Month: February 2015

One possible reason Supervisor Barry Cumbest is against the Community Hospital Transparency bill

Perhaps because Mr. Cumbest has some transparency issues of his own involving the Hospital system. The Mississippi Ethics Commission has issued four opinions directly addressing the issue of an elected official’s spouse  working in a community hospital since 2008. Three of the four opinions directly address the issue of a Supervisor’s wife working at a community hospital.  Here is one:

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Click to obtain the entire 4 page Ethics Opinion

It is a bit more complex than that however as this opinion from March 2012 demonstrates but the end result is ultimately the same. To the extent the facts in the 2012 opinion mirror Supervisor Cumbest’s fact pattern one wonders how it was missed by both the County and Hospital’s legal departments.

With the events of this past week here on the coast….

Given the stunning events here on the Coast this week one would naturally think that one of the recent posts on the Singing River disaster or the William Martin indictment would be the major site traffic generator this week here on Slabbed but that is not the case. Simply put when one media outlet leaves the rest eating dust on a topic, said media outlet gets massive amounts of site traffic even if the latest twist is not highlighted.

So what in the heck am I talking about? The sentencing of lusty lawyer gone wild Jennifer Gaubert earlier this week in New Orleans:

Wrist-slap for New Orleans attorney caught on video in steamy encounter with cabbie ~ Lee Moran, New York Daily News

This particular post from last month got quite the workout in fact and so did this one.

The Slabbed New Media posts on the topic actually went viral in Australia. Its nuts but once again the old adage sex sells bears itself out in spades. As for Gaubert, she indicated in published reports that her conviction will be appealed.  As for Slabbed:

I personally think it is highly inappropriate….

That the flag at the Harrison County Courthouse was lowered to half staff today to honor a crook.

I’m not much on speaking ill of the deceased but I’m certainly not much on honoring a politician that stole tax money for a decade in the same way that heroes that died in the line of duty for our country are honored. Whoever made that decision is clearly not thinking straight.

Meantime we have this breaking news out of Jackson.

Harrison payments to Health Assurance match dates cited in Martin indictment. Coincidence? ~ Jackson Jambalaya

Mississippi Miscellany: Singing River Health System desperate to get Chancellor Harris off the case plus all hell is breaking loose

Before I get started with some links how about a nice picture from yesterday’s retiree protest at Ocean Springs Hospital:

Image courtesy of a reader | 2-26-15 SRHS Retiree Ocean Springs Hospital Protest
Image courtesy of a reader | 2-26-15 SRHS Retiree Ocean Springs Hospital Protest

It appears the lawyers representing the pension plan, finding no joy on their manufactured recusal motion here on the coast expects the State Supreme Court to stop next weeks hearings on the retiree suits:

SRHS wants hearings stopped in pension cases ~ Anita Lee

They are doing this to avoid having to produce documents that would help everyone get to the bottom of things. You wonder what kind of skeletons are buried in those docs as I am reminded of something I wrote last month:

By their actions SRHS has demonstrated a preference for keeping a law firm with major conflict questions involved in the pension litigation and using that firm’s support of Judge Harris’ opponent in last year’s election as a lever to force Harris off the case. The heart of the Harris recusal motion is predicated on that fact. Remove Dogan & Wilkerson from the equation and the Harris recusal motion they filed goes up in smoke. Simply put, the powers running SRHS must fear Judge Neil Harris more than they do their own legal conflicts. The implications of that fact are stunning and foretell a tale of major muck still being hidden.

Once those documents are produced, my prediction is the SRHS pension plan’s law firm, Dogan and Wilkinson will not be long remaining on the case.

Next up:

Jackson County, SRHS leaders to get together over finances, pension

So now we have Jackson County spending big money on the Laporte CPA firm while SRHS spends big money on their own actuary.  The price of getting religion at SRHS sure is steep folks.

In other news the fallout from Supervisor William Martin’s indictment and suicide continues.  I have been told by sources in Jackson that the Martin indictment is related to the MDOC corruption probe.  The timing of former MDOC Commissioner Chris Epps guilty plea and the Martin indictment are not coincidental in my opinion.

And this brings me to the continuing HCUA/Sean Anthony corruption investigation Continue reading “Mississippi Miscellany: Singing River Health System desperate to get Chancellor Harris off the case plus all hell is breaking loose”

Thuggery that strikes at the heart of the criminal justice system…..

Anyone that has not seen the following should take the time to click the links that follow to see what “Just Us” justice entails. First I start with local criminal defense attorney Chris Mordock via twitter:

Charges crumble after cell phone video uncovered ~ Mike Perlstein

If slapping trumped up charges against the process server was not enough, how about instilling fear and intimidation into the heart of the next process server serving legal papers related to the first case above:

Another process server claims intimidation by Tammany DA’s office ~ Sara Pagones

Even worse, one of the alleged perpetrators in both incidents, Julie Knight is still on the job there in the St Tammany DA office prosecuting cases. It is frankly disgusting.

In other news it appears the FBI has looked at the cell phone video of JPSO Detective Nicholas Breaux stomping a defenseless teenager at Mardi Gras. It also appears they must not agree with Sheriff’s police report which contends the teenager was choking Breaux, who moonlights as a mixed martial arts fighter when he is not stomping defenseless teenagers for Sheriff Newell Normand.

FBI confirms formal investigation into case of Jefferson Parish deputy repeatedly punching high school student in face ~ Jim Mustian

I think most everyone understands that sometimes people in law enforcement have a bad day on occasion and that some folks simply do not have a temperament for the trade. The problem lies in the attempted coverup.

Something tells me we have not heard the last of these cases.

Jim Brown: Like Oil and Water – Religion and Politicians Don’t Mix

Thursday, February 26th, 2015
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

LIKE OIL AND WATER RELIGION AND POLITICIANS DON’T MIX!

I guess the good Lord has to put up with politicians. Nary a week goes by when some governor or other political type is holding a prayer rally and declaring that the ills of the nation can be cured by America being “born again” through embracing a Christian evangelical fervor. So the question is, do the Gospels need politicians?

Texas Governor Rick Perry seized the mantel of political-religious activism last month when he co-sponsored a prayer rally in Houston that reportedly attracted some 30 thousand fundamentalist Christians. “Our agenda is a salvation agenda,” he told an admiring crowd. Perry put aside any constitutional concerns over separation of church and state making it a governor’s certified state sponsored rally, using his official Website, stationary and other resources in the promotion.

Not to be outdone, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal led a similar rally at LSU’s basketball arena, calling for a national spiritual revival and telling the crowd that “our God wins.” I guess I’m okay with such a victory as long as everyone shares the same God. But what if the rally was not evangelical in flavor, but was sponsored by the governor in support of Mormonism (who believe they are the only true form of the Christian religion), Unitarianism, (that perceives Christ as human, rather than divine), Hindu (Jindal’s parents were Hindu), or even, pray tell, Islam? Would you be okay with a governor sponsoring a prayer meeting dominated by another faith?

The test is not what religious beliefs a politician accepts in private life. But when that same politician organizes and leads a religious rally in a public capacity, has he or she crossed the line into public endorsement? And if so, is that the job of a governor in his or her public capacity to validate particular religious beliefs? Continue Reading………….

The kind of math politicians seem to love…..

Because if private business people cut such deals they would quickly find themselves insolvent:

Two New Orleans-area lawmakers draft legislation to rein in film tax credit program; critics say proposals are too timid ~ Gordon Russell

And here is the key verbiage:

State-sponsored studies have found that Louisiana taxpayers get less than 25 cents back in tax money for every $1 they invest in the film program

Spending a dollar to gain a quarter is an economic fools game but politicians across the south seem eager to continue squandering tax dollars in such a fashion. I’d personally rather the state put that money in roads, bridges, education and if that means there will be no more locally shot films so be it. In fact, everyone seems to understand these taxpayer handouts are the only reason Hollywood is here.

In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

All eyes on the Federal Courthouse in Gulfport (UPDATED)

I’m hearing some vague rumblings that there will be a newsworthy event take place there later today.

UPDATE
Scratch one name off the indictment rumor mill:

Supervisor Martin set to appear in federal court at 11am ~ WLOX

Update:
It appears Supervisor William Martin is no longer in the land of the living.

Update: Coroner arrives at home of Harrison County supervisor William Martin ~ Anita Lee