Tag Archives: Ethics

The Case of the Six Missing Screams: Nydia Tisdale’s video edited by sheriff’s office?

It looks like the “public” Pumpkin Farm Republican campaign rally headlined by Gov. Nathan Deal not only caused a citizen journalist to be roughed up and evicted, and her camera taken, apparently the local law edited her video recording to remove the sound of her screams.

Jim Galloway wrote 22 September 2014, The Case of the Six Missing Screams,

You’ll remember Tisdale as the citizen-journalist from Roswell who was arrested in August at a GOP rally at a pumpkin farm in Dawsonville for pointing a video recorder at candidates. Which is what she does.

In front of the top of the GOP ticket, including Gov. Nathan Deal, Tisdale was grabbed — then roughed up. Her camera was Continue reading →

Rosalynn Carter at Lowndes County Courthouse, 6PM Thu Oct 9th 2014

Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter will here tomorrow, 6PM October 8th 9th, at the Lowndes County Courthouse, to support her grandson Jason Carter for Governor of Georgia, the Lowndes County Democratic Party announced today.

Incumbent Gov. Nathan Deal’s campaign took $10,000 from Spectra Energy, which wants to build the Sabal Trail natural gas pipeline through south Georgia. Deal’s campaign also accepted contributions from three other pipeline companies, adding up to at least $21,300.

Jason Carter’s campaign accepted no dollars ($0) from any of those companies. And as his campaign website says, State Senator Jason Carter “has twice received Environmental Leadership awards from Georgia Conservation Voters”.

Former President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter visited Valdosta in 2003, when they helped Habitat for Humanity build a house. Tomorrow she will be back, this time at the Courthouse.

-jsq

GA Supreme Court rules against Deep South Sanitation: DSS vows to keep going

Lowndes County suing a local business with our tax dollars has produced a preliminary Georgia Supreme Court ruling overturning the appeals court and favoring the county’s “exclusive franchise” with ADS, a company owned by New York City investors. Local company Deep South Sanitation vows to keep going.

Do you think this lawsuit is a good use of your tax dollars? What will you think if ADS’ rates go up from Veolia’s bid of $13.05/month ($156.60/year) just before ADS bought Veolia, to ADS’s bid of $13.39/month ($220.68/year)? Continue reading →

Videos of Dougherty County citizens opposing Sabal Trail pipeline @ DCC 2014-09-15

As a Commissioner said, “It don’t pass the smell test” that Sabal Trail already bought land for a compressor station before they even filed for a formal permit. A Commissioner said “We have to be more aggressive.” Well, then, time to pass a land-user ordinance against pipelines! Thanks to Jennifer Maloney, you can see for yourself Albany and Dougherty County citizens and Commissioners opposing the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline in a community effort at a Dougherty County Commission meeting 15 September 2014. Continue reading →

Lula Smart acquitted on all counts: Quitman 10 vindicated

Lula Smart cleared by a jury in third trial. Third strike by the prosecutors: they’re out! Will they stop wasting our taxpayer dollars now?

Katheryn Hayes Tucker, Daily Report, 17 September 2014, Acquittal in Trial Over Absentee Ballots,

Lula Mary Smart was acquitted on 19 felony charges of voting irregularities Wednesday following a month-long trial in Brooks County Superior Court in South Georgia.

Continue reading →

Demanding the state PUC get a friendly judge: a best practice for utilities?

300x225 Title page, in A Best Practices Leadership Forum for Small Utilities, by Carol A. Brown, Chief of Staff to President Michael R. Peevey, 2 April 2013 A utility didn’t stop at blowing up a Calfornia neighborhood, it also demanded the Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) get a favorable judge for that 2010 San Bruno natural gas pipe explosion. The CPUC president’s chief of staff just last year wrote slides praising his Legacy as Best Practices. Does that legacy include suborning justice? He’s still there, although she was fired, and three PG&E executives “ended their employment”. How many other PG&E and other utility executives and CPUC and other state regulators follow those same Best Practices?

Ellen Knickmeyer, Associated Press, 15 September 2014, PG&E Officials Removed for Improper Communications,

Four senior officials with Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and the state commission regulating it were removed or resigned over emails released Monday showing the utility and state regulators appeared to negotiate which judge would be assigned to hear one of the utility’s rate cases.

The emails show the commission ultimately assigned to the case a judge for whom PG&E had expressed a preference, rather than another judge who PG&E said “has a history of being very hard on us.”

Also Monday, California Public Utilities Commission president Michael Peevey, who was included Continue reading →

Resignation, subpoenas, criminal charges: DeKalb County Commission corruption

Sometimes it doesn’t just look like they have something to hide: the FBI found some of what the DeKalb County Commmission was hiding, and one criminally-charged Commissioner promises to sing about the others, while 62 vendors and all the other sitting Commissioners are being investigated. No local elected body around here could have such problems, right?

The DeKalb FBI corruption investigation apparently started with news stories in the AJC. Coincidentally, here’s the board packet for tonight’s Lowndes County Commission meeting that it took an open records request for LAKE to get so you can see it.

20 February 2013, Fireworks erupt in court over DeKalb corruption case, by Jodie Fleischer for WSB-TV,

Only Channel 2’s Jodie Fleischer was there as a judge lashed out at prosecutors who want the public to see a secret corruption report.

The special grand jury investigating DeKalb County corruption Continue reading →

Nydia Tisdale’s video of being arrested for videoing a public event

The deputy is on camera refusing to identify himself as he holds her down. The best he’d do was “You’ll see it on the warrant”.

Background here, including a candidate laughing as she cries “Help!”

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Quitman 10+2 third trial

“Thank you for not plea bargaining” said George Boston Rhynes starting his series of videos on the ongoing third trial of Lula Smart of the Quitman 10+2. No newspapers, radio, or TV reporters at this trial about voters’ rights. But George is there.

Here’s George’s first report: Continue reading →

Toxic Waste? Coal ash in Alabama and Georgia landfills

Oregon denying a permit for a coal dock on the Columbia River Monday may seem far away, but the effects of coal ash are right here in Lowndes County. Effects that an Alabama county is calling a toxic chemical civil rights violation in the Arrowhead Landfill in Uniontown.

AP reported 14 August 2014, EPA investigating claims west Alabama landfill violates civil rights of black property owners,

It’s not the first time that the Arrowhead has been in the news. In 2009, an estimated 3.9 million tons of coal ash was dumped at the landfill. It was brought in after a Tennessee Valley Authority dam breached in east Tennessee, spilling toxic ash into a river and damaging about 300 acres. To date, it’s the largest coal ash spill in U.S. history.

Much of that ash ended up being dumped at the landfill in Perry County, which in return received Continue reading →