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Showing posts with label Indianapolis Star. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Indianapolis Star. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Bob Kravitz Laid Off From WTHR


Bob Kravitz


We are shocked to hear that veteran sports reporter/columnist Bob Kravitz is being laid off from his job at WTHR. Holly Hays over at INDYSTAR has the story here is some of what she wrote:

WTHR-13 has laid off sports columnist Bob Kravitz, according to a source with direct knowledge of the situation.  Kravitz spent 14 years as a columnist at IndyStar. He left IndyStar in 2014 to join the station.

Miss Hays says the story is a developing one and that WTHR has not commented on the situation. Kravitz also has declined to comment on the matter.

If we here anything else we will let you all know.

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Cover up at the BMV?

If anyone out there thought that electing Eric "Bagman" Holcomb would clean up the BMV. Tony Cook's column "BMV fires supervisor and her son, won't give details"  shows just how irrational hope in Holcomb is. 

Tony Cook writes:

A supervisor at the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles and her son — also a BMV employee — have been fired after an internal fraud investigation. 

But the BMV is releasing few details about the firings, rekindling concerns about openness at an agency that has overcharged customers,  grappled with an ethics scandal and faced questions about politically motivated hirings.

Stacy Cox, the accounting supervisor at BMV's headquarters in Indianapolis, was terminated on March 21 for providing false information during an investigation by the agency's Fraud and Security Enforcement division. 

Apparently if the BMV is to be believed lying during an investigation runs in the family. Since Cook goes onto say:

Her son, Richard Cody Pringle, who also worked at the central office as a driver's license printer, was terminated two weeks later for the same reason.

The fraud investigation was prompted by the employees' personal vehicle transactions, including allegations of the employees submitting false monetary amounts paid for those vehicles, according to Ashley Hungate, a spokeswoman for the state personnel department.

In phone interviews, Cox and Pringle defended their actions as oversights rather than deliberate misconduct. 

IndyStar requested a copy of the fraud investigation reports, but the BMV refused to provide them. citing exemptions to the state's public records law regarding personnel matters. 

Such reports, however, are typically released when they involve non-employees.

Government watchdogs say the agency's decision to withhold reports involving BMV employees is concerning, especially since employees fired after fraud investigations have landed sensitive jobs with BMV contractors in the past.

Sarah Bonick, a spokeswoman for the BMV, said the agency must strike a balance between employee privacy and transparency. 

Cox told IndyStar the investigation began when she bought a vehicle from an Eastside junkyard, Barlow's Used Auto Parts, where her brother worked.

The vehicle turned out to be stolen. She said she was unaware that the vehicle was stolen when she bought it.

BMV investigators later found she had titled a box truck five years earlier in her name and listed the purchase price as $0, even though her then-boyfriend had paid for it, she said. 

The BMV takes such indiscretions seriously because they can muddy the vehicle's ownership history and allow the new owner to avoid title costs, which include a 7 percent sales tax based on the purchase price listed on the title.

Pringle said BMV investigators questioned him about several vehicles he bought or sold, including a pickup truck he purchased from the owner of Barlow's, where his uncle worked.

"They accused me of lying about how much I paid for it," Pringle said. "I can't remember the amounts."

He then sold that vehicle for $500 and "some handguns," he said, but only listed the $500 cash on the title work. He later told BMV investigators that there was only one handgun involved in the exchange, though in reality there were "three or four," he said.

"It was none of their business how many guns I traded for," he said. 

In another case, he purchased a vehicle for $2,000 from a friend, but paid only $100 in cash and agreed to work off the remaining $1,900 at his friend's shop, he said. So he listed $100 on the title work.

While the terminations may be justified, advocates of open government said the BMV should be more transparent about such situations. 

"As a citizen, I am always concerned when a government agency fails to be transparent regarding offenses or violations that occur at the hands of its employees," said Zachary Baiel, president of the Indiana Coalition for Open Government. "Without access to this information, the public cannot be assured the necessary accountability has been met."

Julia Vaughn, public policy director for Common Cause Indiana, shared her concerns.

"While keeping these records under wraps serves their immediate interest of avoiding public scrutiny about what happened here, in the long-term it’s just another reason for the public not to have faith in this agency," she said. "All I can think is there is information embarrassing to someone at a higher level who is still at the BMV."

IndyStar reported in 2015 that at least three fired BMV employees were later hired by a BMV contractor, where they continued to have access to sensitive information stored on BMV terminals. 

Two of the employees had been fired after a fraud investigation; the other was terminated for poor performance that supervisors said opened up the agency to potential fraud. 

As in this latest case, the BMV declined to release any of the FSE investigation reports related to those employees.

Bonick said the BMV now has safeguards to ensure that fired employees don't end up working in similar positions for outside contractors.

"All potential employees who will have access to BMV terminals or our transaction system while working for a contractor are vetted through the State Personnel Department and also the BMV’s Fraud and Security Enforcement Department," she said in an email. "Any former State of Indiana employee, not just those who previously worked for the BMV, who have been flagged as Not Eligible For Rehire are not approved."

The firings come after several turbulent years for the agency. Since 2013, the BMV has admitted to overcharging Hoosier motorists about $90 million in taxes and fees. Those overcharges have since been refunded, but one of two class-action lawsuits over the fees remains unresolved. 

Any IndyStar investigation in 2015 found that top BMV officials knew for years they were likely gouging Hoosier motorists with excessive fees, but chose to ignore or cover up the overcharges rather than refund the extra money and adjust to significant budget losses.

The financial mismanagement raised serious questions about the qualifications of several top BMV officials and the role that political connections played in their hiring.

IndyStar also found that Shawn Walters, the agency's former chief of staff, encouraged the use of a new fee, then went to work for a private vendor that benefited from it.

The series of controversies led then-Gov. Mike Pence to shake up BMV leadership and cancel the state's contract with the controversial outside vendor. The state ethics commission later fined Walters $500 for violating state ethics rules — an amount that government accountability experts criticized as too low. 

The BMV has since worked with lawmakers to streamline the state's complicated system of fees. 

Well we can all see why Holcomb didn't have a problem vetoing the controversial public records search fee bill. It is because he knows his lapdogs throughout state government will refuse to release records by claiming they relate to "personnel matters". As for BMV spokeswoman Sarah Bonick's stating they have to balance employee privacy with transparency. We ask: "Ms. Bonick how is that applicable in this case?" Cox and Pringle are no longer employed by the BMV. So how can the BMV say that by keeping their fraud investigation reports secret you are protecting employee privacy? Especially since reports are usually released when non-employees are involved? Even conceding that somehow the agency is interested in protecting Cox and Pringle's privacy. Cox and Pringle have given interviews to the Indianapolis Star. So obviously they are not concerned about their own privacy. So there is no reason for the BMV not to release the information. 

Last June we blogged about several BMV scandals and gave links to Gary Welsh, Paul Ogden and Charlie White's chronicling of all the BMV stupidity. IR must confess that Julia Vaughn's saying "All I can think is there is information embarrassing to someone at a higher level who is still at the BMV." Has all of us thinking this is more likely than not the reason for the BMV's being so reluctant to release the information in this case. But if so who at the BMV stands to be embarrassed by this and why? For the record IR is not saying that this is anything other than a simple fraud investigation. That we don't know. But given the BMV's troubled history. Our natural inclination is to assume a cover up. Unless we are given reason to believe otherwise. If you have any information, rumors or tips. Please leave a comment at the end of this post. Or on the web version of this blog fill out the contact form and submit it. 

From all of us here at IR we wish you all a good rest of the week. And remember stay positive.




Thursday, May 11, 2017

Mike Pence and Indiana Secretary of State Connie "Freeloader" Lawson to be part of Voter Fraud Commission

Earlier today that lovable gadfly Paul Ogden wrote an article called Vice President Pence Damages His Reputation in Conveying False Narrative About Comey Firing. IR continues to be impressed by Paul's writing. And we all here welcome his contribution to the cause of freedom. Around the same time today as Paul Ogden's piece appeared. News broke that President Trump had signed an executive order to investigate claims of voter fraud said to have occurred during last years presidential race. David Jackson & Deborah Barfield Barry of USA Today wrote in Mike Pence, Connie Lawson to study 'voter fraud' as part of Trump commission:

The commission will be chaired by Vice President Mike Pence, who will be joined by up to 15 other members, including Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who has advocated for some of the most restrictive election laws in the country, will serve as the commission's vice chair.

"The president's committed to the thorough review of registration and voting issues in federal elections,'' said White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders. "And that's exactly what this commission is tasked with doing.''

The order calls for the commission to study the "vulnerabilities in voting systems and practices used for federal elections that could lead to improper voter registrations and improper voting, including fraudulent voter registrations and fraudulent voting.''

The advisory commission  set up to "promote fair and honest federal elections'' will hold public meetings and meet with federal state and local officials as well as election experts, according to the order. The commission is expected to present a report to the president next year.

If the intention of the commission really is "to promote fair and honest federal elections". Than Mike Pence and current Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson should be removed from this group immediately. It has been given little attention so far by the Indiana or National Media so far. But a cursory look at both Mike Pence and Connie Lawson's electoral careers shows that there are serious questions about their voting and residencies. We are not saying there is anything illegal. But given the legal and public beating inflicted on Lawson's predecessor former State Secretary of State Charlie White for allegedly voting in the wrong precinct one time in his entire life. Justice demands that Pence and Lawson's conduct as office holders and candidates be examined in the same manner.

Mr. Charlie White has written online and spoken on his podcast series at length about both Pence and Lawson's issues.

Writing on his Facebook page Mr. White has this to say:

October 3, 2015

The State of Indiana is a backward 'state of men' and not of law.  The "law" shifts, alters and is "suspended" depending upon "who you are"...It is akin to driving down the street and the state changes the posted speed limit to give you a ticket, after which they abruptly change it back for the benefit of others.  Its like trying to kick a field goal in football and they move the uprights as the ball is in the air so the ball doesn't go through. Be on notice that the word "shall" for statutes that provide you rights & privileges really means "may" and "may" really means "shall".  Legally defined words in the code are ignored and words not defined in the code have shifting meanings depending on the day.  Im really getting sick of "Tricky" Dick Lugar holding a court order saying he can continue to vote from an abandoned farm house with no water or sewer while he "lives" in Virginia after the AG Greg Zoeller said he could vote from a strangers house for 36 years (because Greg Zoeller did it too!!) Or Gov. Mike Pence living off the SAME ROAD (Olio road) in Fishers as me, enrolling his daughter in HSE schools as he votes from Columbus?!  Of course, pampered Gov. Pence didn't feel compelled to disclose on his campaign reports that Indiana Builders Council board member Bill O'Gorman provided the $400K Fishers house for "the convenience of (Pence's) family". Of course, the media doesn't like talking about them, Mitch Daniels, Evan Bayh or the judges who live in one county/state and vote in another over their "intent" because they know damn well someone with a 5th grade education can see that something doesn't line up. If you mention anything about this, see how quickly people suddenly lose the ability to speak and want to change the subject or simply lie about the facts of these kingpins. If you value your liberty and you are dumb enough like me to ask public officials in your own grand old party to stop taking lavish free vacations in exchange for road and bridge projects, run out of Indiana as fast as you can.  Everyone, not just me, deserves fair notice on what the law is...and we all deserve equal protection under the law where folks are similarly situated.  Indiana, unfortunately, changes law "retroactively" (ex post facto) to make legal behavior 'illegal'..even if its temporarily illegal to get one person.  If mandatory statutes and 100 years of published case law are no longer valid, it would've been nice to know.

I think you see that its a free for all.  Secretary "Freeloader" Lawson and her husband had homesteads in Hendricks Co., Marion County and in Arizona all at the same time!! If that were us we would be crucified...but she is one of the elites.  Mitch Daniels claimed a homestead in Hamilton County in his special mansion he told the world he wouldn't build it bc it was in a county where he legally couldn't reside as governor. Pence claimed a homestead in columbus while living down the road from me in fishers in 2012 as he enrolled his child in HSE schools. 

If what Mr. White says is accurate especially in regards to Connie Lawson having had multiple simultaneous homestead exemptions in Indiana and another in Arizona. Then she has some serious explaining to do! As far as we are aware you can only claim one homestead exemption period! So why did Mrs. Lawson have different homesteads in Indiana and Arizona? There might be an answer for them. But unless Connie Lawson is willing to explain whether or not this is true she should either step down from the advisory commission or be tossed from it! 

As for why Mike Pence is not the man you want in charge of cleaning up voter fraud. As IR pointed out not that long ago Mike and Karen Pence listed on their 2011 tax return that they lived in Arlington, Virginia. Which is very problematic considering that Pence ran for and was elected governor of Indiana in 2012. The reason this is an issue is because according to the Article 5, Section 7 of the Constitution of the State of Indiana:

Section 7. No person shall be eligible to the office of Governor or Lieutenant Governor, who shall not have been five years a citizen of the United States, and also a resident of the State of Indiana during the five years next preceding his election; nor shall any person be eligible to either of the said offices, who shall not have attained the age of thirty years.

Here is a shot of Mike and Karen Pence's 2011 tax return:

 


Now if as Mike Pence's tax return from 2011 states that he was living in Virginia that year. Than how could he have possibly resided in Indiana for the five years preceding the 2012 Gubernatorial election to legally qualify to run for Governor? If his  Form 1040 that is signed under penalty of perjury is to be believed than he could not and did not meet the eligibility requirements to run for and be elected Governor in 2012. So either his 2011 tax return address was in some way wrong, or his voter registration and homestead in Columbus, Indiana was in error. One of these maybe true but one of them has to logically be wrong! 

In light of the already cantankerous political atmosphere of today's world. Mike Pence and Connie Lawson should have had there backgrounds checked out further. We can already see the Democrats going after Pence and Lawson right now in order to gain more of an edge in next years midterm elections. We agree with Paul Ogden that Pence has destroyed his credibility. We would argue however that Pence trashed his credibility decades ago and he should be sent into political retirement.

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Marion County Republican Chairman Jim Merritt Blows Smoke at Matt Tully

Vacation was outstanding. But know time to get down to business. In a previous blog post we brought you the story about RINO State Senator Jim Merritt was seeking to run ruin the Marion County Republican Party by seeking election as it's chairman. Since that time as we expected Merritt has been successful at becoming Marion County GOP Chairman. He recently sat down with our most hated establishment flunky Matt Tully to spout nonsense about how he will revive the Republican Party in Marion County. Tully writes:


Marion County Republican Chairman Jim Merritt


Jim Merritt understands the task he’s taken on. It’s a tough one. Politically speaking, it doesn’t get much more daunting than this.
Merritt, the longtime state senator from Indy's northeast side, recently won his bid to become the new chairman of the Marion County Republican Party.


 Republicans have been swamped in every countywide election in recent years. They control none of the major offices in a city that has tilted more and more heavily to the Democratic side in recent years. Hillary Clinton won the county by 82,000 votes last year. Mayor Joe Hogsett won 62 percent of the vote in 2015, joining a long list of Democrats who have won big here in recent years. The GOP has lagged badly on fundraising.


"Ass Kisser" Tully quotes Merritt as saying:


“The Republican Party is in limbo in Marion County,” Merritt said. “We have to improve ourselves. I wouldn’t want to invest in the Republican Party locally right now.”
But he did, adding county chairman to his gig at the state Senate, where he has been a powerful voice on issues such as hunger and opioid addiction in recent years. He says he has to start “with the basics, the blocking and tackling of politics” as party chairman, recruiting new precinct workers and raising money. But then the party must focus on doing a better job of offering ideas and an “urban Republican model” that can appeal to more people.

“We have to show people that we can challenge Democrats and lead the county on tough issues,” he said. “In Indianapolis, we cannot be the party of ‘no.’ Not this time. This city obviously has crime problems, fiscal problems, infrastructure problems. There’s an opportunity to show that a Republican model of a big city can work.”
Unlike in many larger cities, Republicans at least don’t have to go too far back in history to find big moments of success. Former Mayor Greg Ballard won a surprise victory in 2007 and then cruised to re-election four years later. Former Gov. Mitch Daniels, elected in 2004 and 2008, won the county big. Those two men, known for running pragmatic, idea-driven administrations that didn’t get caught up on social issues and appealed to voters from both parties, have provided the road map for success in a big city, Merritt argues.
“We’ve got to be about having a broader appeal,” he said.


As evidence of that, Daniels won the county by almost 50,000 votes in 2008 after running, in large part, on a message of government efficiency, thinking bigger and making Indiana more attractive to employers. Four years later, fellow Republican Mike Pence, with his well-established position as a socially conservative leader, lost the county by 80,000 votes. That 130,000-vote swing tells you a lot about what kind of Republican can sell in Indianapolis.


The above paragraphs shows why under Jim Merritt the Democrats are in no danger of losing their dominance in Marion County. If anything the Marion County GOP will only continue to shrink. It's true that Greg Ballard was elected as Indianapolis Mayor twice and both times Mitch Daniels ran he carried Marion County. The problem is that Daniels was running against very weak opponents. That is the only reason he carried Marion County. In 2012 and 2016 both times the Republican Gubenatorial Candidate lost Marion County by large margins. Mike Pence did better in Lake County than he did in Marion and there are no republicans in Lake County! Ballard only won in 2007 because Bart Peterson was stupid enough to shoot himself in the foot prior to the election by pushing to raise Indianapolis's property taxes. In 2011 he narrowly won reelection against a very weak opponent. So citing Daniels and Ballard as a way for republicans to regain ground in Indianapolis is not a good suggestion. The baseline republican vote in Marion County is around 40% and that seems to be dropping each election. Greg Ballard is not very well liked by rank-and-file republicans due to his nonstop taxing and spending, his hostility to gun owners, and his turning the keys to Indianapolis over to the establishment hacks in both parties.




Merritt is moving the county party out of its standalone location and into the state party headquarters, a cost-cutting move but also one he hopes will help the local party better coordinate with a state organization that has won a solid string of elections in recent years. He believes he has a better chance of growing the party locally with the election of Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican who has won praise across party lines.


He is focusing on local races in 2018 and helping current GOP council members better get the word out on their initiatives. He is already scouting for 2019 mayoral candidates, but he knows the party must improve its infrastructure in order to attract a top nominee. Above all, Merritt said, the party must market itself as a force trying to improve the community by offering smart ideas on core city issues.
“If we do our job and add solid people to the organization and support a broad range of candidates, we have a chance,” he said. “Greg Ballard proved it, and that wasn’t so long ago. We have a chance to win in this county. But we have to give people a reason to want to be Republicans.”


Why Merritt thinks that Eric Holcomb will be able to help rebuild the Marion County GOP is beyond us. If the above photograph of Merritt is any indicator than it would seem likely that Merritt just has no damn clue what the hell he is doing! He looks like his brain is struggling to deal with his own stupidity! Holcomb lost Marion County by a large margin last year in his race for Governor. And years ago when Holcomb was the State Republican Chairman he did less than nothing to help out the Marion County GOP.  Holcomb seems like the person to go to if you want to mess things up in Indianapolis! Merritt is the last person who should be speaking about building the party up. He is one of the insiders that tried to defeat Christine Scales in the 2015 Primary and was probably a factor in her leaving the Republican Party. If Matt Tully had any brains he would have asked Jim Merritt for specifics on how he intends to fix the GOP. But he won't because that would cost him points with the members of his circle jerk club! Time will tell but so far there is no reason for us to believe that Merritt will do anything other than to continue turning the Marion County GOP into a wholly owned subsidiary of the Marion County Democratic Party.

Thursday, March 2, 2017

Tabloid Indianapolis Star Peddling more Pro-Establishment Propaganda

In yesterday's edition of Pravda Indiana. The Stars digital producer Dwight Adams wrote here about how according to US News and World Report, Indiana's State Government is ranked the best state government in the United States. The Hoosier State was given this distinction it is said because of "Indiana's excellent credit rating, low pension fund liability, and budget transparency." Indiana Governor Eric "Bagman" Holcomb in response to the Star's Press Release report about how Indiana has the greatest state government in the known universe said: "Strong leadership over the last 12 years has made our government efficient." "It's my (Eric Holcomb) goal to continue this success and elevate our position on all fronts."

IR is curious as to just what "success" Governor Holcomb wishes to continue. Is he referring to the disastrous reign at FSSA of Mitch Roob? The incompetent reign of the IDOI and IURC by Jim Atterholt who unjustly fired Paul Ogden? Does he wish to continue the legacy of "Godfather Governor" Mitch Daniels of firing and destroying state whistleblowers like the venerable Paul Ogden? Does Holcomb intend to continue turning a blind eye towards misconduct committed by the likes of former Indiana Schools Superintendent Tony Bennett? If so then the hell with Holcomb and his definition of success!

Drivel like this out of the "Downtown Mafia's" paper of record proves conclusively that the Indianapolis Star is no longer home to people like Dick Cady and Ruth Holliday. But now serves only to spew out whatever Matt Tully and his circle jerk club are told to write by their paymasters. We encourage people to checkout Dick Cady's book "Deadline Indianapolis" for a glimpse as to what the Star used to be. No doubt Advance Indiana's Gary Welsh is laughing from his grave at Indiana being given the "Best Government" designation! We all here long ago canceled our subscriptions to the Star. We advise all of you to do the same. Let's drink to the day when the Star is gone!