John Donne never met Richard Ramirez.
George Karl of the Denver Nuggets was this year’s NBA coach of the year.
George Karl of the Denver Nuggets was fired on Friday. He was 423-257 over nine seasons.
(Thanks to Lawrence for the hattip on this. I was away from the computer pretty much all day yesterday.)
Omar Bradley will not be the new mayor of Compton. (Previously.)
Former NYPD officer Ali Oklu could have had…
What happened?
Last August, I noted an LAT article about allegations that LAPD SWAT members were purchasing specially made and marked LAPD SWAT Kimber pistols at a steep discount and reselling them on the open market. At that time, it was unclear if this violated any regulations or laws; LAPD conducted one investigation, which was badly botched, and had just started a second investigation when the LAT ran their report.
Today’s update: the investigation has expanded to include LAPD’s Special Investigative Section (SIS), who also had custom Kimber pistols made for them. And the FBI is involved.
Yeah, I remember the Kimber SIS guns. I thought they were kind of neat looking, but:
Yeah, see my previous entry for more details on the LAPD SWAT gun. As for the SIS gun, here’s an example from GunBroker. N.B.: I am not the person selling this, I have no connection to that person, and the GunBroker link is for illustrative purposes.
I’m sorry. Did the LAT, which has been calling for more gun control, just refer to Federal gun laws as “arcane” and “complicated”?
And here’s a small note that amuses me: this month’s American Handgunner (July/August 2013) has an article on the new LAPD SIS gun: the Glock 30S, which was custom built for LAPD SIS, but:
More from the Glock website. I suspect this won’t be quite as controversial as the Kimber, only because Glock seems to have eschewed adding the “SIS” logo to the slide.
(And is there anyone out there who can explain to me why Glock’s .380 pistols are law enforcement only?)
Lawrence linked to an amusing list from USA Today of ten California cities most likely to file for bankruptcy.
The list includes such banana republican favorites as the notoriously corrupt city of Vernon, Compton, and Mammoth Lakes (which, as previously noted, already filed for bankruptcy, but USA Today reports they withdrew that petition).
Not on the list, but should be: Bell. You may recall that one of Bell’s many issues was the collection of illegal taxes from residents. The city has to refund the illegally collected tax dollars to residents…
And by the way:
Back in October, I wrote about the defunct art gallery Knoedler & Company and their troubled relationship with a dealer named Glafira Rosales. Many of the works Ms. Rosales supplied to Knoedler are now considered fakes.
Yesterday, Ms. Rosales was charged with tax fraud.
And:
In other news: the LA County DA plans to retry the Bell city council members. As you may recall, the jury in the first trial completely acquitted one council member (Luis Artiga), convicted the other five members on some charges, acquitted them on other charges, and ultimately hung on the remaining charges.
Texas gun legislation update: things are getting interesting. The concealed carry on campus bill, and the ban on enforcing any new Federal gun laws, are tied up in the Senate. However, the Senate has approved…
This same bill also prevents local governments from outlawing BB guns and Airsoft guns.
My understanding is that the bill to cut back the number of hours of class time required for a concealed carry permit has also passed both houses, and is awaiting the governor’s signature.
More here. I was previously unaware of the TSRA PAC site; the front page summary of legislative events is very useful.
(Fresno is paying their poet laureate $2,000 for a two-year term.)
Paging Andy Ihnatko. Andy Ihnatko to the white courtesy phone, please.
(Seriously, this does not strike me as a good idea.)
“She” is Rep. Marcia L. Fudge (D-Ohio), chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Edited to add: Ken over at Popehat has a post up flaming the LAT and other newspapers (and, sort of by implication, your obedient servant) for seizing on the karaoke angle and taking out of the context it was in.
The Statesman has been all over the collapse of RunTex (a local running shoe store, which was also active in various community events) like flies on a severed cow’s head at a Damien Hirst exhibition. I haven’t paid much attention to the story because I’m not a runner and didn’t care about RunTex. I remember my sister (who competes in triathlons) telling me about going there a while back and being totally unable to find any shoes that fit her. (And my sister does not have giant mutant feet.)
In that vein, I found this Statesman column rather interesting. It looks like my sister wasn’t the only person who had that problem…
Edited to add: A friend of WCD told us a similar story in email; he went in looking for the Nike shoes that would work with their iPhone application and transmitter. They didn’t have any shoes in his size, let alone the Nike ones. When he inquired, they told him “We’re not a shoe store. We support the running lifestyle.”
“We support the running lifestyle.” WHAT THE FRACK DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?
“We’re not a shoe store.” Yeah. Now, you’re nothing.
This is just further evidence towards my theory: the problems with the American economy have much to do with the fact that nobody wants to take money for goods and services any longer. I’m not kidding: I can’t count the number of experiences I’ve had, or been told about recently, involving wanting to make a purchase and not being able to get help, get questions answered, or get people to take money.
If this had happened in New York City, I’d blame Julie Taymor, Bono, and The Edge.
Some notes from the legal beat to get things started:
Javaris Crittenton is being charged with murder and “gang activity”. Crittenton is a former NBA player with the Lakers, Wizards, and Grizzlies. You may remember him as “that guy who got into a locker room altercation with Gilbert Arenas that ended with guns being pulled and a 38-game suspension”.
Meanwhile, in Arizona, Louis C. Taylor has been freed from prison. Mr. Taylor served 42 years before his release: he was convicted of starting a hotel fire in 1970, when he was 16, and sentenced to 28 life terms. However, it looks like the evidence used to convict Mr. Taylor was questionable, and (if I read the article correctly) the prosecution withheld exculpatory evidence.
And:
Of course they believe Mr. Taylor was guilty. God forbid they should admit someone served 42 years for what may not have even been a crime.
Senator Smith is accused of trying to bribe his way onto the ballot for the mayor’s race in New York City.
Wait. What?
In case you were wondering, Robert “Ratso” Rizzo’s trial on corruption charges is scheduled for September. Ratso’s former assistant, Angela Spaccia, is asking for a separate trial.
From the department of things that suck: noted SF author Ian Banks is dying. Many of my friends, including Lawrence, are big Banks fans. I never got into his work, personally: the only Banks book I own is Raw Spirit: In Search of the Perfect Dram
Firing watch: Mike Rice out as basketball coach of Rutgers after video of him acting like an a–hole becomes public.
I was out until late last night (having a very nice celebratory dinner at Bordeaux’s Steakhouse in Dripping Springs: thanks, Mom!) and wasn’t able to report on the latest Bell developments until this morning. That’s probably for the best, as I can link to the second day LAT coverage rather than the breaking news.
What happened? Briefly, hell broke loose in California.
As you may recall, the jury returned verdicts on some of the charges, but remained undecided on others. The judge sent them back Thursday morning to continue deliberations.
These are different notes than the ones members of the jury sent on Wednesday, by the way.
What does all this mean?
Basically, the jury verdicts stand, but it sounds like the defense has a chance to get them thrown out on appeal, if they can prove jury misconduct. My recommendation: buy popcorn futures.
Here’s your obit for Herbert Streicher, aka “Harry Reems”, the male star of “Deep Throat”: NYT. A/V Club.
Oh, look! New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is re-thinking his hastily passed and poorly thought out gun control measures! It couldn’t have anything to do with his declining popularity, could it?
But gun control works!
I have not had time to go through all of it yet, but the NYT special section on “Museums” looks interesting. Call this a bookmark.
Here’s the LAT‘s second day article on the Bell convictions.
And if the dam breaks open many years too soon
And if there is no room upon the hill
And if your head explodes with dark forebodings too
I’ll see you in the national recording registry…
(Also: The Ramones first album! “Einstein on the Beach”! “South Pacific”! “Sounds of Silence”! The “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack?)
Woo hoo woo hoo hoo!
I was out and about until just now and returned home to find out we have verdicts in the Bell corruption trial.
Maybe.
Former council member Luis Artiga: acquitted on all twelve of the charges against him.
Former council member George Cole: found guilty of two counts of misappropriation of funds from the Solid Waste and Recycling Authority, and not guilty on two counts of misappropriation of funds related to the Public Finance Authority. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on four other counts.
Former council member Victor Bello: found guilty of four counts of misappropriation of funds from the Solid Waste and Recycling Authority, and not guilty on four counts of misappropriation of funds related to the Public Finance Authority. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on eight other counts.
Former mayor Oscar Hernandez: found guilty of five counts of misappropriation of funds from the Solid Waste and Recycling Authority, and not guilty on five counts of misappropriation of funds related to the Public Finance Authority. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on ten other counts.
Former council member Teresa Jacobo: found guilty of five counts of misappropriation of funds from the Solid Waste and Recycling Authority, and not guilty on five counts of misappropriation of funds related to the Public Finance Authority. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on ten other counts.
Former council member George Mirabal: found guilty of five counts of misappropriation of funds from the Solid Waste and Recycling Authority, and not guilty on five counts of misappropriation of funds related to the Public Finance Authority. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on ten other counts.
The LAT has a handy cheat sheet covering who was convicted of what, in addition to their news coverage.
But.
A second juror sent a note saying “she believes the jury is ‘getting away from your instructions’ and possibly misunderstanding a law on ‘several levels.'”.
The judge, at this point, seems to be disinclined to “reopen verdicts that have been reached”, but the jury is supposed to report back to the courtroom tomorrow at 9 AM. We’ll see what happens; the judge may question the jurors about the returned verdicts, the judge may ask them to deliberate more on the undecided verdicts, some combination of the two, or possibly something I haven’t even thought of yet. We shall see.
By the way, the council members apparently have a good shot at getting probation and community service, if the verdicts stand.
But it still a good day. And this comic strip seems appropriate.
The jury is still out in the Bell trial.
The LAT‘s “LA Now” blog ran an article yesterday speculating on the possibility of deadlock.
Wouldn’t that be a kick in the head?
Yesterday was day 13 of deliberations, according to the LAT. (It looks like they’re not counting the week of deliberations which ended with one juror being replaced and the judge ordering a restart.)
I have often heard the accusation that the Better Business Bureau is more interested in money than protecting customers. That is, if you’re a business that pays enough money to the BBB, you’re guaranteed a high rating, and customer complaints against you might just magically disappear.
I’ve never been able to prove that to my satisfaction. But in at least one case, I don’t have to.
The BBB of the Southland is the branch that covers LA and the surrounding area. Why did they get kicked out? Some folks may remember this:
Ken over at Popehat covered this in more detail at the time. I haven’t seen an update from him, but I don’t blame Ken, as he’s been tied up with the whole Prenda Law saga. (If you haven’t been following Prenda Law, I recommend checking Popehat; the entire saga is way to complex for me to summarize here, and Ken’s done a pretty good job of doing so over there.)
I’ve been thinking about posting an update for a couple of days now, but have held off. Why? The update boils down to: the jury is still deliberating.
Today’s events: one of the jurors is sick, so they’re taking the day off. More updates will follow as things happen. At this point, I’d bet on a mistrial.
Back in the old days, before he was driven from office by prosecutoral misconduct and later killed in a plane crash, Ted Stevens managed to get a prototype “amphibious assault vessel for the Navy” diverted to Alaska. The plan was to use it as a commuter ferry between downtown Anchorage and suburbs to the north of Anchorage. (Wait. Anchorage has suburbs?)
None of this ever happened.
Now the Matanuska-Susitna Borough is offering the boat for free to any “government entity” that wants it. Guess who is in “very preliminary discussions”?
I wonder; if it didn’t work for suburban Anchorage (which apparently needs a $750 million bridge), is it going to work out for Catalina Island?