Ferguson officials charge inflated fees for access to public documents

10/6/2014

In the face of press attempts to access documents related to the summer police brutality death of Michael Brown and its aftermath, Ferguson officials are charging high fees just to allow journalistic access to public records normally protected by the states long-standing Sunshine Law pertaining to public records access.

According to the Associated Press, the city has demanded fees for documents that it could have released for free, without much in the way of explaining the reason for demanding such costs for the records. The fees are allowed by law, but are often accompanied by an explanation of the cost, and are rarely this high.

The AP notes that in one case, they were charged a $135/hr rate in order to access emails made since the time of the shooting. The fee did not include additional costs to review or release said emails. The AP said that hourly rate was almost ten times the hourly salary paid to Ferguson city clerks.  This sort of price-gouging is meant to discourage both the press and activist groups from trying to gain access to memos, emails, schedules, the personnel file of Officer Darren Wilson, and records about Michael Brown himself.

The Associated Press was not the only organization to be charged such high fees. It notes that the Washington Post was charged $200 as a minimum for access to citizen complaints, the emails of city officials and information on Wilson. Buzzfeed was charged an unspecified amount in the thousands of dollars range to access memos about city traffic policy and changes to local election, along with emails.

City attorney Stephanie Karr declined to speak with the Associated Press, but said through an intermediary that such extra costs may be a result of having to search emails for key words, which constitutes “extra computer programming”. Other charges towards the AP in particular included a request for the AP to pay almost $2,000 to an outside firm to retrieve email messages.

The American Civil Liberties Union’s Missouri chapter filed a public records lawsuit for police records in the immediate aftermath of the Brown incident, but ended up receiving a censored report lacking in the names and details normally included in such records. Other activists have been vocal about their displeasure with the fees. Executive Director Mike Cavender of the Radio Television Digital News Association said to the AP that “These exorbitant fees are merely a tactic of delay and intimidation. The public has a right to these records without interference.”

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Leftist Hypocrites: ‘Living wage’ sponsor looks to exempt 2,400 workers from annual wage hike

10/6/2014

LIVING WAGE EXEMPTION: A Milwaukee County supervisor who sponsored the county’s living wage law has drafted an ordinance exempting close to 2,400 county-contracted employees from receiving the annual wage hike.

MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee County board member who sponsored a union-boosting “living wage” law worries the increased spending could cut thousands of jobs and bankrupt a government program that helps the elderly and disabled.

Supervisor Willie Johnson Jr. fewer than eight months ago told colleagues that approving the living wage was “the way to go” because it would give lower-paid employees the same dignity and self-esteem as higher earners and curb reliance on government assistance.

“I believe strongly in this measure,” Johnson said at a Feb. 6 board meeting, where the living wage law passed in a 12-6 vote.

Photo courtesy of Milwaukee County Board

SECOND THOUGHTS: Milwaukee County Supervisor Willie Johnson Jr., who sponsored the county’s living wage law, is now looking to exempt 2,400 workers from the annual wage increase.

Now, the 14-year supervisor has drafted an ordinance, obtained exclusively by Wisconsin Reporter, that seeks to exempt what is arguably the largest pool of county-contracted workers from receiving an annual living wage increase.

Under Johnson’s proposal, the nearly 2,400 supportive home-care employees who provide services for the Milwaukee Department of Family Care would be paid a guaranteed minimum wage of $11.47 an hour effective with their 2015 contracts.

Every year after that, all raises would be at the discretion of the Family Care director and would depend on the amount of funding the agency receives from the state, ongoing expenses and the ability to serve all members and maintain reserve requirements.

The starting hourly wage for county-contracted supportive home care workers is $10.27, more than $3 higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25. The employees, who do not need nursing licenses and typically take care of family members on a part-time basis, got a pay increase or bonus in each of the past three years.

Johnson did not return Wisconsin Reporter’s requests for an interview, but his ordinance indicates he is asking for the amendment because of the fiscal impact of the living wage on taxpayers and government services.

But what’s puzzling is the Milwaukee County Comptroller’s Office cited the financial risk to board members before passage of the living wage law.

With the Department of Family Care alone, the annual living wage increase is expected to cost taxpayers about $21 million through 2019, according to County Comptroller Scott Manske’s latest estimates.

Those added expenses would result in Family Care exhausting reserves by 2019, Manske said.

The Department of Family Care is funded entirely by the state through the Medicaid program. The county agency received $253 million in 2013, but the capitation rate — the monthly amount provided to Family Care for each client served — has either decreased or stayed relatively the same since 2011, Family Care Director Maria Ledger told Wisconsin Reporter.

Manske’s  latest report warns his projections focus solely on the effect of the living wage law on Family Care and current reserve levels.

“Other potential cost increases within the program such as other provider rate increases, member utilization increases, County overhead cost increases, and paratransit transportation cost increases are not considered in this analysis but could greatly impact the financial outcomes … if they require additional withdrawals from the reserve,” Manske said in his report.

If reserves are depleted to a level below state requirements, the county board would need approval from the state to use the county tax levy to fund the Department of Family Care. The more likely scenario, Manske says, is the state terminating the county entity.

If the state voids its contract with the county, Johnson’s ordinance says 84 Department of Family Care employees and nearly 500 care managers and nurses could be out of a job. He acknowledges any private organization that replaces Family Care would not be obligated to hire any of the 2,400 displaced supportive home-care workers or pay them more than the federal minimum wage.

But Johnson’s proposal would only delay exhausting Family Care’s reserves byabout two years, Manske said.

“It does not fully mitigate the financial risk attributable to the (minimum wage ordinance).”

Still, Supervisor Deanna Alexander, who voted against the living wage law, intends to support Johnson’s amendment and may ask to be a co-sponsor.

Alexander says the change keeps the periodic decision-making in the hands of the Family Care director, the administrative professional who “knows the most about the program and works within it on a daily basis.”

But Alexander is concerned Supervisor David Bowen will try to postpone the introduction of the ordinance until after he takes office in the State Assembly, so he can avoid voting on the legislation.

Bowen wrote Milwaukee County’s living wage law with help from Service Employee International Union-affiliated officials. Bowen, who has received numerous campaign contributions and political endorsement from SEIU, successfully requested a “political retribution” audit of a Family Care provider who has been an outspoken critic of the living wage law and has refused to force the staff to join SEIU Healthcare Wisconsin.

“To vote in favor of this would cause (Bowen) to admit that his SEIU-authored living wage ordinance was faulted, and to vote against it would cause a divide between him and a respected senior member of the county board who supported the original ordinance,” Alexander told Wisconsin Reporter.

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Fired academy instructors: police officers aren’t certified, arrests invalid

10/6/2014

It is an explosive allegation of misconduct at the school where men and women learn to be our cops. If the allegations are true criminals could be freed from jail and their convictions could be overturned.

It's such a serious claim, that KOB took it straight to the top of New Mexico's law enforcement chain of command.

There are allegedly 185 police officers patrolling New Mexico without proper certification. It's an accusation so serious attorney Joe Campbell says it could free convicted criminals. Every arrest and every conviction could be called into question or even thrown out if the claim is true.  The consequences for everyone are huge. So huge, the secretary of public safety is now speaking up.

Phil Gallegos is a former instructor at New Mexico's Law Enforcement Academy. He was fired last year and he says it's because of what he knew.

"Would you want doctors working on you, that weren't properly certified," asked Gallegos.  

On March 9, 2012, Gallegos says he wrote a memo to then LEA director Louis Medina, worried curriculum for cadets including 'Use of Force' courses were out-of-date. He also wrote out concerns that updated curriculum hadn't been properly accredited, or certified by the department.

"And I told them, look... If we ever get called on the mat, they're going to ask for this stuff. They said 'don't worry about that. Use the best material you have,'" said Gallegos.  

His memo warned if any officer trained at LEA were sued, their training would come into question and investigators wouldn't like what they saw. He says lesson plans for civil rights courses were sometimes decades out of date. So he gathered updated lesson plans from satellite academies.

"But it still had never been certified or accredited through DPS," said Gallegos.

"Over and over and over again: Police misconduct cases, police ethics problems, police shooting problems, and it emanates directly from the academy training," said Anthony Maxwell who was also fired from the academy.

He taught there at the same time Gallegos did. Along with George Puga, the three former instructors are suing the Department of Public Safety for wrongful termination. They say the pink slip came after they raised their voices about outdated and uncertified curriculum.

"Here's what in essence they were saying to us. There are 185 officers patrolling New Mexico, according to them, without proper certification. And every enforcement action they're taking, every motorist they're citing, every misdemeanor arrest they're making, every felony arrest they're making, are legally invalid. If you believe the plaintiffs," says Department of Public Safety secretary, Greg Fouratt.

Fouratt says even amid a pending lawsuit he has something to say publicly about those claims.

"These lawyers came to us, and they offered not to bring these claims in exchange for what turned out to be $6 million," said Fouratt.

Fouratt calls it a shakedown attempt.

"Here's the worst part about it all, not only did they say we won't bring these claims if you write a check big enough to satisfy us, but 'we will remain quiet about these claims for as long as we can. We will suppress them, we will engage in a cover-up, if you'd like, of these very serious claims,'" said Fouratt.

Fouratt says those 185 officers' certifications are valid, and will be proven valid in court, but Gallegos, Maxwell and Puga say they're prepared for the fight.

The attorney for the three men, Joe Campbell, says the $6 million offered was a settlement offer brought to DPS in June. He says the promised silence from his clients would have been part of a typical non-disclosure or confidentiality agreement.

KOB Eyewitness News 4 will continue to follow the allegations made in this case. 

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Dallas County Locates "Low-Risk" Ebola Contact

10/6/2014

Dallas County officials have found and are monitoring the homeless man they say may have come into contact with Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan but whom they consider low-risk. Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins also talks about the case.

Dallas County officials have found and are monitoring the homeless man they say may have come into contact with Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan but whom they consider low-risk.

“So we had a person – it’s now known rode in the ambulance after Mr. Duncan rode in the ambulance but before it was placed out of service,” Jenkins said, “Because of the protocols that go on in an ambulance we think the risk is very, very low.”

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said officers obtained a type of protective order for 52-year-old Michael Lively on Saturday. Jenkins says Lively was check for symptoms Saturday but showed none.

Lively was told he needed to be monitored, but he left, added Dr. David Lakey of the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Dallas County officials have found and are monitoring the homeless man they say may have come into contact with Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan but whom they consider low-risk.

Jenkins was taken to Parkland Hospital this afternoon, and is now being held at an undisclosed location, according to Jenkins.

“The officers had a protective order similar to the one that needed to be placed on the family earlier in the week because we could not get him to a regular location at daily time intervals to do our monitoring up to the safest standards,” Jenkins said, “that was the type of paperwork they were serving – they saw some things there that caused them concern and took him for an evaluation.”

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention chief Dr. Thomas Frieden emphasized that Lively is not a danger, adding that Ebola can only be spread by infected people who show symptoms. If an exposed person does not develop symptoms within 21 days of exposure, the person will not become sick with Ebola, the CDC said.

Only 10 people are now believed to have had direct contact with Duncan and are considered high risk, officials said Sunday. Those 10 people are three family or community members and seven health care workers.

Those 10 high-risk contacts are among the 48 people health officials will be tracking for 21 days. If any of those 48 people develops a fever, they will be isolated immediately and tested for EBola, the CDC said Sunday.

Another 66 people have been ruled out for Ebola, after the CDC assessed a total of 114 people in Dallas it thought may have been exposed to Duncan.

Duncan, who arrived in Dallas from West Africa last month and is the first person diagnosed with Ebola virus in the United States, is in critical condition Sunday. He's been in isolation in the ICU since Sept. 28.

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No Virgins In Heaven For Female Kurd Who Used Video Gamer Tactic Against ISIS

10/6/2014

FEMALE KURDISH FIGHTER Clashes With ISIS, Fires Grenades, Then Blows Herself Up in Suicide Blast 

Arin Mirkin blew herself up at an Isil position east of the border town of Kobane. (The Telegraph)

A female Kurdish fighter identified as Arin Mirkin clashed with ISIS rebels, fired grenades and then blew herself up in a suicide blast near Kobane on Sunday. The female soldier killed unknown number of Islamic terrorists in the blast.
Rudaw.net reported:

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A female Kurdish commander in the embattled city of Kobane in Syrian Kurdistan killed an unknown number of Islamic State (ISIS) fighters in a suicide attack on Sunday.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the woman, who was from a unit of the People’s Protection Units (YPG), broke into an ISIS bastion around the eastern outskirts of Kobane, or Ayn al-Arab in Arabic.

She clashed with enemy fighters, fired grenades and then detonated herself with a grenade.

SOHR added that clashes continue between the two sides around dozens of points around Kobane, with the ISIS in possession of some 350 villages around the city.

ISIS is reported to be on the very outskirts of the city, reportedly approaching in a three-pronged attack.

This is the first time that a female Kurdish fighter has been reported to have carried out a suicide attack against the Islamic militants.

Female Kurdish fighters take an oath of allegiance during training exercises.

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ARE HOMESCHOOLERS RAISING FUTURE MASS MURDERERS? SANDY HOOK ADVISORY COMMISSION THINKS SO

10/3/2014

The Sandy Hook Commission released some preliminary details from their full report on the causes of the tragic mass shooting in 2012 and how to prevent another such event.

Some of their recommendations were expected – stricter gun control, more thorough emergency protocols in schools, etc. However, one particular recommendation is cause for alarm and it’s aimed directly at homeschoolers.

Here’s my video response to the shocking assumptions that homeschoolers are basically raising future-Adam Lanzas.

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Obamaphone use up 100-fold in Maryland

10/3/2014

OBAMAPHONE TRENDING: The Obamaphone has grown in popularity in Marlyand– by twice the number eligible for the program.

The use of consumer-subsidized “Obamaphones” in Maryland grew 100-fold in three years, to 645,000, twice the number eligible for the program, Washington Examiner reports.

Officially called Lifeline, the federal program, administered by the Federal Communications Commission, provides free cell phone service to qualified low-income customers.  Cell phone companies that sign up low-income customers are reimbursed $9.25 per customer through universal service charge fees on other cell phone customers’ monthly bills.

In testimony before the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology of the Committee on Energy and Commerce last year, a telecom consultant testified that:

“The greatest increase in Lifeline subscribership has occurred in Maryland. In the third quarter of 2009, there were only 6,504 Lifeline subscribers in Maryland, representing only 2 percent of the eligible low-income households in that state.  By the third quarter of 2012, the number of Lifeline subscribers in Maryland had risen almost 100 fold to 645,000.  Moreover, the current number of Lifeline subscribers in Maryland is almost double the number of low-income households in the state, as shown by the graph. The dashed red line is the number of eligible low-income households. The blue line is the number of Lifeline subscribers by quarter.”

One of the main suppliers of Lifeline service is TracFone, owned by Obama fundraiser Carlos Slim.  According to the Examiner, TracFone refused to answer questions about the company’s actual cost to provide the service.

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ABQ Health Partners cut staff by 5 percent Thursday, could amount to 63 layoffs

10/3/2014

ABQ Health Partners has confirmed the company laid off about 5% of their staff on Thursday.

A spokesperson for DaVita, the company that runs ABQ Health Partners, wouldn't give specific numbers on how many people lost their jobs.  But right on their website, it lists that they employ 163 physicians, 86 mid-level care providers, and 1,011 staff members in Albuquerque and Rio Rancho.

That amounts to 1,260 employees.  5% of that would be 63 staffers cut.

KOB Eyewitness News 4's Danielle Todesco spoke with an employee who still has a job, and she wanted to remain anonymous to keep her job.

"I think everybody will have their heads down, keeping their nose clean.  Everybody that I talk to...I mean, the morale is terrible," the employee said.

The spokeswoman said they serve about 170,000 patients and that they will continue to have access to all the current specialties offered.

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