Week of February 25

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Messages which absolutely need to be seen today due to time constraints or breaking news. Remember to check the"new answers" link for the most active topics. This topic will run for a week, and then we will start a new dated "urgent" file.

-- Anonymous, February 25, 2001

Answers

Got a call from Greg wing, the principal at the Woodtaock school, who reported that his car was vandalkized whiler at the phoenicia School, during the board meeting...front windshiled cracked. he's reported it to the local police ands sherrif...I suggested letting the State Police know, since they have so many of the other reports.

Spoke with Blake Killin, who said his car was vandalized/tires punctured, and keyed paint, plus he has received 4 death threats. has reported it to local police, but doesn't want to "inflame" the situation by reporting on it..he said it happened in relation to the Pine Hill water Co. and Dean Gitter stuff...seems they don't like what he's written about it in the paper...he said he's also getting heavily critized about the onteora stuff he's written lately...I think he said he's getting "beaten up on two fronts." hmmm.. Tobe

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2001


Wow - I wonder why Greg Wing would be targeted for vandalism. Perhaps it was a case of mistaken identity. Janet could have been an intended target or myself for that matter. Did he mention the type of vehicle he has?? Did Blake know about Greg Wing and would Greg Wing or Blake go public??

-- Anonymous, March 01, 2001

Have they reported to the state police (Kingston barracks)? If not, they should..... It's so outrageous....

-- Anonymous, March 01, 2001

I suggested that Greg repoprt to the S Police...don't thnk I mentioned it to Blake...Don't expect either of them will report it to the press.

Don't know what kind of car greg wing drives,...will try to ask him if he's at the next board meeting...

here's n artcle from a list i get: Anyone know Phil and want to encourage him to go? T. Updated 12:00 PM ET February 27, 2001

By Jeff Achen Dakota Student U. North Dakota

(U-WIRE) GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- The proponents of change concerning the University of North Dakota's nickname and moniker are beginning to pull out the big guns.

UND saw what could potentially be just the tip of the iceberg as far as protests are concerned over the Fighting Sioux name. American Indian activist and actor Russell Means marched along with University of Colorado professor and leader of Colorado's American Indian Movement (AIM) Glenn Morris and many of UND's name change supporters at last Friday's "Day of Mourning" peaceful protest march.

MORE PROTESTS

More protests are being planned, one for the upcoming spring graduation ceremonies and one for the opening of the Ralph Engelstad Arena in October. Means said that he intends to bring an "AIM caravan" of supporters from Minneapolis, Denver and the Lakota Indian reservations in South Dakota for the spring protest.

"I'm contemplating, and the American Indian Movement is contemplating, disrupting the graduation ceremonies," Means said, "and we will use any means necessary."

The protest of the arena's opening may promise to bring more famous names to campus. UND Senior and Hidatsa Indian Alva Irwin has been trying to contact Los Angeles Lakers head coach and UND alumnus Phil Jackson. Irwin talked with Jackson via telephone just prior to Friday's protest march and hopes that he might be part of the October protest.

-- Anonymous, March 01, 2001


In the past several weeks the attitude of the staffers at DOE have taken a marked change, where they were helpful with making suggestions to address native based mascots they are very standoffish at this date. I attribute the change in attitude completely to Paige's leadership, what bothers me greatly is I recently heard Paige was the leading candidate for appointment by Gore-he had bragged that regardless how Florida was resolved he would head DOE.



-- Anonymous, March 02, 2001



There's a C. Johanssen in West Shokan in the book. Wonder if spouse of Olive town council member Cindy Johanssen? (not positive about spellings).

Real nasty encounter today, I'm still shaky and teary in reaction. I was at the Olivebridge Neighborhood Watch meeting today, and brought up my desire to know what I can expect in terms of accountability from the police. Note that I'm officially one of the neighborhood watch "block captains," make up and post the flyers for the meetings, etc. Wouldn't be doing so if I had some sort of inherent bad attitude about dealing with the police, would I?

I outlined to the group the letter I'd written to Bruce LaMonda in November. He's one of the three town council members who forms a triumverate police commission. The Olive police officer who took my complaint about my tire vandalism in August had told me that the Olive officers routinely pass on the information to the state police, and that my information would be passed on. I had also in the documentation of my August complaint asked in writing that the state police be told that I wished them to keep an eye out in their patrols. When I found out that these had never been entered in the state police blotter, and when State police Sergeant Cervini seemed to bend over backward to assure me several times that it was not the fault of the State Police, I felt I should ask LaMonda to look into this. That was in November, I never got an answer back, despite asking for a written answer.

LaMonda was at the meeting today, said to the group he didn't know how to tell me this but the officer had reported to him that I had called him a "good old boy" when I found that they had sent a local officer to my call instead of a state trooper. I allegedly was very disrespectful to to the Olive officer, according to him. My memory of the hour I spent with the officer was that our conversation was totally cordial and appropriate, and Ted, who was with us for most of it, confirms my memories. Comes down to a "he said -- she said", of course, and LaMonda, who I've never met before to my knowledge, or for no more than briefly at some local affair (I didn't recognize him), said right there that he believed the officer. The officer may have miscontrued my concern over the clearly inappropriate behavior by the Woodstock police regarding Lucia's visit after her tire vandalism as extending to him, but I certainly said nothing about this in writing, and I can't see how I would possibly have said anything confrontational to an authority figure to his face, you know how I quake in my boots even addressing the board. Even had I had the effrontery to do so, I can't see that the officers of today are so thin-skinned as to refuse to do their job when faced with such a shocking epithet as "good old boy," so I find that one a bit fishy.

I'll stand by my written remarks to the police and to LaMonda, that the Olive town board had already exhibited bias. Town Supervisor Berndt Leifeld's 2/14/00 letter to the Onteora board saying "You have destroyed our fifty year heritage" makes it quite clear which side he is on. Leifeld was at the meeting, came up to me afterward and was incoherently rambling about who cares about mascots anyway, but then about how he likes it but maybe it shouldn't be bursting through the bricks like that. He or LaMonda said that in my write-up I was trying to make it look like it was a political thing, as if nothing of that sort had already entered that particular arena.

So I came home, stomped around aimlessly for an hour, and suddenly got very shaky and burst into tears. I'm really feeling very bitter about this. Amy Schiff suggests I talk with Sylvia Rozzelle, the Olive town clerk, who is in the know about an awful lot of stuff (and basically on our side), and get her take on the dynamics. Beyond that, what should I do? Jim, what's your feel interms of what you know about local politics?

I don't mind apologizing to the officer if he miscontrued anything I said about the known Woodstock police behavior to be applying to him, but I found him to be courteous and professional for the most part during his taking of the complaint. He was somewhat dismissive of whether my tire screws could be connected with the mascot, but there were no other verified/reported incidents of that sort yet, and it wasn't until later that week that Curry and Donna reported their tire problems and the pattern became more apparent.

Should I just write to the officer and cc Lamonda and Leifeldt (after checking with Sylvia next week), and state that while the conversation between him and me is at this point merely "he said- she said,", and my memory as well as my husband's being that it was cordial, I would still like a written response to this reasonable request that I had asked in November -- why didn't he hand over the information on the incident to the State police as he had told me he would? By doing so he withheld the information from the state police on Lucia's incident when mine was the first written report of it to them, and given that one of the men who jeered her was also the one who heckled me at the last board meeting before my tire damage, it seems that is the closest we have come to naming a suspect. Why didn't he pass on my written request that the state police keep an eye on my house at the time during patrols?



-- Anonymous, March 03, 2001


Carol-Well, first let me address the Chris Johansonn issue. Yes, he is married to Cindy Johansonn who is on the town board. But she ran as a conservative and won.

Now as to your dilemma. Hmmmm. What is it that you want to achieve at this point in time? A considerable amount of water has passed under the bridge so I'm not clear as to what the purpose following through on this will be. Will it be helpful to you and/or will it cause the board or police to just be more distanced from you. Does it matter what the town board or police care? Of course, I'm sure that they would like it if you just forgot about the whole affair and left them alone.

If you definitely want to pursue this through I would suggest that you 1) speak to the police officer first (who was it??) as obviously there is some misunderstanding there, or, 2)Speak to Bruce personally and privately as to the concerns you had about your family's personal safety and the reason you had requested that it go onto the state police blotter, or, 3)Go to the State police and let them know what happened. I think that whatever you do pursue you should realize that it may not result in any cognizent action which satifies you. In other words, it may not get you anywhere and just cause you to be polarized from this group of politicos in Olive. I would carefully think this through as to the pros and cons and what the point is for all the effort. At least with schoolboard stuff we can somehow feel there is a higher goal, like kids and education. I'm not sure what goals are attainable in messing with our local town politics.

-- Anonymous, March 03, 2001


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