PNP comment: Voter fraud and extortion can happen anywhere, but this is “oh my gosh” disgusting.  — Editor Liz Bowen

Sunland Park, N.M. –  There is perhaps no other city in the country like Sunland Park, N.M.

The dusty border town minutes from El Paso, Texas, has been called “a city in chaos” by the state auditor, because a slew of public officials are facing felony charges that they ran City Hall like a personal piggy bank, tried to steal an election in order to remain in power and ruled the 14,000 residents through intimidation and fear.

The state is now moving to take over financial oversight of the city, as the council scrambles to try and name a new mayor.

The explosive case even involves Mexican prostitutes, strippers and an undercover video of a mayoral candidate getting a lap dance from a topless woman. The video allegedly was used to try to force him to drop out of the race.

Authorities say the extortion investigation has revealed widespread voter fraud and public corruption in the small city just south of the Rio Grande.

“It started with extortion charges, and from that it then led us to the voter fraud cases,” says Dona Ana Third Judicial District Attorney Amy Orlando, who is prosecuting the growing case.

So far, her office has charged 12 people, many public officials and city employees, including 28-year-old Mayor-elect Daniel Salinas, who faces dozens of charges in four separate cases. He was barred from taking office, and the city has been without a mayor since the election on March 6. Isabel Santos is serving as mayor pro tem in the meantime.

The criminal charges against all the defendants range from voter fraud to bribery to extortion to conspiracy to kickbacks to blackmail.

“The whole common scheme was to get Mr. Salinas elected,” Orlando told Fox News. “It was all done to further Daniel Salinas and the other people who wanted to stay in control of all the money, all the resources, which just hurts all of the citizens of Sunland Park.”

Among the allegations are charges that city workers registered people who didn’t even live in New Mexico and convinced them to vote for Salinas during early voting.

In addition, absentee ballot applications were allegedly intercepted before reaching the city clerk, so that Salinas’ opponents could not hand them out to their supporters.

“They pressured the poor, old people, the people who don’t know English. They were forced to sign without knowing what they were signing. It’s incredible, it’s disgusting,” mayoral candidate Gerardo Hernandez told Fox News.

Hernandez says he was ahead on election night during in-person voting, but after the absentee votes were counted, he lost to Salinas by 84 votes. He charges the election was stolen from him “by manipulating the absentee and early voting.”

It is a wonder that he stayed in the race. It was Hernandez who was caught on tape getting a lap dance from a topless woman. The video mysteriously surfaced during the campaign in an attempt, he says, to destroy his candidacy and force him to quit.

Salinas and others are charged with extortion over the tape. Prosecutors say the Salinas faction used city money to make the tape and pay for the topless dancer.

“They tried to get me out of the race,” Hernandez said. “I said, well, I’m not going to withdraw from the race. If you want to show it to the media, show it. I am not going to withdraw. That’s extortion.”

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/05/17/voter-fraud-new-mexico-city/?test=latestnews#ixzz1vCTTr600

WILD OLYMPICS over 300 million are deprived the full use and enjoyment of the public land

EVERY AMERICAN CITIZEN ( over 300 million) IS DEPRIVED IN EVERY WILD NATIONAL PARK

AND ON EVERY WILD AND SCENIC RIVER.

WILD OLYMPICS vs  OVER 300 MILLION AMERICAN CITIZENS DEPRIVED

OF THE FULL USE AND ENJOYMENT OF OVER ONE MILLION ACRES OF PUBLIC LAND

IN JUST THE OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK

POPULATION OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA  Source: U.S. Census Bureau

311,591,917 Three hundred eleven million, five hundred ninty one thousand, nine hundred and seventeen

What was the intent of Congress with regard to the full use and enjoyment of the public land, in the creation of Olympic National Park,  by the American People that own that public land?

Due process of law when just a single citizen is deprived?

What happens when over 300 million American Citizens are deprived of the full use and enjoyment of every WILD National Park public land?

Pearl Rains Hewett

GRANTS PASS, Ore. –  A failed levy vote in an Oregon county is taking a toll: government workers facing dismissal, a pending prisoner release, and crimes such as misdemeanor domestic assault and shoplifting likely to go unprosecuted.

A day after Josephine County voters resoundingly turned thumbs down on a levy to plug a $12 million budget gap, the sheriff and district attorney began handing out pink slips Wednesday, cutting staff to levels probably not seen since the region was settled during the 1850s Gold Rush.

“We’re going to wreck the train here and see how we can put it back in the future,” Stephen Campbell, district attorney for the Southern Oregon county, told The Associated Press.

The sizeable budget gap was left by the expiration of a federal safety net for timber-reliant counties such as Josephine.

As a result of the cutbacks, the routine areas of law enforcement — drunken drivers, domestic abuse, shoplifting and car wrecks — will likely be where people see the loss of sheriff’s patrols and prosecutors first.

Losing four of his nine prosecutors, Campbell is working out a list of which crimes he will be able to prosecute, and which he will not. Most misdemeanors will not be prosecuted. That includes minor assaults, such as from domestic disputes, and minor thefts. Domestic abuse rises to a felony if it is done in front of the kids. Resisting arrest will still be prosecuted, as will some drunken driving. But reckless driving, menacing, driving while suspended, probably not. Even some felonies won’t go to court.

“The list is pretty long,” Campbell said. “I have been telling the budget committee for years now that I can’t carry out my mandate as it is. There is a segment of cases that are declared violations, which we don’t prosecute, that are prosecuted in most counties of the state. That has already been happening. This is even worse.”

With a population of 83,000, Josephine County is in the heart of Oregon timber country. It grew up first on gold, then on timber, which reached a peak in the 1980s, then collapsed with logging cutbacks on national forests in the 1990s to protect the northern spotted owl and salmon from extinction. The logging cutbacks reduced revenues for Josephine and other timber counties in the West. Many still see a return to logging as their best hope.

In 2000, Congress enacted a law that set up a safety net for timber-reliant counties like Josephine. That law expired last year. A one-year extension has a chance to pass Congress, but even if it does, it will only provide $4 million to Josephine County, not enough to make up for the loss of the levy.

With its failed vote on Tuesday, Josephine County was the first to try to compensate for the loss of the federal timber subsidies by raising property taxes. Neighboring Curry County is considering asking voters to approve a sales tax in the fall.

Josephine County Sheriff Gil Gilbertson handed out pink slips Wednesday to 70 deputies and civilian personnel, leaving him with just 28 after June 1. That will require releasing about 90 inmates from the jail in the coming weeks, leaving 30 people behind bars. Those being held are considered the greatest risk to the community.

There will be no more detectives, no more road deputies, and just one dispatcher. Contract deputies will still patrol the city of Cave Junction, federal lands and the Rogue River during the day, because they are funded by outside revenues. Gilbertson will be the only county lawman on call around the clock. For backup, he can call on the contract deputies during business hours, but otherwise will have to wait for a state trooper, which could take more than a half hour.

The Illinois Valley Safehouse Alliance logs about five incidents a week where sheriff’s deputies are called to a domestic disturbance, and gets about 40 victims a month, said Grace Auzenne, a domestic violence advocate for the organization. With no one but the sheriff himself to call around the clock, no jail space to hold offenders, and no prosecution, the problem is sure to escalate, she said.

“All in all it’s not looking good for rural areas,” she said.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/05/17/ore-county-cutting-law-enforcement-to-bare-bones/#ixzz1v9ayAXb2

By John Bowman

Siskiyou Daily News

Posted May 16, 2012 @ 09:00 AM

Yreka, Calif. —

http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/features/x43411148/Fourth-Annual-Armed-Forces-Day-is-Saturday-in-Yreka