watchpaul: Arcata

Showing posts with label Arcata. Show all posts

Friday, June 02, 2017

Watching this case... Justice doesn't mean stringing a suspect up on the nearest tree

Actually not so much the case as the shit-show that has emerged in its aftermath.

The short story is a HSU college student was stabbed/killed at a late night party. A local kid was arrested for and then charged with the murder.

Mad River Union: 19-year-old David Josiah Lawson, a student at Humboldt State University, was later pronounced dead at the Mad River Hospital as a result of the stab wounds.

23-year-old Kyle Christopher Zoellner, of Mckinleyville, was arrested at the scene for homicide. Zoellner was booked at the Humboldt County Correctional Facility for PC 187 - Homicide.

The judge found that there was not enough evidence to support going to trial, for example, the accused's finger prints do not match the prints on the knife.... and charges were dismissed.

And THEN, the shit-show began in earnest.

The accused is white, the deceased was black. Friends of the deceased have decided to make it all about race, and have taken to smearing an entire community over their imagined characterizations.

And they've taken to trying to silence those reporting on the court proceedings.

They want their Baltimore moment. They want the accused strung up by a tree and hanged by the neck until dead, evidence or no. It would make them feel better. The concept of innocent until proven guilty means nothing.

One of those parties, Tina Sampay (aka Slauson Girl, aka Mary Machiavelli), has a blog and is writing about the proceedings, and her opinions about all of it. She has also been commenting on local sites covering the case, she is vitriolic, aggressive, demeaning, and filled with hate. Her ignorance of this area and the people here is deep and profound, and she is not interested in learning, or seeing any of the good. She has gone so far as to try taking John Chiv to court for something - a restraining order? apparently in order to stop him from reporting things she does not agree with. All while claiming to be a journalism major (from HSU)

The purpose here is simply to provide links to ALL of the coverage of the case, including hers. Much like cases we've covered before, it'll be one place where you can find all links to all the coverage. If I miss any you can let me know.

Once-regular readers know this blog is now dormant - but this is important.

Much remains to be discovered, 100 or so kids at the party, possibly many witnesses not interviewed, now gone home for the summer since school is out for the summer, people not cooperating even when they were here, lots of cop-hatred and suspicion of police.

Everyone wants to get to the bottom of it - no one wants a murderer walking around loose. Neither do we want an innocent kid going to prison for something he didn't do. Everyone has enormous sympathy for the family of the victim, And for the accused and his family, as it turns out.

The rush to judgement by some public officials in the early days following the shooting was something to behold. The willingness to buy into the race-based narrative is very sad. IN particular, HSU's actions only fueled the flames. My opinion.

The D.A. (Thank God it's Maggie Flemming now and not Paul Gallegos) points out that any future charges will hinge on available evidence.

The investigation is ongoing.

The Mad River Union points out -

Information about the stabbing can be submitted to investigators at the Arcata Police Department, (707) 822-2428, the District Attorney’s Office, (707) 445-7411, or to Lawson’s attorney, Justin Sanders, at (213) 426-5000, ext. 1000.

NOTE: And here you have, in the comments... ***
Mary Machavelli May 29, 2017 at 11:48 AM
Seeing as we have a court date tomorrow chiv, for this type of behavior of you stalking and harrasing me online when I am doing a public service FOR FREE and you still wont stop, is sickening. It is ok as i am prepared to go to the fullest extent of the law in pursuing you and your antics. Stop posting lies about me or our time in court will not be over anytime soon. It is a shame yall are this OLD and have no sense of judgement or "journalism" ethics. What ever platform you have here for people to attack me means nothing because I know what I am doing is way more important than wasting time to slander someone. See you at court tomorrow. 2:00 p.m #ChivsDayInCourt #WontBeTheLast slow news day??

◼ The investigation for David Josiah Lawson's case remains open and active - John Chiv/Words Worth May 30, 2017

Mad River Union:

Initial reports:

◼ Police seek witnesses to Saturday’s fatal Arcata stabbing - Mad River Union April 17, 2017
◼ HSU Community comes together to remember slain student and support family - Humboldt State April 18, 2017
◼ Arcata Police Dept. receives anonymous email from stabbing witness - Arcata Police April 18, 2017

APD received an anonymous email from someone who may have witnessed the homicide. The email detailed specifics of the assault. The APD implores the author of the email to come forward and provide a statement to investigators. An anonymous email cannot be used as evidence.

Sunday, October 25, 2015

More homicides to enter into the long list...

◼ A man was stabbed to death at a Valley East apartment complex tonight. Second homicide in as many days. - Lost Coast Outpost

A 52-year-old man was stabbed to death at an apartment complex off Giuntoli Lane, Arcata Police Chief Tom Chapman has confirmed.

In a brief conversation a few moments ago, Chapman told the Outpost that police were called to the complex at about 6:30 p.m. tonight for a report of a man bleeding on a walkway outside the complex. When officers arrived, they found that the man appeared to have suffered multiple stab wounds. Police attempted lifesaving measures and an ambulance transported him to Mad River Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.

◼ HOMICIDE IN ARCATA - Kym Kemp/RedHeaded Blackbelt

◼ Humboldt County or Homicide Central? Locations just a year ago I felt safe walking at night - John Chiv/Word Worth

◼ HOMICIDE IN EUREKA: Two victims in Watson street shooring, one dead, other expected to survive - John Chiv/Word Worth

On 10/24/15, at about 9:55 PM, Eureka Police Department officers responded to the report of shots fired in the vicinity of F and Watson Streets. Upon arrival, officers found an adult male victim in the street with an apparent gunshot wound.

The victim was transported by ambulance to a local hospital where he was later pronounced deceased. Officers subsequently learned, after he arrived at the hospital on his own, another male had also been shot, possibly during the same incident. He is expected to survive.

◼ Eureka Police Provide Info on Last Night’s Homicide - Lost Coast Outpost

@SWatsonEPD Preliminarily, this incident does not appear to be related to last month's gang involved shooting at nearby Hammond Park.
— Steve Watson (@SWatsonEPD) October 25, 2015

◼ Homicide in Eureka; One Person Dead, Another Injured Following Shooting Near F and 15th - Lost Coast Outpost

An officer at the scene tells the Outpost’s Andrew Goff that one person has been detained. A car was seen fleeing the scene. EPD Chief Andrew Mills is currently at the scene, and confirms to the Outpost’s Andrew Goff that one of the victims has expired.

◼ One man is dead and another was wounded possibly during the same shooting in Eureka near F and Watson Streets on Saturday night. - Times-Standard

Scanner traffic indicates City Ambulance is responding to a gunshot victim with injuries to the left side of their chest in the vicinity of G and 15th in Eureka.

◼ A shooting in Eureka and Redheaded Blackbelt was on the scene soon after. - Kym Kemp/RedHeaded Blackbelt

HOMICIDE INVESTIGATION: ONE DEAD, ONE INJURED IN LAST NIGHT’S SHOOTING IN EUREKA

◼ Victim Had Pocketknife in His Hand, Says Witness to Saturday Night’s Homicide - Kym Kemp/RedHeaded Blackbelt

◼ Residents Near Last Night’s Homicide Found Bullet Holes in Apartment This Morning - Kym Kemp/RedHeaded Blackbelt

◼ Man shot dead in Eureka; another victim arrives at hospital - Mad River Union

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Alliance Market Arson case

A good example of the importance of a variety of reporting, from the initial incident reports, to the Press Releases from law enforcement, to the various reporters getting the details. People LIKE information, the more the better... Kym Kemp is always on top of it, and when it comes to what's happening IN the Courthouse, Chiv usually has the scoop.

And, if it's happening in Arcata, you can't beat the Mad River Union.

The Alliance Market in Arcata was a 'historical' building, and will get a lot of attention from all outlets at first, but what happens after the arrest?

◼ Jeremy Kish arraignment continued as he was medically unavailable, bail set at $150,000 - John Chiv/Words Worth 5/28/15

Bail was set today at $150,000.

◼ Arcata arson suspect charged with arson, battery on a peace officer, criminal threats on law enforcement - John Chiv/Words Worth 5/28/15

◼ Arcata arson suspect Jeremy Kish allegedly under "suicide watch" - John Chiv/Words Worth 5/28/15

◼ Arcata arson suspect Jeremy Kish expected to be arraigned May 28 - John Chiv/Words Worth

◼ One link to Jeremy's alleged and past criminal record via John Chiv

◼ Jeremy Kish adds yet another arrest to his statewide record; has a habit of being near "fires" and my own encounter with him where I had to call the police - John Chiv/Words Worth

◼ APD RELEASES NAME OF SUSPECT IN TODAY’S ARSON FIRE - Kym Kemp/RedHeaded Blackbelt

◼ Suspect in Custody From Early Morning Fire - Kym Kemp/RedHeaded Blackbelt

◼ ‘Suspicious’ Commercial Structure Fire in Arcata - Kym Kemp/RedHeaded Blackbelt

◼ (UPDATE) Arson Suspect in Custody After Early Morning Arcata Structure Fire - Andrew Goff/Lost Coast Outpost (image source, more at the link)

◼ Alliance Store arson suspect arrested - Kevin Hoover/Mad River Union

◼ Historic, long-abandoned Alliance Store burns again - Mad River Union

Tuesday, April 07, 2015

Ferrer trial...

Lots of questions on this one. It became a high profile case during the last election, and became a hot-potato case when paul took it away from Elan Firpo. Arnie Klein was working with the victim's family.

◼ "Sexual orientation is a key issue, this is how all this started"; homophobia and views on LGBT community important in Ferrer jury trial - John Chiv/Words Worth

The case for the stabbing of Arcata Chef Douglas Anderson-Jordet is expected to take approximately 8 weeks including Jury selection.

◼ Day 2 of Juan Ferrer's jury trial: Defense says Ferrer statement of "killing fucking sandniggers" not his view but a response to law enforcement about what white, conservative majority thinks of Arabs - John Chiv/Words Worth

Will add other media links as they become available.

Thursday, December 04, 2014

Watchdogs, representatives, oversight and videotape

Lots of questions posed - who's right and who's wrong? If anyone. Maybe Mark (Lovelace) is in the right here, Supervisors are elected to represent their Districts within the County, as well as to look out for the County as a whole....

◼ Public meeting enthusiast Kent Sawatzky asked 3rd District Supervisor Mark Lovelace to resign from the Oversight Board for stiffing the County and taxpayers and voting to benefit Arcata - John Chiv/Words Worth

◼ Here's a link to City Of Arcata's WATCH MEETINGS LIVE & ON DEMAND info page

(If I've clipped this right, Here's Kent Sawatzky addressing the Arcata City Council.

Mark's not gonna resign, so that's moot -

Sunday, June 26, 2011

”The Intelliwaste study had been, we thought, designed to find out whether or not the Samoa facility was being operated in a reasonably efficient manager,” Boyd said. “And the next thing we knew was that it was then being used as a justification to go outside Humboldt County for a request for proposals for recycling by the waste management authority. We were feeling pretty persecuted by that."

◼ Outcry against Willits contract brings HWMA, ACRC full circle; entities agree to discuss authority's potential acquisition of center's Samoa plant - Times Standard

Uh, you were going to CHARGE "$65 per ton to process its recycling" and the other guys were going to PAY the authority $8 per ton for the same service.... I think some people MIGHT feel a bit "persecuted" by being ripped off, don't you?

"Currently, the ACRC charges $50 per ton to process recycling," and you're stabbing in the dark, saying you'll drop it to $0?

Persecuted, nothing. Something is rotten in Denmark. (Arcata) Obviously, it wasn't/isn't "being operated in a reasonably efficient (manner)."

"Keeping it local" shouldn't mean being ripped off. This isn't a couple dollars difference, it's a spread of nearly $100 a ton. Bear in mind that Willits was going to have to HAUL it, incurring additional expense on their end, and they can STILL beat you by that much. Wow.

How long has this been going on, and how much has it cost the people - who have a right to expect their interests to be looked out for much better than this.

No?
_________________________

Odd. heraldo has a post up saying the Arcata Recycling Center is announcing that they are DROPPING their fees fees they charge you to drop off bottles and cans... "Beginning July 1, 2011 ACRC is reducing the facility fee for drop off of these materials to zero (the current fee is five dollars per visit). Certain materials, such as electronic waste, appliances, and fluorescent tubes, will still require a small fee to cover their safe handling.

Drop off recycling of mixed paper (newspaper, magazines, cardboard, and office pack) and containers (glass bottles and jars, aluminum cans and formed containers, steel cans, and #1-#7 plastic bottles and containers) will now be offered as a free service."

WTH? That's FREE in McKinleyville, and always has been. Arcata's been CHARGING? $5 a visit?

Explain.

Thursday, June 02, 2011

Arcata turns down $8 per ton in revenue, choosing to pay $65 per ton instead.

◼ Arcata opts to stick with ACRC for recycling needs; Promotes developing countywide plan

But, hey, they kept it local.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Mendosa in as Arcata city manager

◼ unclear how the city was going to proceed in filling the position of police chief

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

There's this place called San Francisco...

ever been there, Aldaron? Houses. On hillsides. LOTS of 'em.

In Arcata's General Plan, there is a standard that one cannot build on a slope of more than 15 percent. “The hillside development standards were adopted to protect the public from development occurring on steep slopes. That’s why they are in the Public Safety Element,” Laird said.

That's not in the City of Arcata’s zoning ordinances, which is at odds with the City's General Plan, as well as the County, which provides for exceptions for building on slopes of more than 15 percent, there’s just extra engineering work that is involved. In the Arcata General Plan, there is no exception.

So these two "developers," Envisioning a green future, did their research, and worked out a plan to complete their dream to build a small community on the property they bought for this purpose. Now they are paying the price for the fact that the City of Arcata has never melded their General Plan and their Zoning Ordinances?

Laird said it’s not the first time the city has run into conflicts with the outdated zoning ordinances and the general plan, and the precedent set by those conflicts has been that the general plan overrides the zoning ordinances.

Not the first time? Then why hasn't it been fixed?

Incidentally, there’s a state law that may override the Arcata General Plan, the Density Bonus Law. Winkler said. “The point of the state law is to prevent cities from using standards to keep higher densities out,” he said. “The state has decided it’s more important to make more affordable housing available.”

Ah, yes. Infill to the rescue. The irony of it all.

Michael Winkler, the chairperson of the Arcata Planning Commission, said getting a professional to look at all the regulations before starting a project will help prevent making expensive mistakes.

Maybe. And that is part of what forces costs up. Pretty cavalier attitude. Seems like getting your various policies into compliance with one another would be a very high priority.

But welcome to Arcata, where you can ignore all the laws, zoning and building codes you want if you are growing pot, but try to do something right and you are screwed.

That's my read, what's yours?

Paul Gallegos

The Humboldt County Grand Jury found that "Weak leadership and poor managerial practices" have undermined the office... Implicit in all evidence gathered by the Grand Jury - including interviews with the D.A. (Paul Gallegos) - is the unfortunate truth that the D.A. (Paul Gallegos) exhibits a limited understanding of how things are done in the department" Gallegos "lacks the global perspective needed to keep the department operating efficiently," and quotes an unnamed staff member as saying, "The D.A. (Paul Gallegos) does not fully understand the functionality of many of the things we do here" - Years later, in his own words: "I’m not an administrator, they didn’t elect me to be an administrator, they elected me to make sure this office runs..."

Douglas & Zanotti

CASE TOSSED The district attorney misrepresented the law and failed to provide evidence of former Eureka Police Chief David Douglas' and Lt. Tony Zanotti's innocence during a criminal grand jury inquiry into the 2006 shooting death of Cheri Lyn Moore, defense attorneys argued in court documents filed Thursday... ”Our judicial system stands as a real and necessary check on the grand jury indictment process,” one of the documents states. “This court has the authority and the means by which to halt this prosecution, which is justified neither by the undisputed facts, nor by the law.”

Gallegos has taken what was "arguably the state's best small DA's office, with a cutting edge CAST program that "trained the trainers"... into a bunch of time serving bureaucratic wannabee brown nosers, lightly sprinkled with a couple of earnest learners who are sure to split as soon as possible.

One weeps for Max Cardoza who won Angellel, and for Maggie Fleming who won so many impossible victories. Mired in Humboldt for personal reasons, they have to suffer the ignominy of working for Paul, with Yougo, yes, yougo who has freed more people as a prosecutor than he did as a defense attorney. As has Paul. Anonymous comment

Gallegos has answers for everything. I’ve never met anyone whose answers came so quickly, with such polish - except about his law school(s). He likely sounded the same way when promising to get prosecutors off their anachronistic “at will” status and onto civil service status. It never happened. Indeed, he told them, “Disloyalty will not be tolerated” – a real morale builder.

He sounds great. What progressive doesn’t want to believe in him? But it’s a myth. He’s an intellectual lightweight and self-aggrandizer who tries to please everybody with glib answers. Jim Fahey for The Arcata Eye

The Humboldt County DA's office is one of the most exciting prosecutorial
offices in California.

Its District Attorney, Paul Gallegos, is willing to charge anyone who commits
wrongdoing--no matter how wealthy, sacrosanct, or ruthless. He believes in total equality before the law. He also plans to be innovative in promoting programs of prevention and treatment. He wants to make it the best prosecutorial office of its size in the nation.... Gallegos' Help Wanted ad

Gallegos' OWN Quotes

★ ...District Attorney Paul Gallegos said he believes the statute of limitations clock, even on misdemeanors, doesn't start running until law enforcement knows or reasonably should have known of the offense. In this case, Gallegos said, that means the statute of limitations would not run out at least until Feb. 8, 2009, or one year after Gundersen's arrest and the discovery of the photographs in question...

★ "...some people actually molest out of different feelings, some times out of feelings of love....” DA Gallegos explaining why Child Abuse prosecutions were down

★ “I never said that the information was not available under the Freedom of Information Act. Quite the contrary, I informed you that our use of force policy is not a public record.” Paul Gallegos to the Times Standard 5/25/07

★ ...“One is that I do everything to make people happy which means I don’t stand for anything except for just something,” he said. “The other is I stand for something and I try to be a leader and take some people, a group of people, a community someplace and I say guess what folks, this is who I am. I stand for your beliefs. We share these beliefs or we don’t. You get the option to judge that. This is who I am and I am committed to leading us this place, wherever it is...." Eureka Reporter Gallegos defends record, looks ahead 7/3/2005

★ Note the difference between what he SAID, and what he DOES..."...So what are these issues? Top on Gallegos' list is the proliferation of "garbage cases," small-time crimes and overcharged cases that he said are clogging up the court system.

Garbage cases, said Gallegos, come in two forms: Cases that would lose if actually brought to trial and cases that are overcharged for the crimes committed. The idea behind filing both kinds of garbage, he said, is to get the defendant to plead guilty, netting a conviction without having to go into court.

Again, the IRONY is astounding! Look at what he SAYS, and then think about what he DOES! "Probably 95 percent of the cases that are filed plead guilty. In fact, there are a lot of cases that are filed on the assumption they will plead guilty, because of the time and expense involved in defending them. But these cases shouldn't even be filed in the first place, because if they were challenged, they would lose," Gallegos said. Better yet: If they weren't filed at all, it would save the county time and money...." North Coast Journal 2/21/02 Too bad he didn't take his own advice.

★ “Tim’s a stud,” he said. “He really is; anyone would be stoked to have him.” Gallegos on his second in command right hand man Assistant District Attorney Tim Stoen. (Former second in command right hand man to Jim Jones/People's Temple.)

NOTE:

"Helping Crush Progressivism" - ie: exposing the predatory litigious orgs and those who seek power for power's sake.... The original purpose of watchpaul is to post important documents relating to Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos and his handlers who seek to gain power through the acquisition of political offices. This includes, but is not limited to, the manipulations of "Humboldt Watershed Council," "EPIC," "Baykeeper," and other activist groups - the unregulated orgs. It also includes the master manipulators, such as Richard Salzman and Ken Miller.

Links to key stories and documents are also included in the sidebar, so that you do not have to try to scroll back through what has become a lengthy series of posts. I encourage you to use the Search and Labels features as well.

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