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Thursday Reads: Escape From Dannemora

Posted: June 11, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Crime, Criminal Justice System, morning reads | Tags: , , , , , , , , |88 Comments

breakout route

Good Morning!!

Those two murderers who escaped from a maximum security prison in Dannemora, NY six days ago are still on the loose. It’s like something out of a prison break movie, except that the escapees are not sympathetic characters. Some background, in case you haven’t been following the story:

AP, via The Wall Street Journal: Convicted Killers Escape From New York Top-Security Prison.

Two convicted murderers used power tools to cut through steel pipes at a maximum-security prison near the Canadian border and escape through a manhole, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday.

“It was an elaborate plot,” Gov. Cuomo said after joining law enforcement authorities to retrace the prisoners’ escape route from the Clinton Correctional Facility in the town of Dannemora in the Adirondacks….

Mr. Sweat is serving a sentence of life without parole after he was convicted of first-degree murder for killing a Broome County sheriff’s deputy in 2002. Mr. Matt is serving a sentence of 25 years to life for the kidnapping and beating death of a man in 1997.

“A search revealed that there was a hole cut out of the back of the cell through which these inmates escaped,” Mr. Annucci said. “They went onto a catwalk which is about six stories high. We estimate they climbed down and had power tools and were able to get out to this facility through tunnels, cutting away at several spots.”

Authorities said there are many questions, including how the men acquired the tools.

cabbie12n-2-web

That question has now been tentatively answered. From The Buffalo News: Woman who worked at prison may have helped two killers escape.

ALBANY – A woman who worked at the state prison in Dannemora may have helped two convicted murderers escape over the weekend, state police said, and some media have reported that the woman also planned to pick up the escapees afterward but got cold feet.

“She befriended the inmates and may have had some sort of role in assisting them,” State Police Superintendent Joseph D’Amico said at a Wednesday afternoon briefing outside the Clinton Correctional Facility.

D’Amico did not identify the woman, but confirmed media reports over the past several days have identified her as Joyce Mitchell.

The woman was supposed to pick up Richard W. Matt and David P. Sweat after they escaped, but changed her mind at the last minute, CNN and other media reported.

Mitchell’s son told NBC News Tuesday that his mother would not have helped the prisoners escape and that she has been in the hospital with chest pains since Saturday.

D’Amico declined to provide any details about possible assistance the woman provided, such as access to power tools and information about escape routes. Various media accounts have described Mitchell as helping to supply tools that the inmates used to break through walls and pipes, citing anonymous sources.

Read more details in this CNN article: Prison worker in spotlight after brazen New York escape.

Joyce MItchell

Joyce MItchell

Here’s another breathless backgrounder with lots of photos and a diagram (see the image at the top of this post) of the escape route: HOW THE PRISON BREAK WENT DOWN: EXCLUSIVE details on the escape route from New York’s Clinton Correctional Facility.

The great escape from the Clinton Correctional Facility was hatched in the prison tailor shop while the killers were sewing Metro-North uniforms, sources told the Daily News on Monday.

Using power tools that authorities suspect were either sweet-talked out of a female civilian worker or delivered by a contractor working at the prison, Richard Matt and David Sweat managed to pull off the first successful escape from the forbidding prison near the Canadian border.

Investigators are now grilling civilian employees and private contractors working at the prison to see whether any of them provided Matt and Sweat with tools, sources said.

One of them is Joyce Mitchell, 51, who works as an industrial training supervisor in the tailoring department.

Cops questioned Mitchell and her husband, who also works in the prison, on Saturday, according to neighbors.

“They were going through her trash,” said one neighbor, who would not give her name.

Investigators are checking whether Mitchell had a personal relationship with one of the men, sources said.

Now Reuters is reporting that Mitchell “thought she had a romantic relationship” with one of the escapees: Female prison worker, in love, agreed to drive getaway car: NBC News.

A female prison worker being questioned by police, who are hunting two escapees from an upstate New York prison, thought she had a romantic relationship with one of them and had planned to drive the getaway car, NBC News reported on Thursday.

In the end, Joyce Mitchell, an industrial training supervisor in the tailor shop of Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, got cold feet and checked herself into a hospital for nerves on Saturday, the day the inmates were discovered missing, NBC reported, citing unnamed senior government officials.

The older inmate, convicted killer Richard Matt, 48, who has a history of escape attempts, had wooed Mitchell for months and established a relationship in which she agreed to drive the getaway car, the report said.

“She thought it was love,” one of the officials told NBC News.

Richard Matt

Richard Matt

Why do some women fall in love with criminals? Here’s some background on the two escaped killers from NBC News: Richard Matt and David Sweat, Convicted Murderers Who Escaped Prison, Have Grisly Past.

Matt, 48, was sentenced to 25 years to life in 2008 for killing [a] businessman. He had already escaped from prison once, in 1986, and at his trial a generation later he was considered so dangerous that police snipers were posted on the courthouse roof….

The victim was a food broker named William Rickerson who had hired and then fired Matt.

On Dec. 4, 1997, according to the trial testimony of an accomplice, Matt beat Rickerson with an electric knife sharpener, bound him with duct tape, tossed him in the trunk of a car, and then drove around for 27 hours looking for a place to kill and bury him.

At one stop on the drive, Matt opened the trunk, broke four of Rickerson’s fingers, hit him in the chest with a steering wheel locking device, then shut the trunk and kept driving.

The accomplice testified that Matt had him turn down a cul-de-sac, stop the car and open the trunk again. He said Matt told him: “You know, I’ve had enough of this.”

He said Matt reached in and twisted Rickerson’s head. “I heard a pop,” the accomplice testified, and the businessman “just dropped back in the trunk.” Matt cut off the arms and legs with a hacksaw, authorities said.

David Sweat

David Sweat

There’s more sickening detail at the link. All Sweat did was kill a cop.

Sweat, 34, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to life without parole in the shooting death of Kevin Tarsia, a sheriff’s deputy in Broome County, New York, on July 4, 2002.

Investigators said that he and two other men stole a pickup truck in Pennsylvania, broke into a fireworks and gun store and stole a dozen handguns and rifles.

They drove across the state line to New York to move the weapons from a pickup truck to a car. They shot Tarsia when he confronted them there.

Gawker had more on the escape on Sunday: Escaped Prisoners Left Behind a Politely Racist Note for Police.

The two murder convicts who escaped from upstate New York’s Clinton Correctional Facility overnight on Friday left a a very polite and very racist note telling police and everyone, “Have a nice day!”

The escaped inmates—Richard Matt, 48, and David Sweat, 34—had tricked guards using dummy bodies built out of sweatshirts while using mysteriously-acquired power tools to drill through walls and pipes, the New York Times reports. Anthony Annuci, the acting state corrections commissioner, told the Associated Press that the men’s absence was discovered during an early morning bed check on Saturday.

“A search revealed that there was a hole cut out of the back of the cell through which these inmates escaped,” Annucci said. “They went on to a catwalk which is about six stories high. We estimate they climbed down and had power tools and were able to get out to this facility through tunnels, cutting away at several spots.” ….

At one point along their subterranean escape route, the prisoners left a racist note for anyone following them to find.

Racist note left on wall

Racist note left on wall

Animal New York published the note along with list of the various euphemisms media outlets have used to describe it.

This morning The New York Daily News reported that a “Philly cabbie says he may have driven escaped N.Y killers.”

A Philadelphia taxi driver says he might have picked up the convicted murders who made a brazen prison break from a maximum-security New York facility.

Police are questioning the cabbie, who claimed he shuttled two men who matched the escapees’ descriptions to the train station.

The unidentified driver picked up the men — who looked like 48-year-old Richard Matt and 34-year-old David Sweat — in the city’s center and drove them to 30th Street Station, NBC Philadelphia reported. The cabbie worked two more fares and then called police, he told investigators.

The latest news on the search for Sweat and Matt is that authorities suspect they may be headed for Vermont. I just hope they don’t pass by my house on their way!

From The Washington Post:

Authorities searching for two escaped killers who have been on the loose for the better part of a week acknowledged being in the dark about their whereabouts or doings, even as the hunt for the men expanded past state borders into Vermont.

At a news conference outside the maximum-security prison on Wednesday, New York State Police Superintendent Joseph D’Amico said, “I have no information on where they are or what they’re doing, to be honest with you.”

But authorities expanded the search after investigators learned that the inmates had talked before last weekend’s breakout about going to neighboring Vermont.

“We have information that suggests they thought New York was going to be hot. Vermont would be cooler, in terms of law enforcement,” Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin said at the news conference with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Gee, no kidding.

The Christian Science Monitor reports: 

Vermont authorities are patrolling Lake Champlain and areas alongside it, Shumlin said. Cuomo urged the people of Vermont to be on the alert and report anything suspicious, warning: “Trust me, these men are nothing to be trifled with.”

As part of the search, state troopers and correction officers in helmets and body armor retraced their steps around the prison, checking garage doors, sheds, windows and other structures for signs of a break-in or other clues.

More than 450 federal and state law enforcement officers were taking part in the search, including customs agents, federal marshals and park rangers.

I wonder who else is helping these guys?

Law enforcement officials again asked the public to report anything out of the ordinary.

“We don’t want them out searching the woods,” Sheriff David Favro said. “But if you’re sitting on your porch, get your binoculars out and see if you see something unusual.”

Lots more human interest stuff at the link. People in Dannemora don’t seem all that concerned.

As of this morning, authorities have shut down a major highway near the prison. From WPTZ.com: Police converge on Cadyville in search for two fugitives. Route 374 closed from Dannemora to West Plattsburgh.

CADYVILLE, N.Y. —A massive search effort for two inmates who escaped from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora intensified late Wednesday night and continued into Thursday.

Hundreds of police officers converged on the community of Cadyville, approximately one mile east of the village of Dannemora.

New York State Police closed State Route 374 east of the village of Dannemora to West Plattsburgh as they investigate what they called a “lead involving the escapees from the Clinton Correctional Facility.”

Cops are going over the whole area with a fine-toothed comb.

Hundreds of officers have scoured neighboring woods, looking “behind every tree, under every rock and inside every structure” for Matt and Sweat, New York State Police Superintendent Joseph D’Amico said.

They’ve searched farms, fields and woods in Willsboro after a driver saw two “suspicious” men run off during a late-night driving rainstorm. Then there was a turn toward Vermont because of “information that would suggest (that state) was discussed as a possible location,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday. Vermont state police vessels and troopers looked for the fugitives on Lake Champlain, which straddles the two states, as well as in nearby campsites.

That said, authorities don’t have any hard information that Matt and Sweat have left New York. Nor can they discount the possibility they have left the area, perhaps heading to Canada — which is just 20 miles north of the prison — or most anywhere in the United States or beyond. To this point, 50 digital billboards with the fugitives’ photos have gone up in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.

Let’s hope they catch these killers before anyone gets hurt. If they are headed to Vermont, maybe they will try to sneak into Canada, although that’s a lot more difficult now than it used to be.

To be honest, I haven’t been following this story closely until now because I assumed the Sweat and Matt would be caught fairly quickly; but after six days the story has become a lot more interesting. So I wrote a post about it to give me an excuse to get all the details.

This is an open thread. Feel free to discuss and post links on politics or anything else you want in the comment thread and have a great day. 

 

88 Comments on “Thursday Reads: Escape From Dannemora”

  1. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:
    June 11, 2015 at 9:35 am

    The Daily Beast:

    Escaped Killer Richard Matt Freaked Out His Own Family.

    The killer assured his pole-dancing sweetheart that he wasn’t a “bad person”—things just got “out of hand.”

    To the world, he was ex-con Richard Matt, on the run after murdering and chopping up his elderly boss in 1997. She called him Ricky.

    At Matt’s 2008 murder trial, stripper Johanna Capretto testified against her former beau, saying he smoked a Marlboro as he confessed to breaking the businessman’s neck. She listened to him in the bathroom of the Fort Erie, Ontario, motel where she lived. He said it was an accident.

    • bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:
      June 11, 2015 at 9:54 am

      Retired detective David Bentley, who testified against Matt in 2008, added, “When [Matt’s] cleaned up, he’s very handsome and, in all frankness, very well-endowed. He gets girlfriends any place he goes.”

      The murderer’s own public defender, Matthew P. Pynn, testified in court, “I can’t explain it. I can see him as a guy who would have a lot of friends… Rick Matt was a fun but dangerous guy to hang around with.”

      And stupid Joyce Mitchell threw her life away for this psychopath.

      • ANonOMouse's avatar ANonOMouse says:
        June 11, 2015 at 10:10 am

        But don’t forget, according to a detective, “he’s very handsome and, in all frankness, very well-endowed.” Cause everyone knows poor wittle women just swoon over the “well-endowed”. Men don’t know shit!!! This woman likely craved attention and found that attention in the wrong place. I’m not excusing her, I pity her. She’s not only thrown her own life away, she’s basically destroyed her relationship with her family and she’s turned two vicious men out into society. She will likely go to prison for the better part of what’s left of her life. Sad!!!!!

    • janicen's avatar janicen says:
      June 11, 2015 at 10:06 am

      I’m so glad you included the grizzly nature of the crimes these two committed. It’s easy to admire an elaborate escape plan after there have been so many movies making escapees seem sympathetic. It helps to be reminded that now these two monsters are on the loose and until they are recaptured, all of us are at risk.

      • bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:
        June 11, 2015 at 10:12 am

        They’re both dangerous, but Matt is a real psycho. Be sure to read the Daily Beast article.

  2. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:
    June 11, 2015 at 10:02 am

    BBC News: Sir Christopher Lee: Screen legend dies aged 93.

    The English-born actor, who made his name playing Dracula and Frankenstein’s monster in the Hammer horror films, appeared in more than 250 movies.

    He was best-known for his villainous roles – including Scaramanga in James Bond and evil wizard Saruman in The Lord of the Rings.

    The actor’s other credits include The Wicker Man and Star Wars.

    The actor is reported to have died on Sunday at Chelsea and Westminster hospital in London, after being hospitalised for respiratory problems and heart failure.

  3. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:
    June 11, 2015 at 10:09 am

    British Nobel laureate quits job after “trouble with girls” remark

    A British Nobel laureate has resigned as a professor at a London university after saying women scientists should work in segregated laboratories.

    Tim Hunt, 72, was reported to have told a delegates at a conference in Seoul, South Korea, on Monday: “Let me tell you about my trouble with girls. Three things happen when they are in the lab: you fall in love with them, they fall in love with you and when you criticise them, they cry.”

    Hunt, who won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2001, also told the conference he had a reputation for being a chauvinist. He apologised on Wednesday saying he was being honest and had meant his comments to be light-hearted.

    • Beata's avatar Beata says:
      June 11, 2015 at 12:15 pm

      Hunt’s non-apologetic apology continues to show what an asshole he is. ( Hey, I’m just being honest! ) He’s so funny, maybe he can get a new job as a comedian.

      There are some great comments about Hunt from the “girls” in this article:

      http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-33090022

    • ANonOMouse's avatar ANonOMouse says:
      June 11, 2015 at 1:38 pm

      You know cause girls around keeps his mind from working to it’s full capacity and girls cry and stuff and he just can’t be Tim Terrific if he’s preoccupied with his penis. Everyone knows that the penis brain rules over all. And this guy is a Nobel Prize winner in Physiology? WTF is wrong with a Scientist who not only thinks this way, but has the gall to verbalize it?

      I know this sounds like I’m experiencing a very intense “mad at man” day if you add this to my comment above, but that’s not the case. I’m just tired of all the mansplaining about what women might see in a man and what a distraction women are in the workplace.

      My opinion is that Tim Hunt can no longer get a “girl” as he calls his female colleagues, or maybe his equipment is not working well, and that he’s teetering on the leading edge of Alzheimer’s. Whichever, he needs to STFU and go take a nap.

      • Beata's avatar Beata says:
        June 11, 2015 at 5:32 pm

        Hunt’s nose hair is really long. Probably the longest I’ve ever seen. A definite turn-on. /s

        • ANonOMouse's avatar ANonOMouse says:
          June 11, 2015 at 5:39 pm

          What? You straight women don’t like men who can braid their nose hair?

          • Delphyne49's avatar Delphyne49 says:
            June 11, 2015 at 6:21 pm

            Hahaha – that is just so gross! We may like dreds, but not from the nose! Y U K!

            Mouse – I love your comments, as I always do!

            Mad at men day – that’s pretty much any day for me these days! Maybe it’s my 65 years on this planet. I’m sick of mansplaining and I do not care what man is flapping his lips! I just wish they would just shut up – really! They are like noise pollution and all my eye rolling during allergy season is giving me one hell of a headache! 🙂

          • ANonOMouse's avatar ANonOMouse says:
            June 11, 2015 at 8:24 pm

            Thank you Delph. And I wish you’d comment more because I always love it when you do.

        • bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:
          June 11, 2015 at 9:36 pm

          You guys are making me laugh out loud!

          • NW Luna's avatar NW Luna says:
            June 11, 2015 at 11:31 pm

            I love all these SkyDancer comments about poor whiny Hunt who blames it all on the wimmenz!

        • Sweet Sue's avatar Sweet Sue says:
          June 12, 2015 at 11:19 am

          But, who cares as long as he well endowed, amirite?

  4. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:
    June 11, 2015 at 10:11 am

    Gene Lyons:

    Clinton Foundation ‘Scandals’ are all Smoke and Innuendo.

    • roofingbird's avatar roofingbird says:
      June 11, 2015 at 11:15 am

      Nicely done.

    • RalphB's avatar RalphB says:
      June 11, 2015 at 11:19 am

      Amazing to me how the Right and the Pro-Left now seem to agree that charity is not a good thing anymore. Interesting fact about the foundation’s big Saudi donor is that he’s also a major donor to St Judes Childrens Hospital and a lot of other US institutions. Wonder if they are also corrupted by his money? The lunacy caused by CDS knows no bounds.

    • ANonOMouse's avatar ANonOMouse says:
      June 11, 2015 at 1:55 pm

      Smoke and innuendo, whoda thunk it?

  5. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:
    June 11, 2015 at 11:24 am

    Courageous Texas cops shut down little girls’ lemonade stand.

    http://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/nation/2015/06/11/71057132/

  6. RalphB's avatar RalphB says:
    June 11, 2015 at 12:10 pm

    Apparently dealing with child molesters is rampant among RWNJs.

    buzzfeed: Co-Author Of Mike Huckabee Books Was Accused Of Child Molestation In Two Legal Cases

    John Perry, a prolific author who co-wrote two books with former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and co-wrote one with Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore, was accused of child molestation in two separate lawsuits, BuzzFeed News has found.

    A 2012 police investigation of Perry’s alleged offenses found that “the allegations of sexual battery were sustained” but that the statute of limitations had expired.
    …
    Those books are just a few of the titles produced with Perry’s help: He wrote For Faith & Family: Changing America by Strengthening the Family with Richard Land, the president of Southern Evangelical Seminary, a book with former Southern Baptist Convention president James T. Draper, as well as a book with Frank Page, the president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee. Perry even co-authored The Vow, the book made into a feature film starring Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum. Perry also lists writing two books for prominent pastor John F. MacArthur on his website. …

    • ANonOMouse's avatar ANonOMouse says:
      June 11, 2015 at 1:53 pm

      Last week it was Josh Duggar, this week it’s his Co-author. What’s a crazy-rightwing-bigot to do. I suppose he could go help his son brutalize another dog.

    • janey's avatar janey says:
      June 11, 2015 at 8:54 pm

      Don’t be surprised. There are a lot more of these guys out there than you can imagine. Almost every woman I have ever met since I was a teenager, has told me of being molested, raped, etc. And most of them, it was a family member.And most of them it was during their childhood. One woman was even from another country.

      • bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:
        June 11, 2015 at 9:37 pm

        Yup.

      • ANonOMouse's avatar ANonOMouse says:
        June 11, 2015 at 10:26 pm

        I agree. I know very few women who weren’t the victims of a sexual assault somewhere along the way. I have friends who were molested/raped by their Fathers, their Uncles and their Brothers. I have friends who were date raped. I also have a couple of friends who were molested by ministers. I’ve heard a couple of stories of women molested by cops. I was sexually assaulted by my boss, who was a big wheel at a Metropolitan Police Dept. I never had a desire to own a gun until that time. I’ve owned one ever since.

  7. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:
    June 11, 2015 at 12:26 pm

    Joyce Mitchell’s family members don’t believe she got Matt and Sweat the power tools or planned to be the getaway driver, according to CNN

    Meanwhile, her family is standing behind her, with her daughter-in-law telling CNN that “95% of what is being said” is not true.

    Paige Mitchell denied that her mother-in-law was to be the getaway driver and that she helped provide power tools used in the escape. She added that Matt may have persuaded her mother-in-law to contact people for him who knew about art, saying, “Her heart was in the right place.”

    “They don’t have the facts to prove this,” she said of Joyce Mitchell’s alleged involvement. “This is just slander and rumor.”

  8. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:
    June 11, 2015 at 5:09 pm

    They think those guys are still around the prison somewhere. What if they got lost in the woods?

    Manhunt focuses on prison area; Philly tip discredited

  9. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:
    June 11, 2015 at 5:22 pm

    Anti-Hillary Clinton Group Refuses to Change Name, Defying FEC Order

    The Federal Election Commission, which is tasked with enforcing campaign finance law, has ordered the Stop Hillary PAC to cease incorporating Mrs. Clinton’s name in its own or face penalties.

    At issue is a federal rule barring independent groups from incorporating or using the name of a candidate for federal office in their own names. The rule is designed to protect voters from mistaking independent groups such as PACs and super PACs with official campaigns….

    The FEC first sent a letter to Stop Hillary in April requesting it change its name, and followed up with a phone call threatening enforcement action this week, according to an attorney for the group. But the group is standing firm, arguing the freedom of speech protections afforded by the First Amendment to the Constitution shield it.

    Dan Backer, a lawyer for Stop Hillary, argues that the word “Stop” in the committee’s name already precludes any confusion and that no supporter of Mrs. Clinton would mistakenly send a donation to a group called “Stop Hillary.”

    “It is hard to fathom who exactly it is that is so lacking in basic concepts (perhaps not even knowing what the definition of ‘is’, is?) that to them the use of the verb ‘STOP’ immediately preceding the clear object to be stopped, ‘HILLARY’ demonstrates anything other than clear opposition to that object,” Mr. Backer wrote to the FEC on Thursday.

    Stop Hillary operates as what is sometimes called a hybrid PAC. It can spend unlimited sums of money like a super PAC but can also donate to campaigns and political parties. It was formed in 2013 and has raised more than $1 million through the end of 2014 — a modest sum for a group free to spend unlimited sums.

  10. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:
    June 11, 2015 at 5:27 pm

    Chris Cillizza still can’t understand why Bill Clinton won’t buy into the Village’s insinuations and innuendo about the Clinton Foundation and get all defensive.

    These 9 words prove that Bill Clinton still doesn’t get it on the Clinton Foundation

    The nine words are:

    “Has anybody proved that we did anything objectionable? No.”

    Cillizza then goes into a long rant filled with insinuations and innuendo.

    Get over it Chris, no one cares what you think.

    • Delphyne49's avatar Delphyne49 says:
      June 11, 2015 at 6:39 pm

      That comment is almost a haiku! Maybe we can counter with Haikus for Hillary 2016 like the Godzilla haikus I see on FB (which make me laugh!).

      Cilizza long rant
      Filled with insinuations
      Get over it, Chris!

    • NW Luna's avatar NW Luna says:
      June 11, 2015 at 11:36 pm

      Well, that just proves that Cillizza is a faith-based journalist.

  11. Beata's avatar Beata says:
    June 11, 2015 at 7:20 pm

    Brentwood, TN HOA covers its Federal law-breaking ass by apologizing to disabled man and his wife:

    http://www.wsmv.com/story/29301394/hoa-apologizes-for-asking-family-to-remove-wheelchair-ramp

    • bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:
      June 11, 2015 at 8:23 pm

      A-holes.

    • ANonOMouse's avatar ANonOMouse says:
      June 11, 2015 at 8:26 pm

      They caught hell from most of Middle TN. The property management company manages a lot of properties and is always competing for more, they can’t afford the bad publicity.

    • NW Luna's avatar NW Luna says:
      June 11, 2015 at 11:38 pm

      Ought to be tied to a wheelchair and made to do laps on stairs. What is it with callous people who can’t put themselves in someone else’s place and understand?

    • Fannie's avatar Fannie says:
      June 12, 2015 at 9:56 am

      Yesterday, I called to support the Broadnax family (could not get through, mailbox was full). I also called the home owners association and there main message to me “was that they (Broadnax) need prior approval” and did not go through the correct tunnel.

      In this article I see exactly what was said to me by Cory at the Ghetner and Co. managers of HOA office. “They needed approval by the homeowners association’s architectural review committee.” It’s that so tidy and official. In my conversation I mentioned that they were violating the Federal Disability Act laws, and I asked them had they filed the paperwork to sue this couple. He said he couldn’t tell me that. I assume, I could connect with the court house there to see the documents.

      Now, I am seeing a “comprise”. The HOA, is chock full of people making idiotic decisions about the people who buy into there housing, thinking they are going to be taken care of. That’s the last thing they will do. Saying you are sorry, is one thing, but injustice is another.

      Thank you Beata…………..

      • Fannie's avatar Fannie says:
        June 12, 2015 at 10:42 am

        Forgot, let Marsha Blackburn know that she is just down from the street from where these people are located, and that she needs to pay a visit to the couple, and bring a letter of support for them, and then pay a visit to the Woodlands at Copperstone Homeowners Association. I also let her office know that her gg grandmother Laura Wedgeworth, would expect nothing less than help at the end of her life, with her disabilities. I think that surprised her.

      • Beata's avatar Beata says:
        June 12, 2015 at 10:43 am

        Thank you, Fannie.

        The ADA trumps any HOA rules. I would love to see the Broadnax family sue the pants off Ghetner & Co. That HOA needs to go down a long dark legal tunnel.

        • roofingbird's avatar roofingbird says:
          June 12, 2015 at 1:25 pm

          The only caveat I would bring to this discussion of ADA fiasco, is that there are code requirements regulating how ramps are to be built, and where they are to be built. For example: ramps should have no more than a 1 in 12″ drop, meaning that for every inch of slope the ramp has to extend one foot. Ramps cannot obstruct egress of a building, because egress is a fire and safety issue for all occupants.

          Ramps usually must be permitted, because though they seem a simple thing, there are many building requirements to be met.

          It doesn’t appear that permitting happened and I can’t tell for sure by the picts, but the ramp appears steep.

          Maybe this HOA is different, but most I know are responsible for all exterior edifices and landscaping. That would put ramp building directly in their purview. My question is why the homeowners failed to address the HOA first?

        • roofingbird's avatar roofingbird says:
          June 12, 2015 at 1:47 pm

          Here is an example of some of the laws regarding ADA and HOAs:
          http://hoalaw.tinnellylaw.com/2012/05/disabled-residents-and-the-leg.html

          Though it would be nice, we aren’t at the point where even all new housing is uniformly ADA compliant. Existing housing and other buildings are a long way out from compliance. It is worth it, even mandatory, to advocate for better compliance.

        • roofingbird's avatar roofingbird says:
          June 12, 2015 at 2:55 pm

          Some states only require business licenses for contractors…not contractors licenses for which they are tested on code compliance. Thus, an otherwise perfectly competent contractor may be ignorant of ADA code. Under these circumstances either an architect or engineer would be hired and he or she would verify code compliance. When the homeowner orders a project on their own, they may be assuming this responsibility for the project.

  12. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:
    June 11, 2015 at 8:25 pm

    Some good news!

    Cleveland judge finds probable cause for murder charge in Tamir Rice shooting

    Activists and others had filed affidavits in Cleveland Municipal Court this week seeking charges against Cleveland police officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback for Rice’s death.

    Ronald B. Adrine, a Cleveland municipal judge, wrote in an administrative order released Thursday that in his opinion Loehmann should be charged with murder, involuntary manslaughter and reckless homicide. He also wrote that Garmback should be charged with negligent homicide.

    However, Adrine noted in his order that his role was “advisory in nature,” stating that it is up to prosecutors to decide if they will file charges against the officers involved. Adrine said prosecutors would be notified about the charges for which he found probable cause.

  13. janicen's avatar janicen says:
    June 12, 2015 at 7:47 am

    Hillary is going to tell her mother’s story when she officially launches her campaign this weekend. What a remarkable person Dorothy Rodham was to have endured so much rejection and so many challenges during her own childhood, and then to break that cycle and raise such a generous, loving, and gifted daughter.

    • NW Luna's avatar NW Luna says:
      June 12, 2015 at 9:20 am

      What strength of heart Dorothy Rodham had! To endure such betrayal from her mother and grandmother, yet be such a compassionate, strong mother herself.

      • bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:
        June 12, 2015 at 11:08 am

        That was an amazing story. It brought tears to my eyes. My grandmother was sent away as a child too. She was farmed out to relatives and treated like a servant. She married my grandfather at 16, probably partially to escape her situation. She did maintain a relationship with her mother though. I don’t know all the details.

        My mother ended up having aunts who were younger than she was, because my grandmother was having a family while her mother was still having kids.

        Does anyone know what time Hillary’s speech is going to be?

        • Beata's avatar Beata says:
          June 12, 2015 at 11:51 am

          The speech will be held on Roosevelt Island in NY. It will start at 11:00 am EDT tomorrow ( Saturday, June 13 ). There will be a livestream ( check Hillary’s Facebook page for the link ) and C-SPAN will broadcast it live as well.

          • NW Luna's avatar NW Luna says:
            June 12, 2015 at 2:08 pm

            Damn. I have a conference on Sat for work. I’m depending on my SkyDancer friends to comment up a storm so I can catch it later.

    • Fannie's avatar Fannie says:
      June 12, 2015 at 9:58 am

      I can’t wait to hear and see Hillary. Go Sister Go. Hope we can cover it here!

  14. Beata's avatar Beata says:
    June 12, 2015 at 11:29 am

    Hillary’s new campaign video:

    • bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:
      June 12, 2015 at 11:45 am

      I’m in tears again. I can see this is going to be a very emotional election for me. Thanks, Beata.

    • bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:
      June 12, 2015 at 11:53 am

      Here’s a good article on Hillary’s planned speech at Business Insider.

      Hillary Clinton’s message to America: ‘It is your time’

      Clinton will identify what she considers the central question of the 2016 race: whether you are advocating everyday Americans. Clinton will then preview a set of domestic policies she plans to detail further in a series of announcements over the next few months.

      The fourth element of Clinton’s speech will involve her casting the 2016 election as a starkly clear choice between her ideas and Republicans’ policies. She will cast the GOP as being focused on trickle-down economics and outdated social policies, the official said.

    • NW Luna's avatar NW Luna says:
      June 12, 2015 at 2:03 pm

      Brought tears to my eyes too. “Women’s rights are human rights.” “I think you know by now that I don’t quit.”
      Really good video on her long history of achievements and hard work. And OMG a gay! couple /s
      It’s time.

  15. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:
    June 12, 2015 at 12:51 pm

    Charles Pierce mocks Chris Cillizza’s piece castigating Bill Clinton.

    True Tales of the Hard-Boiled: Chris Cillizza Is Not Fooled.

    Hard-boiled journalistic gumshoe Chris Cillizza of The Washington Post, lay minister in the Church of the Savvy, is not fooled by your empirical truth….

    This is the latest in a string of statements by the former president that suggest he still doesn’t grasp why the Clinton Foundation questions continue to swirl and, because of that lack of understanding, remains unable to effectively parry them.

    Why does he laugh at their mighty sword?

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