The Good Fight

See this little boy? This little boy is Lucas, and he is my one and only son. To date, he is the only first biological relative on this Earth that I am was ever aware of.

And I would lay down my life for him, as any father should for their child.

But there are people that would actively seek to prevent me from doing this, the greatest job I've ever had to do. There are people who actually have the outright nerve to say "No" to this little boy, to tell me that I can't do the one thing that a father is supposed to do above all other things: Provide the best possible future for their child.

And what's worse, these people are elected officials who are bound to enforce an actual law that has the nerve to legislate that this little boy can't have all of the things he needs to have a shot at a happy, healthy life. A law that I have since found to be unconstitutional - a violation of both mine and Lucas' Equal Protection rights.

Who writes such a law? And who enforces such a law? The correct answers to those questions are "Nobody should write such a law, because it violates the US Constitution" and "Nobody should enforce such a law, because it violates the US Constitution."

The law in question was somehow passed in 1984 by the Pennsylvania State Legislature. Acting on the notion that they were somehow defending the rights of parents to remain anonymous, they decided that they would seal ALL adoption records in Pennsylvania. So, for the first seven years of my life, I could have had access to this information, had I actually wanted it. Back then, of course, I was far too concerned with video games and school, and it remained a non-concern for the better portion of my life that followed.

And now that I actually have a reason to want this information, I'm finding that this law does far more in its willful violation of the ultimate law of this great nation.

While only on a theoretical level, it is possible for an adult adoptee such as myself to have my records unsealed and the information that I want. The problem with that idea becoming reality is, the same 1984 law that sealed my records in the first place also created hurdles and hoops for me to jump over and through.

First of all, I must provide a reason for my desire to have the records unsealed, which will be weighed by a judge. This is where the law becomes unconstitutional: By holding my reasons for wanting my records suspect at all, they're segregating adoptees like me into a new "suspect class," separate from Pennsylvanians who were not adopted - While all non-adoptee Pennsylvanians can petition Harrisburg and get their records on a whim, adoptee Pennsylvanians have to prove valid reason and go through a long, drawn-out and often hopeless court process. This is a clear and direct violation of the US Constitution's 14th Amendment, which reads as follows, as found on USConstitution.net:

Amendment 14 - Citizenship Rights. Ratified 7/9/1868. Note History 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

This law is clearly unconstitutional: It creates two classes of Pennsylvanians, who are not protected equally under the rule of law - Adoptees and Non-adoptees.

And I'm sure you're all wondering what my "suspect" reasons are, so I'll spell out my entire plan for you all to see and judge for yourselves. I have nothing to hide in this matter: My reasons are crystal clear, and entirely valid.

By having my records unsealed and my biological parents' names known to me, I can begin the search for them. If and when I find them, the only thing I want to do is ask them for a general overview of their medical history.

Between 1977 (when I was born) and 2010 (over two and a half years after Lucas was born), medical science has improved by leaps and bounds. We know far more about genetics and medicine today than we did during the period when I was born. Hell, when I was born, you could still smoke in a hospital! Today, we know that certain types of cancer are genetic, as well as a whole host of other serious conditions. We understand the concept of carriers better than we did then - for example, the only real piece of biological medical history I have is that epilepsy has shown up in my family. Who's to say that other conditions haven't shown up, and might show up in Lucas or any of the children he may have?

I simply can't know this information unless I contact my parents. It is my belief that this information is vital to giving Lucas a good chance at having a happy and healthy future. At least armed with information I didn't have right away, he stands a better chance of being ready to cope with these things should they arise than I had.

Is that too much to ask? I think not. I'm quite sure that there won't be anyone who would argue that this isn't something that I owe my son. That's why I'm fighting.

Because the court is treating my reasons as suspect, I'd also like to outline, in no uncertain terms, the things that I DO NOT wish to do at all.

1. I do not want to suddenly inject myself back into these people's lives. It's not like I'm trying to force a meeting with them. Far from it: I have survived for 32 years without meeting my biological parents, and I don't feel any great need to meet them now, either. If my parents want to meet me/us, that's fine, I have no problem with that. But it is THEIR CHOICE.

2. Given what little information I do have about my biological parents, it's safe to assume that I am the first-born child for either of them, most certainly for my mother. However, it is NOT MY INTENTION to find them for the purpose of asserting my status as such in any of their affairs, period. I don't want money, I don't want in on any will, I don't want any piece of any possible estate, none of that.

No, my reason is simple: I just want to have the information I feel necessary in order to do my job as a father. That's it.

So, why am I being treated like a second class Pennsylvanian? And more importantly, why the hell are you treating my SON like a second class Pennsylvanian? He lives here too, you know, and he has the right to the information that I want to provide for him, just like any other Pennsylvanian does.

I am doing this solely for him. And in a State - and in particular, a county - where deadbeat dads are almost the norm, I think that should be recognized. Even though I may not see my son, I'm not giving up on him like so many others have before me. No - this child WILL know his father, and he WILL know that his father loves him more than anything else in this damned universe. And as his father, it's my job to make sure he gets a fighting chance at life.

And I will not allow something so vile as this unconstitutional attempt to legislate to stop me from doing that job.

The State of Pennsylvania is on notice: I aim to set a precedent, even before any further legislation can be considered on this subject. If I'm right, the law - along with any pending legislation that may seek to strengthen it rather than oppose it - will be declared unconstitutional, and we will no longer have to live as "second class" Pennsylvanians.

My son and I are Pennsylvanians - no class restrictions. And I will do whatever it takes to make sure that we can both claim that right.

-- 7/24/10 - Updated due to the surprise appearance of my biological father and his side of the family, giving Lucas even more people to know. Mission accomplished, at least partially so far. I now possess all the information that I figured would be in my adoption records, and what was confirmed to exist by the Judge.

So, what's the next step? Mom. She's going to be a jewel to find, that's for sure. First thing's first, though: Contacting her old high school and seeing if I can't find a yearbook picture of her...

After The Rain

So, the whole thing is over. At round 10:30 this morning, Michael Rodriguez - escaped Clearfield County Jail inmate and fugitive for a little over 18 hours - blew through a roadblock in a stolen pick-up, busted his tires over spike strips, and crashed into an embankment.

However.

The media is only reporting that Rodriguez was injured, but able to walk to the staging area for LifeFlight. This is nothing compared to what I've heard: Rodriguez was indeed injured. I've heard broken legs and broken ankles, but in either case, something's broken.

Now, if Rodriguez is suffering from even one broken leg/ankle, he's also been through a pretty nerve-racking ordeal, and probably would have not been in any condition to put up any resistance.

And yet, I've been told that Rodriguez was forcibly removed from the pick-up, slammed to the ground face first - hard - and a boot was put into his neck - right after he was in a fairly nasty crash. Any emergency services worker on the planet will tell you that just moving an accident victim is tricky business and shouldn't be done lightly.

Furthermore, I've also been told that they spent a moment beating Rodriguez up a bit, probably to "teach him to not run again." After all, he had the gall to break out of jail and cause them to do their jobs! Oh noes!

After all that, he was then forced to walk UP A HILL to the extraction area where LifeFlight would take him to the hospital. So that's a reported two broken legs/ankles, one rough trip out of the vehicle, one rough meeting between ground and face, one boot to the neck to hold him down, a bit of the old Rodney King treatment, and then a Green Mile march up a fucking hill to the landing zone.

Something is seriously wrong here, people.

For the folks coming to this site from Buffalo: Obviously, you either know or know of Rodriguez, otherwise you wouldn't be searching for him. Whatever you do, don't stay quiet. Don't let Bill Shaw and the local authorities bully you. Speak up. Demand an investigation.

While Rodriguez was a sick puppy (burglary and assaulting his ex-girlfriend, among a probable laundry list of other violent crimes), no person deserves to be fucked with like that, especially after an accident. Seriously: What if Rodriguez died as a result of direct police action AFTER the crash? This place would make national news in a heartbeat if that had happened.

Thankfully, he's still alive as of yet, and the national eye can still be turned this way. If there's even a hint of possible police brutality, fan that motherfucker until the flames grow too high to not be noticed.

Clearfield County has long been in need of a good housecleaning: The corrupt elements here would surprise you. This is the second escape in three years from Clearfield County Jail: Sam Lombardo's job is in trouble, as are those of whatever COs were on duty at the time. And if local and State police are involved in any brutality, that creates a seperate fire. If the two meet and begin burning as one, then you just might see comissioners, attorneys, and judges in the other public eye: the one that doesn't like you or what you're doing very much at all.

As local residents, we have the right to know just what the hell is going on with the people we trust to protect us. If they're doing stuff that made national pariahs out of so many before them, then we need to know about it, and we need to make it stop. We need to weed out the corrupt and arrogant elements of our own local government if we even think we have a chance at making it as a community.

Otherwise, we'll still be overseen by incompetent fools who think it's all just a popularity contest and an easy paycheck at the expense of the "little people..."

CCJ Escapee: The Story Thus Far + Local Media Commentary

If you're here for just the story and not the commentary, scroll down to the big orange OK. Otherwise, some commentary:

Well well well. It looks like, apart from WQYX/WCPA (who originally reported the story locally over the air but not online) and WOKW (who first reported the inmate's capture), everybody's late to the party. Boy, it's a good thing SOMEONE was covering this story as it unfolded! Because then everyone would have to wait for these lame fuckers to get with the program and tell them what's going on.

From WJAC 6 in Johnstown, PA - who hadn't even heard this story until I called them - comes this little blurb on their website, including some of their news video. Yesterday, it was reported that WJAC's crew on the scene was pissing authorities off by not remaining in the designated press staging area. We figure that, since they were late to the game, they were trying to play catch-up by bending the rules and trying for a scoop. They're reporting that Rodriguez was injured but able to walk to the ambulance, which conflicts with my reports of Rodriguez's legs being barely able to bend correctly, let alone carry him up a hill. They also give the new location of Lecontes Mills, where the police began chasing him towards his fate on 879.

WTAJ 10 out of Altoona, PA has an article on their big advertising behemoth of a shit-tastic website, confirming that Rodriguez is, in fact, from Buffalo, NY (which would explain the big influx of traffic to my site from that area via Google searches), and reports that the time of capture as 10:30am. WTAJ was aware of the story when I called, and had dispatched reporter Danielle Kraut to the scene, who filed reports via phone on last evening's newscast.

Also on deck is the "blog" (another Blogger account, no less) of a so-called News Radio station, WESB 1490AM out of Bradford, PA (greetings to my friends there). Hahaha. Like WTAJ, they have a main Website that's totally ad-saturated, and doesn't have much content of interest at all.

One of my Twitter rivals, the Centre Daily Times (news rag out of State College, PA), has pretty much been silent on the whole story. That's some fine reporting there, Lou. Not one single tweet of theirs had anything to do with this story: They were more concerned about the tragic accidental death of a Penn State student (alcohol was a factor) and more bullshit Homeland Security nonsense about those ever-so-scary turr'sts.

(Note: I am in no way trying to marginalize the tragedy befalling Joseph Dado. It is a sad story indeed, and my sympathies are with his family and friends.)

What's the point of all this ranting? To illustrate the absolute and utter failure of the local news media - including affiliates from all the major networks - to inform the people in a timely manner. They failed to take advantage of the technology they obviously spend lots of money on, just to make look nice and generate ad revenue, apparently. They failed to use the Internet - the ultimate 24 hour, up-to-the-nanosecond communications tool - to inform people of updates. Instead, rumor and hearsay most likely dominated the conversations of people not looking to THIS FUCKING STUPID BLOG for their information.

How the hell did one kid, whom quite a number of people think of as innocuous and somewhat incapable of much, beat the absolute snot out of you when it came to coverage? That's a question I'd like answered, really. Why is it that you all have so much money and so many resources, yet one guy with a few friends and tools available cheaply to the common citizen beat you to the punch and DID YOUR JOB FOR YOU?!? Today, the local news media - if they can be called that, receives a big fat red F- for their absolute FAIL at keeping residents informed of what was obviously a very dangerous situation. You people should just resign and let a whole new team in now. Shame on you.

~*~

OK, here we go, piecing together the whole story from start to finish. The source for this info is by way of both PSP and Lawrence Township police departments:

Around 2pm yesterday, Michael Rodriguez escaped Clearfield County Jail (CCJ) by crawling under the frist yard fence, then climbing over the second. After a brief run-around, he stole the truck you saw in the previous photos from Megan and Missy, from some New York area workers who were running into a Cogos for a second, leaving their keys in the truck and allowing Rodriguez to nab it.

At some point, Rodriguez contacted a girlfriend he had in the DuBois area and was trying to get to her place. Unbeknowest to him, she was on the horn with PSP, telling them where he was and what his intentions were.

PSP and LTPD set up a roadblack with spike strips along the Shawville-Croft Highway, or State Route 879, north of Clearfield in front of the home of Sean Owens. Owens stated that you could hear the truck coming up the highway, and he had to have been doing at least 120. He hit the spike strips, lost control, and crashed at the turn shown in the photos Missy sent.

Due to the crash, Rodriguez is reported to have broken both of his legs (reports have also stated ankles). Despite this, PSP and LTPD forcibly removed him from the vehicle, slammed his face onto the ground, and someone put a boot on his neck while he was down. After this, despite the broken legs, police forced him to walk up the hill, where he was later airlifted to an unknown hospital.

Police are still searching the area along the chase route for a reported firearm, as well as impounding and searching the truck that Rodriguez stole.

Crazy, eh? A wee bit of police brutality? I think so! Even though this guy was clearly a dangerous and incredibly stupid individual, having two broken legs after a roadblock crash will certainly diminish your ability to do any sort of fighting back, thus eliminating the need for excessive force.

If these reports are true, PSP and LTPD - as well as any other agencies involved - could be in some serious trouble. Stay tuned. As I learn more, I'll be sure to post it here for all of you.

Do You Really Want To Know?

So yeah, I'm surfing teh Intartubes this morning, and a strange thought crosses my mind as I'm going through my morning Tweets: All these groups of Atheists all over the place, but are there any close to home?

Teh Google, light the way in the darkness of Cyberspace...

...and show me one particularly interesting link. To save you the trouble, I'll do all the obligatory click-through nonsense to reach the final, most-recently-updated destination: Pennsylvania Nonbelivers. Aha! I knew there was at least one organization! Take that, Pat Robertson! Anyway, they have a map of organizations in Pennsylvania, and out of 52 total Counties, all of 12 have groups. 12! There are 40 Counties in my home state that lack any sort of Atheist/Humanist/Agnostic/Freethought society.

Sadly, that list of 40 includes my home of Clearfield County. Well, that sucks.

There are of course groups in Centre County: With Penn State's main campus at its core, it's hard to believe that there wouldn't be any secular groups there. How many are there in reality, though? The truth is, I'm not sure: It's either two, or one. The sure bet is the Penn State Atheist Agnostic Association - they have a Facebook page as well. The other group's site seems to redirect to some sort of "Days Until" calendar website. I checked: Yes, they DO list Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Blair County was highlighted as a candidate, too. But the first group's site redirects to the host provider, so no dice there. The second group has no site, only an email addy that indicates the group is centered at Penn State's Altoona Campus.

Two Student orgs, and I haven't been any sort of student in damn-near precisely 10 years. Plus, Altoona and State College, while not really all that far, aren't trips I can really afford to make with any regularity. Also plus, given that it IS Penn State, I'm a bit wary: While I live the Blue and White as a life-long PSU fan, that place can sometimes be a little too liberal for me. And I'm a freakin' liberal!

So, I guess there's only one thing that I can do - it's Ding-a-ding-dang my dang-a-long-ling-long. See what I get for listening to Ministry when I type? Ohy...

Anyway, seriously, I guess I don't really have much of an option. I'm just going to have to start something on my own and see what happens.

Funny thought: Christians like to think that the Magic Sky Pixie "calls" on them to do things. In a more secular light, an Atheist like me may feel like something they do is a "calling" of sorts. For years, I've known of and worked within mine: I'm an entertainer. But lately, I've been thinking that I've got another "call" to answer, and again not from God's hotline.

It's time to wake the sleeping outcasts and rally them to the soapbox...

By The Numbers

This past week, thanks to the Jesse Campbell murder story (which noone has linked back here to, ignorant bastards, I was the first online with this thing), traffic to this site has seen the most in one week it's ever seen since its inception.

But... How many will stay?

Apparently, I've pissed alot of kids off. "The system failed Jesse," they say. They say "You're wrong about him."

How can you say something negative about a kid who kills his own mother and have it be wrong? At that point, the kid has invited everything negative known to man into his front door and had a party for all of them.

No, the system didn't fail Jesse. Jesse failed Jesse. The system works, but only if you choose to work within it. If you don't, then you've doomed yourself to failure with no blame cast on the system at all. You kids can stop crying about how the system failed, and start crying anew because your so-called "friend" failed himself.

Instead of asking why they didn't do more for him, ask why Jesse didn't allow the help he was offered. Instead of thinking this is a horrible tragedy that befell a sweet boy, think how horrible and terrible this twisted little fuck's mind is. After all...

HE BEAT AND SLASHED HIS OWN MOTHER.

I'm probably the least religious person on the face of this planet, but even I will concede that killing your own mother falls into the "unforgivable sin" category.

Face it, kids: The person you thought Jesse James Campbell was, wasn't.

So, now that I have all these new readers, how many have I alienated with those comments? Honestly, I don't care, because you kids need to hear someone speaking the truth. And, as the old saying goes, the truth hurts. This time, though, it hurts like a motherfucker.

A young man has betrayed his friends and his family. A mother is dead at the hands of her son. The motive? Selfish greed. The excuse? None.

Noone failed Jesse James Campbell but Jesse James Campbell. And he failed all of you, too. Don't mourn his "mistake," condemn his actions. Quit making excuses. Jesse didn't make an excuse when he beat and slashed his own mother, did he...

Aftercomers

Google for Jesse James Campbell. A week ago, that name was hard to find on the Internet. And now, it's everywhere. And everywhere you look, if there's a comments section, it's full of the same thing: Grab your torch and pitchfork, we'll have a hangin' at dawn.

Most interesting is one found down the list a piece: A GoDuBois Forum Post on the subject, with some lively debate, including this quote:

Jesse James Campbell...

parents: think twice when you name your kids please

Har. Appropriately enough, the thread is titled "Mentally Unstable." Gee, ya think? What's really sad is, even in this local area, there are probably quite a few more kids like Jesse who haven't pulled something like this yet.

And speaking of Har, here's a funny one: Jesse has made his way to People You Will See In Hell. Before this morning, I never knew this site existed. And since I don't really believe in Hell, I can't say that Jesse will go. But if there is one, I bet he's got a reserved seat on the special bus.

Blogs are finally starting to pick up on the whole story more, as is the case with this post at Dreamin' Demon. Plus, there are all kinds of news stories with details of what really went down, mostly send-ups of the third link, a generic blanket UPI story. Turns out that Jesse had taken his mother's computer and, not wanting to return it and fearing his mother would send him back to prison (go figure, kid had a prior and did State time), he decided to kill her.

And not one link to this site from any of these. Bummer.

Brilliant. For all of you anonymous people who deem it necessary to defend such a soulless, moronic subhuman, you're just as brilliant.

Meanwhile, Jesse's preliminary hearing has been continued to April 30th(links here and here). I'd say this kid is headed straight for the table with the tubes. There isn't a jury on this earth that wouldn't have him put to death.

In short, he's fucked.

But what about Kacey? From what I've read this morning, she took the clothes, which Jesse had wadded up into a trash bag, and tossed them into the dumpster. That sticks her with a few charges right there, and while they're not Murder 1, they're fairly serious on their own. I'm sure there will be some form of Evidence Tampering charge, as well as some sort of Obstruction charge. Accessory to Murder 1? With her not being present for the whole thing (she was under the impression that he was just out getting cigarettes, even though he told her he was going to kill his mother before he left), I doubt she'd be tagged as an accomplice.

What she did and didn't believe at that point has yet to be fully determined. It's a pretty safe bet that, as soon as I can talk to her, I will, and hopefully she can give us a clearer picture of what the hell was going on in the days leading up to this circus. Until then, though, it's my guess that she'll be the star witness for what will most likely be a local media spectacle of a trial, and what might snag itself a little national media coverage in the process...

UPDATE: 2:40pm - The story has made a newsgroup posting, oddly enough on alt.drugs.psychedelics, found via Google Groups. Whoever this Rob Cypher is, he's linked to Jesse's MySpace page, encouraging people to leave comments. However (and this is no surprise), there are no new comments: He's not there to add new friends, and its set to only receive comments from friends.

But The Point Is Probably Moot

People love to correct me. They also love to leave comments on posts I have to scroll down to find. They also love to not identify themselves, making them a less-believable source.

For starters, folks, it'd be alot easier for all my readers if you'd leave relevant comments in the most recent post on the subject. Second, it'd be great if you'd identify yourself: That'd help in either confirming or disproving what it is you all have to say.

Second, what I've been reporting since this broke has mostly come from mainstream news outlets that have actually covered this tragic story (which, sadly, are very few and far between). The most information I've gathered comes from Greg Bock at the Altoona Mirror, who is the only reporter I know of trying to put a human angle into this story, apart from me (and I hardly qualify as an official "reporter," I like "citizen journalist" better).

You'll notice that, as information comes in that contradicts what I've posted earlier, I've made any necessary corrections along the way. Correcting me via anonymous comments isn't going to get any changes made, because being Anonymous means you could be anybody: Someone connected to the case or families, or just some schmoe who loves to sit here and berate me because they think they can hide behind the mask of "Anonymous."

What I've been trying to do is develop a psychological profile of Jesse. And right now, things don't look to good for the outcome of that profiling. From all accounts I've recieved, talking to folks I know close to the situation, Jesse is a failure. He's failed to grow up, he's failed to rehabilitate from whatever problems got him put in jail in the first place. He's a perp with a history.

AND FOR FUCKS SAKE, HE KILLED HIS OWN MOTHER.

Yeah, that's not quite the formula for "poor kid with bad luck." Nope, sorry, I've got "poor kid with bad luck" locked up, and I haven't killed anybody, especially not my own mother with a 5lb freeweight and a knife. And you certainly won't see me picking up a Bible or any other religious text sometime soon.

It should be known that I was one spur-of-the-moment decision away from being in the middle of this. Around 2:00am (about two hours after the actual murder, but before Kacey came back to her apartment), I was on my way to a friend's (a neighbor of Kacey's) to pick up some diapers for my son. As I drove into the complex, I looked at Kacey's apartment and noticed a bedroom light on. I thought she was home, and considered stopping by to say hello. I decided against it, picked up the diapers, and came home.

Had I decided to stop in, there's a chance I would have been there when Kacey arrived home hysterical, and I don't even want to consider what would have happened next. The only thing I could see happening is I'd have a whole hell of a lot more details about this fiasco, most of them would have come first hand.

I'm glad I didn't stop in...

At any rate, I will continue to report on everything I find. You can all tell me how wrong I am, or what I'm publishing is hearsay and rumor. But until you identify yourself, I'll treat what YOU tell me as hearsay and rumor. Grow a pair and talk to me directly. I'm open to any and all sources of information, unless they come from "Anonymous."

Some More Coleman Murder Stuff

Wow. This has generated quite a response, as I figured it would, but it's a bit bigger than I thought.

First of all, I should address the most recent comment, from reader melanie626. She's fairly adamant in her correction that it's Jessie Campbell, not Coleman. I'll concede that much, no problem, and will correct my prior entries. More on that in a moment. She's also saying that, no, Kacey was not with Jessie when the deal went down, which is a huge relief.

So, why have I been calling him by his mother's last name? That comes from my initial discovery of the event, when an unknown person logged on to Kacey's Yahoo! Messenger account and sent me a message. They had logged in under Invisible mode, so I had no idea they were there until the message came through.

My archiving has been turned off for some time, so I have no hard copy of the conversation (idiot). All I can do is recount the basic gist of the whole thing.

them: hey kacey is in jail

me: What?!?

them: yeah

me: For what? WTF?

them: she and her boyfriend killed his mom

me: You said what now? They killed Jordan's mom?!?

(At this point, I had no idea that Kacey and Jordan had broken up two weeks prior.)

them: no she broke up with jordan two weeks ago

me: So it's that other kid she's been seeing, then.

them: yeah jessie coleman

(It was this unknown person using Kacey's account who gave me the name I'd been running with up to this point)

me: God damn... When the hell did this happen?

them: last night

me: Mother Fucker...

At this point, whoever it was stopped talking, and I've received nothing from Kacey's screen name since. Prior to this, I'd spoken to her online about three weeks before, and seen her briefly on a Thursday a few days before that. Personally, I received no indication that any of this was going on in the slightest. Kacey didn't mention anything about Jessie other than that she'd been seeing a kid younger than her (she's 22, he's 20). Never told me his name or anything else about him, really, just mentioned him in passing.

Otherwise, she was her usual self, pretty much. I can't speak for the two weeks leading up to the murder, since I had no contact with her. I really do hope that she's alright, because she's a good kid and hella cool to hang out with.

If anyone else close to Kacey would like, feel free to use my Comments links to chime in with what you know, any speculation, or just to show your support for Cindy Jo's or Kacey's families. This is probably the worst tragedy Houtzdale has seen since the block party fires of the late 90s: a son, killing his mother in, from what I've heard, is an argument over a computer.

Something went very wrong here, and not just that night...

Star-cross'd Lovers

A few quick updates on coverage of the Cindy Jo Coleman murder here in Houtzdale. A quick check of teh Googles reveals the first blog (that I've found) other than my own to speak out on the story: A blog called News of Doom picked it up and has a bit of commentary to go with it. Yeah, this kid could very well be looking at the needle, and I can't think of anyone in this state who would sit on the jury for this case, hear how this kid killed his mother, and NOT throw the book at him.

A bit of ha ha, Froggy98's website had a blurb about it on their FrogNet News page (find it yourself, I don't like Froggy, so no link for them), but apparently it's rotated out of their limited live page cache. Oh well, it would have only been a paragraph at most, and would have probably run along the lines of a summary the Altoona Mirror's article, anyway. In short, nothing new from a crappy source.

Years ago, when the Kimmy Jo Dotts (wow, women with Jo as a middle name tend to get killed around here...) Murder went down, Montel Williams did a show dedicated to the case, where I saw my friend Clint on the air, and heard a phone call from a very stupid/ignorant Dawn Lanager and her mother. I wonder which tabloid show will pick this story up first. Oprah? Maury? JERRY?!? We'll see, I guess.

While I'm inclined to continue to dig up new junk on this story, today is, in fact, St. Patrick's Day, and I can't help but want to step away from the keyboard and search box for a while and relax. I'll be at Electric Avenue tonight, watching everyone else get hammered while I drink my Sierra Mist 'on the rocks,' straight. I'll be back tomorrow, though, hopefully with more. On the bright side, I won't have to battle through any sort of hangover to do it...

Cats In The Cradle

The weekend has brought new information in the Jessie Coleman Campbell murder story, as teh Internets (which is a series of tubes) have finally caught up to me, at least when it comes to actually having anything online at all. Granted, they're a bit more well-connected than a lowly citizen-journalist such as myself, so they're a bit more in the know. But hey, at least I got to break it to the digital world, not a chance I get often (or one that I get soon enough to act on).

GantDaily says that the murder itself happened at Woodward Terrace Apartments. The police presence my friend confirmed for me at McAteer was most likely a posse hunting Jessie down at his girlfriend's apartment (that being Kacey).

The first mention of Kacey, however, comes in the form of an article from the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat which gives us some more details about the killing itself. While Kacey is only mentioned as "his girlfriend," it goes on to say that there's a stolen computer involved. Jessie took a 5lb plastic weight and clubbed his mother with it when she wouldn't wake up, then slashed her throat and wrists.

While she lay there, choking on her own blood, Jessie apparently sat and read the bible to her. Funny, since Jessie doesn't strike me as a Bible sort of kid...

Of course, The Progress is late to the party. And even though they're the most local paper to the story, their coverage, as always, is lacking.

And finally, the plot thickens as we get our first mention of Kacey (left) by name outside of this blog. According to the Altoona Mirror (who also supplied Jessie's CCJ booking photo, above left), it was Kacey who blew the whistle. Around 2AM (which is pretty much the same time I was near her apartment picking up diapers from a friend for my son), Kacey came back to her apartment hysterical, and called the police.

While I still can't garner Kacey's status at the moment (all I have to go on is whoever used her Yahoo to message me told me she, too, was in CCJ), the article does mention that Kacey was involved in some sort of planning. She never mentioned anything like this to me.

In fact, her's what WAS mentioned to me by her in the weeks leading up to Cindy's murder: Around three weeks ago, she revealed to me that she was cheating on her boyfriend (at the time) with Jessie, the first I'd ever heard of him at all. She did say that she was under a ton of stress, but never went into details, even when I asked her. After that, her account went dark for about a week and a half, popping back up on Thursday morning with whoever was in control sending me the message that started this whole fiasco.

The computer, I understand. Since Kacey had broken up with her previous boyfriend, she lacked a computer, hence her Yahoo account not coming online for a week. Cindy's computer (honestly, she won't be using it now) would fill that void, though I highly doubt that Jessie killed her because Kacey wanted a way to get online. Pretty weak motive for murder right there.

No, there's something deeper here. This Jessie, I'm willing to bet, is one seriously fucked up kid. And I aim to get to the bottom of why he is. Why? Because, in a very distant but still-significant way, his anger is like my own when I was that age. Understanding that anger, and understanding Jessie Coleman Campbell, brings us one step closer to understanding why so many kids are flipping out and racking up body counts these days.

For the record, I love my mother endlessly, and would never, EVER dream of killing her, or anyone else, for that matter.

As I gather more info, I'll post it here. Week should be interesting...

Philipsburg 2: Electric Boogaloo

So yeah, the Borough got back to me on those tickets, and boy, did they really show their ignorance and stupidity. How anyone in this town could possibly believe that the people "leading" them could even remotely be competent is beyond me. Far, far beyond me. We're talking Voyager 2 beyond.

If there was ever an indicator that the Borough's agents are completely retarded, it was on the front of the envelope. On it was my correct license plate number, but under that, the word "Blazer."

Blazer.

Fucking BLAZER!!!

OK, now, it doesn't take a genius to tell the difference between an Chevrolet Blazer and a Ford Explorer, which is what I drive. Nevermind the fact that there's a Ford logo and the word "Explorer" on my tail hatch, and a big ol' Ford logo on the grill (not to mention the two "Explorer" plates down the sides). It's a Blazer.

Sure as shootin', Cletus, it's a Blazer.

(Yes, I hate Chevy, and I associate it with people who could have walked right out of Deliverance. Sue me for being biased, because a colony of toothless hillbilly freaks drive rustbuckets with the Chevy name on them and glorify drivers of Chevy vehicles in NASCAR. Ask them to trade in that 1983 Celebrity on a different make and they'll probably pull some sort of weapon on you and ask you if you're "plum loco.")

But anyway, back to the letter. Yeah, Blazer. Strike One. Anyhow, I open the envelope and pull the actual document out and look at it. The first thing that hits me is that it looks like some stupid teenager with an ancient copy of Micro$oft Word hurried this out. Different font sizes, completely unnecessary, used for emphasis of points that would be just as visible if the font were actually uniform.

I mean, come on! This is supposed to be a government agency, a public service! Try and look professional, why don't you, so people actually respect you and take you seriously! Christ on a fucking stick anyhow! The Federal government may spend extreme sums of money on simple crap like putting out documents, but at least those documents are uniform, for crying out loud.

You people look like today's college kids turning in papers in Internet slang. Sad, sad, sad.

Now, on to the contents of the letter. Obviously, I've edited out my license plate number for privacy reasons, but the text is otherwise exactly as it appears in the letter. While I can't duplicate the logo for the borough's sad-sack letterhead, it's still essentially as-is. I have made no changes or exaggerations, other than the changes already mentioned. Font sizes are relative to how they appear on the letter as well.

Now, witness ignorance at it's best, and your tax dollars in action:

PHILIPSBURG BOROUGH
P.O. Box 631
4 North Centre Street
Phone (814) 342 3440
Fax (814) 342 5608
ordinancedept@iqnetsys.net

Date: 12/12/07


To Whom It May Concern:

####### is the Plate on your Blazer.

On 12/07/07, 12/10/07and12/11/07 you recieved parking tickets for parking 2AMto7AM on your vehicle. You paid the first ticket so we know you are aware of the violation. Our office doesn't like giving tickets unless we are forced to. Please find another place to park your vehicle overnight on the side streets that are not posted for 2AM to 7AM signs or we do have permits available. Contact our office so we don't have to issue any more parking fines. We will resume the tickets effective 12/17/07, if you continue to violate the signs posted on the streets.

Thank You
W(illegible) D. McDonald 140046 (handwritten signature)
Philipsburg Borough Ordinance Officer

Now, who wants to be the first to point out the errors in this letter? First of all, they continue to insist that I drive a Blazer. Is it really that easy to mix the two up? I don't think so, they both look pretty damned distinct to me. With the blazingly obvious aside, it's time for me to play English Teacher and correct their homework. First, the list of errors:

1. No dashes between the prefixes and suffixes of the phone and fax numbers
   
2. No spacing between 12/10/07, "and" and 12/11/07 in line one.
3. Should be a comma after 12/11/07 on line one.
4. No spacing between 2AM, "to" and 7AM on line two.
5. Should be a comma after "ticket" on line three.
6. "The" in "overnight on the sidestreets" is not necessary.
7. Should be a comma after "signs" on line six.
8. The sentence beginning on line four and ending on line seven is run-on, and should be divided.
9. The comma after 12/17/07 is unnecessary.
10. Should be a comma after "Thank You" in the closing.
    

Ten blatant grammatical errors. I thought you people were supposed to be "professional!" Well, now the Borough of Philipsburg is a laughing stock, for all the world to see. So, folks, here I present to you the letter as it should look, if it were typed by a monkey with a lobotomy, or someone more competent:

PHILIPSBURG BOROUGH
P.O. Box 631
4 North Centre Street
Phone (814) 342-3440
Fax (814) 342-5608
ordinancedept@iqnetsys.net

Date: 12/12/07

To Whom It May Concern:

Plate #: #######
Vehicle Make: Ford
Vehicle Model: Explorer

On 12/07/07, 12/10/07 and 12/11/07, you recieved parking tickets for parking 2AM to 7AM in a zone posted against such. You paid the first ticket, so we know you are aware of the violation. Our office doesn't like giving tickets unless we are forced to. Please find another place to park your vehicle overnight on side streets that are not posted for 2AM to 7AM signs. We also have permits available. Contact our office so we don't have to issue any more parking fines. We will resume the tickets effective 12/17/07,if you continue to violate the signs posted on the streets.

Thank You,
W(illegible) D. McDonald 140046 (handwritten signature)
Philipsburg Borough Ordinance Officer

And there you have it, with my emphasis on the proper identity of my vehicle. Not really that hard to make it look like a human actually typed it, is it? Fonts are normalized, grammar is corrected... Was it that difficult? Nah! If I can do it, anyone can do it! Fuck, I've read blogs by foreigners with even the slightest grasp of English grammar that look better. Since this is a Government Document, and is therefore in the Public Domain, you peons can feel free to copy and paste my template for future use by your offices, should you decide you want to look like an actual, professional Government Agency.

You know, it might help your image, what with the wasting money on the Front Street Project and not being able to pay for a police force. There's also the matters of the personal infighting and bickering, and all the controversy over filling one stupid Borough Management position, and your mismanagement of the Rowland... But I digress.

Now, how shady is it that it's not mentioned anywhere in the borough, on any sign or any publicly viewable space whatsoever, that there are parking permits available. In Pittsburgh, my adopted home, the signs clearly show what permit zone it is, letting the public know that permits are indeed available should you reside in that zone and wish to park without fear of tickets.

Philipsburg? No, they'll only tell you if you think to ask about it at all (with no helpful hints or information even suggesting they're available), or after they give you a couple of expensive parking hits and start fucking with your license.

Dirty pool, old man. Dirty pool indeed.

Philipsburg, this is your wake up call. Someone with the stones to take you to school and expose your smug stupidity to the rest of the world has arrived, and he's not happy. The fact that you're an insignificant little shit town that no one really looks at or cares about at all will no longer allow you people to get away with this type of shinnanigans. There is a whistle blower among you, and he won't shut up.

Either clean up your act, or I will continue to post examples of how you people make complete fools of yourselves. Even your precious Philipsburg Journal will be pilfered for any shred of evidence that you people are nothing but a bunch of stuck-up, ignorant, self-righteous losers who want nothing more from their jobs than the paycheck and the pat on the back, along with anything else you can get away with on the side. You people are pathetic, and should be ashamed to even try and call yourselves "Public Servants."

Granted, I've done shit I'm not proud of. But at least I can pony up and admit that I fucked up. I don't just idle myself and continue with bad practices. Maybe you all could learn a lesson from the kid with the big mouth and the International Soapbox to get it heard...

Beyond This Door...

Turkey Day was alright for me, leaning on the side of crappy - Angel was rather sick, and The Bear developed a weird rash literally overnight. Once we made the rounds as far as family goes, we decided that they should both be taken to the ER to find out what's wrong. M'love was in quite a bit of pain, and hadn't had the best of days the day before. Teddy, meanwhile, seemed almost completely oblivious to the fact that he now looked like a slice of pizza, since it didn't seem to be an itchy type of rash.

After we checked in, we made our way to the waiting room. Clearfield Hospital isn't really known for it's speedy processing and treatment (sorry, but it's true), so I anticipated a rather lengthy and boring wait with a squirming 11 month old to keep me busy. Not only was the wait not terribly long, but when Angel went to the bathroom, I overheard one of the most bizzare and hillarious sentences ever come out of the mouth of a woman in the ER waiting room...

"They tried to stick a tree in my butt, see if it would grow."

Yeah. This chick actually said those exact words. No lie. Mortified and slowly descending into maddening laughter, I turned my head to see who'd said it. It came from the general direction of a rather... shall we say, choice... family, and the only two female vocal candidates were MUCH bigger than me, so I quickly turned my head back around and tried to stifle my growing case of the giggles.

When Angel came back, I headed out to the truck. For starters, I needed to get outside and smoke a cigarette. And two, I wanted to write those exact words down as quickly as possible so I wouldn't forget them when I wrote this, the inevitable entry on the moment. Once I got into the cab, I lit my cigarette, rolled down the window a bit, and opened the glove box to pull out a Micky-Dee's napkin. As I was writing, an ambulance arrived (oddly without sirens or lights, so I never noticed it til it was there) and a patient was being unloaded by the crew. The exchange between this crotchety old gent and the female EMT at the end of his gurney proved to be an unexpected bonus...

"I'll walk in there my own damned self, thank you..."

"No, you will stay right where you are."

Just like a mom would say to her unruly kid. Of course, it was one of those 'you had to be there' moments, but rare is it that anyone would get a double dose of Karma comedy in one night, let alone at the Clearfield Hospital ER... So of course I wrote that down, too, just as soon as I finished making sure I had my notes on the previous shot of teh funnay all squared up. Finishing my cigarette, I hurried back through the blustery Central Pennsylvania chill and into the ER waiting room, eager to share the whole experience with Angel.

Sometimes, even the not-so-good moments in life have a funny way of giving you something to smile about. Angel and Teddy are both fine, though Angel has bronchitis, which I know first-hand bites, and bites hard. Teddy's rash was just a reaction to a common antibiotic, and he should be fine in the next day or two.

One thing I do know for sure right now: You should never burn the candle at all three ends, especially on Black Friday...

UPDATE: Whoops. Forgot to re-mention: Don't forget that Wil will be on NUMB3RS tonight. Check your local listings. IGN has an article (with corresponding Fark Thread) featuring a quick 'interview' with Wil, who quickly and decisively dispells any rumors of a TV comeback, given his latest string of guest shots. No, our boss is happy being a writer, and we're all glad for it.

Not that it hurts to see teh Wheaton on teh Tube every so often, mind you...

Five Hours Later

Here's another shot of the same area, five hours later, and as you can see, I've caught some of the snow in the pic. Nifty, eh?

So, my day has been pretty much stoking the fire and watching snow fall. How's your day been?

Seasons Bleed

The weather this past decade has been quite the topic of conversation, both locally and nationally. Alot of people want to pin it on Global Warming, and then when we have a bitter cold spell, do a 180. There are those who are simply ignorant of the change other than the inconveniences it causes. Then there are those of us, but only a few, who want to read more into what's going on.

Since I don't have any formal meteorological training, all I can do is guess with what layman's knowledge I do have. For the previous two years, snow has been a long time coming to our area, often waiting until December before we see any great amount. This year, however, snow decided to show up a little early, at the beginning of November.

Now, as I recall from my childhood, snow in early November is fairly normal. Quite a few of my birthdays (and even a Halloween or two) were celebrated with powder on the ground, and it was the time during high school that I'd be getting geared up for Ski Club trips to Tussey Mountain.

The above picture illustrates a sort of bleeding over of seasons, something I haven't seen in quite a few years: The colors of fall (seemingly skipped this year, or at least only two weeks long), tinged gray with a thin veil of falling slow. As I type this, the snow has lightened up even more, but it's still coming down. The roof of the pharmacy across the street has a frosty layer of white stuff capping it, but not the houses down the street.

Heh. People losing all kinds of heat over there.

Such is life in this nowhere void we call Houtzdale. Joy, eh?