August « 2011 « OpenCdA

August 31, 2011

A Ray of Hope and a Storm of Nonsense

Filed under: General — mary @ 7:51 pm

Mary Souza’s Newsletter

I sat with Dan Green the other day and had a good conversation about the County, public employees and much more. Dan (pictured here) is one of the new Kootenai County Commissioners , along with Jai Nelson, whom, during our discussion, he complimented for her focus and work ethic. These two, as well as new County Clerk Cliff Hayes, offer us in the public a much needed sense of hope.

The County will not raise taxes this year. They eliminated at least 12 underutilized positions. They combed through the budget and sliced out $800,000, but were saddened to discovered the state-mandated indigent care had been estimated at only half its real cost by the previous administration, so the new budget savings were obliterated this legal obligation officially called County Assistance. But they’re trying.

The Commissioners rearranged the medical insurance, saving the county $420,000 in what would have been new premium increases. To do this they required employees to pay more for their spouses but less for their children, because that’s what the statistics revealed as most cost effective. And they’re offering a health savings plan with incentives for improving lifestyle choices, which could save the county even more. The bottom line is that, for the first time in many years, the County’s medical insurance costs will not increase. (more…)

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August 30, 2011

Any Good Newspaper Reporters Left Here?

Filed under: Probable Cause — Tags: News Reporting — Bill @ 10:06 am

[

My post titled Yes, Shame on You! was very critical of the owner, publisher, and editor of The Coeur d’Alene Press. In response, commenter Justinian said, “… there are still some true newspapermen in the local papers and now and then they do what newspapers have done since Poor Richard’s day. At the end of the day, most inkstained reporters hate being lied to, manipulated or played the fool.” I then asked Justinian, “Whom do you consider the good reporters to be at each of our two newspapers? What distinguishes them?” You can read Justinian’s response here, but let me pose almost the same questions to other readers:

Whom do you consider the good reporters to be at the Coeur d’Alene Press and The Spokesman Review? What distinguishes them?

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August 28, 2011

Yes, Shame on You!

Filed under: Probable Cause — Tags: Administrative Incompetence, Coeur d'Alene Election, McEuen Field, Public Corruption — Bill @ 2:14 pm

[

The Sunday, August 28, 2011, Coeur d’Alene Press contained an unattributed editorial comment decrying the deceptions the Press had supposedly uncovered in actions taken by the Coeur d’Alene city government and the North Idaho College Board of Trustees. One of the lines in the editorial read, “Shame on us for believing and reporting what city sources had told us, for accepting their word that no raises had been given the previous year.”

Yes, Press owner Hagadone Corporation. Yes, Press Publisher Jim Thompson. Yes, Press Editor Mike Patrick. Shame on all of you. (more…)

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August 27, 2011

Dan jumps In, Al steps Out

Filed under: General — mary @ 9:38 am

Dan Gookin has announced he will be running for Coeur d’Alene City Council, seat 3. That’s the seat that long-term incumbent councilman Al Hassel has just confirmed he will be leaving. The election is November 8th.
What do you think will be the top two issues for this upcoming election?

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Interesting Book

Filed under: Probable Cause — Bill @ 9:16 am

I’ve just finished reading Ronald Kessler’s new book “The Secrets of the FBI.” Like most “secrets of …” books, there is really no way for us to authoritatively confirm or dispute the accuracy or completeness of the “secrets” he purports to reveal.

I was very surprised to read Kessler’s material about technical tactical operations. That subset of investigations is usually not discussed publicly.

As required by the publisher’s formula for selling books, there were elements of sex, intrigue, humor, and screw-ups. Overall, however, the book was fun and interesting to read. One of the better reviews of Kessler’s book was done by The Washington Independent Review of Books. The last line of that review reads, “Some readers of Kessler’s book will hope that this is part of an FBI disinformation program.” Could be.

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August 25, 2011

Corrupt d’Alene?

Filed under: General — mary @ 2:38 pm

Over on the Spokane newspaper blog, there’s a false rumor posted under the gossip headline of “Huckleberries Hears…” (apparently the blog meister thinks this absolves him from the blatant untruths he often writes under this heading.) Yesterday he wrote this:
Posted by DFO
Aug. 24, 2011 4:34 p.m.

” The Reagan Republicans have a booth directly across from the union folks. The Reagan Republicans are selling the Corrupt d’Alene bumperstickers.”

Here’s what CdA Citycouncilwoman Deanna Goodlander (pictured) had to say in response to this totally unsubstantiated rumor: (more…)

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August 22, 2011

Pulling the Plug on Satellites

Filed under: Probable Cause — Tags: Coeur d'Alene Election, Mike Kennedy, Voter Fraud — Bill @ 1:33 pm

Sunday’s Coeur d’Alene Press ran a story headlined Vote here, only. The story reported that newly-inaugurated Kootenai County Clerk Cliff Hayes had decided to not provide satellite polling places for absentee, in-person voting. For residents of Coeur d’Alene (and Canada), that means voters will no longer be able to cast an absentee in-person ballot at Coeur d’Alene City Hall. Rather, they will have to drive for about 6 minutes over the 1.9 miles to get to the County Elections Office at 3rd and Locust.

Predictably, the usual suspects were indignant! Councilman Mike Kennedy huffed and puffed at the August 16 Council meeting that the County Clerk was “depressing the [voter] turnout” and “removing a service that had served the citizens well for a long time. ” According to the news/views/skews paper article, Kennedy and Coeur d’Alene City Clerk Susan Weathers said this makes it harder for people to vote.

There’s more to the story within the Press story, however. (more…)

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August 20, 2011

Of M.I.C.E. and Men

Filed under: Probable Cause — Tags: Public Corruption — Bill @ 9:33 am

Some public officials aspire to public positions selfishly and are bad from the get-go. Others accept their public positions fully intending to be honest and upright, but once in the position, they are subjected to official and unofficial pressures to bend or break the rules and laws. Understanding what motivates dishonesty among some public officials starts with an examination of past behaviors by officials who have been uncovered and their deeds made public.

As you view and listen to this 13-minute video, consider the mnemonic M.I.C.E.: Money – Ideology – Compromise (or Coercion) – Ego (or Extortion). Although the mnemonic is generally associated with those who commit espionage, it can be applied to any public official who becomes corrupt by succumbing to someone using one or more of the controls it describes.

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August 19, 2011

Fast and Loose with Our Dollars!

Filed under: General — mary @ 5:23 pm

Mary Souza’s Newsletter

Dear Newsletter Readers,
Sorry to disturb your summer. I wasn’t going to write to you until September but there are some local issues churning and I thought you’d like to know.

Let’s start with the interesting My Turn column in this morning’s Press. (more…)

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Martinson Plea Agreement

Filed under: Probable Cause — Bill @ 3:20 pm

At the pretrial conference today for Sandra Kay Martinson, her attorney Frederick Loats told First District Judge Fred Gibler that he and Bonner County Prosecutor Louis Marshall had reached a tentative plea agreement. Martinson would agree to plead guilty to one count of grand theft in return for a suspended prison sentence (local incarceration optional with the judge), supervised probation, and restitution for an amount to be determined.

Judge Gibler directed that a pre-sentence report be prepared and delivered to him. Martinson will be sentenced at 10:00 a.m. on October 24, 2011. The judge is under no obligation to accept all or any of the plea agreement. At sentencing, if Judge Gibler rejects the plea agreement, Martinson would be allowed to withdraw her guilty plea and request the jury trial be rescheduled. (more…)

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