Madison County Election Board Dismisses Vote Fraud Complaint Against David McIntosh

The Madison County Election Board quietly moved to dismiss the vote fraud complaint citizen activist Greg Wright filed against former U.S. Rep. David McIntosh in April. Madison Co. Clerk Darlene Likens, who supported McIntosh's candidacy for the 5th District Republican nomination, had refused to investigate the complaint prior to the primary, suggesting that it had simply been filed for partisan motivations to harm McIntosh's candidacy. The Madison Co. Election board met on May 18 and dismissed the complaint without any attempt to investigate the detailed allegations laid out in Wright's complaint that established that McIntosh actually lived in suburban Washington, D.C. and not at the Anderson home he claimed as his residence.

The board cited four weak reasons for dismissing the complaint, including the fact that the Madison Co. Prosecutor, Rodney Cummings, also a McIntosh political supporter, had already opined on very shaky grounds that his voting residency was legal. The board also noted that nobody had ever challenged McIntosh's vote since he registered in Anderson in 2008, and that McIntosh had lost the May primary election. I'm not sure why McIntosh's electoral success or failure should be determinative of whether he committed vote fraud, but that's what the board said. The board also mentioned that the state elections division is still investigating a separate complaint Wright filed with it. I'm betting that nothing happens to McIntosh and that he quietly drops the charade of having an Indiana residence and registers to vote in Virginia where he has actually lived for many years.

Obama Thanked Drug Dealer In High School Year Book

I suppose if the media wants to talk about whether Mitt Romney was a bully in high school, it is relevant then to talk about what a big pothead Barry was in high school with his Choom Gang buddies. Apparently Barry even gave a nod in his high school year book to his drug dealer, Ray, who years later was beaten to death with a ball-peen hammer by his scorned gay lover. Barry's Choom Gang liked riding around in his buddy's VW van known as the Choomwagon getting high. Barry had a knack for interceptions, a term used to describe getting a hit from a joint out of turn as it was being passed around. See Buzzfeed's "User's Guide To Smoking Pot With Barack Obama" for more details. If Obama had been prosecuted under the same drug laws that he supports today as so many of his contemporaries were, he wouldn't be President today.

David Maraniss' new biography on Obama takes a closer look at Obama's drug use in high school and college. ABC's Jonathan Karl has this passage about the time Obama and his friends were drag racing the Choomwagon and another friend's Toyota up a mountain road when the Toyota in which Obama was riding went off the road and rolled:

Of course, smoking, drinking and driving on mountain roads could also be a little dangerous. Especially the night they tried drag racing.

The race to the top of Mount Tantalus pitted the “Choomwagon” against another friend’s Toyota. Obama was in the Toyota. The Choomwagon made it to the top first. When the other car didn’t show up, those in the Choomwagon drove back down to find them. Here’s how Maraniss describes what happened next:

“On the way down, they saw a figure who appeared to be staggering up the road. It was Barry Obama. What was going on? As they drew closer, they noticed that he was laughing so hard he could barely stand up.”

His friend had rolled the car. Fortunately, nobody was hurt. And, amazingly, they avoided trouble by leaving the driver alone to deal with the police by claiming it was just an unfortunate “mishap.”

Curry Asked Ballard To Fire Straub And Corcella Over Handling Of Bisard Blood Evidence

The Star's Carrie Ritchie has an interesting story today about a discovery Marion Co. Prosecutor Terry Curry learned of concerning IMPD's handling of the blood evidence in the David Bisard case early last month based on a tip that so angered him that he wrote a letter to Mayor Greg Ballard demanding the firing of Public Safety Director Frank Straub and the department's chief of professional standards, Ellen Corcella. Here's what Curry learned happened after he had already told IMPD Chief Paul Ciesielski, who has since been fired, that his office discovered the blood evidence had been moved from a refrigerator in the property control room to another location where it was not refrigerated that angered him so much:

Records obtained by The Indianapolis Star show that on April 16, hours after Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry told former Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Chief Paul Ciesielski that one of two vials of Bisard's blood had been improperly moved despite a judge's order that it be preserved, police officers took the blood samples out of their sealed envelopes to examine and photograph them.

Two other times that week -- April 18 and 19 -- officers returned to the property room to handle the blood.

In a scathing letter hand-delivered to Mayor Greg Ballard's office the next day, Curry called for the immediate removal of Public Safety Director Frank Straub and Ellen Corcella, deputy chief of professional standards, who directed officers to examine the blood samples and accompanied them to the property area. Curry said that as a former deputy prosecutor under Carl Brizzi, Corcella "should know better."

"After all of the controversy regarding the single most critical piece of evidence in what is probably the most high-profile case in Marion County, this was done with no notice to our office either before or after handling our evidence," Curry wrote in the letter, which The Star obtained through a public records request. "We will have no choice but to produce this information to counsel for Bisard, which will without doubt lead to additional arguments from the defense regarding chain of custody of the evidence and alleged tampering."

This happened just months after the Department of Public Safety announced that Corcella, a former New York federal prosecutor, had joined the department to head its professional standards department. In a January press release announcing Corcella's appointment, Straub said of her:

"Ms. Corcella brings extensive legal and prosecutorial experience to the Department of Public Safety," said Director Frank Straub. "I believe, under her leadership, DPS Professional Standard's programs, policies, procedures and practices will be strengthened, our service to the community enhanced, and our continuing efforts to re-engineer the department significantly enhanced."

Straub recently announced that he would be stepping down from his position in August after it became apparent the City-County Council would not confirm his reappointment as Public Safety Director. Corcella has not been fired. Ballard's chief of staff, Ryan Vaughn, claims the police meant no harm when they removed the blood evidence from a sealed envelope. Vaughn told Ritchie that they were simply trying to document where the evidence was located after discovering that it had been moved. Curry, however, isn't buying that explanation. Bisard's attorney has already sought to block the testing of a second vial of Bisard's blood because it was unrefrigerated for a period of five months after it was moved and chain of custody concerns. Prosecutors have been unable to use evidence showing Bisard's blood alcohol level at the time of a fatal accident after his police cruiser struck of a group of motorcyclists at an intersection to support drunk driving charges against him; however, the Judge Grant Hawkins has said prosecutors could use the evidence to support criminal recklessness and reckless homicide charges against Bisard.

Chicago Parking Meter Operator Demanding $50 Million From City

The private company that operates Chicago's parking meter assets under a 75-year lease agreement keeps sending multi-million dollar bills to the City, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel is refusing to pay all of them. The first bill from Chicago Parking Meters LLC for $14 million asked the City to reimburse it for $14 million it says it lost from street closures. A second bill for $13.5 million sought reimbursement for free parking that is provided to persons with disabled license plates or placards. Yet a third bill for $22 million seeks additional reimbursement for disabled parking. Mayor Emanuel is disputing how the private operator calculates the bills and has refused to pay all three of them, now totaling about $49.5 million. That's nearly 5% of the $1 billion, one-time payment the City received from the private operator under the terms of the 75-year lease agreement in the first three years. The private operator retains all of the revenues it earns from the parking meter assets during the life of the lease. The problem is so bad that the state legislature is now considering a state law that would bar the company from receiving reimbursements for free disable parking, which will no doubt be challenged in the courts if it becomes law. From the Sun-Times:

Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration had been bracing for another hefty disabled-parking reimbursement bill for 2011-2012. That third bill — for $22 million — arrived just last week, according documents Emanuel’s administration provided to the Chicago Tribune.

The mayor is refusing to pay all three bills, which total about $49.5 million, and has disputed how the company calculated them. Chicago Parking Meters has declined to respond to Sun-Times questions about the issue.

Meanwhile — in response to the Sun-Times recent “Meter Cheaters” investigation — the Illinois Senate this week approved legislation that is expected to stop Chicago Parking Meters from seeking multimillion-dollar reimbursements for providing free parking to the disabled.

Illinois law has allowed handicapped motorists to park for free in metered zones for decades. The legislation, now on Gov. Pat Quinn’s desk, would change that in 2014.

It would set up a two-tiered disabled-parking placard system that would allow only wheelchair-bound and other severely disabled people to park for free in metered spots.

The Sun-Times last year observed dozens of able-bodied people using relatives’ placards, deceased people’s placards, fake placards and even stolen placards to cheat Chicago’s meter system. A subsequent Sun-Times report revealed that taxpayers are on the hook to reimburse the meter company for drivers who use disabled-parking placards or plates to park for free.

The deal that privatized Chicago’s meter system in 2008 has been widely criticized for selling taxpayers short. Under the plan championed by former Mayor Richard M. Daley, Chicago Parking Meters was given the right to keep all meter revenues until 2084 in exchange for a $1.15 billion upfront payment to the city. Drivers have since seen sharp increases in parking rates under the deal.

I predict that Mayor Emanuel will soon announce that the City is walking away from the 75-year lease and will fight it out in the courts with the private operator. He really has no choice given how obvious the deal has proven to be one-sided in favor of the private operator. Remarkably, there was little debate when former Mayor Richard Daley brought the 75-year lease before the Democratic-controlled Chicago City Council for debate in 2008. The cash-strapped city was just anxious to get its hands on the $1 billion payment, which it immediately spent to satisfy short-term obligations. With the city receiving no share of the parking meter revenues, it simply cannot afford these annual, ongoing multi-million dollar obligations to the private operator.

More Than 40% Of Democratic Voters In Arkansas And Kentucky Say No To Obama

Barack Obama's unpopularity among some Democratic voters showed up again in yesterday's primaries in Arkansas and Kentucky. A little known Tennessee attorney, John Wolfe, won 41% of the vote in Arkansas and carried more than half of the state's counties in a head-to-head race with Obama. The Obama campaign had spent heavily in Arkansas in recent days to avoid an embarrassing showing in the Tarheel State. In Kentucky where Obama faced no opponent, 42% of the state's voters chose "Uncommitted" over Obama. Ouch!

Council To Consider Domestic Partner Benefits Proposal

City-County Councilor Angela Mansfield (D) has introduced a proposal to extend health insurance, pension and family leave benefits to domestic partners, including same-sex couples. To qualify, an employee would be required to have shared a residence with a domestic partner with whom the employee is in an intimate and committed relationship of mutual caring for a minimum of one year and has signed a declaration of domestic partnership. The proposal would not just apply to same-sex domestic partners; it would also extend to unmarried opposite sex couples who are co-habitating. WTHR's Mary Milz has more:

"It's going to recognize there are many different types of families in the community and show we do value their service by providing benefits," Mansfield said . . .

Benefits would available would be "identical (to) those available to spouses," and include insurance, pension benefits and family/medical leave.

Will French, who's worked in the county clerk's office for four years and is gay, hopes the ordinance passes.

"Suddenly me and mine could call our families 'families' and the definition of families is expanding and this seems part of that expansion," he said.

Rick Sutton with Indiana Equality says the ordinance is about equality and economics.

"We think it means a lot for the city," Sutton said. "A lot of times, people don't want to go to work for government, because of the money and if you want to attract and retain the best you have to compete with the private sector and this sends a message we're ready to do that."

Mansfield agreed, saying the ordinance "isn't groundbreaking by any means."

She referred to a study that found in 2009, 83 percent of all Fortune 500 companies offered domestic partner benefits.

Mayor Greg Ballard is expected to sign the proposal if it passes the council. His new chief of staff, Ryan Vaughn, had agreed at one point to co-sponsor the domestic partner proposal with Mansfield before budgetary concerns sidetracked it. "He understands it could help attract talent to the city. Many of our larger employers do offer those benefits, so if the council passes the resolution extending benefits it's something he'd take a look at," said the mayor's spokesman Marc Lotter.

If HJR-6, the constitutional amendment currently before the Indiana General Assembly that would write Indiana's Defense of Marriage law into the state constitution, is passed by the legislature next year and approved by the state's voters in 2014, it would overturn any state law or ordinance like that proposed by Councilor Mansfield. In addition to limiting recognition of marriage to one man and one woman, HJR-6 contains an additional clause that prohibits extending benefits or rights to same-sex couples similar to those enjoyed by married couples. In the event that happens, the constitutional amendment would likely face a federal challenge under the Equal Protection Clause.

Lights Out For Club Industry

Residents of Indianapolis' downtown Cole-Noble District who packed a City-County Council meeting room yesterday where the Marion County Alcohol Board was holding one of its regular meetings responded with loud applause as the board unanimously voted to deny renewal of Club Industry's 3-way alcohol permit owned by David Hohman, which is located at 416 E. Wabash. Sgt. William Carter detailed 32 police runs to the club, a/k/a The Event Set, involving fights, public intoxication and shootings in the last year alone. One resident of Fire House Square complained that a leak in her roof had been caused by a bullet fired from one of the guns. Residents complained of having to clean up beer bottles and women's underwear found on their property after events at the club. To hear Hohman speak, he had the club totally under control, which he claimed was primarily used to host private parties for the well-heeled. Sgt. Carter read one police report where Hohman was described as running down an alley waving his hands pleading for help one night because he had lost control of his club.

The video above (NSFW) of a Super Bowl party featuring Rick Ross and YoGotti gives you a flavor of the hip-hop club atmosphere that the club has been transformed into that has caused so much consternation for the downtown residents who reside in the neighborhood. It was one of several videos Sgt. Carter played during the hearing. The looks on the alcohol board members said it all. They turned away and asked Sgt. Carter to cut them short after they told him they had seen all they wanted to see. Hohman told the board that he had no idea the videos had been taken, although some like the one above were easily accessed on YouTube. Sgt. Carter testified that the club had been cited for illegally permitting nude entertainment, but the club's owner and his attorney apparently didn't know about the citation. The Red Garter is the only adult establishment permitted within the mile square business district. When it first opened a few years ago, it had a reputation for hosting circuit parties for a mostly gay clientele who consumed more drugs than alcohol. Hohman defended the club's reputation by saying it had hosted one of Julia Carter's last political fundraisers. You knew Hohman's license renewal was in trouble when the only person his attorney could produce to speak for his character was his hired liquor license agent who appears before the board every meeting as his sole occupation

WRTV's Jack Rinehart has a story on the hearing here. You can view the alcohol board's May 21, 2012 hearing broadcast live on WCTY here.

Ballot-Forging Defendants Ordered To Provide Handwriting Samples

St. Joseph Superior Court Judge John Marnocha has ordered the four defendants charged with forging signatures on the 2008 Democratic presidential nominating petitions of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to provide handwriting samples. From the South Bend Tribune:

The motion, filed by special prosecutor Stanley Levco, requires that Morgan and co-defendants Pam Brunette, Bev Shelton, and Dustin Blythe provide the samples "in a form and manner as directed by the state ... upon (its) reasonable demand."

It also requires that each of the four defendants provide one to three separate, one-page handwriting samples not prepared for litigation purposes. Examples include a diary page, a personal journal or notebook page, correspondence, and/or a "to-do" or shopping list.

According to the motion, the samples, which "may provide information critical to the (state's) preparation and presentation of the case at trial," have been requested by forensic document examiners at the Indiana State Police Laboratory in Indianapolis.

Citing earlier cases, the motion notes that compelling a defendant to provide a handwriting sample does not qualify as self-incrimination, as spelled out in the 5th Amendment.

None of the four defense attorneys in the case objected to the motion.

The South Bend Tribune also reports that the Democratic special prosecutor from Vanderburgh County, Stanley Levco, has appointed a deputy special prosecutor from LaPorte County, Christopher Fronk. Fronk works for LaPorte Co. Prosecutor Bob "Z" Szilagyi, who is also a Democrat. Democrats had insisted that a Democrat be included on the Charlie White special prosecution team when he was charged with vote fraud and the Republican county prosecutor in Hamilton County had turned the case over to a special prosecution team. Democrat Dan Sigler was appointed to that special prosecution team, who hired his son, a Whitley Co. deputy prosecutor, as a member of his special prosecution team.