Our December 27, 2012, OpenCdA post titled But Not Up Here… talked about the gangs who had promised they would not come to northern Idaho. Commenter “kageman” reasonably asked, “But, how bad can the gang/drug activity be in North Idaho?”
That question has been at least partially answered in today’s Spokesman-Review article by Scott Maben. His article is headlined Interstate 90 a major route for traffickers heading east.
Just another toke over the line…
According to the McClatchy Newspapers, Idaho’s senior US Senator Mike Crapo has pleaded guilty in an Alexandria, Virginia, court to drunk driving. The court imposed a $250 fine and a jail sentence of 180 days. The jail sentence was suspended by the court subject to Crapo’s not offending again within one year and his completion of a state alcohol safety action program. The court also suspended Crapo’s driver’s license for one year.
Idaho and Virginia are both members of the interstate Drivers License Compact. Membership is a major step necessary to maximize law enforcement efforts against drunk drivers and other serious traffic offenders. Serious offenses such as drunk driving, vehicle manslaughter, reckless driving, etc., are no less serious when committed in another jurisdiction than when committed in the driver’s home state. It is the policy of each member state to promote compliance with the laws, ordinances, and administrative actions regarding the operation of motor vehicles by drivers in states which are members of the compact.
Included in the compact are provisions which allow: Member states to report actions on out-of-state drivers to their licensing state, home states to take the same action on violations reported to them by other member states as if the violation occurred in the home state, and authority to deny issuance of a driver’s license if there is a suspension in another state.
In short, if Idaho intends to live up to its obligation under the Compact, Crapo’s license suspension will be enforced when he is home in Idaho as well.
Mary Souza’s Newsletter 
6 1/2 hours of fun. That’s what you missed last night if you didn’t attend the CdA City Council meeting or watch it on Channel 19. The Agenda was way too heavy— poor planning by the City Administrator—the meeting didn’t end until about 12:30 am.
I was present until after Public Comments, then watched from home until I had to leave for the airport. Here are the highlights, including some you won’t see reported anywhere else: (more…)
Mary Souza’s Newsletter 
Happy New Year! I’m writing on this holiday to tell you that the CdA City Council is meeting tomorrow, Wednesday, at 6:00 pm on the lower level of the new library, to talk about McEuen Park and Person Field.
I know it might seem sneaky for them to be dealing with these and several other major issues while most people are distracted by the just-completed holidays, but it’s par for the course with this administration. They really don’t want you to show up—unless you agree with them. (more…)
The Washington Post has a feature article entitled ‘Fiscal cliff’ calculator: What it means for me. Using WaPo’s one-step calculator, taxpayers can compare the general effects the Democrat plan, the Republican plan, and the No-Deal plan would have on their families.
For those readers who are entirely consumed with more precise calculations using your own financial data, go directly to the Tax Policy Center’s TPC Tax Calculator and obsess to your heart’s content.
Today our local skewspaper, the Coeur d’Alene Press, editorially suggested that the City of Coeur d’Alene should get a forensic audit done in order to restore the public’s confidence in the City’s ability to handle its finances.
Now Coeur d’Alene Press Publisher Jim Thompson and Editor Mike Patrick want the City to pay more money to hire a forensic accountant to come in and develop evidence that can be used in court against a person who has already agreed to plead guilty.
The horse named “Forensic Audit” has already left the barn insofar as the case against Sheryl Carroll is concerned.
Forensic audits are accounting processes used by specially-trained accountants to find and preserve evidence that will be admissible in court. What the Press editorial board ought to have recommended instead is a financial risk analysis to identify all the financial risks facing the City and to suggest appropriate preventive and corrective countermeasures. The fact is, a competent City Finance Director would already have done exactly that — shortly after being hired. (more…)
WOODY “BITCHIN” MCEVERS
The lovely lull between Christmas and New Years has been shattered today by reports of lunacy from Team McEuen. Parks Director Doug Eastwood seems to have suddenly discovered the McEuen project was “too scaled back”, in his almighty opinion. According to this morning’s Press, “Eastwood said he noticed the park was getting too scaled back. Planning was focusing too much on the estimated $14.2 million budget at the time, he said, and items like the playground and splash pad, which should have been the park’s focus, started to get chopped away. I think we have to get back to what this project was all about at the beginning,” he said. “This puts it back and recaptures the vision.”
How silly!–gosh, they were focusing on the budget, but Doug thinks they should focus on the “vision”. Now they need an extra $6.5 million.
Councilman Mike Kennedy, who promised a few months ago that the project “would not go over budget”, has been silent. The Mayor, who promised that no taxpayer money would be used on the park, even though we all know that LCDC money is taxpayer money, now advocates using the city’s Rainy Day Fund, which is unarguably tax money. But Councilman Woody McEvers takes the prize for absurdity. The Press reports that Woody said “Five million bucks to make it bitchin’,…Bite the bullet and go big.” (Miss the Recall yet?)
Fortunately for those of us in northern Idaho, all criminal gang activity is restricted to southern Idaho. (The gangsters promised to stay south of the Benewah and Shoshone County lines.)
Here are links to two Idaho Statesman articles about the Slayers.
Boise Police say busted ‘Slayer’ gang was violent, into guns
Treasure Valley gang cases reveal secrets of Slayers
Cue the chorus:
And here we have Idaho,
Winning her way to fame.
Silver and gold in the sunlight blaze,
And romance lies in her name.
In March of this year, OpenCdA put up a post titled Of Course, It Could Never Happen Here… It briefly noted the conviction of a Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), Ohio, Commissioner named Jimmy Dimora on racketeering and 32 corruption charges.
Today, Cleveland.com, the online voice of The Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper, is reporting that one of the two case agents, SA Christine Oliver, is being transferred out of Ohio. Although the story is an appropriate tribute to her, it also provides additional information into how long it takes to assemble solid public corruption cases. This one was characterized as the biggest public corruption case in Ohio history.
Hopefully she was transferred to the office of her choice! Dues paid!
Merry Christmas!
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