Cactus Thorns

If there was one person David Alster never wanted to see again, it was Laura Lee Medley.Yet, somehow, he always knew he would.

From 1999 to 2000, Alster guarded Medley, a shrewd con artist, while she served time in an Arizona jail. She wasn't violent or mentally ill, but Alster, a commander with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, said she was one of the most contemptible prisoners he had ever come across.

Alster was so disturbed by Medley's behavior, in fact, that he personally kept her inmate records from being routinely destroyed by the Arizona Department of Corrections.

"I took her files," said Alster, who has since retired. "I've had them in my bedroom for six years now."

Two weeks ago, Alster read media reports that Medley, 36, had been arrested in Las Vegas after being accused of fraudulently suing several Southern California cities including Long Beach over alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. When police arrived to arrest her, she leapt from her wheelchair and ran.

Alster dug out his files.

"I knew she would pop up somewhere," he said.

Now awaiting trial in a Rancho Cucamonga jail, Medley has spent most of her adult life concocting and carrying out a series of outrageous scams against individuals, businesses and cities throughout the Western United States, according to court records and interviews with law enforcement.

In Arizona, she was accused of impersonating a county prosecutor, manufacturing a rape charge in an attempt to extort her freedom from jail officials, and swindling $20,000 from a waiter and father of four whom she had befriended in her early 20s. More

Study this...

Tonight we have two official things on the agenda over at city Hall, 3.1 Downtown Specific Plan – Discussion and 3.2 Citywide Traffic Study – Preliminary Findings. They are calling it a study session. I do believe they will study these subjects to death.

Tonight also marks the beginning of the end to the infamous Swigart Era. Thirty Days to go and counting. With Michael Tree taking over as City Manager we see bright things ahead. We hope that he streamlines our local government as he did at MBTA. We wish the New City Manager well.

Twentynine Palms: IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN CASUALTIES

Marine Staff Sgt. Donald C. May Jr., 31, of Twentynine Palms, died March 25, Twentynine Palms
Marine Cpl. Jesus "Hugo" A. Gonzalez, 22, of Indio, died April 12, Twentynine Palms

Army Sgt. Troy D. Jenkins, 25, of Twentynine Palms, died April 24, Fort Campbell, Ky

Marine Lance Cpl. Jason A. Tetrault, 20, of Moreno Valley, died July 9, Twentynine Palms

Marine Lance Cpl. John James Vangyzen IV, 21, of Twentynine Palms, died July 5, Twentynine Palms

Marine Lance Cpl. Nicholas Wilt, 23, of Twentynine Palms, died Sept. 3, Twentynine Palms

Marine Maj. Alan Rowe, 35, of Yucca Valley, died Sept. 3, Twentynine Palms

Marine Lance Cpl. Aaron R. Boyles, 24, of Twentynine Palms, died Sept. 24, Twentynine Palms

Marine Pfc. Kenneth L. Sickels, 20, of Apple Valley, died Sept. 27, Twentynine Palms

Marine Sgt. Zachariah S. Davis, 25, of Twentynine Palms, died Jan. 6, Twentynine Palms

Army Spc. Timothy D. Watkins, 24, of Yucca Valley, died Oct. 15, Fort Benning, Ga.

Marine Lance Cpl. Scott A. Zumbowski, 20, of Twentynine Palms, died Nov. 12, Twentynine Palms

A Complete list from local military installations click here

Five candidates seek Republican nomination

Largely in San Bernardino County, the 65th Assembly District resembles an eastward-pointing gun, the butt cutting into Riverside County. It is full of dissimilar communities, ranging from Big Bear Mountain including parts of Menifee Valley and Winchester.

But there seems to be a few issues common to all residents in the conglomerated district: illegal immigration, exploding growth and congested freeways. Those three issues largely define the platforms of the candidates running for the seat being vacated by Assemblyman Russ Bogh, the second-ranking Republican in the state Assembly.

The candidates seeking the Republican nomination, which will be determined by voters June 6, are San Jacinto councilman and businessman Jim Ayers, Yucca Valley Town Councilman Paul Cook, Hemet Mayor Robin Lowe, legislative aide Brenda Salas and Hemet businessman Ken Smith. The lone Democrat seeking Bogh's seat ---- and thus, the party's nominee by default ---- is retired educator Rita Ramirez-Dean. The Republican nominee will face Ramirez-Dean Nov. 7. More to this Story

Last Civil War Vets

Albert Woolson was born on February 11, 1847 in Antwerp, 22 miles northeast of Watertown, N.Y. On October 10, 1864 he enlisted in Company C, of the First Minnesota Volunteer Heavy Artillery. He received his discharge on September 7, 1865. Mr. Woolson died on August 2,1956 in Duluth, MN at 109 years of age.

For more information on Albert Woolson, please visit the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War website.

Taps sounded Monday night, 31 December 1951, for Colonel Pleasant Riggs Crump. Just as the old year was breathing its last, so did Colonel Crump. Nearly 86 years had passed since the guns of war were stilled. The last of Alabama's gray-clad warriors who battled valiantly under the Stars and Bars in the War between the States had quietly gone to the last great Camping Grounds, joining many thousands of his gallant comrades in gray, in the Valhalla of heros where they will be together for all eternity. Colonel Crump died in Lincoln, Alabama, a town oddly enough bearing the same name of the Commander-in-Chief of the United Forces against whom he had fought. More

Grand Army of the Republic

In 1866, Union Veterans of the Civil War organized into the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) and became a social and political force that would control the destiny of the nation for more than six decades. Membership in the veterans' organization was restricted to individuals who had served in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, or Revenue Cutter Service during the Civil War, thereby limiting the life span of the GAR. The GAR existed until 1956.

In 1881 the GAR formed the Sons of Veterans of the United States of America (SV) to carry on its traditions and memory long after the GAR had ceased to exist. Membership was open to any man who could prove ancestry to a member of the GAR or to a veteran eligible for membership in the GAR. In later years, men who did not have the ancestry to qualify for hereditary membership, but who demonstrated a genuine interest in the Civil War and could subscribe to the purpose and objectives of the SUVCW, were admitted as Associates. This practice continues today.

Many GAR Posts sponsored Camps of the SV. In 1925 the SV name was changed to Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW), under which its federal charter was issued in 1954. The SUVCW is legally recognized as the heir to, and representative of, the GAR. MORE

Memorial Day

In 1865, Henry C. Welles, a druggist in the village of Waterloo, NY, mentioned at a social gathering that honor should be shown to the patriotic dead of the Civil War by decorating their graves.

In the Spring of 1866, he again mentioned this subject to General John B. Murray, Seneca County Clerk. General Murray embraced the idea and a committee was formulated to plan a day devoted to honoring the dead.

Townspeople adopted the idea wholeheartedly. Wreaths, crosses and bouquets were made for each veteran's grave. The village was decorated with flags at half mast and draped with evergreen boughs and mourning black streamers.

On May 5, 1866, civic societies joined the procession to the three existing cemeteries and were led by veterans marching to martial music. At each cemetery there were impressive and lengthy services including speeches by General Murray and a local clergyman. The ceremonies were repeated on May 5, 1867.

The first official recognition of Memorial Day as such was issued by General John A. Logan, first commander of the Grand Army of the Republic. This was General Order No. 11 establishing "Decoration Day" as it was then known. The date of the order was May 5, 1868, exactly two years after Waterloo's first observance. That year Waterloo joined other communities in the nation by having their ceremony on May 30. MORE

Nyah, Nyah, I'm a better Republican than you

As a sometimes independent but oft-times Democrat I can observe the race for our 65th Assembly District with passionless objectivity and amusement.

Each of the leading Republican candidates is attempting to outdo the other with larger signs and claims to be the better Republican. Jim Ayres is campaigning as a “Conservative Republican.”

Brenda Salas is campaigning as a “Reagan Republican.”

I find it interesting that neither one is claiming to be a Bush Republican.

I met and conversed with Brenda Salas on a number of occasions and found her to be a pleasant and likeable young lady.

Some claim she is politically naïve which may be true. However she is politically astute enough to have realized that anyone with political ambitions in the Inland Empire cannot achieve that goal as a Democrat, so she expediently converted to the GOP.

Click It or Ticket

California Highway Patrol officers will be cracking down on motorists not wearing seat belts during the agency's "Click It or Ticket" campaign that begins this holiday weekend.

The campaign, aimed at saving people's lives by stressing the importance of wearing seat belts, runs until June 4 across state highways.

The maximum fine for seat belt violations for persons 16 and older is $91 for a first offense and about $193 for a second offense, according to a CHP news release.

If you can't control your campaign, how you going to run a State?

I can hear "Chesty" Puller rolling in his grave, for he was without a doubt the most outspoken Marine, the most famous Marine, the Marine who really loved to fight, the most decorated Marine in the history of the Corps. being awarded 52 ribbons and medals - he was awarded the Navy Cross an amazing FIVE TIMES - the Navy Cross is the second highest award a Marine can be awarded, it is only outranked by the Medal of Honor.

Famous? This nut couldn't hold a candle to "Pappy" Boyington, Major Smedley Darlington Butler, Gunnery Sergeant Daniel J. Daly, "Mr. Leatherneck" MGST Leland "Lou" Diamond, John Glenn, Ira Hayes, John Archer Lejeune, Sergeant Chuck Mawhinney, John Philip "The March King" Sousa, General Alexander A. Vandegrift, and many many more.

And then there is Charles Whitman and Lee Harvey Oswald, for Christ sakes, much better shots and a hell of a lot more famous. This guy couldn't carry any of the above's ditty bags.

Yep the guy is a complete loon, and this Loon is backing Paul Cook for the Assembly. For that reason alone I'm shying away from Cook.

Hi-Desert Star: Hart's heart is in his pocketbook

Here is a letter to the editor of the Hi-Desert Star that never made it to the Trail......

Open letter to Stacy Hart: Regarding his suggestion that he might move his golf course housing projects from Twentynine Palms “to another, perhaps unincorporated, area of the Morongo Basin ... whatever is easiest” (“Projects' future in Twentynine Palms doubtful”, Hi-Desert Star May 6). It is obvious from this statement that he cares only about his pocket and not at all about the community, the environment or sound, rational development.
More of this story

Fraud alerts suggested for veterans

The California Department of Consumer Affairs is recommending that veterans place a fraud alert on their credit reports following an announcement Monday that millions of veterans nationwide were at risk of identity theft.

Alerts last for 90 days and make it more difficult for someone to open credit under your name, said Russ Heimerich, a department spokesman. MORE

Creative Financing?

6.5 Pay Off Note on Theatre 29 Property
RECOMMENDATION: The City Council authorize staff to pay off the note on Theatre 29 and the adjoining 17 acres.

Where is that money coming from? Bucky Bucklin park is not complete as promised. Where is the Bucklin Park money going? A little creative financing going on?

Not one penny of the State Grant for Buckin Park should be used for the pay off.

Then we have:

10.2 Donation Of Art Work To The City
RECOMMENDATION: The City Council approve the donation and installation of artwork by Chuck Caplinger titled “Twentynine Palms.”

Hell this combined with 6.5 it sounds just like a "payoff." The in crowd gets their own private park and we get this painting.... what a deal.

Why not eBay^(C) the "artwork" and see if it will cover the mortgage on the Theater instead?

You mean all any of us had to do was to weld a couple of chunks of metal together or slap some paint on a piece of T1-11, call it "Twentnine Palms" and presto we could get it our way? Joey warm up the welder, there's a week left, we've got some politicing to do.

Two Die over weekend on Amboy Rd.

A driver believed to be a 51 year old, male resident of Cadiz California was driving his 2001 Ford F150 Extended Cab, south on Amboy Road, 5.9 miles north of Ironage Road. A Nissan Pathfinder going northbound drifted into the southbound lane. The Nissan swerved back into the northbound lane but the Car Hauler Trailer, being towed by the Nissan impacted the front of the Ford. The Ford caught fire with the driver and two passengers trapped inside. A party from the Nissan pulled a female passenger to safety from the Ford. The driver and a male passenger believed to be a 44 year old male from Cadiz California, were pronounced dead at the scene after the Twenty-nine Palms Fire Department arrived and extinguished the flames. The names of the decedent's are being withheld pending positive identification of the remains. CHP is investigating the collision. [052206 0730 GB]

Today is the last day to Register to Vote

You will have to register to vote by today to be eligible to vote in the June Primary.

Man charged with stealing neighbor's entire front yard

ADELANTO, Calif. -- It was a sod story for a Mojave Desert homeowner whose entire front yard -- grass, bushes and sprinklers -- was hauled away by a thief.

The homeowner phoned deputies to report that the yard in front of his home, which is under construction, was gone, San Bernardino County sheriff's spokeswoman Staci Johnson said Tuesday.

Witnesses told the homeowner they saw the thief taking the sod, plants and irrigation system to a nearby residence, Johnson said.

Simi Valley puts limits on use of eminent domain

The city council approved a resolution last week that prohibits Simi Valley from using eminent domain against residential property owners, except when widening streets and providing public facilities and infrastructure.

A public agency must pay the owner a just price for the property when using eminent domain.

"I want to thank Glen (Becerra) for pushing that issue," Mayor Paul Miller said. "I think it puts people at ease."

Hidden in plain sight

Edward Barrera, San Bernardino Sun

The lengths some public agencies go to hinder the public's access can at times reach comical proportions, whether it's a county counsel asking for nearly $1,800 to review documents, or a school district lawyer delaying release of documents because of a "vacation" exemption.

There is no such thing as a "vacation" exemption in the California Public Records Act, and public agencies cannot charge an individual to review documents.

"Public agencies I would say most willfully impose impediments to discourage the public from getting clearly public records," said Richard McKee, president of Californians Aware, a public-access advocacy group. "They are doing it all the time, and it makes it painful to make any kind of review for what the agency is doing."

Californians Aware ran into strange moments itself when it conducted a public records compliance audit of 31 state agencies this year, with most failing. One agency charged $52 to retrieve documents, McKee said. The dismal results even produced worse transgressions by several agencies, including the Department of Justice, that did not even allow the auditor, McKee's 18-year-old son Ryan, into the building.

The disgraceful findings prompted Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, to sponsor a bill to impose harsher penalties against agencies and their employees who willfully disregard public-record requests. More

Desert Trail: Red curb debate continues

TWENTYNINE PALMS - The possibility of red paint on a curb along the highway in downtown Twentynine Palms was the source of some contention at last week's City Council meeting.

In the end, Councilman Steve Spear, who had pushed to restrict parking on the highway at Tamarisk, opted to wait for results of a traffic study, which had been due in May but will likely not be ready until late May or late June.

“For some reason this has labored on and dragged on,” Spear said at the Tuesday, May 9, City Council meeting. “We could discuss the merits of this till the cows come home.”

At issue was the question of traffic and pedestrian safety on the highway downtown, a question which Spear said he could solve with “a gallon of red paint.” More

A Crucial Development in the Battle Over Eminent Domain

It looks like we will have an eminent domain reform measure on the November ballot that will not only stop the seizure of private property for private gain, but will also require government to compensate property owners for any reduction in their property’s value that government causes.

Sponsors of the “Protect Our Homes” initiative are submitting a million signatures to county registrars, which should be more than enough to secure a place on the November ballot. This is the measure that I promoted through direct mail and automated phone calls, and I want to thank all of you who responded to my appeal.

This measure does most of what I set out to accomplish after the Supreme Court’s notorious Kelo decision, but also goes the next logical step to address cases where the government doesn’t actually take your property, but makes it impossible for you to use it--a distinction without much of a difference. A similar provision has passed twice in Oregon and was recently upheld by that state’s Supreme Court.

This is a major step toward restoring the Fifth Amendment property rights protections in the American Bill of Rights, and I will be very vocal in support of this measure in coming months.

About the Writer: Senator Tom McClintock of Thousand Oaks represents California's 19th Senatorial District. He was a candidate for governor in the recall election of 2003.

Whose space?

There’s the Victorville roofer with 81 MySpace friends and street racer-themed Web page who describes himself as an athletic single father.

According to the California Department of Justice’s Megan’s Law Web site, he’s been found guilty of oral sex with a person under 16 years of age, sexually penetrating a minor with a foreign object and annoying or molesting a child.

There’s the lanky poet living in Hesperia whose hero is Stephen, the first Christian martyr. His MySpace page doesn’t mention his conviction for annoying or molesting a child.

In July 2005, Rupert Murdoch’s New Corp. purchased MySpace.com, a social networking Web site incredibly popular with teenagers, for $580 million. Murdoch was eager to advertise to the site’s audience of more than 70 million users. The site has twice as many page views a month as search engine giant Google.

MySpace users create and edit their own pages, send instant messages back and forth or post short messages on one another’s pages. And they spend a lot of time making new friends, which the Web site keeps track of on each user’s personal page.

And, according to the founders, the number of users is growing by 5 million every month. The Victorville roofer is not alone in having his own page on both MySpace.com and MegansLaw.Ca.Gov: More

What's up at the Planning Commission

6.0 PUBLIC HEARING -
6.1 PC 05-80 – An application by Tommy Hart of Barrett Hart Development for approval of Tentative Tract Map 17798, the subdivision of 97.4 gross acres into 336 lots for future development of 336 single-family residences. The project islocated on a vacant and previously unimproved site, east of Mesquite Springs Road and north of Two Mile Road, on APN # 621-031-04, 621-031-26. The site iszoned RS-4. The project proposes density of 3.5 dwelling units per acre, which is less than the maximum density of 4.0 dwelling units per acre allowed by theGeneral Plan.
Recommendation: That the Planning Commission adopt the Mitigated Negative Declaration and De Minimis Impact finding pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and approve the project, subject to conditions of approval.

6.2 PC 05-102 – An application by Robert Lawrence on behalf of HD Subdivision for approval of Tentative Tract Map 17855, the subdivision of 4.3 acres into 13 lots for future development of 13 single-family residences. The project is located on avacant and previously unimproved site, east of Copper Mountain Road and north of Alta Loma Drive and west of Ivanpah Avenue on APN # 0614-031-11. The site is zoned RS-4. The project proposes density of 3.02 dwelling units per acre, which is less than the maximum density of 4.0 dwelling units per acre allowed by the General Plan.

Recommendation: That the Planning Commission adopt the Mitigated Negative Declaration and De Minimis Impact finding pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and approve the project, subject to conditions of approval. MORE

Let's let the People Decide

HQBN receives new sergeant major

MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. (May 9, 2006) -- The Marines and Sailors of Headquarters Battalion bid farewell to Sgt. Maj. Victor H. Martin and welcomed aboard their new sergeant major, Sgt. Maj. Nicholas “Bo” Bourikas, in a relief and appointment ceremony at the Combat Center’s parade field May 9.

Martin will continue his career as the sergeant major of 1st Marine Logistics Group at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Martin, a 43-year-old native of Tacoma, Wash., enlisted in the Marine Corps in May 1985, and graduated boot camp from Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego. Then he trained for the military occupational specialty, infantryman, at the Infantry Training School, Camp Pendleton. A few of Martin’s assignments include Marine Security Guard, reconnaissance Marine, drill instructor and assistant Marine officer instructor at the University of Washington. MORE

Politicians Pose for Public, Public Poised to Pitch Them All Out of Office

President calls for 6,000 National Guard members to be deployed along Mexican border as part of reform package MORE

The Democrat Response was confusing. I was unable to tell if they backed the plan or not.

My opinion it was Posturing of the highest order from both ends of the Capital Lawn.

SANTA PAULA: Voter Approval of Large Projects Cleared By Court

SANTA PAULA, Calif. (AP) - A state appellate court cleared the way for a measure to be placed on the November ballot that would require voter approval of large development projects.

Judges with the 2nd District Court of Appeal said Tuesday that supporters of the measure properly gathered signatures to get it on a ballot.

In May 2005, Santa Paula's city clerk ruled there were enough valid signatures but said the measure violated state law by not clearly explaining how the city's General Plan could be affected.

On Monday, the City Council was expected to discuss whether to appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court or place it on the November ballot, City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz said. LINK

A Better Plan?

There has been a great deal of talk here and in other venues of supporting the General Plan for Twentynine Palms. I thought I would take a few minutes and review some of the statements and realities of all the dust kicked up by the most vocal proponents of the General Plan.

Smart Growth 29s Nicole Panter said in a August 3, 2005 Desert Trail letter to the editor, "Our General Plan was tailored to a projected 100,000 person build-out and we are presently only at a population of 26,000. The General Plan is working exactly the way it should be and as a result, we have years to go before we even need to consider altering any present density designations."

Actually the plan calls for 105,000 build out. That would mean 30,000 new homes built across the valley floor.

Recently, rock-climbing guide Tristan Sieleman, 28, led a group to the top of some massive boulders that overlook Indian Cove.

He doesn't think climbers would care much for gazing out over a golf course, busy street and more than a thousand new rooftops.

"They come to the park to get away from it all," Sieleman said. "Otherwise they would just stay home."

Well I hate to break it to Mr. Sieleman but he is going to really be bummed when he looks out at 30,000 new roof tops filling the valley and 5 times the population if we build out to the "General Plan."

The Preamble of the General Plan says the city will become a retirement and Recreational community. Apparently Recreation does not seem to include in the "29 style" Smart Growth concept, golf, Off Road Recreation, within walking distance child friendly Parks, or green belts. Nor does it consider the changing world of energy conservation or local shopping needs of those hundreds of new neighborhoods that will be created.

Apparently we are also to at all cost save the sacred cow of the Old Downtown in direct conflict with the logical progression of the proposed growth patterns of the again sacred General Plan.

"What's been done in Southern California doesn't seem sustainable," she said of urban sprawl that now reaches well into the Mojave Desert. "People don't have to live like that. I don't want to live like that." Yet, she is all for the present General Plan, 30,000 additional homes and 105,000 more people?

Panter has said, "It's not our responsibility to ensure that any one developer or Realtor makes a financial killing at the expense of our resources and our way of life." Yet recently she supported a builder right across the street from her property by supporting a deviation from the General Plan's Development Codes that would allow the builder to not have to pave roads, designated a future collector. Saving the builder 10s of thousands of dollars. I'm not sure that is consistent with her public stance on the strict adherence to the General Plan.

"Indulging a developer and allowing exceptions to the general plan that increase density outside the planned areas will lead to infrastructure and re-source inefficiencies and inefficiencies that would be much more costly to the city, i.e. the taxpayers," stated naturalist and conservationist Pat Flanagan. "In short, it's called 'stupid growth,'" But then wasn't that exactly what she and others did on the 58 home project off Encelia and Two Mile?

I read where Sherry Hall, 31, a voice teacher, said concerning the golf club projects, "It will become a city of walls and exclusive cliques." Maybe she is unaware that the last three projects approved by the Planning Commission are requiring each to have Homeowner Associations and CC&Rs. That pretty well is a Balkinization of the city if I ever heard of one.

So what is the problem?

It seems to me that the General Plan is only as good as it was on the day it was approved. It is a "General" plan. A rough guess on what the future holds. I think we all have a lot of questions today if in fact the present General Plan still has relevancy to the changing realities of the real world. Remember, the best laid plans of mice and men are soon put asunder.

I think Stevie Wonder can see that the present General Plan is not working. If it were, we would not be spending so much time arguing about the damned thing.

I think we need to stop, take a breath, and then decide where we want to go from here. Do we want to be a city of 105,000? How important is open space? Do we concentrate our population in a core area or do we spread it out over the entire city limits? Should we spread the commercial zone out to service neighborhoods or do we force people to drive into the city core? And a thousand other questions that have been raised over time and as conditions have changed.

Let us stop using the General Plan as a political weapon and start using it to develop a community we can all live with. Obviously the present plan is not what we ALL need or want. Lets work on a better plan.

Grifter ditches wheelchair in run from cops

Laura Lee Medley, 35, had been making a name -- and a living -- for herself battling discrimination against wheelchair-bound folks.

The cops in Las Vegas finally caught on to her act last week and Medley was arrested. Yesterday she began complaining that she needed medical attention, so the cops took her to the hospital.

"That's where the great miracle occurred," said David Wert, spokesman for San Bernardino County.

"She gets to the hospital and while she's waiting for an examination, she gets up from the chair and runs," said Long Beach prosecutor Belinda Mayes.

The chase didn't last long, Medley's legs were probably atrophied from all that wheeling around. MORE

State Immunity laws trumped by the federal civil-rights act

RIVERSIDE - The city of San Bernardino must pay $1.4 million to the owners of Flesh Club for losses they suffered while the city tried to shut down the all-nude venue, a state appellate court ruled Thursday.

A three-judge panel for the 4th District Court of Appeal in Riverside affirmed a jury's decision to award damages for losses the Flesh Club suffered when city officials ordered it to stop nude dancing from 1995 to 1999. The city is also liable for interest on the verdict, as well as attorney's fees and interest on the attorney's fees, said attorney Roger Jon Diamond, who represented the club's owner, Manta Management.

"This is a major victory," Diamond said by telephone. "Not just for the strip club, but for everybody.

"What it holds is that state immunity laws are trumped by the federal civil-rights act." MORE

Who says the Double Standard is dead?

This is a tale of how special interest and special favor makes it bad on everyone, the taxpayer, the builder and the potential homeowner.

Home builders like to build homes. The more the merrier. More homes per acre the more money to be made per square foot. In this case the area off Two Mile and Encelia East of the proposed project is what we all might consider high density, well at least as high a density as we are used to in Twentynine Palms. We're pretty sure the builder had every intent to follow suit and build to the same density.

Recently, a 58 home project was approved by the Planning Commission. To get approval the builder had to make a deal with the devil. 58 homes on about 60 acres. The tentative map shows a road to nowhere. Instead of a logical continuation of the common grid system of the town this road ends up on a "Road Of Many Names." It serpents across the 60 acres dumping into the desert in an area that is in line with Sunrise Rd. Possibly triggering the need for curbs and gutters at the Church at Two Mile and Sunrise. A project that the congregation of that church can ill afford.

Instead of the logical extension of Samarkand by dog-legging the road to the north by 40 feet to preserve the Twentynine Palms Cemetery and connect the project to the existing street system, the builder is force to make concessions to one property owner.

We get from one poster, "It is currently a very little used road and should remain that way -- who wants traffic whizzing by during their loved ones funeral." As if the dead are not resting as peacefully at Mountain View out on the 62. I have never heard the dead complain about progress. This disturbing the dead issue is insulting to me, as members of my family are buried there and were great proponents of growth and the success of this town.

But the poster is right. It is a "very little used road." So by golly we went to the records to find out who might be using that little used road. Lo and behold it would seem that the most vocal "Save the General Plan" proponent in town is the primary beneficiary of keeping Samarkand a little used road. Hell you might say more like a personal driveway.

All this ballyhoo and attacking anyone who might question the project turns out to be less about saving the General Plan and more about keeping one persons space unassailable from us poor working folks. This turns out to be NIMBY-ism of the most base kind.

Who do you think this might be? Well I'm going to let you find out yourself. The below files are right from the County Records. The Maps (1

) (2

) (3

) and the best part of all the who we are talking about

. You decide. (all these files are opened with Adobe Acrobat) If these files don't work for you, go look up APN 0612-211-36-0000 on the County Assessors web site.

The project once completed in its present form will be a potential fire trap for homeowners as it has been made painfully clear to me by our Fire Chief. Modern Fire Apparatus requires full all weather roads to provide today's standards of emergency response. We deserve a consistantly logical street grid pattern and the potential homeowner deserves to know a fire truck can get to him or her.

This is not a call for a cancellation of the project concept, we're all for the project. This is a call for a common sense approach to the implementation of the General Plan. This is a call for fairness. This kind of special teatment to appease the self appointed upper crust, has to come to an end.

Planning Commission to revisit 58 Home Project

When the Twentynine Palms Planning Commission gave its approval on Tuesday, May 2, to a tentative tract map which foresees construction of 58 homes and two retention basins on 60 acres west of Encelia and north of Two Mile Road, there was some important an critical information that would have meant a automatic denial missing in the presentation.

We have learned that the Planning Commission may be revisiting the proposal in a June meeting.

Council Plants Tree In City Hall

We would like to congratulate Michael Tree for being chosen for the position of City Manager.

Being known for our twisted humor, we thought we would get these all out of the way before Mike takes on his new job with the city. Well we spared no expense to discredit Mike. We went right to the source and Googled up the latest stories on this "Tree" fellow.

We could go on but you get the idea. We actually like Mr. Tree. You can call this one a win for the good guys. We are pleased with the choice which should scare the crap out of the opposition. We understand that besides the fact that Mr. Tree actually has an accredited college education, he has a sense of humor. We wish him well and hope he is able to bring harmony back to the town.

Pick Up Your Own Crap

Politics has a math of its own. Whereas a scientifically minded person might see things this way: One person who says 2+2=5 is an idiot; two people who think 2+2=5 are two idiots; and a million people who think 2+2=5 are a whole lot of idiots—political math works differently. Let’s work backwards: if a million people think 2+2=5, then they are not a million idiots, but a “constituency.” If they are growing in number, they are also a “movement.” And, if you were not only the first person to proclaim 2+2=5, but you were the first to persuade others, then you, my friend, are not an idiot, but a visionary.

Of course, idiocy and its distribution in the population isn’t the point. You can build a movement out of true observations—i.e. 2+2=4—as well. The point is that political power flows from numbers and, more importantly, that such power becomes self-justifying for those who enjoy its effects. Passion becomes more “legitimate” as more people share it, no matter what the content or object of that passion is. Any unified field theory of politics would have to include this basic law of the political universe. It is true in democracies and dictatorships alike. Like the laws of gravity or thermodynamics, it can be exploited or minimized. But it cannot be repealed. It is a constant of the human condition. More

California Town Uses Eminent Domain To Block Wal-Mart

SAN FRANCISCO - America's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, already besieged by anti-globalization protests, discrimination lawsuits, and critical documentaries, now faces a new threat: the use of eminent domain powers to seize its real estate.

Wal-Mart opponents in Hercules, Calif., a small city 20 miles north of Oakland, have persuaded local officials to begin eminent domain proceedings to take possession of a 17-acre parcel that the company hoped to develop into a new store. MORE

The Backlash Begins: Vote on Migrant Issues Is Forced

A petition drive to ban day-labor centers and bar illegal immigrants from renting apartments in San Bernardino has gathered enough signatures to force a City Council vote on the proposal, potentially setting off another political maelstrom in a Southern California city grappling with immigration issues.

The results come three days after hundreds of thousands of protesters took to streets nationwide to demonstrate the political and economic power of legal and illegal immigrants and as Congress tries to bridge the political divide over immigration reform.

"I'm expecting this to be a knockdown, drag-out fistfight," said Joseph Turner, executive director of anti-illegal immigrant group Save Our State, who led the petition drive. "If something like this passes in San Bernardino, it's going to send shock waves through the national immigration debate. The opposition has a lot to lose."

Turner gathered 2,216 signatures to invoke a rarely used provision of San Bernardino's city charter that would force council members to vote on the proposal in 10 days, without any amendments. If the council rejects the ordinance, the measure automatically goes before voters on a citywide ballot. MORE

POLITICAL CORRUPTION TRIAL: CONVICTED

Las Vegas---The defense in the political corruption trial of Dario Herrera and Mary Kincaid-Chauncey expected the worst Friday when jurors entered the courtroom stony-faced, eyes averted.

The two former county commissioners were found guilty of conspiracy, wire fraud and extortion, and are scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 21. Under federal sentencing guidelines, which are advisory, they face prison terms of at least 33 months. Their attorneys say they plan to appeal the convictions, related to accepting bribes from topless club owner Michael Galardi. More

Initiative could make millionaires of everyone in Nevada city

BOULDER CITY, Nev. -- No gated communities here. No showgirls. No neon. No blackjack or slots. This desert enclave, 25 miles southeast of Las Vegas, has never been interested in cashing in on its proximity to Sin City -- until now.

But a group of local activists think Boulder City, where gambling has been banned since it was founded in 1931, is sitting on a jackpot: 167 square miles of undeveloped open land in one of the hottest real estate markets in the country.

They've developed a plan to cash in, and make millionaires of every man, woman and child in this town of about 15,000. (It's too late to move here; they mean everyone living in Boulder City as of March 31.)

The land is called Eldorado Valley, an expanse of dry lake bed dotted by creosote bushes and flanked by red-rock mountains.

Sensenbrenner defends his bill with global study

Japan, Switzerland, Egypt, Sweden and Mexico all have tougher immigration laws than the United States, according to a study commissioned by the author of a House bill that would criminalize illegal immigrants and build a fence between the U.S. and Mexico.

The report issued Friday by the Law Library of Congress also includes Brazil in a six-country survey aimed at examining the ramifications of proposed laws, now under debate in Congress, dealing with America's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., pointed to the findings -- particularly those in Japan and Switzerland, both with strict anti-illegal immigration laws and enforcement -- as proof that getting tough on illegal immigrants works. MORE

Weekend Topic: Open Government

TWENTYNINE PALMS - The Twentynine Palms City Council may name a replacement for outgoing City Manager Michael Swigart when it meets in regular session at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 9. More

If we had any idea who it might be it would be fun to second guess. Unlike every other city that has recently hired a new City Manager the City of Twentynine Palms has taken a closed door approch to the Public's Business. This is why we need open government when our representitives are doing the Peoples Business.

About The New Spam Delete Program.

Sorry but due to a huge influx of Spam on the Internet we've had to put some software in the program that prevents some types of posts. If you use several handles on this site you will have to delete your cookie for this site everytime you change your name. (Since I only use my own name I never seem to have a problem.)

Here is another system alert. OK 207.200.116.137 I know you have a great question you want to ask me. But here is the problem, with the new spam deletion program your going to need to delete your cookies for this site every time you change your Handle. What is happening is the program sees you as one person and as you attempt to change your handle it will not let you post again. Give it a try with your cookies deleted. if you have a problem figuring out how to do that give me a email and I'll help you out.

Bribe plea gives GOP Nov. ammo

House Republicans portrayed congressional corruption as a bipartisan problem yesterday after a business executive pleaded guilty in federal district court to bribing a Democratic lawmaker.

Vernon L. Jackson, chairman and CEO of the Louisville, Ky.-based telecommunications company iGate, pleaded guilty to giving more than $400,000 to Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) to secure Jefferson’s help in promoting the company’s interests in Africa.

“I was surprised and disappointed to learn of Vernon Jackson's guilty plea and of his characterization of our relationship,” Jefferson said. “I have never, over all the years of my public service, accepted payment from anyone for the performance of any act or duty for which I have been elected.”

Republicans hope questions about Democrats’ conduct will undermine the minority

Woman had a medley of scams