For JinC Regulars and Commenters - short - 7-26-06

Folks,

Thank you for your many affirming comments today. They mean a lot.

Also, thank you for tips, links and fun comments.

I'm on the road now so blogging is tough.

But news flashes now, with organized posts leter.

I've got to get something up tomorrow, 7/27, re: Four-month anniversary of Sheehan's "Team's silence is sickening" column. What a terrible thing that was. It was terrible as an attack on a group of college students who were only following advice of counsel ( and can you imagine what Nifong and Gottlieb would have made of anything any one of those kids had stapped forward and volunteered to them). Sheehan's column was rabid McCarthyism. It was a shot at what's good about our community and country.

("Hey, John, you promised this would be short." Gee, you're right.)

I talked with attorney Charns today. I wanted to confirm some items in the sequence of CrimeStoppers wanted posters. He mentioned that he had heard from City Mgr. Patrick Baker re: Charns' latest email I shared with you.

Charns said Baker said he'd get back to him on the matters Charns raised by the end of this week.

Two points: 1) Charns made clear Baker said he'd be getting back; not that he would necessarily do or answer as Charns requested.

2) Charns agreed I could call him Friday for an update, which I'll share with you as soon as I have it.

I'll also try tomorrow to make contact with Baker. Caution note: While Baker and his staff are polite, it's usually very hard to get much out of them in the best of circumstances, and of course now is not the best of circumstances in Durham City Hall or Police Department. But try, try, try.

Recall I mentioned a while back that Charns and I were calling the CrimeStoppers posters the "wanted" and the poster the N&O published with face photos of 43 white lacrosse players the "vigilante" poster. That was in part a reflection of CrimeStoppers' practice, which is to call many of their posters wanted posters and DPD calling the N&O's poster the "vigilante" poster.

Well, today, Melanie Sill at the Editor's Blog called the "vigilante" poster the N&O published a "wanted" poster. I plan to contact Melanie to ask that that she and the N&O follow what most folks are doing in calling one set of posters the "wanted" and the one (likely one of a number like it) the N&O published the "vigilante" poster.

I'll let you know how things go.

We're looking now at the 6th day of the police "investigations' of last Thursday's sports bar incident. So what's taking so long? A simple assault: it should be a matter of hours.

But if some police were on-duty and some were doing things police are not supposed to do besides assualt civilians, than as that police Captain said years ago, "It can take time to arrange things."

It especially takes time when there's a paper trail. You have to be sure there isn't one little authorization for this officer to go there at that time and -- whoops --
the officer wasn't in Burlington doing undercover; the officer was in Raleigh playing "Hit the Cook" for the Durham Gottliebers.

More tomorrow. I'm glad you're around.

Sorry this isn't better organized.

Unproofed.

John