Tag Archives: arrest

Two arrest warrants issued for $1 mllion landfill scam

Interesting things sometimes turn up when a landfill is investigated.

Taylor West wrote for the AJC 5 June 2014, Police: Arrest warrants issued in connection with $1 million scam,

Multiple arrest warrants have been issued in relation to a trail of criminal activity resulting in the theft of more than $1 million from a Fulton County business, authorities said.

Police began an investigation in mid-April when Waste Management Inc. made a complaint regarding Willow Oak Landfill, which it owns, following an anonymous tip and a private investigation, according to the Palmetto Police Department today.

In this case it was the landfill operator that filed a complaint. Waste Management is one of the two largest solid waste companies in the U.S.; the other is ADS.

The complaint alleged Continue reading →

Quartzite Council cited by Arizona Attorney General

We haven’t looked in on the little town of 3,000 odd people of Quartzsite, Arizona, lately.

Its goings-on continue to seem eerily applicable to our own county of 100,000 odd people.

On 9 December 2011, the Attorney General of Arizona, Tom Horne, issued a statement Re: Open Meeting Law Complaint against Town of Quartzsite Common Council (the “Council”), saying that the town Council had violated the state Open Meetings Law (OML) four times:

by not warning Jennifer Jones before removing her on 28 June 2011;
by holding a Council meeting on 10 July 2011 in which they excluded the public by actually locking the doors of their meeting room;
by failing to post minutes of the emergency meeting on its website as required by Arizona Law (yes, Arizona law, like Texas law, requires posting minutes on the web) and by not including a required statement of the emergency requiring the meeting;
and by failing to post withing the required three working days minutes for the 10 July 2011 emergency meeting, nor for seven of its work sessions, nor for its 14 June 2011 regular session.

This one wasn’t a violation, but may be at least as important:

The purpose of the OML is to require public bodies to meet publicly and openly so that al persons so desiring may attend and listen to the deliberations and proceedings.

Why, I believe that’s the same in Georgia!

It seems back-room meetings are bad: Continue reading →

Arrests for speaking in an Arizona town

Something seems familiar about this story of a couple of people being arrested at small town council meetings for speaking up.

Ben Popken wrote for the Consumerist 15 July 2011, Small Arizona Town In Furor After 2nd Citizen Arrested For Speaking At Town Meeting:

The town of Quartzsite, AZ, population 3,466, is in disarray after a video showing police hauling away a citizen for speaking at the town meeting podium went viral. The woman was saying that the town council had been violating open meeting laws.
It was the second citizen arrested at a Quartzsite town meeting in two weeks.

What’s all this about? Continue reading →

Self-executing mode —John Fretti

Someone posting as Mayor John Fretti of Valdosta responded in a comment to Leigh Touchton. Mayor Fretti, please point us to where on the web is the video you mention. -jsq
Update 12:13 AM 23 April 2011: Mayor Fretti confirms (through three different channels) that this post was by him:

THat was my post. an attempt to reach out and help explain a few things. the video, as was al evidence in the case was exchanged durig the discovery part of the motion. the video should be with that.

I have asked him whether an open records request would produce the video. Back to the original post. -jsq

With all due respect to Leigh’s version of the arrest – and it is all on video, it happened in the end by way of self – executing mode. After repeated requests for the group to relinquish the podium and rose stating each time that they will not and we “must do what we have to do”. the Mayor asked if there was any objection from Council or city manager or attorney if WE allow Chief Frank Simons to approach the crowd and do what he sees necessary to allow the meeting to continue efficiently and effectively. There was some discussion and then John Fason (Cmdr.) asked if anyone wants to go to jail – to follow him. and they all did – no cuffs, no restraints. Peacefully. That’s it. and all on video for all to see. With respect to the charges filed, they were old STATE charges and were ruled out as overbroad and (something else). That was fine. There was an appeal by the solicitor General and again the old STATE laws were ruled overbroad and (something else). as they should have been. We have our own local laws and ordinances now that have been tested strong in court.
and now here it the Paul Harvey moment…

Continue reading →

South Georgia GBI; Roundup of Blacks In Quitman

In the appended post about yesterday’s events in Quitman, George Rhynes cites the WCTV and WALB stories. Curiously, the nearest local daily newspaper, the Valdosta Daily Times, seems to have nothing online about this. -jsq

At 8:30 AM, I began receiving phone calls from Quitman, Georgia in the County of Brooks where the County Sheriffs Office was arresting citizens at random concerning the recent Absentee Ballot Problems.
These arrests reminded me of the alleged problems Black Voters/Citizens have had with the GBI harassing them during their investigation before and during the last run off election. This included alleged actions by the GBI Investigators that local citizens complained about intimidation before, during and after the election. However little or no Public Media Attention was given to alleged Black Voter intimidation by local media. Moreover, little to nothing was published in the FREE PRESS surrounding citizen’s fear from GBI Investigators. This was a major point of discussion when I along with a local Pastor from Valdosta, Georgia walked the streets to get a better understanding of what Brooks County Voters had to go through during the last election.
Today’s arrest will surely end up in the courts.