Community Issues

TSA actions unconstitutional

Rand Paul set to hold the TSA accountable for actions against the Senator. READ MORE

Utica cop plants drugs in car as camera rolls

Young couple [both the children of police officers] arrested for asking directions

Over the Counter Availability of Controversial Drug Under Fire
Judge Edward R. Korman criticized the FDA for keeping the morning-after-pill from minors

Judge Edward R. Korman criticized the FDA for keeping the morning-after-pill from minors

U.S. Judge Edward R. Korman has issued the federal ruling requiring the access of the 'morning-after-pill' to 17-year-olds without a prescription or parental consent.

'KIDS for CASH' SCANDAL in Pennsylvania reaches around the world: Why weren't corrupt judges stopped?

Disbarred Luzerne County President Judge Mark Ciavarella

Also caught up in the scandal was former Judge Michael Conahan who also pleaded guilty to the same charges.
Teens want tainted convictions tossed

When Gregory Jacobs was injured in a skiboarding accident, his parents were told he would not recover...

When Gregory Jacobs was injured skiboarding, his parents were told his situation was hopeless and he would not recover. Hospital staff encouraged the donation of his organs to assist others, for whom -- they said -- there was hope.

But after Gregory passed, his family learned that he wasn't declared brain dead until 29 minutes into the procedure in which his organs were being removed for transplant.

Why was Gregory alive as his organs were being removed? Surprisingly, this encounter -- which is happening daily throughout the United States -- is not at all an isolated incident.

Current rules and regulations allow virtually all powers of determining prognosis for patients such as Gregory Jacobs be handed to the very physicians treating them, virtually without oversight.

Many families have discovered, too late, that the likelihood that their family member was essentially killed during the organ harvesting session and not, as they were told, sure to die of 'natural causes following significant injury, or as the direct result of their injuries.'

In Gregory's case, his parents obtained documentation following a coroner's questioning of the timeframe's involved. The coroner contacted and the hospital staff quickly 'adjusted' the time of death to correspond to the legal requirements. However, it is typically not questioned that death actually occurs on the operating room table as the 'victim' is being relieved of his organs.

A website known as LIFEGUARDIANFOUNDATION.ORG has been addressing this issue for some time, charging that if people understood what is happening, they would never be taken in by unethical people in hospitals, feigning concern while encouraging organ donation.

In interviews with the organizers of The Life Guardian Foundation, which has many documented cases on their website and offers concise pdfs outlining the issue, there is little doubt of the accuracy of their claims, and the Catholic church has also established an adverse position in the matter citing evidence that the very process of obtaining of organs is fraught with legal inconsistencies and assessments for which there can be no physical proof.

It is little help, however, for those for whom the question is only raised following the tragic injury of a loved one. These decisions are often pressed upon a person who is faced with trying to comprehend what s happening while still in the throes of shock.

Many victims' families have indicated they were separated from each other once hospital officials determined the likeliest candidate to sign the required documents. One mother described a grueling incident in which she was separated from her husband who ultimately gave permission for the harvesting of organs from their son, the victim of a small handgun shooting that happened in their home. The boy was conscious and able to talk in the ambulance as he left their home.

Once in the care of physicians, however, the family was told his case, too, was essentially hopeless. Only later did the his parents recognize their son's injuries should not have resulted in death.

How much is a human life worth in the world of transplants? Remember, most patients are used to acquire at least three of these types of donations:

Please note that these figures do not include the requirements for securing the organs, nor do they include the cost of helicopter transport, the common means of transportation for organs intended for donation.

Heart: $650,000
Lung: $400,000
Double Lung: $550,000
Heart/Lung: $875,000
Liver: $520,000
Kidney: $250,000
Pancreas: $300,000
Kidney/Pancreas: $370,000
Kidney/Heart: $760,000
Liver/Kidney: $660,000
Intestine: $900,000
Bone Marrow (autologous): $270,000
Bone Marrow (allogeneic related): $480,000
Bone Marrow (allogeneic unrelated): $600,000
Cornea: $23,300

Note: Some families have reported discovering strange items on the bodies to disguise the ravages of taking all useable organs, leaving little to bury -- prompting many to investigate further the circumstances behind the death. STORY HERE

Critics of the methods used in obtaining organs for transplant have charged that when the word DONOR appears on a person's personal documents, they are treated differently than those who have not chosen to be a donor, even including the withholding of resuscitation efforts.

Once in a hospital and designated for transplantation, the hospital staff will go to great lengths to ensure the 'patient' isn't reevaluated or moved and, commonly, any questions raised on by family members -- or suggestion that they move the patient to another hospital will be met with the announcement that the patient would undoubtedly die enroute to the new facility.

JULY 2008 -- New Mayor Steve Bennett won the last election by a wide margin as a write-in candidate for Mayor - the first successful write-in candidacy in Quartzsite. Also sworn in during the ceremony as councilmen were incumbent Carolyn Guthrie and newly elected William Moore.

Following Bennett's resignation August 27, 2008, Charles [Chuck] Busby assumed the position of 'Interim Mayor' until his death 4 November 2008. Now, the position filled by acting Mayor Walter Akin, the Citizen's Coalition is pressing for an election -- to elect a new Mayor.

While the council has been less than receptive to this idea, Coalition organizers still indicate they have enough signatures to press -- effectively -- for an election.

Hal Davidson, acting Vice Mayor, has indicated a formal election will cost the town in excess of $ 10,000.00, while former Town Attorney Glen Gimbut -- now Town Attorney for San Luis -- has cited $ 4,000.00 as a 'more realistic' figure.

The discrepancy -- and the question as to whether or not the Town Council will agree to allow their constituents to hold a formal election has yet to be addressed as Town Manager/ Town Attorney Daniel G. Field has been unavailable for comment, as has acting Mayor Walter Akin since Wednesday's meeting.

Although Field has openly stated he believes there should be an election, the questions he has raised indicate there could be obstacles to allowing the election process to proceed. As yet, these 'obstacles' have yet to be clearly defined by any Town official, including Field.

The latest position of both Field and Akin is that no election will take place until March of 2010.

"We don't want to wait," stated Dean Taylor, Citizen's Coalition Chairman. "We need to get people into office that will be concerned with Quartzsite - with the welfare of Quartzsite's citizens. We have to go forward with our demands for an election now."

Former Mayor C. Richard Oldham spoke to the Council at a meeting in November, stating that during his tenure in office, it was specifically stated that there would be elections for the position of Mayor. Oldham suggested that an election be held and indicated the council is using an appointment clause
intended to be used with vacant council seats.

"It's supposed to a directly elected Mayor by the people of Quartzsite.

The lack of availability of the town's officials is -- according to Citizen's Coalition representatives -- commonplace.

"We are virtually unrepresented," stated Dean Taylor, Coalition chairman. "We cannot get these people on the phone, they won't answer in public. We bring concerns to them and they shut us down three minutes into our presentations without a response. Then we can't address them again until the next meeting, when we approach them publicly only to be treated the same way again."

Other Coalition members reiterated Taylor's concern about the handling of issues of concern to Quartzsite's citizenry.

"We need a competent Mayor," stated one businessman, who asked not to be identified. "We have all heard they plan not to allow an election until 2010, and we all feel -- in the wake of the current economic issues throughout the country -- that we just can't afford to wait until 2010 to get competent leadership into Quartzsite.

Coalition members cited concern for the lack of growth happening in Quartzsite and the 'forcing out' of business throughout the community.

"Everywhere you look businesses are coming up for sale here," the businessman continued. "Look at how many have come and made deals, only to suddenly decide on a location elsewhere, citing concerns that they will encounter trouble with the 'elected officials' in Quartzsite. It's as though we're held hostage by the unbelievable level of incompetence that is ruining our ability to do business. We need to replace the existing council."

In years past, the Town of Quartzsite's by-laws had stipulated that the position of Mayor would be elected by the townspeople.

This by-law cannot be changed by the sitting council. Only a referendum -- voted on by the people -- could alter the existing by-law. Any attempt to do otherwise is blatantly illegal.

Interestingly, the topic foremost among those critical of the Town government currently governing Quartzsite is the charge that the council is unreceptive to the concerns [and the accusations] of the people, avoiding questions and consistently failing to return calls and inquiries pertinent to matters concerning Quartzsite's citizens.

Further, the council has re-implemented a 'stopwatch' approach to open meetings by effectively preventing citizens from speaking openly by using a stopwatch and gavel to interrupt after allowing the person to speak for the maximum period of three minutes.

When Bennett took office, he promptly discontinued the practice, noting that the citizenry of the town had a right to voice their opinions at open meetings of the council.

At the Wednesday evening meeting, Citizen's Coalition representative Doug Guilford questioned the town's handling of zoning issues following an incident in which he, a Century 21 real estate agent, had had a problem with zoning after purchasing a property in Quartzsite he intended for food vending.

Guilford charged that the town arbitrarily defined zoning without proper research, causing issues that took weeks to resolve.

"I did my due diligence," Guilford stated. "This property was zoned C2. However, after purchasing the property, I was informed by the zoning official that it was not properly zoned for my project."

Guilford addressed the council with a prepared statement and asked the council to consider reviewing the town's zoning procedures to provide a fair and unbiased basis on which to base zoning. In the midst of his statement, he was told to stop speaking. Another Coalition member finished his statement for him.

Dean Taylor, the Coalition's chairman, was also interrupted by the three-minute limit, also requiring a second person, Gerald Wilcox, to finish a written statement he'd begun reading, which cited problems with communications -- specifically following the death of acting Mayor Charles [Chuck] Busby November 4, 2008.

The Citizen's Coalition statement cited several instances of poor or nonexistent communications with the town including the mishandling of the death of acting Mayor Busby.

Questions concerning Busby's death went unanswered, some were openly antagonistic. One press representative reported she had been told by a town official, "We have nothing to say: Nothing. Nothing. Nothing."

The Coalition statement was requesting the appointment of an official 'Information Officer' to be properly trained so that future incidents might be treated in a more timely and professional way.

Charles [Chuck] Busby did not take steps to re-implement the three minute time limit during the time he was in office. It is unclear under what circumstances this oft-challenged practice was re-enacted by the town council -- but the open discussions concerning the ramifications of these and other council actions have been cited as the reasoning behind the formation of a Citizen's Coalition to represent the concerns, ideas and opinions of a public body that openly claims they are not being properly represented by the officials currently holding office in the town.

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