bond and an arraignment date of March 14, 2008 was set.

On March 12, 2008, Deputy T. J. Ketchem responded to an incident in the courthouse. After investigating, David M. Wood, II, 18, of Fredericksburg was charged with damage to property. He was released on his own recognizance and a court date of March 19, 2008 was set.

On March 12, 2008, Deputy B. N. Doucet responded to a disorderly person at a business in Ladysmith. After investigating, Lloyd V. Ferguson, 49, of Ruther Glen was charged with being drunk in public and felony petit larceny – 3rd offense. He was ordered held without bond and a court date of March 28, 2008 was set.

On March 14, 2008, Deputy C. M. Polliard stopped a vehicle for a traffic infraction. After investigating, Jeffrey J. Stone, 46, of Ruther Glen was charged with driving under the influence and driving on a suspended driver’s license. He was released on his own recognizance and a court date of March 26, 2008 was set.

On March 14, 2008, Deputy C. M. Hall was made aware of a situation in the middle school. After investigating, a juvenile was charged with distribution of marijuana. The juvenile was ordered detained pending a court hearing.

Caroline County Sheriff’s Office Wrap Up

According to Sheriff Tony Lippa, Caroline Deputies made 3 drug arrests, 4 domestic violence arrests, and 30 other criminal arrests during the past week.  The deputies served 197 civil papers, issued 263 traffic summonses, handled 3 motor vehicle crashes, responded to 40 alarm calls, and dealt with 8 juvenile offenders.  The Sheriff’s Office Communications Center dispatched 413 calls for service and handled 1,006 telephone inquiries.  The CCSO also logged 29 calls assisting outside agencies and had 211 self initiated calls.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black…

The Shad Plank:

The problems? Despite Kaine’s glowing review of the just-ended legislative session, many of his initiatives ran into a Republican wall.

The governor’s people “don’t seem to be real good at making the deals,” said House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem.

What the heck are the people at The Shad Plank smoking? Kaine and the Democrats came out on top; anyone with any brains will tell you that.

In fact, Not Larry Sabato:

House Republicans poked the VEA in the eye with a controversial attempt to rewrite funding formulas for teacher salaries. They retreated from this position without receiving any concessions. Then, after saying that the Rainy Day Fund would be off-limits, House Republicans collapsed and agreed to a large withdrawal. Finally, after calling Governor Tim Kaine’s Pre-K program dead on arrival, House Republicans caved in and agreed to over $20 million in funding.

But there are two other battles that were waged. From what I hear, House Republicans got their clock cleaned on one. Clarke Hogan won the other.

One battle was over language in the budget about dropping funding for Planned Parenthood. For the first time EVER, the House and Senate versions of the budget contained the EXACT same language. Pro-life activists rejoiced. But I now hear that when the conference report is released, the language will be missing. House Republicans took a walk on their friends at the Family Foundation and negotiated the Planned Parenthood language away.

[…]

In other words, House negotiators rolled over on Pre-K and the Rainy Day fund, infuriated teachers AND pro-lifers (no small feat), but they went to the mat on killing the uranium study for Vice Speaker Clarke.

As The right-wing liberal puts it:

Remember the battle in the Senate to take Planned Parenthood funding out of the budget (Shaun Kenney), thus ensuring neither chamber supported abortion funding?  Well, the Senate Democrats demanded the House Republicans ignore the will of both chambers and put the funding back in.

And the House  . . . caved

[…]

House Speaker Bill Howell’s version of “leadership” has already cost the Republicans 2/3 of the House majority they had in 2002, largely by ignoring economic conservatives time and time again.  This, however, is the first time I can remember that he (through his conferees) stiff-armed the social conservatives like this.

Top 10 interview gaffes

From Reuters: Answer the phone? Sniff armpits? Top 10 interview gaffes:

The list, based on a survey of 3,061 U.S. hiring managers and human resources professionals by research company Harris Interactive, found the top 10 most outrageous mistakes were:

– Candidate said she could not provide a writing sample because all of her writing had been for the CIA and it was “classified.”

“Of course, I can’t provide an employment history either because it’s classified.”

– Candidate told the interviewer he was fired for beating up his last boss.

Come on, who hasn’t done that?

– A candidate for an accounting position said she was a “people person” not a “numbers person.”

That didn’t seem to stop a certain person from trying to be Sheriff again.

H/t: Ace of Spades HQ (mild content warning)

Guess she voted for it before she voted against it…or something…

The esteemed member of the Bowling Green Town Council Susan Sili (and the wife of Jeff Sili [Bowling Green representative for the Board of Supervisors]) really needs to get her story straight. Here’s what she said on November 28, 2007 on FredTalk using the alias “oharascarlett”:

Visitor Center is grant Money/cannot be used for anything else BUT a Visitor Center/TJ [Tom James] and Corran [my “alias” on FredTalk] have been told this over and over again but still keep spewing the same nonsense

Of course, in the same post she said that the “courthouse greenery” (Victory Park) was in the “architectural committee level to decide if it will even be done at all”. That very day [November 28th], The Caroline Progress reported the old jail had already been torn down that week as part of the “courthouse greenery” plan under the headline of “Old jail leveled for scenic Victory Park”.

Of course, again, in the same post she said the YMCA wasn’t a done deal, when the Board had already been voted on it way back in June of 2005.

Here’s what she said on December 10, 2007:

The visitor center/new office for Wilson was premature and will it ever be completed?

Here’s what she said on February 17, 2008:

The grant money and proffer money was given for the visitor center, cannot be traded for public safety or schools. Its not an either/or proposition as has been explained MANY times before to TJ, you can’t trade it in for another project.

Here’s what she said on March 14, 2008:

BigheadA, I had said along time ago, Why cant the BOS decide what to do with the Proffer Money? Could we have not said “thank you for your Donation, we will put this in our school system or Fire & Rescue” I am still upset that we wasted money on a visitors center, we have so many things that were more IMPORTANT !!!!!

Of course, the only reason she changed her tune was because the consensus of everyone on the message board was outrage at the current conditions of the schools (and the lack of use of proffers for the schools) in Caroline County. Guess she didn’t want to be odd-man (woman) out.

Wow, such amazing leadership we have here in Caroline County…

I’m just glad I don’t live in the town of Bowling Green…

So why did Caroline and Stafford Counties fail to meet ozone standards but Spotsylvania County and Fredericksburg didn’t?

As noted previously, Caroline and Stafford Counties failed to meet the EPA’s new ozone quality standards but Spotsylvania County and Fredericksburg didn’t. Care to guess why?

It’s because Spotsylvania County and Fredericksburg don’t have any ozone monitors!

In fact, there are only 26 ozone monitors in 21 different jurisdictions in all of Virginia:

ozone.png

It’s amazing that the AP and the Richmond Times-Dispatch actually published a news story when the whole basis of the story is government data whose methodology is so flawed it would be laughed at by anyone doing scholarly research. They only have data for 21 jurisdictions (out of 134 jurisdictions [95 counties and 39 independent cities]) but that doesn’t stop them from writing a story about the terrible ozone in the 14 jurisdictions (out of the 21 jurisdictions that have monitors) that failed to meet the EPA’s standards!

Thanks to commenter Larry Gross on Fred2Blue blog for pointing this out.