- Sunday’s Knoxville News Sentinel ran a long piece on former judge Richard Baumgartner. Baumgartner presided over the high profile cases of Channon Christian/Christopher Newsom and Raynella Dossett Leath. He was also a bad guy: Baumgartner shook down his staff for OxyContin and other painkillers, became involved with a former defendant in his court (and had her procure drugs for him), and apparently engaged in even more misconduct (hidden in sealed TBI files). And Baumgartner’s erratic behavior went on from at least 2007 to 2011. Four years of an addict presiding over criminal trials. (Hattip: Insta.)
- Also by way of Insta:
- And from Balko, for a change-up: the story of Scott Henson, who was stopped and detained by nine Austin Police Department officers while walking his five year old granddaughter home. Henson is white: his granddaugher is black, and they were stopped by the APD immediately after a previous encounter with a deputy constable.
So far, this is outrageous. Of course we only have one side of the story, but does Henson have any reason to lie about this? I hope he pursues this. I hope he forces a full investigation by an external third party, not APD. And if all of this is true, I hope people loose their badges and jobs over this. Including Chief Acevedo.
Let us enrage you.
February 13th, 2012As a liberatarian…
February 13th, 2012…I am generally opposed to the use of my tax dollars for things other than the basic functions of government: police, courts, and the military.
However, if the government is going to spend my tax money on other things, I prefer that the government spend it on cool stuff: things that go fast, things that explode, things that go fast and explode, or just simply engineering marvels.
Like the 50,000 ton forging press.
According to Alcoa’s web site, the Fifty is back in service. And they have video (which I can’t watch on my work machine).
I wonder if they offer tours? If not to the general public, to polite bloggers who agree to wear a hard hat and safety goggles, and promise not to put their hands in the press?
(Hattip: TJIC on the Twitter.)
Obit watch: February 13, 2012.
February 13th, 2012Nello Ferrara, of the Ferrara Pan Candy Company.
I like Lemonheads okay, but I’ve got a serious soft spot for Atomic Fireballs. They’re bad for my teeth (and other things) but I still indulge every once in a while. (I had to stop buying the big tubs of them at Sam’s, though.)
Obit watch: special “Crack is whack” edition.
February 11th, 2012Bad signs.
February 11th, 2012I picked up a copy of Arika Okrent’s In the Land of Invented Languages
Now, this may be a fine book; I haven’t finished it yet. But I am a little put off by her opening sentence:
Klingon speakers, those who have devoted themselves to the study of a language invented for the Star Trek franchise, inhabit the lowest possible rung on the geek ladder.
Bzzzzz! Wrong! As we all know, the lowest possible rung on the geek ladder is occupied by “People Who Write Erotic Versions of Star Trek Where All the Characters Are Furries, Like Kirk is an Ocelot or Something, and They Put a Furry Version of Themselves as the Star of the Story.”
(Seriously, as much as I hate Trek, I have a lot of respect for people who can speak Klingon, or any other invented language. I don’t know anybody who looks down on the Klingon speakers.)
Obit watch: February 11, 2012.
February 11th, 2012Jeffrey Zaslow, prominent author. (Link goes to the WSJ, but I don’t believe they’ve put this behind a paywall.)
The first time I heard of Zaslow, it was in the context of the legendary contest to replace Ann Landers (after she left the Sun-Times for the Tribune). Zaslow was assigned by the WSJ to cover the contest, entered it on a lark (and to get an angle for his story)…and won, writing an advice column for the paper for the next 14 years.
After that, it seems like he went on to books, mostly as a collaborator with other folks. The best known, and I think the most successful (also the only one I’ve read) was his book with the late Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture
Also: Jill Kinmont Boothe, the skier who “The Other Side of the Mountain” was based on.
No roses for Donna Lee Kelly.
February 10th, 2012Donna Lee Kelly was killed in 2004. Her body was found stuffed in the trunk of her car.
No arrests were made until a few days ago, when the LA County Sheriff’s Office arrested Richard Allan Munnecke. According to LACSO, they have DNA evidence that links Munnecke to the murder.
This would ordinarily be a cold case of the type I don’t usually cover, but there’s two things that make it interesting:
- Munnecke is a former director of the Tournament of Roses parade. “Munnecke was music committee chairman for the Tournament of Roses in 1998-99 and Bandfest director in 1997.” It is believed that Munnecke and Kelly met, and developed a romantic relationship, while both worked on the parade.
- In spite of the fact that LACSO has DNA evidence, and apparently DNA evidence that was strong enough for them to make an arrest, the DA is refusing to file charges. This just seems odd to me. Maybe I don’t understand the way cops and the DAs office work, but I would have figured that LACSO would have gone to the DA with their evidence (especially on a cold case) in advance, and said, “Look, if we make an arrest, will you prosecute, given what we’ve got?” Am I wrong? Do they not talk to each other?
Edited to add 2/11: Longer followup story in the LAT, which goes into more detail about the evidence and the DA’s rejection.
Stuff your sorries in a sack, Mister!
February 10th, 2012Sorry, folks. Yesterday got a big hole blown in it due to a flat tire and associated wrangling, but there really hasn’t been much going on.
At least, not much that hasn’t been well-blogged elsewhere, such as the “tuba raid” story. (No, “Tuba Raid” is not a sequel to the great John Varley story “Air Raid”. But I’d love to see someone write “Tuba Raid”. I’d suggest the idea to John Scalzi, but I suspect he’s busy editing the “Stunning Stoat Stories” anthology.)
I was doing a bit of research for a post snarking on Mexico’s confiscation of 15 tons of meth. However, Jacob Sullum got there ahead of me. (There was a great discussion somewhere, earlier this week, involving people pushing back against new laws requiring prescriptions for pseudoephedrine-containing drugs. I swear it was on “Hit and Run” but I can’t find it now.)
Lawrence asked me a few days ago if the news that Carolyn McCarthy’s district was going to be axed had me doing the happy dance. Short answer: no. When she’s out of office, then I’ll do the happy dance. With an AK-47 that has a 30-round magazine. And a shoulder thing that goes up.
Quintana update.
February 10th, 2012The final charge (criminal mischief) against former APD officer Leonardo Quintana was dropped Thursday.
As you may recall, Mr. Quintana was acquitted by juries on three other charges; he was also fired by the APD and reinstated by arbitrators several times before his most recent termination (which seems to have stuck).
Roland the Headless CNN Correspondant.
February 8th, 2012Actually, I don’t care that much about Roland Martin, CNN, or Twitter. But I couldn’t pass up a chance to make a reference to my own personal favorite Warren Zevon song. As a matter of fact, why don’t we listen to it now?
Stuff. And things.
February 8th, 2012Obit watch: noted British SF author John Christopher.
Here’s the latest I’ve been able to find in the HouChron on the Rangers/FBI/Harris County DA. It doesn’t add a whole lot to what was reported yesterday, alas.
Paul Farhi in the WP writes about press coverage of the Lance Armstrong probe, including his own paper’s coverage.
Weer’d beat me to this one, but: carry your damn guns, people.
Break 1-9, good buddy…
February 7th, 2012There isn’t a whole lot known at this point, but various news sources are reporting that the Texas Rangers and FBI are questioning staff members at the Harris County DA’s office.
Both the HouChron and KTRK are reporting that the questioning allegedly involves the DA’s investigation into the grand jury, and not the BAT vans that the grand jury was investigating.
More on this when we know more.
TMQ watch: February 7, 2012.
February 7th, 2012Good news, everyone!
I’ve come up with a way for you to hear these columns in Professor Farnsworth’s voice!
Also, it turns out that this is the last TMQ of the season! Yes, no bad predictions review this year: just the Super Bowl column and then silence until draft time.
After the jump…
Morning roundup for February 7, 2012.
February 7th, 2012Bunch of stuff from the NYT this morning. Sorry, but that’s how things roll sometimes.
First up: I didn’t know there were plans for an Eisenhower memorial. I like Ike, and the artist’s conception doesn’t strike me as being too awful. However, I’m skeptical of the need for yet another memorial in DC. The big news here is that Eisenhower’s family is now raising “concerns” about the design.
Extra bonus points: the memorial designer is WCD’s (and Lawrence’s) favorite architect.
And this is why they do it:
Lecture mode on:
And finally:
I commend to the attention of Mayor Bloomberg and “Mumbles” Menino Matthew 7:5. Better yet, I commend to both gentlemen and the other members of the criminal organization Mayors Against Illegal Guns the simple strategy of shutting the f–k up.
Edited to add: Oh, drat. I forgot that I wanted to make note of Alberto Contador being stripped of his 2010 Tour de France win. Congrats to Andy Schleck.
Obit watch and more randomness for February 3, 2012.
February 4th, 2012Obit watch: prominent spy novelist Dorothy Gilman.
Ben Gazzara. I’m glad to see “Run For Your Life” get some mention in his obit; that’s another series RTN was re-running, and that I wish someone would bring out a full DVD set of. (And I’d also like to see “Anatomy of a Murder” sometime; I’ve read the book, but haven’t seen the movie.)
Hey, how about that lengthy Federal investigation into Lance Armstrong’s alleged doping? The Feds took their best shot…and turned up nothing. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the guy has been tested so often that either he’s telling the truth and is totally clean, or his doping technologists are not only ahead of the curve, you can’t even see the curve from where they are.
Finally, I wanted to make note of a developing local story. Early Friday morning, a guy wrecked his car near a railroad crossing in the Avery Ranch area of Northwest Austin. The guy walked away from the wreck. A little while later, the wife of a homeowner in the area heard voices outside and saw a man (the same guy) lying under her car. Her husband went out to investigate, and apparently attempted to hold the man at gunpoint. The homeowner ended up shooting the intruder three times, killing him.
And the homeowner has now been charged with murder.
There are too many unknowns in the current press coverage to make me feel comfortable passing judgment in this case. I know the article quotes the homeowner as saying, “If you flee, I’m going to shoot you,” and then firing on the intruder as he tried to flee. But we don’t know what else the intruder did at this point; did he display a weapon? Was there a disparity of force involved (23 year old intruder, 47 year old homeowner)?
I think there is one thing we can say for sure:
Use your gun defensively, and even if it is a good shoot, your life is going to change; probably not for the better. Commvault Bryan and I were talking the other day about having an attorney on “retainer” and the various groups that offer that service for a small monthly fee; I need to get with Karl and get the name of the organization he recommends.