Press release about burglaries coming soon from MCSD

Thanks to the pushing of Marengo area residents upset about the number of burglaries and "gypsy raids" that never seemed to make it into the news, the burglaries may stop for a while, following the apprehension of suspected burglars and recovery of stolen property.

An arrest was made in Rockford with participation of MCSD. Expect a press release soon.

The stolen property is being recovered, and victims will have an opportunity to identify any of their own property. Don't expect it back anytime soon, folks. It will be held as evidence until trials are concluded.

New book from Hidden Wounds

Watch for a new book coming about November 15 called Hidden Wounds - a Soldier's Burden.

I learned of it through a website of a South Carolina organization which serves returning veterans with PTSD and TBI. The organization, Hidden Wounds, Inc., was founded by the sister and father of a veteran who served in Iraq and committed suicide about a year after returning to the U.S.

If you go to http://www.hiddenwoundsasoldiersburden.com/#!, you can read the Foreward and Chapters 1 and 2. As soon as the book is available, you can order it from Hidden Wounds and through many booksellers. If you are in Woodstock, Ill., I'm sure that Read Between the Lynes will be happy to order it for you. Mark your calendar now for Nov. 15.

If you are looking for a worthwhile organization to include in your year-end charitable giving, remember Hidden Wounds. It's a 501(c)(3) organization, which means your donation is tax-deductible.

Great music - Wed. night, Village Squire

Want to hear some great music and have a nice evening?

See you at the Village Squire in McHenry on Wednesday evening, when Cheryl Niemo and Harold Rail will be providing music for your listening and dining enjoyment.

Grab one of their cards: "Music with Heart - A delicious blend of roots, folk, rock, blues, bluegrass, and country."

Is there a problem or not?

How's this for effectiveness? You decide... Maybe there really isn't a problem there. From www.shreveporttimes.com:

"The Caddo Parish (Louisiana) Sheriff's Office headed a multi-agency sobriety checkpoint Friday on Bert Kouns Industrial Loop in Southeast Shreveport.

"Authorities stopped 441 vehicles between 11 p.m. and 2:30 a.m.

"Caddo deputies charged two people with DWI, including a felony drug arrest. Deputies also issued 16 motor vehicle inspection violations, three open container violations, four seat belt violations and one expired registration violation.

"State troopers made two DWI arrests at the checkpoint and one DWI arrest on the saturation patrol."

Let's look at 441 vehicles stopped. Assuming that all different drivers were involved in the violations (not likely),

five people with DWI, including a felony drug arrest: 5/441 = 1.13%
16 motor vehicle inspection violations: 16/441 = 3.63%
three open container violations: 3/441 = 0.68%
four seat belt violation: 4/441= 0.91%
one expired registration violation: 1/441 = 0.23%.

That saturation effort was next to worthless. I suspect that the deputies and troopers would have had higher results on regular patrol! Were they using up a Federal grant?

Initial source: www.dwihitparade.com

Default - now or later?

Someone forwarded this to me. I'm not sure of the origin or the accuracy, but whoever wrote it makes a very good point. A very scary point, but a good point.

The U.S. Congress sets a federal budget every year in the trillions of dollars. Few people know how much money that is, so a breakdown was created of federal spending in simple terms. Let's put the 2011 federal budget into perspective:

* U.S. income:          $ 2,170,000,000,000
* Federal budget:       $ 3,820,000,000,000
* New debt:             $ 1,650,000,000,000
* National debt:        $14,271,000,000,000
* Recent budget cut:    $    38,500,000,000 (about 1 percent of the budget)

It helps to think about these numbers in terms that we can relate to. Let's remove eight zeros from these numbers and pretend this is the household budget for the fictitious Jones family.

* Total annual income for the Jones family:    $ 21,700
* Amount of money the Jones family spent:      $ 38,200
* Amount of new debt added to the credit card: $ 16,500
* Outstanding balance on the credit card:      $142,710
* Amount cut from the budget:                  $    385

And I add to this with, If the U.S. Government isn't bankrupt now, when will it be? This picture is obviously unsustainable.

Week 67 - Beth Bentley still gone

What will it take to crack the "missing person" case of Beth Bentley? Is it really a missing-person case? I don't think so. If it were, then wouldn't the Woodstock Police open the files of their year-long race around the track and give the public a chance to learn what has been done, so far, to find her?

The Illinois State Police (ISP) have finally listed Beth on their website, at http://www.isp.state.il.us/crime/missingdetails.cfm?ID=78 No listing date is shown, so it might have been there for a while. It took forever to get it listed there. Unfortunately, ISP refers to the Myth of the Train Station. Is there any involvement of ISP beyond this listing? The contact for ISP is its Zone 7 Investigations office; phone 618/542-2171. What would it take to get ISP to come up to Woodstock and interview a dozen people intensively? Like, start from Square One?

The wording in the denial of my FOIA request for access to the file indicates to me that Woodstock Police are still "investigating". Are they investigating a concealment of a death case? Are they investigating a murder? If so, keep the files closed and get on with it.

The bashing that is taking place on the Susan Murphy Milano blog and Facebook is inexcusable. If you haven't read some of the rants and barbs there and if you want to waste some of your valuable time, just do a search for Susan Murphy Milano AND facts AND Beth Bentley.is missing. I mean, some of those posters are vicious!

But back to the question. What's it going to take to crack open this case?

Sooner of later, one of the people from the fateful week-end in Mount Vernon and the circle of so-called friends in Woodstock will crack. What, exactly, happened in Mount Vernon that week-end?

Let's start with about 2:00AM, when Beth and her traveling companion, friend, co-worker, alibi, etc., Jennifer Wyatt, rolled into Mount Vernon, Ill. Did they go straight to the house that Ryan Ridge was rehabbing? Phone records for that Thursday evening are really light. Did they call along the way? Was Jenn anxious to see Ryan? Was he anxious to see her? What was Beth going to do for the rest of the night? If the house was being rehabbed, was it furnished?

OK, you super sleuths out there. Help out here. What happened next?

DuPage County plan - thumbs down

An article in this morning's paper should be a warning to drivers planning to drive into or through DuPage County this week-end.

Notice that I say that without reservation. Why?

DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin is going to make life miserable for anyone arrested for DUI who refuses a breathalyzer. His plan is to have that driver taken to a "central location", where an assistant state's attorney and a judge will be standing by through the week-end. (What happens to the driver's car? Towed?) The cop will ask for a warrant; the judge will issue the warrant; then medical personnel will stick the driver and draw blood, which will be tested for blood-alcohol content.

Is this legal? Is a driver thus being required to subject himself to an invasive procedure and provide evidence which could be used against him?

Bad move, Mr. Berlin!

What does State law provide, for the driver who refuses to submit to a test for alcohol above the legal limit for driving (0.08% BAC)? A summary suspension of his driving privileges and the attendant expense to restore his privilege to operate a motor vehicle on public roadways.

Consider what happened in McHenry County recently, when a man was arrested for DUI and refused a breathalyzer. His blood was drawn at a hospital, and his BAC was 0.04%. What? Less than 0.08%? Right!

So he was not drunk! Now what happens? He is still subject to a summary suspension, just because he refused the test! Is this fair? Who pays for his lawyer to defend him on the summary suspension charge and on the DUI charge? Who pays for the restoration of his Driver's License? How long does he have to wait before he can drive again?

What keeps a cop from charging someone with DUI, even if he knows the person probably isn't drunk? Should his police department have to pay all the costs to set things straight?

Does something in DuPage County this week smack of a kangaroo court? Sort of a "Give him a fair trial and string him up"?

With a judge, assistant state's attorney and medical personnel standing by, are cops and deputies going to be expected to keep them busy? Will everybody look like a drunk driver to the cops in DuPage County this week-end?