Don't call me. We'll know soon enough.
◼ Shocking voter fraud allegations are rocking the mayor's race in San Francisco. District Attorney George Gascon has launched an investigation and demands are growing for federal authorities to move in. - FOX
Supporters of incumbent Mayor Ed Lee, who is running for a full four-year term next month, are accused of illegally handling vote-by-mail ballots.
Witnesses say workers for the group, SF Neighbor Alliance, set up a makeshift sidewalk voting site in the city's Chinatown and accuse it of illegally casting absentee ballots for elderly Chinese voters.
The witnesses claim cell-phone videos show workers telling voters to vote for Lee, filling out ballots for the voters and even using a stencil to hide the names of rival candidates so the voters could only chose one -- Lee.
They also say that the completed ballots were stuffed in plastic bags, which is prohibited by state election law.
"At first we thought they were just helping them understand what absentee ballots were," witness Malana Moberg told Fox News, saying that she saw a worker filling out a voter's ballot.
But she said, "It was pretty blatant."
"I noticed that someone who was working at that booth, who had an Ed Lee shirt on, fill in an absentee ballot on behalf of the voter, and I was immediately shocked and couldn't believe that someone would actually fill in the ballot. I thought it was probably illegal, and if not at the very least, unethical," Moberg said, adding that "someone filling out a ballot for somebody else seemed completely inappropriate."
◼ Ed Lee's campaign supporters target of new probe - SF Chronicle
◼ SF Officials, Mayoral Candidates Request Department Of Justice Investigation Into Allegations Of Voter Fraud By Ed Lee Camp (Video) - SF Appeal
Anybody have a link to the Alliance for - - I mean SF Neighbor Alliance? It's obscured by all the news reports.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Natural Born Killers
◼ Murder suspects to be sent to Washington; Eureka man shot in the back of the head as part of multistate killing spree - Times Standard
A young white supremacist couple accused of a string of four killings across three states -- including one in Eureka last week -- will be extradited to Washington to face murder charges.◼ Eureka shooting victim linked to killing spree: Washington couple allegedly responsible for deaths in three states - Times Standard
David “Joey” Pedersen, 31, and Holly Ann Grigsby, 24, both of Everett, Wash., waived their right to an extradition hearing during a brief court appearance Tuesday in Yuba County, where they were arrested last week. Washington prosecutors have issued aggravated murder warrants for the two after authorities there discovered the bodies of Pedersen's father and stepmother.
Prosecutors alleged Tuesday that Grigsby claimed that she and Pedersen -- both of whom have expressed white supremacist beliefs -- were heading to Sacramento to “kill more Jews” when they were arrested by the California Highway Patrol last week, driving in a vehicle registered to one of their victims, 19-year-old Cody Myers.
The pair shot Myers in Oregon because his name “sounded Jewish,” according to court documents.
Pedersen also reportedly admitted to law enforcement that he shot and killed a man -- later identified as 53-year-old Reginald Alan Clark -- in Eureka on Oct. 3 or Oct. 4.....
Authorities said Monday they believe a 53-year-old Eureka man found dead Friday was shot in the head amid a multistate killing spree carried out by a young couple out of Washington.◼ Holly Grigsby and Joseph Pedersen remain in California jail awaiting extradition - Oregon Live
Eureka Police Department Sgt. Patrick O'Neill identified the deceased Monday as Reginald Alan Clark, saying he died from a gunshot wound to the head.
Authorities are alleging that Clark was shot and killed by David Joseph Pedersen, 31, and his girlfriend, Holly Ann Grigsby, 24, both of Everett, Wash., at some point before the pair were arrested Wednesday at the conclusion of a killing spree that started late last month and left four dead. During an interview with the Appeal Democrat newspaper Sunday, Pedersen reportedly admitted to killing his father, his stepmother and an Oregon teenager, and made allusions to being responsible for another murder that had not yet been reported.
O'Neill said detectives don't know of anything connecting Pedersen and Grigsby to the local area and indicated Clark's slaying may have been random.
”At this point, we haven't determined any relationship between the victim and the suspect,” O'Neill said.
Pedersen has the letters “SWP” tattooed prominently on his neck, believed to be a white supremacist acronym standing for “Supreme White Power.” O'Neill said Clark was black but said EPD has not determined whether his killing was racially motivated.
In a jail interview with the Appeal Democrat on Sunday -- a day before he was publicly linked to Clark's killing -- Pedersen told the paper's Ashley Gebb that he expected to be charged with the murder of a “dead Negro” in a truck in Eureka “in that the bullet from my gun is in his head....
Grigsby also spent time in prison for a variety of charges beginning in 2006, including for identity theft and unauthorized use of a vehicle. After completing probation, she was again sent to prison on an identity theft conviction in 2008 and served two years.
Her white supremacist beliefs became clear to her fellow inmates at an Oregon women's prison, according to a report by The Associated Press, and she got in trouble while behind bars for assault and possession of contraband....”
◼ Couple admits to killing 4 in Ore., Calif. - ABC local (image source)
Both share an interest in white supremacist ideology. Pedersen prominently displays a white supremacy tattoo on his neck. Grigsby's white supremacist leanings were made clear to fellow inmates at Oregon's women's prison.◼ Affidavit: Racist Quadruple Murder Suspects Planned to ‘Kill More Jews’ - splcenter.org
The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors today directed Humboldt County Community Services Director Kirk Girard to to work on improving his department, including investigating possible staffing and structural changes.
◼ Humboldt supervisors direct Girard to work on improvements - TS
...The direction was a result of Girard's employee performance evaluation, which was completed in closed session today after being continued from a meeting in September.
Girard said he'll be working with Humboldt County Administrative Officer Phillip Smith-Hanes to come up with ideas on how to improve his department and make it more efficient.
”(We'll be working on plans) that would deal with some of the issues about how our department performs, such as permitting and communication to the public,” Girard said....
...The direction was a result of Girard's employee performance evaluation, which was completed in closed session today after being continued from a meeting in September.
Girard said he'll be working with Humboldt County Administrative Officer Phillip Smith-Hanes to come up with ideas on how to improve his department and make it more efficient.
”(We'll be working on plans) that would deal with some of the issues about how our department performs, such as permitting and communication to the public,” Girard said....
McKinleyville home invasion
◼ Woman with two children attacked in McKinleyville home invasion
...According to a sheriff's office press release, the victim told deputies she was home in the 2000 block of Second Avenue with her children when two men knocked on her front door around 11 a.m. and asked if they could mow her lawn for money. The victim told them, “no thank you,” and they left.
The victim said two men she believed were the same ones who knocked on her door earlier, knocked on her door about one hour later. This time, one suspect had a dark-colored ski mask covering his face, and the other suspect's face was covered with face paint....
The press release said the suspects were last seen leaving in a white sedan, similar to a Crown Victoria, partial California license plate of CF319.
According to the sheriff's office, the suspects were described as a white male, late teens or early 20s, approximately 5-feet, 9-inches tall, weighing 165
pounds, with short, dark-colored hair, wearing a black T-shirt, and a male of unknown race and age, wearing a full ski mask with a similar physical description.
Anyone with information is requested to contact the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office at 707-445-7251.
...According to a sheriff's office press release, the victim told deputies she was home in the 2000 block of Second Avenue with her children when two men knocked on her front door around 11 a.m. and asked if they could mow her lawn for money. The victim told them, “no thank you,” and they left.
The victim said two men she believed were the same ones who knocked on her door earlier, knocked on her door about one hour later. This time, one suspect had a dark-colored ski mask covering his face, and the other suspect's face was covered with face paint....
The press release said the suspects were last seen leaving in a white sedan, similar to a Crown Victoria, partial California license plate of CF319.
According to the sheriff's office, the suspects were described as a white male, late teens or early 20s, approximately 5-feet, 9-inches tall, weighing 165
pounds, with short, dark-colored hair, wearing a black T-shirt, and a male of unknown race and age, wearing a full ski mask with a similar physical description.
Anyone with information is requested to contact the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office at 707-445-7251.
Sunday, October 09, 2011
'Fleecing' the taxpayer
◼ Keeping the lights on: Indoor pot growers skirt high electric bills through discount program for low income - Thadeus Greenson/The Times Standard
No matter how you feel about marijuana grow houses, you're likely helping to finance one.
Don't think so? Take the case of Greg Willard and Gayden Rosales, busted in February for running a grow operation in the garage of a house in the 700 block of Arcata's Fickle Hill Road.
When officers pulled Pacific Gas and Electric Co. records for the property, they found that the home used 4,676 kilowatt hours of electricity in the month of December 2010 -- an amount roughly 10 times the average monthly consumption of a Humboldt County household -- running up a bill of almost $1,500. But Rosales and Willard paid only a fraction of that -- $535 -- after receiving an almost 70 percent discount through PG&E's CARE program, which offers subsidized rates to low-income households....
But, to the knowledge of Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos, no one locally has been prosecuted for such an offense.
”With law enforcement, it's a resource issue, ultimately,” Gallegos said. “Putting together a fraud case is a lot more time consuming and takes more resources than a dope case. ... It's not because people don't care or aren't outraged; it's a resource issue.”
In order to prove that someone made false statements to PG&E, Gallegos said, his office would have to reconstruct the person's finances at the time they filled out the CARE program application -- not an easy task.
”It would take a lot of investigation,” Hansen said. “We do a lot of triage from case to case to case, so we've never gone after that aspect of it. It would be very time consuming.”
__________________
No discussion about POT is complete without acknowledging Gallegos' role in making criminal activity defacto legal.
Not just grow houses and things like this, pretending to be poor to get free power, but the outright stripping of land in complete violation of any environmental laws or sensibilities - and that at the same time Gallegos and his pals claim environmental high ground.
Right now dope growers have the best of both worlds - a complicit DA ensures they are free to operate with impunity, and defeating the ballot measure to legalize the stuff keeps the prices high and keeps them rolling in the dough. Tax-free. Fee-free. Regulation-free.
They're cheating more than just their fellow PG&E customers.
They're cheating the state out of taxes owed on six-figure incomes. They're cheating counties out of business license fees and property tax assessments, they're cheating employees out of Social Security contributions. Just for starters.
#Occupythat.
No matter how you feel about marijuana grow houses, you're likely helping to finance one.
Don't think so? Take the case of Greg Willard and Gayden Rosales, busted in February for running a grow operation in the garage of a house in the 700 block of Arcata's Fickle Hill Road.
When officers pulled Pacific Gas and Electric Co. records for the property, they found that the home used 4,676 kilowatt hours of electricity in the month of December 2010 -- an amount roughly 10 times the average monthly consumption of a Humboldt County household -- running up a bill of almost $1,500. But Rosales and Willard paid only a fraction of that -- $535 -- after receiving an almost 70 percent discount through PG&E's CARE program, which offers subsidized rates to low-income households....
But, to the knowledge of Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos, no one locally has been prosecuted for such an offense.
”With law enforcement, it's a resource issue, ultimately,” Gallegos said. “Putting together a fraud case is a lot more time consuming and takes more resources than a dope case. ... It's not because people don't care or aren't outraged; it's a resource issue.”
In order to prove that someone made false statements to PG&E, Gallegos said, his office would have to reconstruct the person's finances at the time they filled out the CARE program application -- not an easy task.
”It would take a lot of investigation,” Hansen said. “We do a lot of triage from case to case to case, so we've never gone after that aspect of it. It would be very time consuming.”
No discussion about POT is complete without acknowledging Gallegos' role in making criminal activity defacto legal.
Not just grow houses and things like this, pretending to be poor to get free power, but the outright stripping of land in complete violation of any environmental laws or sensibilities - and that at the same time Gallegos and his pals claim environmental high ground.
Right now dope growers have the best of both worlds - a complicit DA ensures they are free to operate with impunity, and defeating the ballot measure to legalize the stuff keeps the prices high and keeps them rolling in the dough. Tax-free. Fee-free. Regulation-free.
They're cheating more than just their fellow PG&E customers.
They're cheating the state out of taxes owed on six-figure incomes. They're cheating counties out of business license fees and property tax assessments, they're cheating employees out of Social Security contributions. Just for starters.
#Occupythat.
Friday, October 07, 2011
Sunday, October 02, 2011
National News
◼ Huge California manhunt ends with suspect's death - AP
FORT BRAGG, Calif. (AP) - The 7,000 residents of Fort Bragg can now relax after spending more than a month on edge while the area's largest manhunt in decades enveloped their coastal community about three hours north of San Francisco.
The massive operation came to a close when authorities shot and killed the subject of the search, a fugitive accused in the deaths of two area officials.
Elizabeth McNeill, who works as a clerk in an appliance store in downtown Fort Bragg, said she is feeling a sense of relief, "It's a sad situation, but now people can relax."
Aaron Bassler, 35, was shot seven times in an area of redwood forest about 6 miles east of Fort Bragg after being sniffed out by a bloodhound, said Mendocino County Sheriff Thomas Allman. Three members of the Sacramento County SWAT team were in the trees about 40 yards from Bassler when he came toward them on a timber trail.
Bassler was suspected of killing a city councilman in late August and a county land trust official several weeks before. Bassler was thought to be hiding out in the redwoods outside of Fort Bragg, breaking into several cabins and businesses to steal food and weapons. ...read the rest
FORT BRAGG, Calif. (AP) - The 7,000 residents of Fort Bragg can now relax after spending more than a month on edge while the area's largest manhunt in decades enveloped their coastal community about three hours north of San Francisco.
The massive operation came to a close when authorities shot and killed the subject of the search, a fugitive accused in the deaths of two area officials.
Elizabeth McNeill, who works as a clerk in an appliance store in downtown Fort Bragg, said she is feeling a sense of relief, "It's a sad situation, but now people can relax."
Aaron Bassler, 35, was shot seven times in an area of redwood forest about 6 miles east of Fort Bragg after being sniffed out by a bloodhound, said Mendocino County Sheriff Thomas Allman. Three members of the Sacramento County SWAT team were in the trees about 40 yards from Bassler when he came toward them on a timber trail.
Bassler was suspected of killing a city councilman in late August and a county land trust official several weeks before. Bassler was thought to be hiding out in the redwoods outside of Fort Bragg, breaking into several cabins and businesses to steal food and weapons. ...read the rest