Tag: River Birch

There is a Heebe in the levee pile! Matt at Fix the pumps reveals continuing problems with substandard levee construction.

Susan Poag / The Times Picayune

Something starts to emerge from these reports: the River Birch pits are very, very bad. We’ve seen the possibility of it in the WBV-14b.2 reports above, we’ve seen it mentioned definitely in the WBV-14a.2 reports – also above – and we’ve seen it mentioned in the WBV-14c.2 reports earlier. Now it shows up in the most recent inspection report from project WBV-14e.2.

Yeah, what Matt said! Matt McBride at Fix the Pumps has added a 4th and 5th part to his continuing series on what appears to be substandard levee construction featuring dirt from the borrow pits of Sierra Club approved River Birch Landfill. (I’ll be circling back to the sold out sum bitches at the Sierra Club in another post.) His work on this topic, a vital one for those on the West Bank of Greater NOLA metro, is simply excellent. So much so that Paul Rioux picked up coverage for the T-P in fact.  We need to address one particular part of Rioux’s story so here is the salient snippet: Continue reading “There is a Heebe in the levee pile! Matt at Fix the pumps reveals continuing problems with substandard levee construction.”

Let’s "think dirty": James Gill covers the genesis of the River Birch deal. Slabbed gives a plausible answer.

Today James Gill takes a trip down memory lane via a very good column on the history between Henry Mouton, Team River Birch, and former Gov Mike Foster echoing themes found on these pages around a year ago (and then some). What we found is there is really nothing new under the sun as the scam is pretty much the same as it always was, as the Times Picayune’s Stephanie Grace points out today in her column.

So the abiding question these days in journalistic circles, as planted by Team River Birch via lawyer/Gambit guy Clancy Dubos, is how could the payments to Mouton be a bribe if the payments they made to him began well before Mouton held an official position with the State of Louisiana during the Foster Administration?  The answer is pretty simple, such question is artfully framed incorrectly.  The answer you get often depends on the question so if you ask the wrong question you’ll get a framed answer. Lawyers like Dubos or Slabbed’s original cyber bitch David Rossmiller are skilled at such sophistry.

To the extent I am a seasoned practicing Auditor/CPA that has weird hobbies like speculating in the global financial markets and expanding his knowledge base on arcane subjects like game theory and behavioral economics, I am immune to such cheap mind Continue reading “Let’s "think dirty": James Gill covers the genesis of the River Birch deal. Slabbed gives a plausible answer.”

A real a$$ buster of a Petition for Damages – Concrete Busters v Heebe, Ward, River Birch, Hwy 90 LLC

A little tea-time reading!

[scribd id=49812391 key=key-2n51a4bh3af8zxmwzq4y mode=list]

Trash – the menage a trois version

Paul Rioux reports “Concrete Busters of Louisiana, whose disposal bid was rejected in favor of River Birch’s, filed the suit against River Birch late Friday in New Orleans Civil District Court” .

The River Birch landfill allegedly engaged in unfair trade practices by colluding with former Jefferson Parish officials to obtain a controversial $160 million garbage-disposal contract, according to a lawsuit filed by a River Birch rival…

The firm is seeking reimbursement for more than $7.5 million in lost profits as well as attorney fees and expenses to prepare its rejected proposal.

The 28-page suit accuses former Parish President Aaron Broussard’s administration of rigging the selection process that resulted in the 25-year River Birch contract, which is under federal investigation and has yet to be enacted.

River Birch spokesman Glenn Smith declined to comment. He has previously denied any suggestion of collusion, saying River Birch “had nothing to do with the pace or timing of the process.”

Although a copy of the complaint was not available, Rioux provides a summary: Continue reading “Trash – the menage a trois version”

BREAKING: We have an indictment. I repeat we have an indictment.

Gordon Russell has the skinny for the Times Picayune.  It seems the Old Gentilly Landfill connection to the River Birch saga is beginning to manifest itself.  We’ll see if the whore hopping V man, Diaper David Vitter’s name pops up down the line on this general topic.

This could well be the evidence of another crime Team Letten referred to earlier in a pleading before Judge Ginger on the River Birch search saga.

This is not a good sign for Teams Ward/Heebe IMHO as I have little doubt who was making the payoffs.

Another politician that is likely keeping a very concerned eye on these events, especially the prospect of low-level crooks like Mouton turning state’s evidence is John Alario.

sop

Judge Berrigan orders River Birch to file a floor plan with the Court! (no s#!% – she really did!) UPDATED with photographs

Lordy, lordy, Judge Ginger ordered Heebe to send Nowdy a Valentine – not really but sorta!

IT IS ORDERED that Plaintiffs provide the Court with a floor plan of the third floor of 2000 Belle Chase Highway by Monday, February 14, 2011 by 10:00 a.m. ♥  If the Government has a floor plan of the third floor of 2000 Belle Chase Highway, it shall also provide a copy to the Court by Monday, February 14, 2011 by 10:00 a.m.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Government provide a detailed inventory of what it seized from the premises of 2000 Belle Chasse Highway. That inventory shall indicate what was seized, from where it was seized, and on what basis the Government concluded that the seized material was related to River Birch, Inc. It shall also indicate which items have already been returned to Plaintiffs. This inventory shall be submitted in the record by Monday, February 14, 2011 by 10:00 a.m.

After reviewing the Government’s inventory Plaintiffs shall submit a memorandum regarding what seized items they believe should be returned pursuant to this Court’s previous Order by Wednesday, February 16, 2011 by 12:00 p.m.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Government provide the Court with a status update of the review of allegedly privileged documents seized from the third floor of 2000 Belle Chase Highway by Monday, February 14, 2011 by 10:00 a.m.

She also order Heebe-Ward-River Birch to submit to an IQ test – again, not really but sorta.  I mean just how smart would these folks be to use the Government’s inventory as a shopping list – like, well, “give us back that evidence showing we…”

The rest of Judge Berrigan’s Order might have been written by the Queen of Hearts:

“Who’s been painting my roses red?
WHO’S BEEN PAINTING MY ROSES RED? Continue reading “Judge Berrigan orders River Birch to file a floor plan with the Court! (no s#!% – she really did!) UPDATED with photographs”

Just a thought – How big is the average mailbox in Jefferson Parish?

Yeah, it’s a slow news day on the slab –  probably, better stated as quiet before the next news storm.  However, it’s a good day to pick up the thought I dropped while covering the birchers so-called volley in the “Tournament of Trash“:

Is the average mailbox in Jefferson Parish large enough to hold a poster?

Unlike our Twice Right AG, I’ve been (ahem) twice wrong – the two River Birch epistles-to-the-voters of Jefferson Parish were not printed on an 5.5″x8.5″ card, as I guessed.

Instead, both were unfolded, full-size 8.5″x11″ posters – in other words, larger than a  residential mailbox meeting USPS standards!

  • Curb-size boxes are a standard 8.75″H x 6.5″W
  • Mail slots are a standard 2.25″H x 7.25″W

The standard size of a unit in the multi-unit mailbox found at most residential apartment complexes is 5″H x 4″W – the same width of typical black metal residential mailbox by my front door.

Oops!  IMO, the size issue means the only certain result of the birchers’ effort to trash Waste Management was more trash for Waste Management to pick up!

Just a thought!

h/t  thoughtful reader for providing SLABBED with a copy of latest poster (below) – abundant evidence the birchers need a new graphic designer in addition to the already evident need for a new interior designer! Continue reading “Just a thought – How big is the average mailbox in Jefferson Parish?”

Neither rain nor cold (nor politics) stopped Judge Berrigan – Paul Rioux reports on “The Tour”

Berrigan arrived shortly before 10 a.m., wearing a bright red coat to guard against the chill and drizzle.

Paul Rioux’s story on NOLA.com – Judge tours River Birch offices to help determine if federal raid went too far – reports, “She spoke with attorneys from both sides under an awning for several minutes before entering the former bank building”.

Interesting.  Although it’s never “safe” to make assumptions, in this case, it’s safe to assume the physical space was well-suited for a blended operation.  Compliance with federally established exit requirements would be particularly important to a bank – and further weaken the Heebe-River Birch argument.

Exit routes must be permanent parts of the workplace. (think the white metal door in the “executive office”)

Exit stairs that continue beyond the level on which the exit discharge is located must be interrupted at that level by doors (another door beyond the white metal door in the “executive office)

Side-hinged exit doors must be used to connect rooms to exit routes…[and]…swing out in the direction of exit travel (the open dark finished door leading into the “executive office with a modular workspace clearly evident on the other side) OHSA Fact Sheet: Exits

According to Rioux’s story, Berrigan responded to a reporter’s question saying only that she “saw a lot of interesting things” – but, what she didn’t see should have been of even greater interest:

River Birch attorneys asked Berrigan to take note of the building directory at the main entrance listing the seven firms with offices on the third floor. The federal agent in charge of the raid has said he didn’t see the directory, but the firm contends it is clearly visible to anyone who uses the entrance.

Meanwhile, the government asked Berrigan to focus on the lack of “separate, independent, identifying labels or placards” for the various businesses sharing common office space.

Rouix also mentions the one of the government’s 140 photographs showed “a half-dozen empty pizza boxes on a counter, presumably from a lunch break during the 11-hour raid”. IMO, Judge Berrigan was far more likely to have noticed the disparity between the table where the module-inhabiting staff ate and the one for used for executive dining (and counting) than Continue reading “Neither rain nor cold (nor politics) stopped Judge Berrigan – Paul Rioux reports on “The Tour””

99 boxes of files on the wall, 99 boxes of files, take 1 down, pass it around, and leave with 25!

After downloading a few more parts of Exhibit A to the Government’s “tour guide” of the River Birch offices, I’m amazed the search team left with only 25 boxes of files.  The “wall of files” in the photograph below was clearly visible to anyone “entering the office suites” after stepping off the elevator to the building’s third floor:

The Heebe-River Birch plaintiffs claim the “numerous boxes labeled ‘scanned leases’…[are]…an immediate indication of the presence of Shadowlake Management”, in other words, a different company from River Birch.  Not so, says SLABBED and every parent with teenage children!  Labeled boxes are an “immediate indication” of  – drumroll – labeled boxes!

However, the search team didn’t enter from the lobby.  The government’s “tour guide” noted “Special Agent Bezet stated in his Affidavit that he…used the stairway to the third floor…and photographs…were taken contemporaneously with the search”.  If so, by the time Bezet reached the wall of files and labeled boxes pictured above (photograph #131), he’d seen:

this (photograph #15) Continue reading “99 boxes of files on the wall, 99 boxes of files, take 1 down, pass it around, and leave with 25!”