Advance Indiana

The Suburban Counties Better Wake Up Soon

2009-11-20T13:17:00.009-05:00

One of the most outrageous assertions I've heard coming from Indianapolis officials on a task force looking at the Capital Improvement Board's financial woes is that the problem lies in the suburban counties surrounding Marion County not paying their fair share for the sports stadiums and convention center. What are these people smoking? State and regional taxpayers have poured tens of millions of dollars annually into this county to support these facilities. The state created a special taxing district several years ago that diverts general revenue funds into a fund to pay off the bonds on Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indiana Convention Center expansion, which it expanded in size just this year. Residents of Boone, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks and Shelby Counties are paying a food and beverage tax to pay for Lucas Oil Stadium and the convention center expansion. Following these self-interested Indianapolis officials' assertion through to its logical conclusion, I guess the rest of the state's residents should be demanding a share of the revenues generated to Indianapolis' economy because the center of state government is based here with all of those jobs and spending related thereto.

The notion that suburban taxpayers aren't paying their fair share is absurd. If you want to feed the corrupt inner city monster, then move to Chicago. Suburban taxpayers in Illinois have fed the Chicago and Cook County government monsters billions over the years and the demand for even more never ceases. Wake up, suburban counties, unless you want to be tapped even more to feed this monster called the Capital Improvement Board. And if you think it will stop there, think again. They've got more plans in the works to tax you for the benefit of crossing the county line into Marion County. The CIB is not your problem. Don't let them convince you that it is. "Regionalism" is just a euphemism for getting other people to pay for our out-of-control spending in Marion County.

Yes, City Should Blow Up Veolia's Sweetheart Deal

2009-11-20T12:44:00.005-05:00

"Why shouldn't (the council) just blow this whole thing up?" the Star quotes City-County Councilor Ben Hunter, chairman of the Public Works Committee as saying during yesterday's meeting on the subject of the water company's 35% rate increase request. "You keep coming back and asking for more rate increases. Come back to me and tell me the efficiencies." The answer to Hunter's question is "yes." You should blow this whole deal up and stop the payoffs to the political cronies who cooked it up in the first place.

Candidate Greg Ballard promised to get to the bottom of the one-sided privatization agreement that allows Veolia to pocket about $50 million annually for operating the water company. That deal was brokered by the administration of Bart Peterson. City residents were told the water company purchase was necessary to prevent the company from falling into the hands of a foreign owner and to protect the pay and benefits of the utility's employees. After paying more than double what the company was actually worth, Peterson handed over control of the utility to the French company, which then cut benefits to the long-time employees of the utility. The one-sided deal has proven very costly to ratepayers, but it has financially rewarded lobbyists and cronies of Mayor Peterson who cooked up the deal. In another scheme, Mayor Peterson put more money in his cronies' pockets by exchanging the utility's fixed rate bonds with risky variable rate bonds from which it cost about $50 million in penalties to extricate itself.

Instead of renegotiating the one-sided deal after taking office and calling for a top-to-bottom investigation of what transpired under Peterson, Mayor Ballard took up where Peterson left off and hopped in bed with the contractors and lobbyists, even enhancing payments to Veolia at the same time we've seen water rates nearly double. Ballard is now looking for a way to sell the utility to a public benefit corporation like Citizens Gas & Coke. His plan, however, calls for jacking rates even higher to ensure higher profits to the potential buyer. Ballard then wants to use the proceeds from the sale to finance a bunch of capital projects being pushed by city contractors who have put close to $2 million in his campaign war chest. It would be nice if there was at least one actor in this process who acted in the interests of the City's residents and not themselves and their political cronies. This is Indianapolis though. What else should be expect, right?

Marla Stevens Indicted

2009-11-19T21:01:00.005-05:00

A federal grand jury in Des Moines, Iowa has returned a four-count indictment against Marla Stevens in connection with the embezzlement of nearly $6 million from Aviva by her spouse, Phyllis Stevens, a long-time employee of the company. The Des Moines Register reports that Marla has been charged with conspiracy to commit one count of money laundering and three counts of participating in financial transactions with money derived from a criminal transaction. The couple has been active in GLBT politics in Iowa and in Indiana where they lived until five years ago and have contributed more than $175,000 to political candidates, including at least $25,000 to U.S. Rep. Andre Carson (D) and another $8,000 to his grandmother, the late U.S. Rep. Julia Carson.

Phyllis Stevens has been jailed since she was picked up by FBI agents last month in Las Vegas. A federal judge has approved her release pending trial, but she has not yet filed the $75,000 cash bond required by the court. Phyllis fled to Las Vegas after her employer confronted her with the allegations and after she attempted unsuccessfully to withdraw $175,000 cash from the couple's joint account at National City Bank branches in Indianapolis. Marla Stevens had been living at the Bellagio Hotel for months where she reportedly ran up $2 million in charges.

UPDATE: Phyllis Stevens has been released from jail after posting a $75,000 cash bond. Marla Stevens was released without bail after entering a not guilty plea with a federal magistrate.

Judge David Hamilton Confirmed To Seventh Circuit

2009-11-19T15:37:00.003-05:00

U.S. District Court Judge David Hamilton has just been confirmed for a seat on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals by the U.S. Senate on a vote of 59-39 vote per the Indiana Law Blog. Here's the roll call vote. Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) was the only Republican who voted in favor of Hamilton's confirmation. Sens. Max Baucus (D-MT) and Robert Byrd (D-WV) did not vote.

Public Safety Director Candidate Resigns Job In White Plains New York

2009-11-19T15:08:00.004-05:00

One of the four candidates rumored to be under consideration for Public Safety Director in Indianapolis, White Plains New York Public Safety Commissioner Frank Straub, resigned his job there late last week. The White Plains city council had planned to fire him at a special meeting scheduled for Monday according to The Journal News. Straub had been feuding with the council over work schedules for police and firefighters that the city negotiated with the unions, and that Straub claimed had saved the city over $400,000 in overtime pay and 2,600 hours of sick time. Other candidates for the vacant Indianapolis Public Safety position include interim Public Safety Director Mark Renner, IMPD Chief Michael Spears and Darryl Pierce.

Lugar's Wife Busted For DUI

2009-11-19T12:25:00.010-05:00

Charlene "Char" Lugar, wife of Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar (R), has been charged with driving under the influence following an automobile collision in which she struck a parked car in McLean, Virginia last night near the couple's suburban D.C. home. Nobody was injured in the accident. Initial reports didn't suggest a hit and run, but that's now what Fox59 News is reporting. She's been charged with that as well. A police officer stopped her after noticing extensive front-end damage to her car. Lugar's office released this statement to Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper, which makes no mention of the specifics of the charges against her:

"At about 6:30 p.m. last evening, November 18, Mrs. Lugar had a traffic accident in our McLean, Virginia neighborhood. A charge has been filed and a court appearance is scheduled for January. No other persons were in her car or the unattended car she hit. Thankfully, no one was injured. We are deeply sorry and embarrassed that this accident has occurred.”

Charlene Lugar has been released from the county’s detention facility, according to his office.

The Star has a brief story online here. While we're on the subject of DUIs, Sen. John Kerry's daughter, Alexandra, was busted on a DUI charge in Hollywood early this morning.

Cultural Trail $13 Million Short

2009-11-18T16:54:00.003-05:00

The costs of Indianapolis' downtown cultural trail have skyrocketed, now approaching $55 million. Over $28 million of the costs have been absorbed by private donations, including a $15 million donation from Gene and Marilyn Glick. A federal transportation grant has provided another $14.4 million of the funding to date. Another $13 million, however, is needed to complete the project as envisioned in time for the Super Bowl in 2012 according to a WRTV report. As a downtown resident, I enjoy the benefits that the cultural trail brings to my neighborhood, but it does seem a bit extravagant. I know some businesses along Mass Avenue are extremely upset at the disruption of traffic the drawn-out project has caused and the resulting loss of business. It will be a great boon to them when it's completed, if they can survive that long. The amenities it offers are very nice, but the cost of maintaining it once it is completed could prove problematic in future years.

Obama Administration Touts Federal Stimulus Spending For Non-Existing Indiana Districts

2009-11-18T15:55:00.004-05:00

State GOP Chairman Murray Clark has a little fun with the discovery that Indiana has been awarded $5 million in stimulus spending for congressional districts that don't even exist. Clark quips in a press release:

Earlier this year, Democrats promised America that the unprecedented level of spending in the federal stimulus bill would be administered with the highest level of accountability and transparency. Despite their promises, errors and dubious account abound. This week we have learned that over $5 million of stimulus funds were reported as having been spent in Indiana Congressional Districts 00, 10, 11, 14 and 18, districts that do not exist."

"Reps. Joe Donnelly and Baron Hill voted for the so-called stimulus and its massive spending increases. What's troubling is that it continues to fall short of what the Democrats in Washington told the country. The reporting errors are an underlying symptom of the larger problem. As such, Reps. Donnelly and Hill owe an explanation to Hoosiers."

I'm not sure why the GOP always omits U.S. Rep. Andre Carson's votes whenever criticizing U.S Reps. Donnelly or Hill. He also voted for the stimulus plan. Clark's press release quotes from a Kokomo Perspective online story quoting U.S. Rep. Dan Burton's press release. Burton had this to say:

Back when President Obama first addressed the Congress after his inauguration, he said that Vice President Joe Biden would oversee the Stimulus spending because, 'Nobody messes with Joe.'

"Well, I think President Obama should know that somebody has messed with Joe. The imaginary 00, 10th, 11th, 14th, and 18th Congressional Districts of Indiana have, according to recovery.gov, made a tax dollar windfall of about $5.3 million, and 'created or saved' 9 jobs - all of which obviously can't exist in these fake districts.

"From the beginning, I said this program would be exposed to rampant waste, fraud, and abuse. Now, as we see these magical numbers from the Obama Administration, how can we ever be convinced that this money will be accounted for and given proper oversight? The answer is simply this: we can't.

"It's time to pack up this program, save the President from further embarrassments, use the remaining funds to pay down the debt and deficits, and cut taxes on capital gains, small businesses, and individuals so we can be 100% sure the money is used to create real jobs in real Congressional Districts.

Grant Rejection Leaves City Budget $1.7 Million Short

2009-11-17T16:35:00.006-05:00

Here's a perfect example of why truth in budgeting is so important. The City of Indianapolis' 2010 budget includes $1.7 million to cover the cost of purchasing police cars for 50 new police officers, who are being funded by a federal grant, along with their uniforms, hand-held radios, training and pagers. The budget approved by the City-County Council anticipated that those extra costs associated with hiring new police officers would be covered by a grant from the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute. That grant has been rejected, and according to a FOX 59 News report, the City should have known that if it had conducted any due diligence before applying for the grant. FOX 59 News reports on the $1.7 million hole in the City's budget:

Fox59 News has learned IMPD has been rejected for a $1.7 million dollar grant to buy 50 new police cars. And, it appears more advance discussion with Indiana Criminal Justice Institute officials about restrictions for equipment would have let city leaders learn months ago they never had a chance to get grant money for cars.

"The equipment grants we give out are typically for $10,000 or less," said Neil Moore, executive director of the Justice Institute. "If you look at what we funded in the past you will see we don't fund cars for large police agencies."

IMPD was requesting $1.3 million for cars. The total request was $1.7 million dollars. The money is needed to match Federal money the city's taking to cover salaries for 50 new police officers in 2010. By taking the federal money the city has to guarantee it can buy equipment for the new police and cover their salaries after three years.

"We were a little surprised, we were counting on it," said Valerie Washington, CFO for public safety.

Grant papers obtained by Fox59 News say the city is in a current "tax crisis" and is 18 months behind in collecting taxes.

The city also asked for line items including $70,000 for 50 new police uniforms, $179,000 for 50 handheld radios, $140,00 for firearm training, $10,000 for training material, and $3,950 for 50 pagers for recruits. The entire grant was rejected about three weeks ago.

"Since then we've been working with the controller's office, the grant unit to find alternative funding sources," said Washington.

She also said the grant writers had consulted with someone at the ICJI about the requests for equipment. City officials say the federal grant description did cover allotments for cars. But Moore says local police agencies like IMPD know the Institute's history and rejection of funding for police cars.

"We only provide one or two cars for very small police departments in need," said Moore.

Discoveries like this will tell us whether the City-County Council actually approved a balanced budget for 2010 as advertised. The City claims it expects to have a $15 million surplus next year. I would point out that the 2007 65%, $90 million a year increase in the local income tax was supposed to include funding for 100 new police officers that had never been funded as promised earlier in his administration of then-Mayor Bart Peterson. Mayor Greg Ballard, simiilarly, didn't used those additional income tax revenues to fill 100 new positions. Instead, he is filling half of those positions using one-time federal grant money. How will we pay for those positions when the federal grant money is exhausted? We obviously don't even have the funding to purchase their police cars, uniforms, etc. This is why City-County Councilors should do a more thorough job scrutinizing the budgets presented to them and not simply rubber stamp what has been put in front of them by the Controller's Office.

Mother Of Wandering Toddler Works For FSSA

2009-11-17T07:38:00.005-05:00

As if the Family & Social Services Administration didn't need another public relations nightmare, it turns out the mother of a one-year-old toddler who was found wandering a neighborhood alone over the weekend and unclaimed for nearly a day works as a clerk for FSSA. Tuesday House apparently had more important things to do Saturday night than look after her one-year-old daughter, including going out drinking with her friends and doing crack cocaine. WTHR reports:

The mother of a nearly one-year-old child found wandering a busy street now faces criminal charges.

Neighbors found the toddler walking on a sidewalk at 21st and Harding Saturday night. It took police over 24 hours to find her mother, 38-year-old Tuesday House.

A busy Indianapolis street after dark is where a little girl ended up after police say she was left alone.

"Mom left to go out, believed a friend of the family was there to watch the baby who was sleeping," said Sgt. Matt Mount, IMPD.

It was neighbors who noticed the toddler walking and crawling on a sidewalk along Harding street near 21st at about 8:00 pm Saturday night. They took her to a nearby store and called for help.

"We was knocking on every door trying to see whose baby it was," said Jimmie Cushingberry, witness.

But it wasn't until news reports showed the girl's picture that family members came forward. Uncle Eric Cosby, who said the little girl often stays at his home, was surprised to find she was missing.

He chalks it up to a big misunderstanding . . .

Early Monday afternoon, an interview with the girl's mother led to charges against her when she admitted to drinking and using cocaine the night her daughter wandered off.

Tuesday House told detectives when she left the house, a family friend was outside and the baby was asleep inside. But detectives say no arrangements were made to take care of the young girl . . .

House works for the Indiana Family and Social Services Agency as a clerk, although she is employed through a temp agency.

According to the WTHR report, House had been hired by a private contractor to work at FSSA. House was hired by Alpha Rae, a temporary employment agency used by FSSA to fill clerical positions.

May Calls Carson's Priorities On Fort Hood Attack Wrong

2009-11-16T21:46:00.005-05:00

Seventh District Republican congressional candidate Carlos May criticized U.S. Rep. Andre Carson's recent suggestion in an Associated Press interview following the Ft. Hood attack by Maj. Nidal Hasan that left 12 Army soldiers and one civilian dead that the focus should be on Hasan's "mental health issues." "This is no way a reflection of Islam any more than Timothy McVeigh's actions are a reflection of Christianity," Carson told the AP. May called Carson's linkage of McVeigh and Hasan "misleading and irresponsible." While May rejected "any linkage between murder and Islam", he said he was troubled that Carson dismissed any connection between Hasan's actions and his religion. "However, for Carson to dismiss the facts pointing to Hasan’s associations with Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical cleric who knew three of the 9/11 hijackers, and Hasan’s association with him going back to 2001 as mere mental illness is troubling," May said. "Carson is representing the twelfth largest city in the U.S., and is a former employee of IDHS who should be leading the effort for a thorough Congressional investigation."

It's refreshing to see a politician speak candidly on this issue. Virtually all of Indiana's congressional delegation and congressional candidates have remained silent on the Ft. Hood terrorist attack, seemingly afraid to speak their mind for fear of being labeled as "anti Muslim." The silence from our two Indiana senators, Richard Lugar and Evan Bayh, has been deafening.

Efforts within our government to deflect attention away from their own national security failures in failing to recognize Hasan as a threat to his fellow soldiers is reaching new lows. The National Enquirer is quoting a government source as suggesting Hasan is a closet homosexual who recently got dumped by his lover. Adding to the titilating tale is a suggestion in the story that Hasan is HIV-positive, claiming a cache of HIV meds was found in his apartment. The Enquirer writes:

The deranged Fort Hood gunman - accused of killing 13 people and wounding 29 others - snapped after being dumped by a lover, The ENQUIRER has learned exclusively.

Authorities say Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan - an American-born Muslim of Palestinian descent - became deeply disturbed over his imminent deployment to Afghanistan. But his final decline into madness was triggered by his miserable failure at romance.

While the investigation is being kept under tight wraps, a top government source, close to the case, told The ENQUIRER: "There's evidence he was dumped by a lover."

The ENQUIRER has also learned the 39-year-old Army psychiatrist had a deep-seated inability to deal with women that stemmed all the way back to high school - and he may have had homosexual relationships.

"Hasan had someone he was seeing - a woman or even a man - or may have imagined the love affair," disclosed the government source. "It's quite possible the object of his affection had no idea they were Hasan's love interest.

"What's clear is that Hasan felt he was dumped by this person, giving him another reason for unleashing his mass assault. In his sick mind, Hasan may have believed that one of these innocent men he gunned down stole away his lover." . . .

Imam Mohamed Abdullahi, who runs the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring, Md., where the psychiatrist attended prayer services, told The ENQUIRER Hasan may have been confused about his sexuality.

"Maybe he is a homosexual. He was clearly very troubled. In the Koran, there was a messenger who was a homosexual, and God destroyed him."

Among Hasan's belongings, confiscated by police at his apartment, was a cache of HIV prescription drugs.

Oh, the irony that people within government would now be attempting to portray Hasan as a mentally unstable gay men who is a HIV-positive. If Hasan had simply told his Army superiors he was gay, he would have been discharged in a heartbeat under the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. Earlier this year, the Army discharged 11 gay soldiers because of the policy. A West Point graduate, Dan Choi, received notice in May of this year that he would be discharged from the Army National Guard for speaking out about his homosexuality in a television interview. Choi spoke Arabic fluently and had recently completed a tour of duty in Iraq. More than 12,000 soldiers have been dismissed since President Clinton signed into law the Don't Ask, Don't Tell law in 1993. It's pretty sad that our military would view a soldier like Choi as a risk to the morale and well-being of his fellow soldiers, while turning a blind eye to Hasan's outrageous anti-American statements and praise of Islamic suicide bombers.

Rash Of Suicides Hits Chicago Politicos

2009-11-16T16:26:00.005-05:00

There is a pattern developing. A big shot political insider draws the scrutiny of federal prosecutors combating the corrupt Chicago political system. This is followed by the big shot political insider choosing to end his life. Today, long-time Chicago School Board President Michael Scott's body was found floating in the Chicago River. Hours later, an efficient medical examiner ruled his death a suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The Sun-Times writes:

The death of Chicago School Board President Michael Scott was ruled a suicide this afternoon by the Cook County Medical Examiner's office. He died of a gunshot wound to the head, officials said.

When police found his body early this morning, Scott was face down in a foot of water along the Chicago River downtown, a .380-caliber handgun under his body, a source said.

The 60-year-old Scott, Mayor Daley’s go-to-guy for years, had a gunshot wound to his left temple.

He left behind his cell phone on a ledge overlooking the river on the west side of the Apparel Center, 350 N. Orleans.

But he left no note, a source said . . .

An ashen [Mayor Richard] Daley said he saw no indication that his close friend was troubled, saying Scott’s death “is a shock for everyone.”

“No, no. None whatsoever,” Daley said when asked if he sensed Scott was struggling with personal issues. “Mike was always helping people with troubles" . . .

Scott was Daley’s long-time go-to guy but raised eyebrows earlier this year when he disclosed to the Sun-Times that he had been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury investigating how students were selected for the system’s elite selective-enrollment high schools . . .

Scott, a West Side resident, also had served on the Mayor's 2016 Olympic committee and as former head of the Chicago Park District.

In August, he was forced to answer questions about his involvement in a development proposal near the the proposed Douglas Park Olympic site.

He insisted he would not profit from the deal.

“I would not profit . . . not at all,” Scott told reporters at a Chicago Board of Education press conference.

He was responding to a published report contending he was “potentially positioning himself to cash in” if the Olympics come to Chicago because he was helping a group of ministers try to turn some city-owned lots across from what could have been an Olympic site into affordable housing.

Chicago eventually lost out to Rio de Janiero, which will host the 2016 Summer Games . . .

Scott owns Michael Scott and Associates, a real estate development firm.

West Side Ald. Isaac Carothers (29th) praised Scott on Monday, saying “he was a great individual who added value to every position he served” in city government.

Carothers — who was indicted in May for allegedly accepting $40,000 in home improvements, meals and sports tickets from a West Side developer in exchange for zoning changes that netted the developer millions — spent a year secretly recording public officials and real estate developers for the feds, the Sun-Times disclosed earlier this year.

On Monday, Carothers cut off a conversation with a reporter when asked whether he had recorded any conversations with Scott.

In October, a top adviser to former Gov. Rod Blagojevich with close ties to Mayor Daley died after ingesting a deadly combination of pain medications and rat poisoning. Reporting on the death of Christopher Kelly following his indictment by federal prosecutors and guilty plea, the Chicago Tribune reported:

Officials in Country Club Hills said toxicology tests show that Christopher Kelly, once a top adviser and political fundraiser for Gov. Rod Blagojevich, ingested pain-relief medication and rat poison in an apparent suicide in the suburb last month.

Mayor Dwight Welch said the test results had been returned to investigators. Police in the town have called Kelly's Sept. 12 death an apparent suicide, saying he ingested pills and the poison in a trailer at his roofing company.

Kelly was facing personal turmoil and mounting federal pressure to cooperate in the sweeping corruption case against Blagojevich after pleading guilty in two separate fraud cases.

And then there was the suicide death of Orlando Jones a couple of years ago shortly after he was contacted by federal investigators. The Sun-Times writes:

One of Cook County's top political insiders was found dead on a southwestern Michigan beach this week from a self-inflicted gunshot wound -- two days after
the Chicago FBI attempted to interview him about an undisclosed matter,
authorities said Thursday.

Orlando Jones -- a 52-year-old godson of ex-County Board President John Stroger, former top Stroger aide and married father of two sons -- had lunched with a lawyer Tuesday before disappearing that evening. His body was found about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the bottom of a set of steps leading to Gowdy Shores beach, a short drive from a New Buffalo, Mich., casino Jones had frequented.

Berrien County law enforcement officials said a handgun was found with Jones, who had a single gunshot wound in his head.

Undersheriff Chuck Heit said there was nothing that would lead him to believe "it was anything other than suicide."

Authorities recovered notes from Jones' South Loop home, including one referencing how unforgiving the news media tend to be, a law-enforcement source said . . .

The discovery of Jones' body came just two days after FBI agents approached Jones, FBI spokesman Frank Bochte said. Jones "cordially declined" to speak with Chicago agents. The FBI wouldn't discuss details of the potential interview, citing an ongoing probe . . .

Besides the Las Vegas matter, Jones had been interviewed by federal authorities some time ago about a separate, government-related deal highlighted in a Sun-Times story in Thursday's editions. That deal -- which involved an annual fee paid to Jones by an investment firm that does business with a state government pension fund -- had allowed Jones to be paid six-figure sums annually for a job he did in 2004.

Authorities, Stephenson said, wanted to know if now-indicted Highland Park businessman Stuart Levine played any role in helping Jones land the deal. Levine has been indicted along with Wilmette businessman Tony Rezko in a kickback scheme to defraud Illinois taxpayers using fees like the one Jones got.

Jones told the feds Levine played no role in Jones landing the fee, Stephenson said. He added that Jones was not asked about Rezko.

Like Jones, Rezko is close to the Stroger family, and Rezko and Jones have been business partners, records show.

Jones was in County Board President Todd H. Stroger's office as recently as last week. Todd Stroger was elected to the post held by his father, John, last year after the elder Stroger suffered a debilitating stroke.

Oh, yes, the Obama-Rezko-Blagojevich-Daley ties run deep in Chicago. The Chicago Way is becoming a pretty deadly business these days. Who will be the next victim? Will U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald ever get to the bottom of this deep cesspool? That can't happen without removing President Obama from office, along with his top Chicago political advisers, including Rahm Emanuel, Valerie Jarrett and David Axelrod and ending the career of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and his corrupt city administration.

Limbaugh In Town For Colts-Pats Game

2009-11-16T13:32:00.004-05:00

WRTV's Dave Furst caught an interview with Rush Limbaugh during last night's Colts-Patriots game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Limbaugh was a guest of NBC's Al Michaels. Limbaugh and Michaels dined together at The Capital Grille Saturday night. Furst asked Limbaugh about the rift between him and Colts' owner Jim Irsay, who spoke out against Limbaugh's failed attempt to acquire an ownership interest in the St. Louis Rams. Limbaugh told Furst Irsay had nothing but nice things to say to him when he gave a shout out at him in a hotel hallway last year during a Colts-Packers game in Green Bay. Limbaugh quoting Irsay: "Hey Rush, my dad loved your show. I love your show." Irsay must have been overcome by political correctness disease when he decided to publicly oppose Limbaugh's ownership bid earlier this fall. Limbaugh told Furst he has no hard feelings about losing out on the Rams bid.

Another Odd Twist In DeLaney Versus Mendenhall

2009-11-15T15:24:00.007-05:00

The Indiana Lawyer's Jennifer Nelson reveals a new fact in the decades old dispute between the DeLaney family and the Mendenhall family, which culminated in an attack by 38-year-old Augustus "Gus" Mendenhall on State Rep. Ed DeLaney (D-Indianapolis) on Halloween Day that left DeLaney with serious bodily injuries. When the younger Gus Mendenhall finished law school in 2008, you'll never guess who was assigned to conduct Gus' character and fitness examination for admission to the Indiana bar. That would be Kathleen DeLaney, daughter of Ed. "He requested a different attorney because he claimed he had a conflict of interest," Nelson writes. Can you blame him?

When I faced my character and fitness examination back in 1993, a prominent, semi-retired attorney who lived on the City's far northside conducted my interview. I met him at his home, and we sat on his sun porch on the back side of his house while he interviewed me. It was easy to respect this individual and understand why he had been selected by the Indiana Supreme Court to interview candidates for admission to the bar. Gus Mendenhall had to be enraged by the thought that that the young Kathleen DeLaney would be given this task. As he perceived it, Kathleen's parents had used their political clout to convince the Marion Co. Prosecutor's Office to illegally seize his father's property and deprive him of it for years. When he finally got his property back many years later, he was told by our court system there was no remedy to compensate him for the damages he sustained from the illegal seizure because the prosecutor was immune from prosecution. And as he prepared to enter the legal profession, the person who would stand in judgment of him was the daughter of the two prominent political insiders who he believed had put his family through a living hell.

Nelson's story notes that Ed DeLaney was not a party to the lawsuit then-Marion Co. Prosecutor Steve Goldsmith brought against Gus' father, relying on Indiana's civil RICO statute. Ed's client, the DeBartolo Group, owned Lafayette Square mall and had sought to enforce a restrictive covenant against Mendenhall's father, who owned the building and had leased some of the space to another business that operated an adult bookstore. Nelson omits the fact that DeLaney's wife, Ann, worked as the head of the sex crimes unit within the prosecutor's office during the legal battle against his father. After Mendenhall's arrest, Ann DeLaney repeated the false claim to area reporters that Mendenhall's father was a pornographer in reference to the old case, an unfair characterization that Gus had complained about when he met with reporters following his arrest. There is a bit of irony in Mendenhall's father's property being seized using a law intended to aid prosecutors in combating organized crime. Edward DeBartolo, Sr., whose company was represented by Ed DeLaney, had long been suspected of having ties to organized crime. The DeBartolo family had to give up control of the San Francisco Forty-Niners after Edward DeBartolo, Jr. pleaded guilty in charges arising out of the federal bribery and corruption case against former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards.

Nelson's story quotes from a probable cause affidavit stating that Gus Mendenhall had used the name "Victor White" when he first contacted Ed DeLaney about representing a Russian business interest in the purchase of property in Carmel. "He claimed he was looking at the property on behalf of wealthy Russian businessmen," Nelson writes. "Because DeLaney occasionally has Russian clients and is fluent in Russian, he didn't think it seemed suspicious." Nelson omits Mendenhall's claim to reporters that his "Russian clients" were interested in laundering money for the Russian mob or the fact that DeLaney had attended spy school while serving in the Navy during the 1960s. "When they met, Augustus Mendenhall was wearing a wig, gloves and a strange coat," she writes. He was also carrying a bag. It's unclear why DeLaney didn't simply drive off from the parking lot where they met after he had an opportunity to observe his strange appearance.

Mendenhall will have to face the serious criminal felony charges filed against him in Hamilton County, including attempted murder, with the assistance of a court-appointed public defender according to Nelson. His trial is set for March 2, 2010. The fact that Mendenhall won't be receiving any sympathetic coverage from the local news media was self-evident during last week's broadcast of "Indiana Week In Review", which is moderated by WISH-TV's Jim Shella and where one of the show's panelists is Ann DeLaney. Jim Shella falsely stated during the show that Mendenhall confessed to the attempted murder charge. "The attacker has confessed." The fact is that Mendenhall never confessed to the crime of attempted murder, an impression Shella clearly tried to leave with his listeners. It was an awkward discussion for the panelists because of Ann's presence on the panel that was obviously not going to lead to a fair and open discussion of the events that occurred on Halloween Day and the 25-year-old case among the panelists. Moments before taking up this discussion, Shella and the panel discussed the passage of the Wishard referendum. There was no disclosure to listeners that panelist Mike McDaniels works for a law firm that is paid hundreds of thousands of dollars annually to do work for the Health & Hospital Corporation. Yeah, the deck is stacked against folks like the Mendenhalls.

Obama Still Covering Up Fort Hood Muslim Terrorist Attack

2009-11-14T22:53:00.005-05:00

President Barack Hussein Obama continues to demonstrate that he is more interested in not hurting the feelings of Muslims than protecting our soldiers. This means pretending that Maj. Nidal Hasan's execution of 12 Army soldiers and one civilian employee last week at Ft. Hood was something other than a Muslim terrorist attack. In his weekly radio address today, Obama referred to Hasan's deadly assault as a "terrible tragedy" and referred to him as "an alleged gunman." "I won't compromise that investigation by discussing the details of this case," he said. "Alleged gunman!" Is this guy joking? This is the same man who concluded that the Cambridge Police "acted stupidly" in their arrest of his friend, Prof. Gates before he knew any of the facts about his arrest. You would think this was another random shooting on Chicago's South Side to hear President Obama speak.

Obama assured us there would be a complete investigation and he "will insist that the full story be told." But he quickly added, "[A]l of us should resist the temptation to turn this tragic event into the political theater that sometimes dominates the discussion here in Washington." "The stakes are far too high," he added. Did you hear that? That's code for saying there will be no talk of a Muslim terrorist attack. Anyone who claims that in this case will just be playing politics, or so says President Obama. We know what the full story will be. The guy was just a lonely man who snapped under the pressure of secondary post-traumatic stress syndrome from providing counseling to soldiers shipping out to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq. They can no longer claim he suffered the stress of listening to soldiers returning from battle because we now know he never counseled those soldiers. So put out of your mind the silly notion that he was devout Muslim carrying out jihad on the United States. Never mind those contacts with an al Qaeda supporter, his former iman for the mosque he attended, which coincidentally was the same mosque of some of the 9/11 hijackers. Don't read anything into his statement that "we (Muslims) love death more than you love life." Ignore the personal calling card he handed out advertising the fact that he was a "Soldier of Allah". Forget the fact that one of the only personal items he left behind in his modest apartment was a paper shredder. He just snapped. Get it?

Ballard Taking Another Junket

2009-11-14T16:13:00.006-05:00

He's been in office less than two years, and that's been long enough for us to discover who the real Greg Ballard is. He's not a man of the people. He's a typical politician using his office for personal gain. When he's not selling private dinners with him and his wife at St. Elmo's to well-heeled political contributors interested in city contracts, he's sitting in front row, free seats at a Pacers game and concerts at Conseco Fieldhouse or chowing down the buffet food in his Lucas Oil Stadium suite at a Colts game. Unsatisfied with the free country club memberships worth tens of thousands of dollars bestowed upon him since becoming mayor, he takes in as many junkets as possible to travel outside our city and around the world at other people's expense. He's taken junkets to two Super Bowl games, Asia and South America. And now it's time for a European vacation before the holiday season arrives. A press release from the Mayor's office tells us about his latest junket:

Mayor Greg Ballard will lead a delegation of business and community leaders to Europe next week in search of jobs and manufacturing technology to benefit the city and help grow its motorsports industry. The delegation will meet with business leaders, government officials, and researchers in Cologne, Germany and the UK from November 14 through November 23.

“It is imperative that we make every effort to boost our economic development opportunities and grow our industries right here in Indianapolis,” said Mayor Ballard. “We undoubtedly compete globally, and I’m optimistic that this mission will not only create opportunities for economic growth here but will lead the way to enhanced partnerships in the motorsports industry worldwide.”

The Mayor will first meet with local leaders in Cologne, Germany, one of Indianapolis’ Sister Cities in an effort to enhance the already growing partnerships with local and international businesses based in the city. The Sister City program aims to foster working relationships between Indianapolis and the international community in an effort to grow industry and enhance cultural and education opportunities globally.

In the UK, the goal of the trip is to create permanent economic, social, and cultural linkages between Indianapolis and the motorsports valley area of England. The delegation will work to create partnerships with UK based motorsport companies - including manufacturing, retail, research, race shops, promotions, etc. - in order to build on Indianapolis’ and the UK’s respective reputations as leaders in the motorsports industry.

“As one of the top motorsports cities in the United States, it is important to continue to build relationships, create partnerships, and exchange information and ideas with companies around the world that are part of this exciting industry. We believe these types of efforts will breed jobs through attraction of new companies to Indianapolis and new opportunities for our existing companies,” said Michael Young, Motorsports Industry Director, at Indianapolis Economic Development, Inc.

The delegation will meet with various companies including Manard Competition Technologies, Aston Martin and Warwick Manufacturing. In addition, the city will look to establish a Sister City relationship focusing on motorsports exchange.

So who is travelling on the junket to Europe with Mayor Ballard put together by the Indianapolis Economic Development Corp.? His wife, Winnie, will naturally accompany him as will one of his security guards. His director of International and Cultural Affairs, Carolin Requiz Smith, will make the trip. Note to Mayor Ballard: they don't speak Spanish in either the U.K. or Germany. A big city contractor and political contributor, Ersal Ozdemir of Keystone Construction, will make the trip. An attorney for Stewart & Irwin, Scott Treadway, is making the trip. He's the guy who used to handle all of that costly Central Library construction litigation over at Tabbert Hahn before moving to Stewart & Irwin. I'm at a loss to understand his inclusion on the trip. And yet another city contractor and political contributor, Mak Knowles of American Structurepoint, is taking the trip. That's the same company that's done such a swell job managing costs on the City of Carmel's Keystone Avenue roundabouts project. I hope Mayor Ballard and his wife Winnie enjoy their free European vacation with their new found fat cat friends. It's quite comforting knowing what his real priorities are, eh?

Mayor Tom Henry's $45,000 Letter

2009-11-13T11:16:00.004-05:00

Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry (D) has apparently concluded that nobody reads the newspaper or watches local news broadcasts any more. Instead of holding a press conference or relying on guest editorials in the newspaper to explain the City's ongoing dispute with Indiana Michigan Power over the value of the city's electrical utility power grid, which has been leased by the utility company since 1974, Mayor Henry decided to mail 100,300 letters to city utility customers at a cost of $45,000 according to the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette's Benjamin Lanka. "But the $45,000 expenditure is a concern, said City Council President Tom Smith, R-1st, especially since the same information was recently published as a guest editorial in The Journal Gazette," Lanka writes. “If it was published in the newspaper, that should have been enough,” Lanka quotes Smith as saying. Lanka notes the city has already spent over $300,000 in legal fees in its ongoing disagreement with the utility company.

Bad Cases Make Bad Law

2009-11-12T11:11:00.020-05:00

COURT TAKES IT UPON ITSELF TO DEFINE A "NATURAL BORN CITIZEN"
The Indiana Court of Appeals today confirmed a common saying in the legal community that bad cases make bad law. A couple of pro se plaintiffs brought a lawsuit in Marion Superior Court in December, 2008 challenging the "natural born citizenship" status of President Barack Hussein Obama. The plaintiffs named the wrong defendant, Gov. Mitch Daniels, when they sought an "extraordinary writ of prohibition" against the governor "from issuing a Certificate of Ascertainment" or any other document to Congress containing the popular vote outcome of last year's presidential race in Indiana for the appointment of Barack Obama and Joe Biden as "Chief Electors." This complaint brought by Steve Ankeny and Bill Kruse also named the DNC, Barack Obama, the RNC and John McCain as defendants. Secretary of State Todd Rokita, who administers elections in Indiana, was not named as a defendant. Judge David Dreyer dismissed the suit for failing to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, although I give him a lot of credit for the thoughtful consideration he gave to the plaintiffs' embarrassing and poorly drafted complaint. The plaintiffs contended that Gov. Daniels had a duty to ascertain whether Obama was a natural born citizen, and that neither Obama nor John McCain were eligible to hold the office of president because neither were natural born citizens.

In an Indiana Court of Appeals opinion authored by Judge Elaine Brown, the electoral college process for electing our president is spelled out for the benefit of the confused plaintiffs. It explains that the Democratic Party nominated the state's nine electors who actually voted on behalf of Indiana to elect Obama president based on the fact that he won the popular vote in Indiana. The plaintiffs contended that Gov. Daniels had allowed Obama to become Indiana's "Elector in Chief" by permitting his name to appear on the ballot. "Plaintiffs' characterization of the electoral process in the State of Indiana simply is not consistent with the applicable laws," Judge Brown wrote. Something I uncovered a few months ago that has been overlooked by all of the parties is that the certification filed with Indiana's Election Division by the DNC and Indiana's Democratic Party omitted language certifying that Barack Obama was a natural born citizen. That's not a problem though for Judge Brown, who then went on to offer her constitutional interpretation of what "natural born citizen" means, something our U.S. Supreme Court has never done and something she had no obligation to do since there were already sufficient grounds to affirm Judge Dreyer's dismissal of the badly flawed lawsuit.

The only thing I believe the plaintiffs got right in their lawsuit was their contention that a "natural born citizen" is a person born within the U.S. to two U.S. citizen parents. Obama's father was at all times during his life a citizen of Kenya, which at the time of Obama's birth was a British commonwealth. By virtue of his father's citizenship, Obama was indisputably a dual citizen at birth. A person owing allegiance to two countries cannot be described as a natural born citizen in my opinion. The fact that Obama says he never affirmed his British citizenship before the age he was legally required to do so is irrelevant. A fact conveniently overlooked in Judge Brown's decision is that Obama immigrated to Indonesia at age 6 with his mother and became a citizen in that country as well after his step-father adopted him. Sen. John McCain also arguably was not a natural born citizen because he was born in a Panamanian hospital while his father was stationed at a Navy base in the Panama Canal Zone. Both Obama and McCain are U.S. citizens for different reasons, but the term "natural born citizen" is a unique term used in the U.S. Constitution only to define a person's eligibility to serve as president.

In determining that Obama is a natural born citizen, Judge Brown relied on the 1898 Supreme Court decision, U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark, which I've discussed at length on this blog in the past. I give Judge Brown credit for acknowledging that the Supreme Court in that decision did not conclude that Wong, a man born in the U.S. to two Chinese national parents, was a natural born citizen. "We note the fact the Court in Wong Kim Ark did not actually pronounce the plaintiff a 'natural born citizen' using the Constitution's Article II language is immaterial," Judge Brown nonetheless concluded. "Based upon the language of Article II, Section 1, Clause 4 and the guidance provided by Wong Kim Ark, we conclude that persons born within the borders of the United States are 'natural born citizens' for Article II, Section 1 purposes, regardless of the citizenship of their parents," Judge Brown concludes. Assuming Judge Brown's interpretation is correct, fellow attorney and blogger, Leo Donofrio, describes best what it means:

If Obama is eligible to be President then so are the sons of Osama Bin Laden, Kim Jong Il and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad if they impregnate an American woman who gives birth on US soil. The very notion is obscene. Such a person might be a US citizen under current policy, but their citizenship is not natural born and they cannot be President and Commander In Chief of the US armed forces.

Judge Brown then goes on to assert as fact in a footnote the wild claim that Chester A. Arthur, the 21st president of the United States, was born the son of an Irish citizen. "We note that President Obama is not the first U.S. President born of parents of differing citizenship," Brown writes. "Chester A. Arthur, the twenty-first U.S. President, was born of a mother who was a United States citizen and a father who was an Irish citizen," Brown asserts, citing a 1975 biography on Arthur by Thomas Reeves, entitled the "Gentleman Boss." Brown then goes on to discuss rumors that erupted during his presidency that Arthur was born in Canada and not the U.S. Brown's claim that Arthur's father was an Irish citizen at the time of his birth has never been proven. Indeed, Arthur's father, an immigrant from Ireland, became a naturalized citizen who ran for and was elected to public office during Arthur's lifetime, although it has been debated whether Arthur's father had become a naturalized citizen by the time of Chester's birth. It has been established that Chester lied about the date of his birth and burned most of his family's records to avoid discovery of the deceit over his date of birth.

Brown's opinion notes the authority relied on by the plaintiffs to support their claim that "natural born citizen" requires two U.S. citizen parents but dismisses it completely. "The Plaintiffs do not mention the above United States Supreme Court authority (referring to Wong Kim Ark) in their complaint or brief; they primarily rely instead on an eighteenth century treatise and quotations of Members of Congress made during the nineteenth century," she writes. "To the extent that these authorities conflict with the United States Supreme Court's interpretation of what it means to be a natural born citizen, we believe that the Plaintiff' argument fall under the category of 'conclusory, non-factual assertions or legal conclusions' that we need not accept as true when reviewing the grant of a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim," she concludes.

It is worth noting that of the dozens of cases that have been brought forth over the past year challenging whether Obama is a natural born citizen, this is the only opinion that has been decided on the merits of the claim that he is not a natural born citizen. Every other decision refrained from making any determination on the actual merit; instead, the courts dismissed the complaints for lack of standing on the part of the plaintiffs to bring the constitutional eligibility challenge. There's a reason other courts failed to reach a conclusion Judge Brown reached in this opinion. It is based upon the long-held rule of constitutional interpretation that a court should refrain from deciding a case on constitutional grounds when the case can be disposed of on other non-constitutional grounds. Procedurally, this case had to be dismissed because the plaintiffs sued the wrong defendant and lacked standing to sue. There was no reason for the court to decide a constitutional question as it did in this case, and that's what makes it so disturbing. Judge Terry Crone and Melissa May signed on to Judge Brown's decision. Gov. Mitch Daniels appointed Judge Brown to the Court of Appeals last year. I bet we won't hear Gov. Daniels complaining about the judicial activism of his own appointees like he did the judges who ruled Indiana's voter I.D. law unconstitutional.

UPDATE: Leo Donfrio, who had his own case before the U.S. Supreme Court from New Jersey denied a hearing, offers this perspective on how the the Indiana Court of Appeal tripped over the natural born citizen issue with this decision:

The Indiana Court of Appeals in the Arkeny and Kruse case has just issued a lame judicial attempt at defining the “natural born citizen” clause. The errors of fact and law incorporated into the decision serve as a beacon outlining the desperation certain government factions now face. Obviously, the British birth issue is getting on their nerves and this was clearly an attempt to derail further national discussion on this issue.

The Indiana Court of Appeals held that the plaintiffs did not state a claim upon which relief might be granted, but then they went ahead and visited some of the underlying merits of the case in a rather cavalier manner. Since any appeal of this decision will be dismissed on other procedural grounds, no appellate court will ever review them on this issue. The upper courts will simply deny the appeal without reaching this aspect. So they took a crack at stopping this in its tracks.

And they failed miserably. And it’s very encouraging. The arguments presented by the Indiana Court of Appeals are weak. The facts used by them are also a fantastic attempt at propaganda. For example:

With regard to President Barack Obama, the Plaintiffs posit that because his father was a citizen of the United Kingdom, President Obama is constitutionally ineligible to assume the Office of the President. The bases of the Plaintiffs‟ arguments come from such sources as FactCheck.org, The Rocky Mountain News…

That’s interesting. Later in the decision they reject this fact. Amazing. It appears that the Indiana Appellate Court was not willing to accept that Barack Obama Sr. was the President’s father. That alone tells you something was rotten in Denmark. But the legal arguments they proceed upon, particularly their selective quotations from the Minor and Wong Kim Ark cases illustrate a wonderful example of a court acting as one of the advocates.

Their main argument is to state that citizens are only born or naturalized. That fails to take into account the framers (and other original citizens) who themselves were neither born citizens nor were they naturalized. So the Court proves itself a bit wonky on that point. Still, I certainly do not dispute that today all US citizens are either born or naturalized. But that’s not the point. The necessary evaluation requires consideration of the various types of born citizenship. And on this important issue, the Indiana Court of Appeals has failed.

Born citizens can be broken up into three groups:

1. natural born

2. citizens by statute

3. 14th amendment citizens

- All three classes were born as US citizens, but not all three are the same. Persons born abroad are citizens by federal statute.

- A person born on US soil to alien parents who were domiciled here, according to Wong Kim Ark, is a 14th Amendment citizens.

- Natural born citizens are born on US soil to parents who are citizens.

All of the above are citizens, but each reaches their citizenship through different circumstances.

To be “natural born” is a circumstance of citizenship. It is not a separate level of citizenship. All citizens have equal rights. If that was not true, then naturalized citizens would be eligible for the office of President. But they aren’t. This is because the natural born citizen clause is a national security measure, not a right of citizenship. The Indiana Court conveniently ignores this point.

Born citizens are not necessarily bestowed with citizenship in the same way. Some require a statute. Some require the 14th Amendment. Some were natural born and their citizenship was self-evident.

The Indiana court also pointed to dicta in a 7th Circuit Court of Appeals case which labelled two children of an illegal alien as natural born. That case stated:

The petitioner has a wife and two children under the age of three in Chicago; the children are natural-born citizens of the United States.

But nothing about the issue was discussed. The children were mentioned in passing dicta. Whether the children were natural born was not an issue in that case. And it was a mistake for the court to say they were natural born.

The Indiana Court of Appeals acknowledges that the Supreme Court in Wong Kim Ark did not hold that the man was a natural born citizen. Essentially, the Indiana court acknowledges that the US Supreme Court exercised judicial restraint, but the Indiana Court of Appeals here doesn’t feel that they are restrained in that regard. How brave of them.

Furthermore, the Indiana Court chose to ignore the most relevant aspect of Wong Kim Ark where the SCOTUS clearly indicated that Wong Kim Ark was not natural born:

Every citizen or subject of another country, while domiciled here, is within the allegiance and the protection, and consequently subject to the jurisdiction, of the United States. His allegiance to the United States is direct and immediate…and his child, as said by Mr. Binney in his essay before quoted, ‘If born in the country, is as much a citizen as the natural-born child of a citizen…’

That tells you right there that the child of the citizen and the child of the alien are not both natural born.

“…and his child… ‘If born in the country, is as much a citizen as the natural-born child of a citizen…”

Justice Gray does a very revealing compare and contrast here:

- he compares two children

- on the one hand, he mentions the US born child of a resident alien

- on the other hand, he mentions the “natural-born” child of a citizen

He clearly states that only one is natural-born: the child of the citizen.

He says that both are citizens. But only the child of the citizen is natural born – for this is what he is comparing the other one to. So the holding indicates Wong Kim Ark was as much a citizen as any other citizen despite not being natural-born.

The Court does not say that the child of the alien is a natural-born citizen.
The Indiana Court conveniently ignored this analysis. And that comes as no surprise to me. They had to ignore it because there was no possible way for them distinguish it.

Mayor's Crime Prevention Grants Yielding Great Results, NOT

2009-11-12T10:01:00.006-05:00

Mayor Greg Ballard has been passing out about $5 million a year since taking office in crime prevention grants. The money comes from the 65%, $90 million a year local income tax increase you began paying in 2007. "These crime prevention grants, which recognize the diversity and community spirit of our great city, are essential to our grassroots, neighborhood-focused effort to make Indianapolis a safer place for everyone," said Mayor Ballard at the time. One of the groups that received money to "make Indianapolis a safer place" is the Save the Youth , which received $90,000. The minister who runs the organization, Byron Alston, has been busted by IMPD for sexual misconduct with a woman who applied for a job with the foundation, and there are other female victims as well according to Fox 59 News. The TV news station has the lurid details on this one attack:

Fox59 has learned that a youth minister in Indianapolis has been arrested and accused of making sexual advances against at least one woman.

Byron Alston started 'Save the Youth Foundation' and on his website he refers to himself as a certified gang consultant and an at-risk youth specialist.

According to police reports a woman says she went in for a job interview and he reportedly told her she could have the job if she had sex with him. When she told him no, the woman says Alston tried to unbuckle her pants and then proceeded to masturbate in front of her.

Fox59 received the police reports that have been filed by the woman and at least one other person accusing him of similar crimes. Calls are being made to find out exactly what charges he faces and Fox59 will have the latest information as it comes in.

According to the Fox 59 News report, local law enforcement officials have known about issues of Alston exposing himself to women since September but because he is so closely tied to Mayor Ballard, members of his administration and the Marion Co. Prosecutor's Office, a special prosecutor has been sought to handle the case.

Happy Veteran's Day

2009-11-11T08:15:00.000-05:00

Pence Drops U.S. Attorney Bid

2009-11-10T22:11:00.006-05:00

The Indianapolis Times blog reports on Linda Pence's withdrawal from consideration as the next U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. Pence, who boasts of being a Super Lawyer, lost last year's race for Indiana Attorney General to Republican Greg Zoeller. The post has been vacant for more than two years after Susan Brooks left to become general counsel for Ivy Tech. It's a shame that the Obama administration has wasted so much time in appointing a new U.S. Attorney. If the past is prologue, we can expect another political hack as opposed to a professional prosecutor to eventually be named to the post. Federal law enforcement officials have been thwarted for many years from policing public corruption in the Southern District by political prosecutors of both parties. In Chicago, the Bush administration made the deliberate decision to appoint an outsider professional prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, to weed out systemmic public corruption in Illinois. So far Obama's Justice Department has allowed Fitzgerald to continue his work, which includes the prosecution of former Govs. Rod Blagojevich and George Ryan and high-ranking members of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's administration.

Who's Speculating Now About Hasan?

2009-11-10T18:47:00.020-05:00

President Obama cautioned Americans not to speculate about the possible motives of Major Nidal Hasan for going on a killing rampage at Ft. Hood last Thursday and leaving 13 of his fellow Army soldiers dead and wounding another 30 before an investigation could be completed. In an interview with ABC News' Jake Tapper last night, Obama speculated on "the guy just snapped theory" invented by government insiders who are looking to cover their own asses and the political correctness crowd which seems to govern civil discourse in our country today with an iron fist in the face of overwhelming evidence that the devout Muslim acted out the Muslim terrorist role he told anyone listening that he so admired. Obama told Tapper Hasan's actions were "acts of violence that are inexplicable" and suggested he may have simply cracked under the pressure.

Tragically, Hasan had been broadcasting at the top of his lungs for the past two years that he posed a threat to his fellow soldiers; it's just that his superiors either chose to look the other way because of his political correctness concerns or were grossly negligent in performing their duties. Strangely, Hasan offered the most rational course of action to his superiors to take in dealing with devout Muslims like himself in a presentation he made to his fellow medical professions in the Army. A powerpoint slide from Hasan's presentation contained this wise recommendation to the military:

Department of Defense should allow Muslim Soldiers the option of being released as "Conscientious objectors" to increase troop morale and decrease adverse events."

I couldn't have said it better myself. The Amish and Jehovah's Witnesses, for example, have been exempted from military service for years because of their religious beliefs. Most Americans have respected their beliefs and not challenged their patriotism. [Editor's note: An avid reader and legal expert on conscientious objectors points out that your belief must be based on your opposition to all wars, and not just wars that require our soldiers to fight against Muslims; unless his Muslim faith required him to oppose all wars, which it obviously does not, then Hasan's CO claim, if asserted, would have been rejected. Note also that Hasan volunteered for military service; he was not drafted]. Perhaps after Hasan got his free medical education courtesy of the U.S. Army, he conveniently decided his devout Muslim beliefs were incompatible with military service. His presentation to colleagues praised suicide bombers and asserted that Islamic law trumped the U.S. Constitution. After he made that presentation, I would have been convinced the guy was trying to get out on a Section 8 considering he was supposed to be the grounded, trusted psychiatrist for our troops, but I underestimated the wilful ignorance of his Army superiors to deal appropriately with him. How the hell U.S. intelligence could have intercepted his communications with a radical imam tied to the 9/11 terrorists and a supporter of al Qaeda and concluded he posed no terrorist risk worthy of pursuing further action in the matter is beyond my comprehension. The finger-pointing between the Army, intelligence and law enforcement agencies is now in full swing.

And please spare me the "you're just an anti-Muslim bigot" comments. They won't be posted so head on over to Abdul's blog if you're interested in spewing that garbage to deflect from the real issue: How to protect the safety and well-being of our soldiers.

UPDATE: I wasn't expecting much intelligence from our congressman on this issue, U.S. Rep. Andre Carson, but even he has outdone himself this time. He had this to say to the AP:

U.S. Rep. Andre Carson, an Indiana Democrat who is one of two Muslims serving in Congress, cautioned against focusing on the alleged shooter's religion and instead said the discussion should be about mental health issues.

"This is no way a reflection of Islam any more than Timothy McVeigh's actions are a reflection of Christianity," said Carson, who supervised an anti-terrorism unit in Indiana's Department of Homeland Security and comes from a family of Marines.

I love it when Carson attempts to project himself as an anti-terrorism expert based on his one-year stent on the watch desk at Indiana's Department of Homeland Security. His focus on mental health issues is a convenient "hey, look over here" instead of what undeniably motivated Hasan--his Muslim religion. Carson was a career excise police officer who finished 88th out of 89 in his police academy class before being plucked out of obscurity to take his dying grandmother's place in Congress. He only got the excise police job because then-U.S. Rep. Julia Carson pulled strings with the O'Bannon administration to force his hiring over more qualified candidates. Her campaign manager had been named as the head of the excise police and approved his hiring. The ex-campaign manager later faced criminal charges for trading sexual favors to overlook violations by an Indianapolis strip club owner.

Carson, not surprisingly, doesn't know what the hell he is talking about when he mischievously attempts to link Timothy McVeigh's actions in bombing the Oklahoma City federal building to his supposed Christian beliefs. McVeigh, an ex-Army veteran, made it clear that his actions were grounded in his anti-government views, particularly on the issue of gun control. McVeigh never passed out Bibles or a gave a shout out to Jesus while he prepared to bomb the Murrah building. Sure, the Clinton administration and the Left seized on the bombing at the time to suggest it happened because Newt Gingrich and the religious right had taken control of Congress and had fomented so much hatred of President Bill Clinton and his government that it led McVeigh to commit his horrific terrorist act.

Burd Ford Owner Dead In Apparent Suicide

2009-11-10T09:45:00.003-05:00

Richard Burd of Burd Ford has been found dead at his dealership on Pendleton Pike this morning according to Fox 59 News in an apparent suicide. The reports says his wife, Christine, left him behind at the dealership last night, only to awaken early this morning and discover that he had never come home. Burd's body was found on a couch in his office. The couple have become quite well known in the Indianapolis area through TV advertising for their dealership using the catch phrase, "Burd's The Word."

Lucas Oil Stadium Infested With Mice

2009-11-10T09:34:00.007-05:00

Check out this Fox 59 News report by Kimberly King. A worker for the catering firm which handles food services for the stadium blows the whistle on the presence of mice droppings throughout food serving areas of the stadium, including those that furnish food to Mayor Ballard's suite for the Colts games. Health officials have cited the caterer, Centerplate, for numerous violations already this year according to King's report. Click here to view the numerous health code violations at Lucas Oil Stadium. Hat tip to Downtown Indy.

CIB Sees Surplus But Will Still Borrow $27 Million From State

2009-11-09T18:49:00.014-05:00

Earlier today, the IBJ's Scott Olson posted a story online bringing news of a potential surplus for the CIB in its 2010 budget. Olson wrote:

Approaching the end of 2009, Indianapolis' cash-strapped Capital Improvement Board is on much more solid financial footing than it was at this time last year.

The not-for-profit is on target in 2010 to turn a $47 million budget deficit into a surplus—additional money that could be used in negotiations with the Indiana Pacers over Conseco Fieldhouse operating costs.

The CIB, which will discuss its financial situation when it meets Monday afternoon, expects to improve its finances by making $26 million in cuts this year. It also avoided $25.5 million in debt-service reserve payments and is poised to collect roughly $11 million more in annual revenue.

Yet, it’s still unclear whether the CIB, which operates the city’s professional sports venues as well as the Indianapolis Convention Center, will absorb $15 million next year in fieldhouse operating costs.

Within a few hours of his earlier online story, Olson posted a second story declaring that the CIB will likely take out a $27 million loan from the state it was authorized under a tax, spend and borrow bailout scheme approved by the legislature and the City-County Council earlier this year. Olson writes:

The Indianapolis Capital Improvement board likely will accept a state loan providing $27 million over three years to help shore up its fragile financial situation.

Members of the not-for-profit that operates the city’s professional sports venues and the Indianapolis Convention Center will vote next month on whether to accept the assistance, or risk losing the initial $9 million installment this year.

“We ought to go ahead and borrow it,” CIB Treasurer Ann Lathrop told the board Monday afternoon.

Lathrop last month hinted that the organization’s bleak financial situation had improved to the point that it may not need the initial $9 million, which would save the CIB from paying 5.25 percent in interest charges.

The not-for-profit is on target in 2010 to turn a $47 million budget deficit into a surplus—additional money that could be used in negotiations with the Indiana Pacers over Conseco Fieldhouse operating costs.

Obviously, someone forgot to tell Lathrop earlier today that the state loan is needed to give the billionaire Simons their $15 million a year subsidy that they are demanding simply because they can. It's also further confirmation of just how much the CIB leadership has lied to the public about its finances. Remember, this discussion began with the CIB claiming last year it would need to find another $20 million a year to pay for the additional operating costs for Lucas Oil Stadium, which it failed to budget before agreeing to the massive public works project. By early this year, that number grew considerably. At times the CIB said it needed anywhere between $30 to $50 million more to cover a budget shortfall. The CIB then went on a well-publicized campaign to demonstrate that it was undertaking budget cuts. As I pointed out at the time, most of the cuts were fake budget cuts. The CIB got a 20% increase in its budget last year, more than it actually needed and then tallied a number of reductions as cuts when it later rolled the numbers back to where they should have been originally.

The Indiana legislature and City-County Council were hoodwinked into hiking taxes and paying out additional subsidies to the CIB to the tune of tens of millions annually, along with a $27 million state loan. During that debate, CIB officials lied and said they would have to make a $25.5 million debt service reserve payment in September. As it turns out, the CIB did not have to make that payment and is actually sitting on a cash reserve of $22 million. The Mayor and the City-County Council have now created a task force made up of persons who naturally want to give the billionaire Simons another $15 million a year of your taxpayer dollars because the more than $400 million our local government has shelled out to the Simon family in public subsidies over the years just won't cut it. Besides, everyone on the task force accepts free tickets to the Pacers games. How cheaply our politicians can be bought these days.

Understand this, the CIB is under NO LEGAL OBLIGATION to give a $15 million a year subsidy to the Simons. The Simons, quite the greedy negotiators they are, got exactly the deal they wanted when Conseco Fieldhouse was built a decade ago. The Simons became infuriated when Jimmy "The Pill Popper" Irsay managed to get a better deal from the CIB for Lucas Oil Stadium. They immediately put out word that they expected a similar deal from the CIB. They even went out and hired Jim "Rent-A-Civic Leader" Morris to cut the deal. Remember, he's the guy who helped convince your city leaders to pay more than double what the water company was worth and then he walked off with a $6 million golden parachute agreement. Of course, you were left holding the bag to pay for that fiasco with a nearly 100% increase in your water rates. If the CIB says no to the Simons and they choose to break the lease, the Simons are obligated to pay us at least $50 million and perhaps more than $100 million under the terms of the lease. When Pat Early tells you otherwise, he is not talking straight to you. And when the Star begins writing more editorials like it did today saying the Pacers are just too important to lose, remember that the newspaper is only interested in its own financial interest in having an NBA franchise in town to cover and could give a damn less about the financial impact on your wallets.