A bit late in the day, but here you go…
- State Ethics Commission fines Gov. Nikki Haley (thestate.com) — I had forgotten that there was still an ethics complaint against her out there pending.
- Senators Reach Agreement to Avert Fight Over Filibuster (NYT) — And another completely unnecessary, bogus — manufactured purely by the political parties to have something to fight about — crisis is averted.
- Holder strongly condemns ‘Stand Your Ground’ (WashPost) — Which is probably the smart way for the administration to look like it’s reacting to concern over the Zimmerman verdict — jawbone “stand your ground,” without doing something unnecessary like open some sort of federal civil rights case.
- SLED confirms investigation of Columbia Police Department allegations (thestate.com) — More on the continuing, embarrassing saga.
- Universities in U.S. Besieged by Cyberattacks From Abroad (NYT) — The NYT likes to come up with something nobody else has to lead with on slow news days. This looks like today’s version of that.
- Syria crisis ‘worst since Rwanda’ (BBC) — In terms of the refugee problem. Leave it to the Beeb to remind us that the rest of the world is out there.
Related Posts
re: Gov fined.
Although just a token admonition, it is a good one regardless of the usual clerical defenses. More importantly, it sets a modern precedent not seen since Gov West.
“I had forgotten that there was still an ethics complaint against her out there pending.” -Brad
I have not forgotten what a PhD (organic chemistry) friend once told me about why he always votes Democrat. Because, he said things seem to go more smoothly. With the MSM in their pockets and lawyers criticising their opponents, no wonder that is the public perception, it was a shallow and lame perception that has since recovered.
Sooner or later something will surface and a courageous lawyer or two will appear and stand up for a true, two/three -party choice. The scandals being hid in D.C. now cannot be covered up forever. When some of them hit the fan, wordy explanations that bore PhDs will not be enough to save the guilty, or the future credibility of their supporters and enablers.
Per number 2: Correction, Instead of “And another completely unnecessary, bogus — manufactured purely by the political parties to have something to fight about — crisis is averted”, this should read “And another completely unnecessary, bogus — manufactured purely by the GOP to have something to fight about — crisis is averted.”
And when Republicans have control of the Senate, the Democrats will be grateful the filibuster has been saved. Not sure the filibuster is proprietary to Republicans as some want us to believe.
Mast General Store sends letter to Columbia Council complaining about the home less problem on Main Street saying it is gotten worse in the past six months. “We are now experiencing an environment where our staff members and our guests no longer feel safe even within the confines of our building. The situation makes it “virtually impossible for us, or anybody, to create a sustainable business model,” he wrote.
Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2013/07/15/2863634/citys-homelessa-safety-concernfor.html#storylink=cpy
Richland county has been quietly cracking down on the homeless for a while now, driving them all into the city. They didn’t issue a press release or anything, but now there’s a “zero tolerance” policy for the homeless and their camps in the county. This has swollen the ranks of the homeless on Columbia’s streets.
Thanks, Doug. I would have put that on the front if I’d done a VFP the day before. But it was too late when I did this.
Besides Columbia’s, I’ve been to the Mast General Stores in Asheville, Greenville, and Hendersonville. All are located on the main street of the city. None have the same “feel” that you get when trying to walk from wherever you parked to the store as you get in the Columbia location.
I go to Mast all the time and have never encountered a homeless person. I guess I just look mean, huh?
Really? I’ve given money to homeless people at least two of the last five times I’ve been down there. I mean you can see the Oliver Gospel Mission across the street on the same block from Mast on Taylor Street. They are less than 100 yards apart.
And the Richland County Public Library is only two blocks away. It’s a focal point of homeless activity according to a good friend who works there.
1) Doug – stop giving money to homeless panhandlers on the street. Give it directly to the charity of your choice that helps the homeless. That way it won’t go to buying drugs/alcohol, or get stolen by theives. By giving to panhandlers you are also contributing to Columbia’s aggressive panhandling problem.
2) Anyone else notice that the bench in front of Mast (as well as several other benches downtown) has disappeared? It’s because Main Street businesses don’t want the homeless loitering in front of their businesses.
3) Kathryn – count yourself lucky. If you park in the urine-smelling garage directly behind Mast you might not be accosted. If you walk to the store up Main St you will eventually get panhandled.
I’m with you, Kathryn. If I’m not walking up from work a couple of blocks down the street, I usually park right in front of the area that the guys at Oliver cultivate as garden, right beside the mission, and while I see some homeless people of course, I’ve never been asked for money.
I did notice there were often homeless people sitting on the bench outside of Mast, so I’m not surprised they removed it.
There are a lot of homeless people at the library, definitely — I’ve never had anyone bother me, though.
I can’t remember anyone asking me for money on Main Street, actually, and I’ve been working on Main Street for almost 15 years. Only once have I had a coworker mention having any sort of aggressive encounter.
I have had people ask me other places in Columbia — the gas station across from the bus station on Gervais, on Saluda in Five Points, and at the Bojangles at the corner of Devine and Ft Jackson Blvd are some I can remember right off — but not on Main.
I do see Mast’s problem, though — people don’t like to see people who are dirty and look/behave oddly around. It makes them feel unsafe, for one. Whether right or wrong, that hurts Mast’s business.
I almost always park there, and back when i would go to the courthouse, it did get smelly, or worse, over on that side. I never have a problem on the Mast side.
Sure, homeless people are offputting. They are people, first, though.
@Silence
If someone asks me for money, I normally give it to them. If they choose to use it for drugs, that’s not my problem. I was asked for money once in the Wal Mart parking lot and was pleased to see the person later in the store purchasing some food. I gave half a leftover pizza from Mellow Mushroom in Asheville to a young couple on the streets there. I gave $20 to a guy who said he was going to sell plasma. My wife says there is some type of homeless communication network with my photo distributed for them to know I’m an easy mark 🙂
Doug, may I have some money, please? If you give me $5,500 I promise I will use it to fully fund my IRA for this year. If you have $11k to spare, that would fund my spouse’s as well.
Sorry, Silence. In your case, I must assume you will use it for drugs.
Well, at least give me enough bread to score a quick hit, man…
He wouldn’t use it all for drugs. Knowing him, some would go to guns. And wild women, perhaps. And dark sunglasses.
I’m picturing Hunter Thompson here. Or maybe Burl Burlingame…
I’ve already got enough guns. I can’t believe i just said that. One can never have “enough” guns. Maybe just one more gun? Don’t tell Mrs. Si. about the wild women. I could use some new sunglasses though. Maybe some yellow-lens aviators like Walter Sobchak or Hunter S. Thompson wore would be nice…
Homelessness happens. We need to have a safety net to help those at the end of their rope. That’s well and good.
Columbia’s problem is that it has a pandering problem – not by them, but to them. Nearly all of the homeless that you see on the streets have made a lifestyle choice to remain there (though I grant that some probably do not have the mental competency to actually understand what they are doing to themselves or that they have other options). Columbia offers carrots, but no consequences for the unacceptable choices the hardcore homeless have made. What to solve the problem? Enforce the laws. Make the city an uncomfortable place to stay on the streets. You can’t solve the problem, but you can tell the problem people to move along.
Richland County library is a prime example. Who made the decision to allow the place to be turned into a winter and summer camp? Government buildings don’t have this problem. Neither do hospitals or churches (who haven’t opened their doors to the homeless) or even the bus station. Somewhere along the way the RCPL and the City of Columbia have lost their way on this issue. Help those who become homeless, but demand some level of personal responsibility. The same goes for all the do-gooder groups who enable the status quo – the problem exists at the level it does because Columbia is known to pander to the homeless. Everyone needs to realize that the homeless are not the problem, the region’s network of homeless charities is the real problem. So when people complain about the homeless they really need to look at themselves, their neighbors, friends, colleagues, etc. The dysfunctional are not all on the streets…
Amen, Mark. Council keeps promising to “get tough” but nothing ever happens, so we keep ending up with more carrots and still no sticks.
I think there is a large building called Palmetto Compress that would make a great place to house and feed the homeless. Imagine using our tax dollars to help people instead of preserving a bunch of old bricks.
We could do a lot more for people but choose to use tax dollars on frivolous crap.
by people you mean City Council.
#7) Lonnie Randolph, head of the South Carolina Chapter of the NAACP issued savage beatdown by CPD officers at a 5 pts dry cleaners. City Manager Teresa Wilson dispatched to the scene.
Sounds like Lonnie had a medical issue, or something. Move along, nothing to see here.
Yes, I frequently have medical issues that cause me to refuse to pay bills and then resist lawful arrest, so I completely sympathize.
Randolph’s lawyer: “McCullough said he has spoken to both Columbia Police department and Tripp’s Cleaners about how this issue has a “medical related origin.””
Uh huh. Just like the Ted Vick “pebble in the shoe” story that somehow never was brought up again after the initial arrest was made.
Better hope the officers involved are not white.
Wouldn’t it just be a hoot if the interim police chief in this case was some sort of Latino or Filipino?
Also, how often does the city manager personally respond to a crime scene?
Was Mr. Randolph picking up his hoodie from the cleaners for the march this Saturday?
Ruben is Puerto Rican and some East Asian, I think Japanese….if I recall correctly.
People do have bad reactions to meds, or other things. I cannot imagime why else Lonnie Randolph would act like that. He wasn’t acting “drunk”, per media reports, unlike Vick. I know when I was on Topamax to control migraines, I was surpassingly dingy. I had trouble finding words, if you can believe that. They call it Dopamax for a reason.
Fair enough. I was just trying to make a Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman related funny.
I wonder how many people who “resist arrest” get “field booked’ and released, rather than “real booked” at Alvin S. Glenn?
I think if you are a very well-known figure, your flight risk is very small, and it costs bucks and officer time to haul you out to ASG, where you will clearly get released on a PR bond. Lots of Five Points revelers get field-booked, I am told.
Judge Byars, former DJJ head, in a speech I heard said that it isn’t exactly fair that wealthier kids can afford to get sent away to military school or rehab while poorer kids end up in DJJ, but it makes no sense to incarcerate the wealthy just to make a point. If the poorer kids could have better options….was his point, before ridonkulous budget cuts closed superior options.
I can see getting a ticket and released on a PR bond for something like public drunkenness or speeding. It doesn’t seem like people who resist arrest get “nice” treatment. I’m sure that his attorney will get the charges reduced or dropped entirely, though. It’s just funny that the city manager showed up. Obviously he’s getting the kid gloves treatment.
Well, friends of friends on Facebook, who are black, based on their pix, are already getting riled up. It is one thing when your experiences have been based on white privilege, another when you have “overcome”….
I think the City and CPD are in a “damned if they do/damned if they don’t” in this case….
Did they search Mr. Randolph’s car? Perhaps they would find a quantity of powder cocaine and a stolen handgun? Who’s next in line for the top job over at the SC chapter of the NAACP?
ROUND UP THE USUAL SUSPECTS!!!!!!!
I don’t know. This sounds so bizarre. There may be a medical issue here…
What’s with the cops kneeing the guy twice and chopping him? I am sure situations may require such action during a violent arrest. But at a dry cleaner? After someone says they don’t understand the officer’s commands?
The fact that the NAACP guy then went to a convention in Florida kind of belies the seriousness of any medical issue though…
Vic’s rock in the shoe at his second DUI arrest in a year excuse still stands tall in the land of tales told.
My understanding is Mr. Randolph does have a medical condition that could have triggered this incident.
And where did you get that “understanding” from? His lawyer’s statement or personal knowledge? If personal knowledge, what is the medical condition?
I’ve known about it for several years and that’s all I choose to say out of respect for Mr. Randolph.
Then no wonder the IC let him go and the City Manager showed up. Good thing he’s probably not too inclined to sue the city for the double kneeing and the chest pop he endured so the cops could fold him into their car. But then he knows how richly rewarded the ex police chief was for his own “medical” troubles, so maybe that’s not out of the question…
Am I just unaware of such things, or is that treatment common practice? I know the cop felt he was resisting, but I have no idea where that would fall on the continuum from belligerent to physically assaultive…
Mark – Don’t be to quick to rule out the lawsuit against the city. What’s the most that the city can settle for out of court? $300k? Yesssss, that’ll do nicely. Thank you very much, gentlemen, and have a nice day!
Actually, since we are talking about a police force this time (unlike an overzealous neighborhood watch volunteer) it’s possible Mr. Randolph’s civil rights WERE actually violated. I’m sure he is appropriately resourced to figure that out, though…
Diabetes is the get out of jail card. A commenter on The State made an interesting point – if a person has diabetic symptoms this severe, should he have a drivers license?
I didn’t hear about Lonnie until after I’d posted this. Guess I should have checked the local TV websites. My wife told me about it, and I assume she got it from the tube…
He stopped taking the meds, say, that were the problem. Lonnie sure looks fit to me, and I doubt I could take him down if he didn’t want to go.
I could take him out, no problem. Multiple ways: karate chop, ninja chop, judy chop…
Don’t go ninja-in nobody that don’t need ninja-in…
#8) Senator Lindsey Graham (r-1980) calls for boycott of 2014 Winter Olympic Games.
Yeah, well — who wants to go to the Winter Olympics anyway?
Well, for starters, thousands of U.S. athletes who have been training hard basically their entire lives. Skaters, skiiers, hockey players, gymnasts, bobsledders, etc. Why punish them for Snowden? All they’ve done is work hard. Aside from my general dislike for the Olympic Games and all international bodies, this proposal is just ridiculous on Graham’s part.
I’m with you Silence. It is beyond ridiculous for many reasons why it’s a bad idea to boycott the Olympics. Lindsey Graham has become nothing but a shameless neocon.
As long as we’re talking about stories that didn’t make the front — here’s one I thought about, but which didn’t make it: Mexican authorities arresting the alleged head of the Zetas gang. I was impressed that they did that.
Zetas–I thought they had a house in the Greek Village
Don’t they arrest one of the cartel bigwigs about every other month? It’s kind of like being the #2 in Al Qaeda.
Yeah, but this guy, they say, boiled his enemies alive in grease. Which seems to mark him as one of the baddies…
Ahh, the old “human churro” trick.
I believe the limit of recovery on a tort lawsuit against the city is $300K in court or out. Bryan?
That’s why I used the 300k figure in my comment above. I didn’t realize that there was a limit in court, though. I knew that they could do 300k as a settlement. I fully expect Mr. Randolph to sue (successfully).
I am not so sure. Seemed like a good bust. Dr. Randolph would probably be happy for us to forget it.
I noticed this Teresa Wilson quote in the article in the State: “It is not uncommon, when I deem it necessary, to go on scene. Actually, it is my responsibility to do so based upon the circumstances.”
I wonder how many incidents Ms. Wilson has “gone on scene” for since she became city manager? How manny incidents have previous city managers responded to? Do they receive some sort of law enforcement training to respond to crime scenes? Do city managers typically handle evidence, take command, instruct officers in their duties, that kind of thing?
I’m gonna go ahead and call BS on this, unless someone has some personal experience otherwise.