Imagine you are a reporter for a weekly midcoast Maine newspaper, and you are tipped to a secret mission of wind industry R&D representatives heading to Monhegan to do a dog and pony show to the winter natives of the island. You learn that an opponent of that very wind R&D project is going there too, and has bones to pick with the R&D-ers.
Imagine that the opponent records the presentation and the question and answer period following and lets the reporter hear the discontent of the Monhegan Islanders over the vagueness of the would be wind R&Ders promises to "monitor". Let's the reporter hear the wind reps promise to withdraw if there are serious repercussions to birds, or to the view or to the quality of life of Monheganers. Let her hear proof there is a bill sneaking about the back halls of the Maine legislature to open up all of Maine's coastal waters to wind farming.
Let the reporter know that the opponent - shooting photographs for the reporter - got caught in encroaching darkness and sleet and snow on a slick cliff trail at a remote corner of the island, and sought and received a helping guide back to his lodging (joining the "100,000 club" of people who've gotten turned around in the island's eastern wildlands and brought back to civilization by patient islanders.) Give the reporter some of those those hard-attained photos, and of the meeting of Monhegan's citizenry with the wind industry R&Ds.
Imagine the story that could come out from this concatenation of engineers, fishermen, hoteliers, plantation, officials, fishermen, a litigator. that could come from the plain-as-can-be skepticism evinced by the islanders challenging smooth talking wind industry reps.
The story you can imagine is not the story that appeared in the Herald Gazette newspaper, that has shown up in news aggregators picking up the story.
No. Reporter Auciello threw all that out the window and did what any reporter who chooses not to shake the tree that pays the newspaper's bills would do: Cover the story exclusively from the point of view of the industry and scissor out anything that conflicts with the industry spin.
A quick phone call to one of the engineers, and reporter Auciello had her story: Everything's wonderful, the wise industrial plan is underway, there is nothing hampering, nothing challenging the smooth flow of industrial control over that bit of the Gulf of Maine.
Auciello's story faithfully reports as fact each slick one liner the wind industry's public relations people have dangleed before her. Her job is safe. For now. What about the point of view of the Monhegan islanders? Auciello does not quote a single one of them. What about the opponents of the wind farm plan? That too is not newsworthy. Only the March of Industry, laid out in purple prose that must've have made the energy industry's own PR flacks .
Another writer in the same stable as Auciello is Steve Betts, once editor of the Courier Gazette but now downsized to reporterdom. A crucial difference between the two is that veteran scribbler Betts may bend facts to suit his editorial fancies, but at least he presents the facts to the public, distorted though they may be.
Auciello, alas, belongs to the newer school of journalism, those who sense a $word of Damocles hanging overhead, ever ready to part them from their jobs should they rattle the bill-paying powers that be.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Censorship at Bangor Daily News. To a good end? Or to end good?
SELECTED COMMENTERS ON BDN PRISON STORIES
11/8/09 TWO INMATES ESCAPE PRISON SATURDAY NIGHT.
11/10/09 PRISON GUARD FIRED AFTER INMATE DEATH.
11/20/09 LITERACY KEY TO LIFE AFTER PRISON
11/20/09 EDITORIAL SOLITARY PITFALLS
12/4/09 ACTIVIST PROBES INMATE DEATH
12/5/09 STATE MAY FACE $1M LAWSUIT
TWO INMATES ESCAPE PRISON SATURDAY NIGHT.
On 11/8/09 at 11:16 AM, JillT1981 wrote:
Apparently Fogg already has an escape charge from Windham.......
On 11/8/09 at 1:28 PM, ThsWrldThseDayS wrote:
from my understanding fogg has already excaped from here once. where they excaped from there is very minimum security due to the fact that the only way inmates go down there is if there senctence has less then 2 years left && they can prove to the guards they are able to go there && have more freedom then at the prison 10 feet down the road. Fogg was put back down there 2 days ago. its ridiculous. Many inmates that go to the farm are set up w/ jobs && are able to leave during the day and work. I beleive that both these two will be caught very shortly and will have another 5-10yrs added to there sentence
On 11/8/09 at 5:09 PM, nutman007 wrote:
Anyone know these two? The article says they are not dangerous? Mr Fogg boiled baby oil in his prison issued microwave and threw it in the face of another inmate. Thats just the begining. His acts and crimes have been violent, just like his prison time. Violent escapee is what the article should read.
On 11/9/09 at 3:10 AM, freetospeak wrote:
someone wrote a comment stating, where were the guards. I think it ought to be known that since the prison system went to 12 hr shifts that there are a lot of days and nights that the prison is really short staffed. On the night of the escapes, the prison was short staffed. So, thanks to state budget, the public is also being put at risk of escapes.
On 11/9/09 at 9:05 AM, LoisGM wrote:
Did you say "prison issued microwave"? We pay for them to have their own microwave oven in their cell? .
On 11/9/09 at 10:49 AM, Michigal wrote:
LoisGM No they do NOT have prison issued microwaves in their cells. There is one in the dayroom of each pod, where they can heat up what they buy (with their own money) from the machines (at a VERY high price).
And these guys were at the Farm. It's supposed to be for those who have earned trust. Unfortunately too many fail and are sent back to the prison. Sometimes for minor stuff (like smoking cigarettes), and sometimes for major stuff (selling drugs, escape). I don't think it was a failure of the Corrections Officers on duty, but more a failure of the decision makers who sent them there, esp. considering Fogg had a previous escape (if what is said above is true).
I am honestly surprised these two yahoos haven't been caught yet. Surely someone identifying himself as "White Trash" shouldn't be too hard to spot. Oh wait, didn't someone say that's most of the state? Must have been one of those people from away that live in the McMansions by the sea. Because most of the people I know in this state are hard working decent people.
On 11/9/09 at 5:21 PM, Amanda1982 wrote:
Its not even really a prison, its a farm that the inmates work on. They were right in saying its min. security, and its not the 1st inmate thats escaped from there. You give someone an inch and they take a mile....
==============================
PRISON GUARD FIRED AFTER INMATE DEATH. 11/10/09
On 11/10/09 at 4:29 AM, outdoorman wrote:
It is a bad enough of a place to work. It's pretty bad when you are at risk of being punished or sued on the job site for not seeing something go down on your watch. You cannot even help someone out of a burning vehicle these days without the threat of being sued. I would say by this article that they have no idea what inmate(s) did this to this inmate in the wheel chair. More credit needs to be given to these men and women in uniform. They work a sh! t job and put their lives on the line every day. Nobody's perfect.
On 11/10/09 at 9:59 AM, freetospeak wrote:
Sometimes pretty important details get left out of an article. Details such as the inmate who died had told the officers he was ok and didn't need medical attention after the attack. But, I guess the commissioner just wants a "fall guy" as he does every time something drastic happens at the prison. I guess things such as the pods being designed to be run by two officers but instead is run by one officer on 64 inmates really doesn't matter either. Let's not look at the important issues at hand. Let's just look for a "fall guy" to make the family of the victim feel better. It doesn' t really matter if you ruin the family of a corrections officer who is trying to do his job in the process. Maybe the people who look for the ":fall guy": or the people who have no idea what goes on inside the Maine State Prison should come in and run a pod sometime. Maybe then you will shut the hell up....I am not saying the incident of tis inmate dying isn't unfortunate, because it is. But, don't put the blame on a corrections officer until you look at all the details. Then if the CO is to blame, you can prosecute or whatever. But, don't until you know everything.....
On 11/10/09 at 10:14 AM, guerraelson wrote:
I understand the feeling of the public in this article. I agree. However, the guards had a job to do. They were being paid to watch over this man regardless of what he was charged/convicted of. If they couldn't do that job without prejudice than maybe they should be looking for a different career. I know what I am talking about because I was a corrections officer for 20 years.
On 11/10/09 at 10:49 AM, RodMarks wrote:
You couldn't pay me enough to be a prison guard. The crap they have to take from the inmates (sometimes literally) and then they can't even give them an attitude adjustment without being sued for violating someone's civil rights. Lots of details left out of this story like how the prison was set up, was it adequately staffed, was he offered segregation. Everyone will benefit from this except for the guards. The big guys have their scapegoats, the perv's family is going to get paid, the lawyer will get a big fat commission and just maybe the elimination of this perv will have prevented a few cases of future molestations. Justice would be if the lawsuit award went to the victim of the molestation rather than the perv's family.
On 11/10/09 at 1:23 PM, bidoux wrote:
Why in heck should the state be obligated to pay for wrongful death?
... guerraelson how many guards were on the same section as u. If I understand right he was alone for the whole section.
On 11/10/09 at 3:18 PM, Amanda1982 wrote:
Its very common for child molesters to experience this sort of thing while incarcerated. A lot of inmates do not tolerate this kind of behavior (crazy as it sounds, as some are murderers)...but, Ive witnessed many child molesters having to be put in protective custody due to the threat of being injured by others. I believe there is an eye for an eye, and in the end God has your death all planned. I guess if it was my kid who was molested at the hands of this animal, I would of been relieved of the news of his death. So that way he could never get out and do it to another innocent child again. Doesnt make it right, per say...but it is what it is. Yes these guards are suppose to protect all inmates no matter what their charges, and I can say 100% that the pressure you get from inmates to do this, and do that, to turn your back for a minute and pretend like u didnt see, is huge! Im so torn regarding this, because I know what the guards were thinking...justice. I just dont think they realized how far this was going....
On 11/10/09 at 5:01 PM, freetospeak wrote:
In a couple comments here, I see people asking things such as "where were the guards or If the guards can't do their jobs then maybe they need to find other employment." What really got me is the latter comment came from a CO of more than 20 years. He must've been one of those CO's we call CCTW/CO. The kind that is all about caring for inmates. People need to really understand how things in the prison works. There is one officer for 64 inmates in a pod. If inmates are going to assault another inmate, they normally have other inmates distract the officer. It only takes seconds for inmates to accomplish their mission on assaulting someone. So, unless you know how inmates play in there, you need to keep your mouths shut about "where was the officers." I don't care if I piss someone off here or not by saying this. I have been there and done that job. The only ones I feel for here are is the guard who lost his job because he was doing his job trying to support his family or the sargeant who lost his stripes. Maybe when the new warden comes she will be more supportive of staff than some people obviously are....
On 11/10/09 at 5:58 PM, sewerman wrote:
Mr Magnusson saved his buddy Jeff Merrill who was the warden when this happend, Jeff now has a 6 figure or near 6 figure job 15miles from his home. Marty knows all about this because he was warden when Larry Richardson was killed there and he Marty got off scott free, now some poor guard trying to make a living is taking the fall NOT FAIR. These Good Old Boys take care of esch other while some poor sucker will probably loose everything. While budgets are being cut they make Jeff a chushy job that got created for him as Energy Auditor or some such tijtle. If some of you people worked the front lines you'ed know what I'm talking about
On 11/11/09 at 9:24 AM, freetospeak wrote:
Just a quick note in ref to what sewerman said: What you said about the "good ole boys" taking care of each other, you hit the nail right on the head. Everything you said is so true. The system is so corrupt it is pathetic. Nobody can do anything within the system because, as you said, they take care of each other. The warden departed to his new job taking with him items belonging to the state from the wardens house which the state owns in Thomaston. Shouldn't this be a crime such as theft or destruction of state property? But, because he is "the MAN" he can get away with this. And, as far as this cushiony job Merrill has been given, doesn't the public have anything to say about this because this is a time of state budget crunch. Check out the camp Merrill has. Rumor has it that inmates from Charleston built that. Isn't that inappropriate use of inmates? I hope all these asses who think htey are untouchable get burned some day.
On 11/11/09 at 10:31 AM, msfreeh wrote:
......The current Commissioner of Corrections Magnusson was the understudy for former Commissioner of Corrections
Don Allen of Cousins Island. Allen was indicted by the Maine Times newspaper in the mid 1970's for his involvement in
torturing children at the Maine Youth Center. Some of these former juveniles testified against Allen at his confirmation hearings in the 1980's.
If the Department of Corrections was a private corporation it would have been sued out of business a long time ago.
Until Maine voters and taxpayers start to see themselves as primary consumers of this system and take a leadership role
in shaping its organizational model these type of events will continue with some frequency.
Lets give our legislature a new mantra and call it RESTORATIVE JUSTICE. http://www.restorativejustice.
On 11/11/09 at 8:56 PM, cbpo2858 wrote:
lets get a few things straight he was not a civilian he was a inmate. Second off he deserved what he got and yes i would of sat there and watched too or turned a blind eye. Boo Hoo he was vulnerable so was the little child he molested i have no sympathy for scum bags like this. No we would not let this happen to a civilian oh wait yes we would we are america a country where people are afraid to help beacuse they are afraid to get sued for everything they own. so another words yes i would let this happen to a inmate or prisoner but not a innocent civilian he was neither a innocent civilian or a civilian at that.
On 11/12/09 at 11:15 AM, PaleShadows wrote:
FreetoSpeak is correct. Inmates have nothing but time on their hands and these things are usually well calculated. They'll distract the guard and execute these types of plans in only a few short moments. I've seen it happen and I've also watched COs look the other way as the inmates torment the pedophiles day after day. Even in PC, the torment continues...remember the kitchen staff is made up of inmates too:)
Its difficult to feel sympathy for anyone who would use a helpless child for their own twisted sexual gratification, and many of the CO have children of their own.
On 11/12/09 at 4:51 PM, freetospeak wrote:
The Warden lost his job because he wasn't doing his job. Now that makes more sence. What doesn';t make sense is that the governor gives him a cushiony job to "save face" so to speak. And this was done only because he is a friend of the governor and because he was the warden. So I guess it really does matter who you are. You can do your job and get fired and your name in the headlines and trampled on. Or, you can be someone who doesn't do their job and, because of who you are, you are saved the embarrassment. Thanks Mr. Governor. I guess this is what they mean by the state motto: MAINE: THE WAY LIFE SHOULD BE.
==============================
LITERACY KEY TO LIFE AFTER PRISON
On 11/20/09 at 8:25 AM, JeffDubay wrote:
People did not forget how to read before they went to prison, they lacked the talent before they left school.
On 11/20/09 at 11:02 AM, Michigal wrote:
It's not about literacy, it's about the unwillingness to hire someone who has been in prison. That and that alone is the big reason for recidivism. If you can't find legitimate work, you turn back to a life of crime. And with the economy and lack of jobs, it's even worse. People without felony convictions can't find a job. So imagine how much harder it is for someone coming out of prison. There are no support services available. And that's something that's desperately needed. Lincoln County at one time had a job fair for those leaving the county jail, perhaps something like that could be arranged for the prisons.
==============================
EDITORIAL 11/20/09
SOLITARY PITFALLS
On 11/19/09 at 8:48 PM, SantiniSpagoandSpike wrote:
So, what do you do, Mr. Masters Degree in Correctional Administration. hold two Doctorate LLD's in International Law, and this does not make me knowing everything there is to know about the profession. It seems on the surface to me, you are saying there are levels of society, which mandate law enforcement and penalties under the current system of "due process", but when in prison, you are stating there can be no "due Process levels of punishment within that community...if a prisoner is a bad boy or bad girl and does not follow the prescribed rules of the prison systems in the US?
Stupid...
So what; if putting a prisoner in solitary, and he doth protest too much about it, you are simply offering that crim just as much rights under the judiciary system as a person who has led a life of substantial law-abidance! Now, there are "rights" in prisons? Already, sir, the US prisons for the most part, are semi-luxury communities as it is. Plus, everything is free and you can form your own gangs, or belong to them, have yard fighting, (recreation time), stabbings (fun and games, plus serious inmate discipline), and family visits (bring in your local streetwalkers), and have all the telephone time you need (to run your outside drug operations while you are on 'vacation').
People like your ilk, Mr. Schatz, make me ill with your proposals, and goodies aimed at prison reform. These prisoners gave no rights to others for the crimes they committed against people, and why should these prisoners deserve more rights now to wage civil rights and incarceration rights over the public's head and also the federal US Governments Constitutionality?
On 11/20/09 at 5:14 PM, SantiniSpagoandSpike wrote:
Yes, EG, I did come off a little harsh, and I do sometimes. It is just that I deal directly with prison systems in many other countries due to incarceration of US citizens who have broken the law in those countries at some level or the other, and from what I'm observing, the US treats their prisoners namby-pamby in comparison to other countries. I don't blame the system in and as such; I blame people like the ACLU-type Schatz implies; even with his Masters in :Correctional Administration". Nice work if you can get it. I do not believe in the chain-gang psychology, but I do believe the non-union prisoner-civil worker aspect ought to deserve some chance of recognition; and thanks for mentioning that.
My reference is what is happening in and to prisons in todays society in that particular community. Our taxpayer money is going to waste in a lot of respects here, but reformation of the criminal minds should be incorporated into the overall planning and effect by the US prison system nationwide.
The real point ought to be not what to do with the prisoners once they are in prison, as much as how to keep people out of prison in the first instance. This is a completely another topic and problematic situation in itself. The part-problem lies not in law enforcement, but in some law-enforcement policies and procedures, and the judicial system. We could discuss this one for hours on end...
==============================
ACTIVIST PROBES INMATE DEATH 12/04/09
By Abigail Curtis
ALL COMMENTS DELETED BY BDN
==============================
12/5/09 STATE MAY FACE 1M WRONGFUL DEATH LAWSUIT
On 12/5/09 at 5:36 AM, Robpott wrote:
Though the death of a child molester is tragic, the fact remains he died. Two Guards took the fall for it even though policy was followed but the people at the top collecting retirement and regular wages needed scapgoats to protect their way of life, and open themselves up for a lawsuit by admitting guilt even when it is unfounded. (an old story of unsteady leadership). I'm sure when the child molester passed away, his wife heard a cash register door close to end an embarrassing life with a guy who just got caught once. As for Gardner, the man is a snail who could'nt get a job flipping burgers at McDonalds.
On 12/5/09 at 7:05 AM, JWBooth wrote:
Prison contraband smuggling is very profitable.
Dead men tell no tales.
On 12/5/09 at 8:57 AM, knowitall wrote:
The biggest reason prisoner Weinstein was beatin to death was he liked to brag about what he had done. If all child molesters knew this is what was in store for them when they go to prison I think it would reduce this crime. Prisoner Weinstein's wife had almost 2 yrs. left to divorce him, she was in no hurry because she knew somehting would happen to him in prison.All she wants is a little money to make her feel better about the way her pedophile husbad was.
On 12/5/09 at 9:28 AM, fredrogers wrote:
"...In June of this year, the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability (OPEGA) released a scathing report, concluding that “Despite several Department efforts focused on cultural change since 2005, the following elements are still likely present to some degree within the culture at Maine State Prison.” These elements included :
• Intimidation of, and retaliation against, individuals attempting to raise concerns – or behaviors that staff perceive as intimidation or retaliation.
• Behaviors that staff or prisoners experience or perceive as harassment and discrimination of various forms.
• A distrust and/or lack of respect for management as a whole, or of certain individuals within the chain of command, that appears to be fed, at least in part, by staff perceptions that a strong “good old boy” network exists.
• Reluctance or actual failure to report situations that are personally concerning to staff, appear unethical, or that otherwise expose the State to unnecessary risks and liabilities. OPEGA also observed potential weaknesses in both formal and informal reporting avenues that may affect staff’s willingness to use them, or that may interfere with those concerns getting proper attention and action at the appropriate supervisory level.
In August, Warden Merrill was summarily removed from his post and reassigned to the energy conservation project, at a 42% pay cut. During the search, Commissioner Magnusson served as Warden..... "
Can the BDN EVER, EVERY do a thorough job of reporintg?
On 12/5/09 at 9:35 AM, dlquinn wrote:
It's nice to hear everyone's opinion on the Weinstein and Valdez stories but no one knows the whole story..stop placing blame on the medical staff...and the suspicious death of Valdez..where did that Come from?The medical staff at the MSP is one of the best considering the antiquated equipment and chronic understaffing.There are a lot of inaccuracies in the news stories, someone should really do better research or find more reliable informants.
==============================
Friday, October 16, 2009
New Warden for ME State Prison - how's the media coverage?
Fresh from the Thumb of Michigan comes warden Patricia Barnhart, with twenty years of service behind her and a respectful record of corrections reform, particularly in the Michigan systems' treatment of incarcerated minors and mothers.
Today's news coverage of the announcement of her appointment to be first woman warden of Maine State Prison, in the Bangor DailyNews , "Prison activists: Reform Needed"
For a backstory, here are some interesting Michigan news bits on Barnhart:
Adolescent Women in Prison Respond better to Nurturing than Harsh Discipline
"Patricia Barnhart, warden at a Michigan prison and founder of trueprison.com, has spent the last ten years working with behavioral scientists at the University of Michigan to put together a program for rehabilitating young girls. After an estimated 12 million dollars in research and facility upgrades, she believes they have found a solution for dealing with troubled female offenders."
Teen lifers a burden for state's prisons "Prison Warden Patricia Barnhart said some of those housed at her facility, who as teens were sentenced to life, could safely be released back into the community. "Absolutely," she said. "The question becomes: Are you scared of them, or are you mad at them? When we're locking up people because we're mad at them, we're compromising our resources."
Today's news coverage of the announcement of her appointment to be first woman warden of Maine State Prison, in the Bangor DailyNews , "Prison activists: Reform Needed"
For a backstory, here are some interesting Michigan news bits on Barnhart:
Adolescent Women in Prison Respond better to Nurturing than Harsh Discipline
"Patricia Barnhart, warden at a Michigan prison and founder of trueprison.com, has spent the last ten years working with behavioral scientists at the University of Michigan to put together a program for rehabilitating young girls. After an estimated 12 million dollars in research and facility upgrades, she believes they have found a solution for dealing with troubled female offenders."
Teen lifers a burden for state's prisons "Prison Warden Patricia Barnhart said some of those housed at her facility, who as teens were sentenced to life, could safely be released back into the community. "Absolutely," she said. "The question becomes: Are you scared of them, or are you mad at them? When we're locking up people because we're mad at them, we're compromising our resources."
------------------------------
Click here for a cases brought by inmates against Patricia Barnhart as Michigan Corrections official.
Access to PACER necessary . PACER =national federal court docket program
Click here for a cases brought by inmates against Patricia Barnhart as Michigan Corrections official.
Access to PACER necessary . PACER =national federal court docket program
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Sears Island coverage: a continuing mixed bag
The travails of Wasumkeag - what Sears Island was known as for several thousand years, until the Colonization - the trials of Wasumkeag continue.
While there are backroom maneuverings and wheeler-dealerings aplenty, little of it attracts the jaundiced eyes of Maine journalists, (to the majority of whom "investigative reporting" is a long lost might-have-been that was probably the initial motivator for many to choose the media career path, was bruited about in journalism school, but, in the new media world of short attn spans, has been dropped as not cost-effective by the business mavens struggle to keep the news fleets afloat.).
So one must empathize with the reporters and producers strapped with tight deadlines and facing shrunken news holes nearly hidden amid the commercials and adverts. One must attract their eyes with shiny flashy news baubles that glitter with enough truth to be worth following up on. Must arrange facts with enough grace that they glide effortlessly into busy reporters' minds and out their keyboarding fingers.
Something I've always tried to do, and with some small successes. But their smallness can get frustrating
Though they didn't attend,WCSH gave a heads-up: Public Hears Opposing Views on Sears Island Development
Sears Island Takes Center Stage Village Soup's article by Tanya Mitchell. Here a good deal of backstory is added in, and a fair bit of coverage of the speakers, but the overriding issue detailed by supporters of a fully protected island- the threat to the greater bay's fisheries of such a port - received short shrift, beyond noting that one panelist "bemoaned" the threat to the bay, though reporter Mitchell didn't see fit to describe just what in the bay was under threat. "Bemoaned"?! A word more useful in an editorial than in a news story, unless the reporter then proceeded to detail the bemoanables. Tch tch Tanya. An otherwise fine piece.
In Blogland, Penobscot Bay Blog offers complete audio recordings (mp3s) of the WERU-sponsored Sears Island Forum, conveniently broken into individual speakers
While there are backroom maneuverings and wheeler-dealerings aplenty, little of it attracts the jaundiced eyes of Maine journalists, (to the majority of whom "investigative reporting" is a long lost might-have-been that was probably the initial motivator for many to choose the media career path, was bruited about in journalism school, but, in the new media world of short attn spans, has been dropped as not cost-effective by the business mavens struggle to keep the news fleets afloat.).
So one must empathize with the reporters and producers strapped with tight deadlines and facing shrunken news holes nearly hidden amid the commercials and adverts. One must attract their eyes with shiny flashy news baubles that glitter with enough truth to be worth following up on. Must arrange facts with enough grace that they glide effortlessly into busy reporters' minds and out their keyboarding fingers.
Something I've always tried to do, and with some small successes. But their smallness can get frustrating
Though they didn't attend,WCSH gave a heads-up: Public Hears Opposing Views on Sears Island Development
Sears Island Takes Center Stage Village Soup's article by Tanya Mitchell. Here a good deal of backstory is added in, and a fair bit of coverage of the speakers, but the overriding issue detailed by supporters of a fully protected island- the threat to the greater bay's fisheries of such a port - received short shrift, beyond noting that one panelist "bemoaned" the threat to the bay, though reporter Mitchell didn't see fit to describe just what in the bay was under threat. "Bemoaned"?! A word more useful in an editorial than in a news story, unless the reporter then proceeded to detail the bemoanables. Tch tch Tanya. An otherwise fine piece.
In Blogland, Penobscot Bay Blog offers complete audio recordings (mp3s) of the WERU-sponsored Sears Island Forum, conveniently broken into individual speakers
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Portland Phoenix still the sole source provider of solid prison news in Maine..
Viva Lance Tapley! Exile must end as an American penal system
Click on headline for complete article in the Portland Phoenix. The photo on the website is five years old, Deane well before held in solitary in Maine state prison Warren. He now has neatly trimmed short hair and neartly trimmed beard.
Click on headline for complete article in the Portland Phoenix. The photo on the website is five years old, Deane well before held in solitary in Maine state prison Warren. He now has neatly trimmed short hair and neartly trimmed beard.
Prison ‘troublemaker’ confronts racism, medical abuse
Exiled
By LANCE TAPLEY | September 9, 2009Vacillating between grit and despair — between aggressive lawsuits and suicide attempts — Deane Brown, the prisoner who in 2005 blew the whistle on the torture of mentally ill inmates at the Maine State Prison’s solitary-confinement “Supermax” unit, is struggling against prison conditions in Maryland, where he was exiled by the Baldacci administration. (See “Baldacci’s ‘Political Prisoner,’” by Lance Tapley, November 21, 2006.)
In August, Brown was transferred from Western Correctional Institution in Cumberland to North Branch Correctional Institution, also in Cumberland, which houses many of Maryland’s most serious offenders. When sent to Maryland in 2006 he first had been put in the state’s Supermax, in Baltimore.
Brown was given no reason for the recent move, but his Maryland inmate-legal-aid lawyer, Joseph Tetrault, says prison authorities view him as a troublemaker. According to his Rockland friend Beth Berry, who has talked with him on the phone, in North Branch he has already been “jumped and assaulted by three men in the shower.”
An intelligent and tolerant man, well liked in Maine by both inmates and guards, Brown, 45, has resisted what he calls “rampant” racism in Maryland’s prisons and has refused to join gangs. At Western, he tried to take a law correspondence course paid for by a Maine supporter, but had to abandon it. In a letter to a school official, he explained: “I have tried to move out of a cell I share with a racist. He seems to think he can convince me to believe, as he does, that being white makes me more human than those who are not. We constantly argue and sometimes fight. I cannot study or even sleep regularly.”
He has also complained about the Maryland system’s treatment of his diabetes, at one point obtaining a court order requiring the prison to ensure he is given food soon after an insulin injection. He also received $2500 in damages because of the prison system’s neglect. But Brown reports the judge’s order has been ignored and he is still at risk of going into diabetic shock from low blood sugar if he isn’t given food in a timely manner. As he testified in one court proceeding:
“When I’m laying on the floor, sweating profusely, urinating all over myself, vomiting, the nurse finally comes in. . . . She’s screaming give him something to eat, now, and I’ve been screaming for three hours to get something to eat. That’s an imminent fear of death right there for me.”
He has at times refused to accept the insulin if he isn’t given food properly, but the judge also has ruled injections can be forced on him. Tetrault has appealed this ruling to a higher state court, with a December hearing expected.
Brown struggles with despair over both his personal condition and conditions he witnesses. “People get Maced and beaten regularly over here, for little or no reason,” he wrote in a letter to Tetrault, about the Western prison. By his own reports he has tried to kill himself twice.
“Maine threw him to the wolves,” Berry says.
She is one of a small group of supporters who have tried to keep up his courage. Ron Huber, 53, host of a Rockland radio show to which Brown placed on-air telephone calls about inmate treatment when he was at the prison in Warren, has been demanding that Governor John Baldacci bring him back to Maine. Earlier this summer in Augusta Huber had a confrontation on the issue with an angry David Farmer, Baldacci’s chief press aide, who told him the governor backs up the Corrections department’s decisions.
Afterwards, a solitary Huber — he has a mild, bespectacled, professorial air — knelt in the State House’s Rotunda before a glass case containing the red, white, blue, and gold 1862 First Maine Heavy Artillery battle flag. He ceremonially pronounced aloud the names of the 20-plus Maine prisoners now in out-of-state prisons, thumping on a drum after each name.
Maine prison officials said they sent Brown to Maryland because he was a “threat to the facility,” though he has no history of violence. He is serving a 59-year sentence for a string of burglaries. Last year he lost a federal civil-rights lawsuit asking that he be returned to Maine.
Brown’s experience in Maryland, Huber says, shows “what a powerful tool it is to exile people. It’s a lot easier for people to break down when they’re far from their social matrix.”
Brown’s experience also shows “the frightening ability of prison officials to bury an inmate who has the courage to speak out against injustice,” says David Bidler of the Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition. He suggested supporters write to Deane Brown at #339-621, North Branch Correctional Institution, 14100 McMullen Highway S.W., Cumberland, MD 21502.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Maine Media Watch's Worst Headline of the Month winners.
While there are failures of modern journalism everywhere, every month a few practitioners of the craft in Maine reach new lows in headline writing, reportage, editorializing, and other duties of the 4th Estate. Let's examine two of these anti-paragons, in hopes that a little sunshine will help clear the miasma from certain brains.....
Worst Headline of the Month: the headline writer at the Belfast Republican Journal.
"Sears Island one of seven choices for wildlife refuge" the headline on an article by Tanya Mitchell asserts.
Ah but it just ain't so. The National Wildlife Refuge manager in Maine is seeking new headquarters for the Maine Coastal Islands NWR. If Sears Island were selected, the Refuge would bulldoze, blast and pave part of the island for its office and parking lot. But it would not designate a single square inch as a protected refuge. The story's writer got it right, although she did commit the reporterial sin of announcing an important public meeting but then leaving out the location. ("in Searsport") Um..... where in Searsport? Sears Island meetings have been held in at least three different locations in that town.
Worst of the Month Runner up. Headline writer for the BDN
Worst Headline of the Month: the headline writer at the Belfast Republican Journal.
"Sears Island one of seven choices for wildlife refuge" the headline on an article by Tanya Mitchell asserts.
Ah but it just ain't so. The National Wildlife Refuge manager in Maine is seeking new headquarters for the Maine Coastal Islands NWR. If Sears Island were selected, the Refuge would bulldoze, blast and pave part of the island for its office and parking lot. But it would not designate a single square inch as a protected refuge. The story's writer got it right, although she did commit the reporterial sin of announcing an important public meeting but then leaving out the location. ("in Searsport") Um..... where in Searsport? Sears Island meetings have been held in at least three different locations in that town.
Worst of the Month Runner up. Headline writer for the BDN
Aug 19, 2009 09:48 pm | By Kevin Miller BDN Staff
What!? Representative Michaud is not going to hold a forum on the reorganizing of American healthcare? Of course he is. What the headline writer left out was that the representative declined to hold a "joint" health care forum that would have been co-led by an unannounced candidate for the opposing political party.
Well, duh...What authority does the bloke have for being entitled to co-chair? Maybe he should actually declare for the position and go through the official paperwork before tainting our noosphere with his ambitions
What!? Representative Michaud is not going to hold a forum on the reorganizing of American healthcare? Of course he is. What the headline writer left out was that the representative declined to hold a "joint" health care forum that would have been co-led by an unannounced candidate for the opposing political party.
Well, duh...What authority does the bloke have for being entitled to co-chair? Maybe he should actually declare for the position and go through the official paperwork before tainting our noosphere with his ambitions
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Free Maine reporters. Delegate flash stories to Licenced Practical bloggers. Use saved$ to finance IR
One gets a sense of haggardness amongst them. Of smart, well-enough educated journalists at work from Augusta to Bangor to Rockland, forced however by management to atomize their story writing and attention into more and more and brief stories. Flash journalism for flash minds.
With consequently dwindled or actually non-existent time allotted or budgeted for them by the station operators to spend the several weeks or more of time and effort chewing through the multiferous layers of investigation into any of the myriad thorns presently in the side of the Maine Body Politic. One brought to attention recently - inmate exile - would take weeks of reading through masses of documents hand written, typed, electronic, of conducting dozen or more of interviews calls meetings. But the results would be well worth it.
Solution: Let the media outlets farm out routine (yet vital by its very routineness) documentary coverage to Licensed Practical Bloggers or LPBs - Some percentage of the documentary coverage of the myriad of governmental and nongovernmental meetings, speeches carnivals festivals, coverage of automotive mayhem and other committee meeting coverage would be done by them.
LPB's "Licenced Practical Bloggers"? Some standard would be set and enforced by local news directors. As micro contributors, they're getting less per word; the saved money then applied toward enabling the investigative arts. Professional journalists would still keep their hands in as many of the documentary type events coverage as they pleased (so long as their investigative efforts don't suffer.)
But overall let the minutiae be covered by the micromedia, who are well positioned for it, and set our professional journalists loose on bringing to light the reasons behind the vital issues of the day, ever shifting as they are. That is a hit or miss business; all the more reason to allow greater chunks of the budget for Maine journalists to pursue their necessary arts of deliberative investigative journalism.
With consequently dwindled or actually non-existent time allotted or budgeted for them by the station operators to spend the several weeks or more of time and effort chewing through the multiferous layers of investigation into any of the myriad thorns presently in the side of the Maine Body Politic. One brought to attention recently - inmate exile - would take weeks of reading through masses of documents hand written, typed, electronic, of conducting dozen or more of interviews calls meetings. But the results would be well worth it.
Solution: Let the media outlets farm out routine (yet vital by its very routineness) documentary coverage to Licensed Practical Bloggers or LPBs - Some percentage of the documentary coverage of the myriad of governmental and nongovernmental meetings, speeches carnivals festivals, coverage of automotive mayhem and other committee meeting coverage would be done by them.
LPB's "Licenced Practical Bloggers"? Some standard would be set and enforced by local news directors. As micro contributors, they're getting less per word; the saved money then applied toward enabling the investigative arts. Professional journalists would still keep their hands in as many of the documentary type events coverage as they pleased (so long as their investigative efforts don't suffer.)
But overall let the minutiae be covered by the micromedia, who are well positioned for it, and set our professional journalists loose on bringing to light the reasons behind the vital issues of the day, ever shifting as they are. That is a hit or miss business; all the more reason to allow greater chunks of the budget for Maine journalists to pursue their necessary arts of deliberative investigative journalism.
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