Pletcher, pleads not guilty of Murder of Cook
Woman pleads not guilty in July shooting death
A woman charged in the deadly shooting of a 62-year-old man in July pleaded not guilty Friday in Superior Court.
Marah Yvonne Pletcher, 45, entered the plea during an arraignment in Joshua Tree Superior Court.
She is also known as Yvonne Diamond, according to court records.
Pletcher
faces one count of murder in the death of Thomas Cook inside a Jack
Rabbit Trail residence on July 28, according to a criminal complaint
filed Dec. 20.
Deputies arrested Pletcher on a warrant Thursday at a
residence in Twentynine Palms, according to the San Bernardino County
Sheriff's Department.
Pletcher was booked into the Morongo Basin Jail on suspicion of murder. She is being held in lieu of $1 million bail.
The
shooting followed an altercation between Pletcher and the victim,
according to the Sheriff's Department. Paramedics pronounced Cook dead
at the scene, in the kitchen of the residence.
Court backs County in bribery scandal
From San Bernardino County Sun, article by Joe Nelson and Mike Cruz, Sun Staff Writers:
A state appellate court has upheld a $10.6million judgment against a billboard company and two key figures in a decade-old bribery scheme that tainted San Bernardino County contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
On Thursday, the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Ventura upheld the May 2005 judgment against former county administrative officers Harry Mays and James Hlawek, former trash company executive Kenneth James Walsh and billboard company Oakridge Group Corp., owned by William "Shep" McCook.
Hlawek didn't appeal the judgment and has been gradually repaying his debt to the county.
The county launched its civil lawsuit against the defendants following the adjudication of their criminal bribery and corruption cases. The civil trial was moved to Ventura to avoid a conflict of interest.
In a written statement, San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors Chairman Paul Biane said the county was "pleased but not surprised" by the appellate court's decision and that the ruling was "yet another reminder that today's county is worlds apart from the county it was a decade ago." MORE
Tribes bet region can handle more casinos
A snippet from the pages of the Desert Sun: By Debra Gruszecki
The land is home to seven casinos from Cabazon to the Salton Sea.
And with news the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians plan to open its second casino in the High Desert city of Twentynine Palms in 2008, some wonder if tribes in and around the Coachella Valley are gambling toward a breaking point.
Not even close, said William Thompson, a public administration professor at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas.
The 350-slot NüWü Casino Resort in Twentynine Palms isn't necessarily going to draw big numbers, Thompson said, but most likely will serve those who live more than a half-hour away.
NüWü can tap into the nearby Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, where 10,000 Marines and sailors are stationed, and Joshua Tree National Park, among the most popular national parks in the U.S.
Gary Kovall, a spokesman for Twenty-Nine Palms Band, said the tribe conducted a market analysis before announcing plans for the multimillion-dollar resort on its 160-acre reservation.
"The analysis showed there's a viable market in the High Desert for a modest Augustine Casino-type facility,'' Kovall said. More
Salt Song Trail
The photos are posted of the December 14th Klasky lecture. Well it wasn't quite like they said. It wasn't standing room only and from the looks of the place it was pretty well dominated by the over 50 crowd. Reviewing the pictures posted by the gentleman it looks like the protesters out numbered the crowd. So when you have guys like "Let's Be Honest" going around saying the place was sanding room only, you can tell him he is not honest at all.
You know, we've taken a lot of grief from Klasky's robots on this Rally issue. Well I got to tell you these photos are revealing. Just as we said most of the 23 cars we saw parking were single men. Most had only 1 occupant. and it pretty well shows that in the slide show that jeepbear posted on flickr. I can confidently say tonight that we had more people outside protesting .
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Spear will call for "Fast Track" of General Plan Revisions
Councilman Steve Spear will ask the City Council to consider a "Fast Track" approach to revising the General Plan. In a letter posted here Spear said the following:
| Hello to all, Good points that you are all making. Historic District, Sullivan Road, etc. All well taken. Much of what we as a city will be depends on going back to the General Plan and obtaining some professionals to help us revise the volumes. The Council has approved a course of action that will get the ball rolling by having public meetings and evaluating what the citizens of the city desire. The current trend is tending to a new city General Plan at least a year or two out – 2009 or 2010. Events that have unfolded and other events yet to be announced put that time scale at our disadvantage. I will ask the Council to “fast track” the revamping of the General Plan at the last meeting in Januray 2008. If we do not move now it may just be too late. My best wishes to all of you during this Holiday Season! Steve Spear |
Let's develop what we got first
Before anyone gets any zoning changes, we need to look at what we have. Those that have been stuck with underdeveloped commercial zoned property have the opportunity to profit from their investment. What everyone with dreams of residental develpment thought last week as being on the cat bird seat, now aren't so sure. Before anyone gets a zoning veriance, lets give those that have commerical property a shot at developing theirs first.
A thousand ada-boys are ruined with one ah-sh...
I got to say the best Public Relations blurbs to hype up the December 14th "Stand Up For The Flag" rally and protest of the radical leftist San Francisco Professor Philip M. Klasky, comes from his own supporters.
Perusing the forums this morning I came across a post on the Hi-Desert Star Forum. Here are a few little gems from his friend of 20 years, good old Earl, "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel. Phil is a patriot even if he's not your kind of patriot..."
Yes indeed, except when most of us think of patriotism, we're thinking more on the lines of "American Patriotism."
Earl in his impassioned defense of his buddy Phil says, "Phil of necessity walks a very difficult and sometimes uncomfortable line to help and encourage those that need a voice."
I suppose that fine line he walks includes a stroll across an American Flag, defiled with a Swastika spray painted in the field of stripes. And yes, I guess Klasky must "help and encourage" avowed revolutionary Communists to defame the memory of those that died at the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001, because somehow he thinks whack jobs "need a voice."
Good old Earl wants us all to know that, "The work that Phil has undertaken for many years requires grit, determination, brains and a love for people from all walks of life."
Well he must have left his brains in the lecture room on September 11, 2007, as he also did in 2006, when he joined with the Revolutionary Communist Party to disrupt a 9/11 Memorial by arguing with the organizers of the Memorial that the Communists should be allowed to take over the event, and let their brand of propaganda be heard.
I'm reminded of the old axiom "a thousand ada-boys are ruined with one ah-sh..."
See you all at the Rally December 14th at the Old School House, 6067 National Park Blvd. Twentynine Palms, Ca. Starts at 6:00PM.