CRIME REPORT

SOPHIE'S CHOICE

The arrest of a veteran Department of Social Services worker for obstructing justice by the New Hanover County Sheriff has begun to cause shockwaves across the Country. Not many law enforcement officers are big fans of the squishy, warm and fuzzy practices of many Social Service workers. It is not unusual for the two to butt heads from time to time, regarding policies and procedures involving allegations of child abuse. Both agencies do their best to function within their own jurisdictions of authority by working toward a common goal of establishing a resolve to the serious and tragic ramifications of the criminal abuse of a child.

Unfortunately the Sheriff of New Hanover County has a historic past of poaching in territory outside his jurisdiction without regard to laws and policy. This unfortunate example has perhaps set an unspoken policy for those under his command and thus caused a conflict in the investigation of allegations of the sexual abuse of a 14 year old girl by a 27 year old man that ultimately resulted in the underage girl's pregnancy. Who has the jurisdiction or authority over such a case? Both agencies do. The detective must share power and authority with staff of other investigative agencies who have an equal responsibility to investigate allegations of child abuse. DSS staff must be viewed and developed as allies, rather than competitors or impediments in the criminal investigative process.

Normally, in allegations of abuse, interviews will determine a specific charge of an offense. It is assumed that interviews have been made of the victim, the victim's family and the suspect. It has been said that the 14 year old child is uncooperative, wishes to protect her "lover" and perhaps protect the issue of their relationship. This is not the only case of abuse where a victim wishes to protect her assailant. Even as adults, many women who have been kicked and beaten by angry and disturbed husbands or ex-lovers, will do their best to cover for the perp. A phenomenon seen all too often in domestic violence shelters all across the world. Rape victims many times will fail to prosecute, we saw that recently at UNCW. When a victim fails to cooperate it becomes extremely difficult to formulate a legal charge of crime against a suspect. Many times there are no witnesses outside the two involved and if neither are willing to cooperate with the investigation then there isn't much of a case to bring to the DA, that is unless there is evidence of the act of abuse - such as DNA.

DNA did exist in this case and the Sheriff's Office wanted it. It existed in the lifeform that developed in the womb of the 14 year old girl. Certainly if investigators were to retrieve the suspect's DNA from the girl's womb then it would be easy to convict the 27 year old of, at the very least least, the crime of statutory rape. There would be no need for the 14 year old to testify against her "lover" because authorities would have the necessary evidence to convict and rightfully send the abusive man to prison.

It is good detective work to have thought of this direction around the girls stubborn blockade. But several questions come up when talking about rights and ownership of this girl and her growing fetus.

In a day and age when 23% of all 14 year olds have had sex and 30% of all 15 year olds have done the same, (Alan Guttmacher Institute. Sex and America's Teenagers. New York, NY: Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1994.) outrage over the violation of a 14 year-old's lost virtue has long sense gone from callous sense of morality. In fact I am more outraged that in a day and age of HIV, AIDS, and Hepatitis B kids are still having unprotected sex. But what is important is who has ownership of the fetus? Certainly if there was a court order to retrieve the DNA, the state would have ownership, but who would have issued such an order? Would that order have required a paternity test? Would it have called for the exact place and time for an abortion or an amnio test? Would the Judge have demanded a representative of the Sheriff's Office to be along side the doctor performing the abortion in order to gather the evidence in a way that a crafty defense attorney couldn't poke apart?

I am still scratching my head about why the social worker, Susan L. Taylor was arrested. Ms. Taylor did not drive the girl to the doctor's, did not do the abortion, and did not threaten or cause by direct influence the disposal of the DNA that the Sheriff was seeking. She did not do anything that I can find that would not be an act of her normal professional duty.

Now I read that there is an audio tape of the 14 year old saying that Ms. Taylor told the girl when the Detective would be out of town. This tape was made in secret by the girl's father and recorded a conversation between the girl and her 27 year old "lover" after the abortion. How else would the girl have known about the detective's absence unless the Social Worker gave her the information, unless her parents knew or perhaps the girl called the detective herself and was told by the person answering the phone that she was on vacation. But prior to the detective leaving on vacation was the girl under constant surveillance? If not wouldn't someone have to have been responsible to alert authorities? Is it the responsibility of the Social Worker to alert the Sheriff's Office, her parents, the girl herself? There is/was no court order. Did the Sheriff's Office attempt to gain such an order and it was rejected? Why wasn't such an order issued or even applied for?

Let us suppose for a couple of seconds that the 14 year old is extremely distraught. Suppose that a girl of her age that was to leave her immediate age group of peers for someone 27 years old has some developmental issues to begin with. Suppose these issues have handicapped her in ways that prevent her from making rational and sound judgment decisions. Not too much of a stretch for those who have raised children, 14-15 year olds are at times extremely difficult. Suppose this 27 year old holds a position that would be extremely jeopardized should he be linked, not convicted but just linked with the seduction and rape of this girl. Suppose in this adolescent's mixed up world, she finds out that she is pregnant and by law can not have an abortion without parental or guardian consent, she knows in a matter of months everyone will know she is pregnant yet she also knows of her illicit relationship with her "lover" and the tragic situation that would immediately entail should that come to light. Teens kill themselves everyday for less stressful situations and no one is more aware of these suicides than some of those that work with children in the Department of Social Services.

It was reported that the girl spat, fought and swore as she was in the presence of the detective investigating her pregnancy. Anyone that has a child knows exactly how this scene looked, sounded and how determined a girl her age can be in her rebellion. What we don't know is how long this act of defiance took place. What we also don't know is exactly how disturbed the girl is/was and for how long.

Now if a child cannot be made to have an abortion then she would have the right to make that decision on her own. Likewise she could have decided to carry the fetus full term and deliver this human being into the world for adoption or to be raised within her own immediate family. But she decided to abort. Why?

Was the girl able to come to this decision rationally? Was this irrational decision process recognised by a professional and that is why she could not get the abortion here in Wilmington and had to travel later on to Raleigh? Did she feel as if she had no choice? Either destroy the evidence of her relationship with her 27 year old "lover" or send him to prison by providing the DNA that would convict him.

Women know better than I about what it is like to carry life inside them and what takes place in their minds and bodies that can send them seeking an abortion. In 1996, there were approximately 274,000 teens that received abortions in the US. 40% of all teen girls' pregnancies ended in abortion. To many of us, those are shocking statistics. But as I said earlier women know better than I do about such things.

Juliet was 14 when she and Romeo pursued their forbidden love affair. I would wager a crisp new ten spot that every 14 year old girl in America is familiar with this Shakespeare tale of woe. These 14 year old girls are only a few years from Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny and playing with dolls. Their imagination is still extremely active and full of unrealistic aspirations. Even though many of these children have experimented with sexuality they still cry and pout and fret over peer pressure and curfews at home. They are a long way from maturity.

We would assume though that all the others involved in this tale of woe, playing out in the media of Wilmington and New Hanover County, and now the rest of the Country, are mature. They are educated, experienced and should know right from wrong. So why are we talking about all this? I'll tell you why I think we are talking about it, or why we should be talking about it.

It is always troubling to learn of an adult having a sexual relationship with a child, more troubling perhaps is the relationship that causes pregnancy. More troubling than that might be the fact that the child resorted to having an abortion. Her choice.

Why did she make the choice she did? My guess is pressure and the selfullfilling prophetic voice of the tale of Romeo and Juliet echoing in her imagination. To protect her love, she sacrificed her child. It could be that simple. Would she have kept the child if the father was 15 years old? She alone knows the answer to that. However, if she would have chosen to give birth, was the external pressure the cause of her decision to abort? Again go back and imagine the mind of this distraught teen. Imagine how she wished to protect her "lover." Imagine the thought of gloved hands waiting to take the tissue from her directly to the lab that would ultimately result in the ruined life of a man she believes to love her. Imagine a child that still daydreams, still believes in the magic of life going into herself to remove what she knows to be a life that perhaps will fulfill her immature need for love and imagine the process it took to change her will in order to go through with the abortion .

Now imagine that pressure so great, so coercive that it basically forced her to the clinic that removed the evidence of her love. Imagine that that sort of coersion leading to such a tragic event had some sort of law against it. Well, there is a law against it. North Carolina General Statues 14-44 states as follows:

Abortion and Kindred Offenses.
§ 14-44.  Using drugs or instruments to destroy unborn child.
If any person shall willfully administer to any woman, either pregnant or quick with child, or prescribe for any such woman, or advise or procure any such woman to take any medicine, drug or other substance whatever, or shall use or employ any instrument or other means with intent thereby to destroy such child, he shall be punished as a Class H felon. (1881, c. 351, s. 1; Code, s. 975; Rev., s. 3618; C.S., s. 4226; 1967, c. 367, s. 1; 1979, c. 760, s. 5; 1979, 2nd Sess., c. 1316, s. 47; 1981, c. 63, s. 1; c 179, s. 14.)

It is possible that as in Romeo and Juliet all are to be punished. But sadly perhaps this story is closer in resemblace to the choice Sophie had to make in the William Styron novel about a woman that had another difficult decision regarding sacrifice. Either way, all are indeed punished.

For news reports of this story click here

What a bunch of idiots

Here are a few things that will make you scratch your head and wonder what were people thinking.

Gary Moody, 45, of Pittston, Maine hid out in the bottom of an outhouse in order to get a glimpse of a 14 year old girl going to the bathroom. The girl saw his face looking up through the hole and reported him to authorities. He was arrested and just the other day was given a 30 day suspended sentence. He also had to pay $700 restitution to the Park Service for pumping the stuff out of the outhouse tank that Moody was hiding in because Moody said he was in there to find a dropped wedding ring. The Park Service screened the stuff pumped out of the tank and failed to find a ring. Apparently it is not the only case like this.

Ubaldo Vasquez Huizar, 39, was noticed by his neighbors because he used to dance around the backyard in a bra and panties. He also used to sleep naked in the doghouse with his 10 year old female Rottweiller. Upon investigation police arrested Huizar for two counts of sexually assaulting his dog. In December Huizar was convicted of exposing himself to an 11 year old child. Huizar was also wanted on an outstanding drug charge.

Robert A. McCormick, 38, CEO of publiclly traded communications company Savvis is disputing all but $20,000 of the $241,000 a New York City strip club billed to his company's AMEX credit card. Let's just suppose that McCormick is correct and that he ONLY spent $20,000 at a strip club, on a company credit card, on strippers, on booze- how do you not get fired? My wife would divorce me, the stockholders would tar and feather me, certainly the accountants would find it hard to justify to the IRS the deduction of such an amount at a STRIP CLUB. Now just for a second let's just imagine that the club is correct and he did spend $241,000 there, imagine what that would buy? OK that's enough, don't think too much about it.

An argument over $5 led to a shooting death of a man in Whiteville this past week.

A Detective examining the death of a young man found floating face up in the Cape Fear River closed the case as an accidental drowning even though the medical examiner found no traces of water in the dead man's lungs.

LEADING THE STATE IN MISSING SEX OFFENDERS

Why is it that New Hanover County leads the State in sex offenders that have failed to verify their address? Why are 12 sex offenders missing in New Hanover County? Charlotte's  Mecklenburg County has 11 missing, Pender has one, Brunswick two and Onslow County has zero missing. Information obtained from the State Sex Offender website.

Sex offenders frequently re-offend. The mother of one of Ellis Steele Guy's child victims is fearful that Guy will do just that, re-offend, in fact she guarantees it and I do too. Mr. Guy has repeatedly failed to verify his address. His punishment did not fit his crime, he is arrogantly in defiance of the laws by not following them to the letter and yet he was not charged the last time he failed to verify his address. Neither was Brian Dalton Rivenbark who was also living somewhere other than where he said he was living. Rivenbark was discovered, by WPD Officer Krumpler, by alert police work, to be living in New Hanover County rather than Pender County where he was listed as residing. Entering New Hanover County and failing to register is a crime that should have caused Rivenbark to be arrested by the Sheriff of New Hanover County. Instead he was given grace and a month or two later he was shot and  killed while attempting to rob a video poker speakeasy. Joseph Edward Duncan III is charged with killing three people as he kidnapped an 8 year old girl and her brother. The brother's body was ultimately found in an out of the way place. The girl was found alive by alert citizens that recognized her from a missing poster one month after her disappearance. Duncan used to speak out on his website looking for forgiveness for the brutal rape and torture of a 14 year old boy. Duncan was convicted for that crime and served time for it. For years Duncan swore he would not re-offend and yet he did, perhaps many times killing at least one of his victims.

So why does New Hanover County have 12 missing sex offenders?

You will have to contact Sheriff Sid Causey, the man in charge of knowing exactly where these sex offenders are. Ask him if it is safe, ask him if any or all 12 of those missing sex offenders pose less a threat than the homeless man he made a big deal out of and ran off the other day, ask him if he can assure you that everything is being done to locate those offenders.

Sheriff Causey can be reached at 910-341-4200 or by email at SCausey@nhcgov.com

PRIORITIES OUT OF WACK

When Arthur Carlson lost his job he never assumed he would be living in a tent somewhere in the woods of Wilmington, homeless. Perhaps too proud to take a handout from the many helpful agencies in town, he took to fending for himself in a campsite adjoining Wilmington’s exclusive Country Club and Golf Course.

I have been out of town for the past week and have posted here an article from bluelineradio.com

Reacting to a call to remove Carlson and the others camping there, Sheriff Sid Causey called the media to alert them of his response to the complaint. Because Carlson was on County property the campsite fell under his jurisdiction and he wasn’t going to permit these vagrants from camping there even though the property was not posted against overnight trespassers.

The problem of homelessness is all too familiar with the residents of just about any community south of the freezing northern part of the country. And yes many of these people have lengthy criminal histories, mental illness, substance abuse issues and sorted pasts. But also many of them are just down on their luck and need a break. Perhaps Arthur Carlson is just one of those down on his luck souls in need of a break.

But does this particular problem pose direct intervention by our Sheriff? You would think that a man so busy trying to find and hire staff for our overcrowded jail, or the man in charge of the plague of illegal video poker speakeasies would have little time to walk through the woods to roust a vagrant.

When neighboring County Sheriff’s have recently posed on acres of marijuana plants, at Congressmen’s sides to discuss the problems of illegal immigrants and standing beside Federal prosecutors after a major gang is arrested for trafficking in cocaine you would think that the Sheriff of New Hanover County would have picked a bigger issue than someone pitching a tent in the woods on the front nine of the country club. That is unless he is raising funds for a re-election bid.

Like so many politicians who are indebt to the wealthy campaign contributors and react to whims of supposed community needs, Causey has time and time again shown that he is little more than a lackey to some of the areas big spenders, even protecting some of them from news reports of their indiscretions of domestic violence and other misdemeanor offenses. Rather than using his time to effectively combat a surge of drug crime and the resulting crimes associated with illegal drugs, Causey instead bullies his way into a campsite of derelicts and not only that but has the balls to call the media for a photo opportunity, proving I guess that he is on the job.

Didn’t he assist his church in obtaining the old Law Enforcement Center to turn it into a homeless shelter? You would think his compassion for the homeless would have shamed him into going into the woods and would instead have sent one of his deputies to do the dirty work. Although in the Star News article it was reported that he offered the man some money, which is what he is legally obligated to do. According to law when removing a vagrant from unposted public property you are to offer shelter or aid to the individual you are to evict.

Years ago the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back was when then Sheriff Joe McQueen ordered Lt. Marc Benson to remove a couple of homeless vagrants from the bushes of the courthouse. Marc asked what he was to do if the vagrants refused to vacate and he was told to arrest them. Marc refused, the land was not posted, it was public property and there was no reason to arrest anyone sleeping in the bushes back then so he protested the order. Marc’s retirement from the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office soon followed.

So why come out to the media for a walk in the woods when there is a fire burning taxpayers money by the truckload out at the jail on Blue Clay Road and a terror threat in the quiet homes of the parents of this community that fear that the illegal drug trade may have ensnared their susceptible children. There are sex offenders that have failed to verify their addresses, video poker places involved in shootouts as they rob those addicted to gambling, warrants needed to be served, businesses with illegal hiring practices and elderly homeowners scared to go to sleep at night in fear of waking to a burglar ransacking their home.

On one side of the fence you have Arthur Carlson, down on his luck and struggling to survive, whatever the reasons. On the other side of the fence you have golf tournaments with illegal calcuttas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcutta_(gambling)) , nightly poker games and staff serving alcohol to underage kids with tragic results. Both sides are breaking the law, one side has the attention of the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the County. We at the Blue Line fail to see the justice and we are not the only ones.

HELP YOURSELF

When PETA employees Andrew B. Cook, 24, of Virginia Beach, and Adria J. Hinkle, 27, of Norfolk snuck around looking for dumpsters to dispose of their newly euthanized cats and dogs, they broke the littering law. When they went from shelter to shelter, picking up strays, telling people they were going to take care of these animals, and instead choked the life out of them by injecting them with a lethal dose of Phenobarbital they committed several felonies of obtaining property by false pretense and animal cruelty.

We have all long suspected of PETA and other such "helpful" groups of hypocrisy. The sad facts are that there is an overwhelming number of abandoned and sick animals in our country that face a life of pain and suffering no matter what we want to do for them. For a huge majority of them the best they can hope for is a quick and peaceful death.

Many people profess to care about life, be it animal or human and yet we often times find hypocrisy when we investigate into the bowels of the groups or agencies. Churches fill on Sundays and the congregation promise to love each other as we love ourselves and yet too often we learn that youth leaders and ministers molest our children and elders and deacons beat their wives and kids. Government agencies tell us that they are here to help and we see that their help, many times, is a false hope or a road to disaster, or the help is more of a fat, no-bid contract given to some political crony.

How is it that so many people fill our jails and prisons when so many say they have love in their hearts? Are children born bad? Are they destined to turn rotten even though they are nurtured and well provided for?

Or are these adults that have long lengthy criminal histories our nation's abandoned and stray? Is there a PETA out there telling us that they will be taken care of and will we instead one day find out that they are ending up in a dumpster? You have to wonder.

You have to wonder why little is being done to fight our war on drugs, you also have to wonder why proper health care and education is so hard to come by for so many of our young and people like the couple in Ohio that place children in cages do not suffer stern justice. You have to wonder like I do when so much is given, so little seem benefit.

Just last week the Nation was told that a (false) terrorist plot was aimed against the city of New York, and later we were told that the rich and powerful were told about this threat first, days earlier. Was Neil Boortz, the nationally syndicated talk show host, right when he said that that is the way it should be? He said, "who better to save than the rich... what can the poor offer us?

I was raised to believe, women and children first, every man for himself, so I would have to disagree. But PETA may have put a face on the phrase, "I am with the Government and I am here to help."

So if it is the Department of Homeland Security, or Social Services, or FEMA or PETA or any other agency knocking comes to your door offering help, you might be better off on your own...with a gun.

Hello Copter

With nearly 2,000 miles to cover in the three county area, a helicopter sounds like a needed piece of equipment. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the benefits of such a vehicle to combat crime. It didn't take Chief Ralph Evangelous long at all to propose such a creative concept of his co-op idea that may bring Pender, Brunswick and New Hanover County a means of swift deployment and eye-in-the-sky surveillance. Imagine the possibilities of being able to provide back-up to a deputy out in the boonies of Pender County as he is in foot pursuit of a dangerous Felon. Imagine the missing that could easily be searched for, the reckless car chases that will no longer require endangering the public because of the ability to follow the vehicle from the air. Just think of the drug traffickers that have depended on our congested roads to ease their devil power into our communities. The need is great.

But is the need great enough to shell out money for such an apparent luxury, at least that is what New Hanover Sheriff County Sid Causey is calling it, a luxury. In the proposal issued by Chief Evangelous, it is clear that the cost of the Government surplus helicopter is free, a majority of the expense to cover the use of the whirlybird will be covered by the seized assets and grant money. After all this worked for Evangelous in Temple, why not here? I guess you'd have to ask the loan nay-sayer, Sheriff Causey. I'd like to ask him if he thought having a helicopter would have helped to capture UNCW student, Christen Marie Naujoks killer, John Peck, who drove around town just after killing his ex-girlfriend while he talked with a dispatcher that called his cell phone from the 911 Center, preventing his shootout with a Park Ranger in the mountains of North Carolina. Would it have helped chase after 25-year-old Tiffany Michelle Pridgen as she sped thru town endangering the life of a drug agent and ultimately crashing her car into a church. Fortunately no one was seriously hurt as the car quickly became engulfed in flames. Why not enjoy the view from the comfort of 1,000 feet rather than bump and run thru the busy streets of Wilmington at 10:30 at night?

Perhaps Causey is being prudent with his hard to come by taxpayer money that keeps leaking thru the cracks at the jail and with all the overtime, and the number of promotions given out. Perhaps his quote in the Star News when he says, "Even if we don’t get in right at the start, we most likely will, eventually. Until then, we might have to pay for it at full cost if we need it.” Paying at the backend rather than ante' up at the front? Conservative thinking or retarded? Sounds retarded to me because the ante' is minimal, his deliberate objection is yet just another in a long list of signals that he is unwilling to cooperate with the effective, proactive, tactics of crime prevention so evident in Chief Evangelous' paradigm he implemented just after taking the helm.

I would hate to see such sour grapes rob, not only Wilmington, but the surrounding Counties of a proven and effective tool to combat crime and added resource in our search for the missing.

I hope to have a copy of the Chief's proposal on our website, bluelineradio.com, very soon.

BIRD FLU

I was just curious about the threat headed this way from Asia regarding the Avian Flu.

Seems to me that if our brothers and sisters south of the border become infected with the virus, they could easily transport it into the US.

Already we have seen Multiple Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB is resistant to at least 2 of the major anti-TB drugs) now has infiltrated 38 of California’s 61 health jurisdictions. Illegal Aliens have caused increases in Chagas Disease that now affects our blood supply. Dengue Fever, leprosy, malaria, polio, e-coli, and Kawasaki Disease all are resurging. When we do not know who crosses our borders, we cannot tell who is carrying what in his backpack, and we certainly cannot know what microorganisms he is carrying in his body.

The threat from Bird Flu is extreme. We must guard ourselves against it. One excellent preliminary medical precaution is to close our borders against Illegal Aliens.

I just got to get it off my chest

Roadside fruit and vegetable stands have given way to supermarket produce aisles brimming with, paraffin coated, product from the genetically reengineered fields of the gigantic conglomerated farms. Mom and pop stores which, not too long ago, were the voice of American free enterprise and the backbone of our neighborhoods, were once common place and community minded. Now that voice of American independence is hardly heard anymore due to the microphone enhanced voices of the minimum wage earners encouraging us to super-size anything and everything we order. It is this super-sized mentality coupled with the ease of access to credit or delayed payment plans that have enslaved many of us into the corporate racket that is now driving our economy. Are we all such gluttons of consumerism that we fail to see the very commodity we are actually purchasing when we charge-it? Dependency.

This commodity of dependence is now a global concern as evident in the struggles of the people of a city in India as it battles Coca-Cola because of a contract Coke has to have first dibs on the water supply, leaving the millions without water, unless, of course, they buy it packaged with fructose and caramel soda in Coke bottles. Someday in the future we will all have forgotten how to cook much less grow anything of substance and be totally dependent on the food put before us by some giant McCorporation. How many of us have taught a daughter how to sew a simple dress or a son how to build a piece of furniture. What about talking with them about finances, they all expect to be a famous athlete or a movie star, what do they expect to do with all the money they make? Give it to some corporate investment team of lawyers and stockbrokers to invest in Coca-Cola stock? When was the last time you, me, any of us, had a serious discussion about saving money when it didn’t have anything to do with paying off a debt we already owed?

10% of  college students carry a $7,000 debt on their credit cards, these kids don’t even have a job yet, how can they afford such debt? A recent study shows that 46% of Americas food budget is spent on restaurants and take out food places. The average person eats out 4 times a week. The average national credit card balance is $3,250, according to myvesta.org, a nonprofit group that teaches people about smart spending. People are defaulting at record pace and here is why:

If you pay only the minimum amount due every month, it would take you 39 years to pay it all off. At 18 percent interest, you'd end up paying $8,680 in interest on a $3,250 loan. A July 2000 study of our spending habits, show that Americans carry $529 billion in credit card debt. That’s almost $2,000 for every man, woman and child in America, look around you, that’s a lot of people owing a lot of money, paying a lot of interest, for what?

But have no fear, we are not alone. Just look at our local government and the politics involved in the election process. When a candidate has to spend more than $100,000 to become Mayor something is not right. Surely this money is borrowed just like we borrow money on our Visa or Mastercard, it will have to be repaid somehow, with interest. Nothing’s free! Most likely those that are financing these campaigns are super-sizing their efforts for grabbing power and influence. An overwhelmingly huge majority of the contributors in the Broadhurst for Mayor campaign are connected to the real estate development business. What could possibly be their motivation? You tell me.

Certainly I understand that as Wilmington grows so does our need for housing. But I also understand that we do not have to super-size everything under the sun or pave over our mom and pop stores just to put up a new Wal-Marts or Outback Steakhouses. Too often developers drain off our wetlands (recent legal action against Yow, Miller and Elmore has brought new attention to this controversial eco-insensitive group of developers) to plop a cookie cutter pattern of cloned houses floating upon one concrete pad next to another. Why not act with a little bit of community responsibility, remember we live here. Show us where the schools are going to be, the fire stations, the libraries, the new water and sewer system and by the way please tell us who is going to pay for these costs? Tell us how your investment in a mayor or another politician outweighs our rights as citizens and tell us how your financial obligations usurp our own meager savings.

What study have you done Mr. Developer that shows we have a need for your development in the first place? Do we want our own property values to decrease because of the nice shiny new plastic sided tract houses you propose? Do we want our taxes increased because we taxpayers are financing your infrastructure? Our neighborhoods have already been annexed to cover these added expenses to our tax base, do you expect us to sit by while you profit at our expense?

And don't get me started on the backroom deals that gave an out of state developer the deal of the century in regards to the Civic Center or the arrogance of the rejection of the protest petition by the citizens opposing Autumn Hall and an earlier one regarding Love Grove. Oh, and definitely don't get me started on the betrayal of the African American community when the onetime champion of the black community, Katherine Moore, was coerced by the same political machine behind Broadhurst, to run again, thus potentially stealing votes away from a man that she nearly abdicated her council seat to weeks prior to her filing for another term. For more on how her community feels about that pick up a copy of the Wilmington Journal.

Sure we are a crime show and this political stuff really isn't a crime, or is it? Certainly it is a crime when illegals are hired to build the look-a-like houses that fill up our wetlands, certainly it is a crime when the disparity between the haves and have-nots widens and those less intelligent, or perhaps less patient resort to the same sort of greed they see examples of in the business or corporate world, to rip off what few crumbs we have left over by kicking in our front doors or prying open our windows. It is a crime when depression and hopelessness causes the weaker among us to resort to illegal drugs to numb our sense of victimization. And it is definitely a crime to steal a history and heritage from our children by winking at the law and making shady deals in backrooms.

Fighting corporate/private greed is as American as the Boston Tea Party. It is time to pony up and gallop thru the streets folks… the Red Coats are coming, the Red Coats are coming! That is if it isn't too late.

Go vote!

What we do in life...

What's sadder than not knowing where your child is? It would have to be finding her remains in a shallow grave.

Virginia Commonwealth University Freshman, Taylor Behl went missing Labor Day, September 5th.

Taylor Behl's mother, Janet Pelasara, has led the charge by initially pressuring the University to open an investigation into the whereabouts of her missing 17 year old daughter. Apparently VCU authorities were reluctant to infringe on the rights of the missing girl by declaring her a missing person. VCU Police held onto the case for the next 11 days until, under pressure, they allowed the Richmond Police to take over the case. It was then and only then that an Amber Alert went out and the FBI was called in. The following day, September 17th, an off-duty officer walking his dog, found Taylor's car.

The story soon turned into a "media event" and bloggers on the internet began posting information of the bizarre characters surrounding her disappearance. One such character, Ben Fawley, is an admitted 38 yr old ex-lover of Behl's. Fawley is an ex-con that served a couple of years in prison for stealing cars in Ohio. (note when Behl's car was found it had a stolen Ohio plate on it) Fawley has a fascination with death. He links himself with images of skulls. Skinny, colorfully dyed hair and living off of a disability for a mental illness, Fawley surrounded himself with young people who spent time in his house and in his bed. As a result of search warrants, Fawley was arrested for possessing child pornography and is currently in the Richmond jail.

An entire Richmond underground has been exposed because of the investigation into Fawley. Bondage fetishes and rituals are preferred lifestyle choices with Fawley as is a perverse fascination with the sexually suggestive photography including that of his own prepubescent daughters.

The night of Taylor's disappearance Fawley filed a police report stating that he, was himself, abducted, beaten and left in the middle of nowhere to find his own way home. The police report stated that Fawley was in need of psychiatric medication and appeared to have suffered scratches and scrapes that coincide with his allegations of an attack. Of course police at that time had no idea who Fawley was or even that Taylor Behl was missing.

Taylor's body was reportedly found dismembered in a shallow grave Wednesday night, 70 miles from Richmond on property frequented by Fawley and owned by the family of an ex-girlfriend that had broken off her relationship with Fawley last year and charged him with a felony assault charge. Pictures of the dilapidated farmhouse appeared on Fawley's own website.

The particular fascination I have with this case is that they (Fawley and Behl) met on the internet, both had blog sites documenting their relationship. One such blogsite by Fawley attacks his ex, calling her a porn star. The ex-girlfreind had a blog site, there were many websites autobiographically or even narcissistically documenting Fawley's own history. There were blogsites set up, websluths if you will, posting hearsay and rumors along with important factual evidence. I wouldn't be surprised if, just as in the Kayla Allen case and the Oakdale Cemetery case, important information was uncovered based on the accessibility of information to those on the peripherals of the situation.

A statement by a skateboarding friend of Taylor's said that he met with Taylor earlier before she disappeared and she told him that she was "about to do something highly illegal" as an early birthday present, which if true, may have been something that included Ben Fawley's sinister plans for her.

Now we wait to see who gets charged with the murder. Do not be surprised if Fawley did not act alone. When the scent dogs tracked a scent from Taylor's newly discovered car, the dogs led directly to a house of a man that claimed he knew neither Behl (who ate her last meal in the restaurant he worked in) or Fawley (which he worked with sometimes at the same restaurant). When the police searched his apartment he was arrested for possession of cocaine.

Evidence of one's own history leaves an indelible trail in the day and age of the web.

What we do in life...
Echoes in eternity...

Mapel Hill Gang- Busted!

Can we honestly say that we are protecting our borders from terrorism when we see time and time again the arrests of illegal immigrants for drugs and violence? Who is to say that the Maple Hill gang of Central Americans aren't terrorists, just as evil and sinister as al-Qa’eda? Certainly distributing drugs into a society of young promising adults and teenagers with the intent to rob them, not only of their money, but of their normal productive lives can cripple our Country. No longer are they workers, students, fathers, mothers when they become addicted, they become predatory survivors, doing what they can to feed their addictions.

Sure others raised in the land of red white and blue have a held strong hand in dealing illegal drugs and have also profited from the destruction of innocent lives but those from outside our borders could possibly have international strategies to disrupt the justice system which poses a threat to national security.

Take for instance the overcrowded conditions of our prison system and the number of inmates held for drug crimes. Hundreds of billions of dollars that could be used to hold up our economy are being spent to investigate, arrest, try and incarcerate drug offenders. Not to mention the health care costs, loss of property and lower worker productivity with those associated with illegal drug use.

The borders need to be closed. Those entering the country should be screened and the Secretary of State's Office should work with Mexico and the Central American countries to resolve this problem immediately.

“We’re fighting a war on terror when we fight drug dealers,” said District Attorney Ben David, whose Fifth Prosecutorial District includes Pender and New Hanover counties. “It’s time we bring state and federal resources together like a double-barreled shotgun to go after these guys.”

article of interest:
Star News article on the Maple Hill Gang Arrests