Google Mapping The News

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The image above is from Google Maps' street view of the scene of the deadly house explosion in Plum. It was e-mailed to me by crime blogger Steve Huff, who I first heard from a couple of years ago while covering the Brandi Dunn murder case.



Steve writes:

Hi Bob,

We've corresponded a bit in the past about some interesting cases in your area. I make a living with my writing and reporting now, but I still do plenty of blogging on my own. Today I grew interested in the house explosion in Plum, in part because such things are kind of rare. Thinking it probably wasn't crime related, I've written a personal blog entry about it here (I think of my blogs as "crime blogs" and just "personal blogs" where I write about whatever):

http://www.stevenhuff.net/archives/412

It's really just one angle on the story, still, it might be an angle that wouldn't occur to a lot of people. I just thought you'd find it interesting.

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County Court Clamps Down: Restriction & Confiscation

The following is a news release from Allegheny County Common Pleas Court. It closes with links to the documents pictured here.

COURT ADOPTS RESTRICTIONS ON USE OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES

Pittsburgh, PA – The Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Criminal Division announces the adoption of a uniform policy governing the use of electronic devices on the 3rd and 5th floors of the Allegheny County Courthouse. This policy, which becomes effective on December 3, 2007, applies to all persons and is to be enforced by the Sheriff of Allegheny County.

In accord with the mandates of Rule 112 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, this resolution establishes a uniform policy pertaining to the possession of electronic devices in the Court and its environs. The application and enforcement of the Order of Court extend to all occupants of the Courthouse. The Judges of the Criminal Division of the Court of Common Pleas regard this policy as striking an appropriate balance between furthering the safety of all persons involved in criminal court activity and maintaining convenient public access to the Court by the least restrictive means.

The Resolution of the Judges of the Criminal Division has been adopted to protect the integrity of judicial proceedings while facilitating the legitimate use of electronic devices. As a convenience to persons possessing such devices, electronic devices may be brought into the Allegheny County Courthouse subject to routine security screening. However, the use of electronic devices is limited by the terms of the Court’s order.

A copy of the Court’s Order and Confiscation Policy is attached.

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The Carlisle Case: Read The Detective's Affidavit

Click the images below to view details of what the district attorney's investigations unit says it found, in a detective's own words.

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Calendar Note: Mayor Forms Group

"The group will meet six times a year"

The PG reports that "Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl today announced the formation of a commission dedicated to keeping young professionals here. The Propel Pittsburgh Commission has been in the works for months..."

The Post-Gazette's Rich Lord also writes "The group will meet six times a year and will submit quarterly reports to the mayor and council on policy matters important to young professionals".

Meanwhile, as reported here last month: "Pittsburgh's Ethics Hearing Board still hasn't held one meeting since its five members were confirmed last July".

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What Do Other Ethics Panels Do?

Here are some quick facts for comparison.



Allegheny County's "Accountability, Conduct and Ethics Commission has its own website via the county. Its members were appointed in December, 2002. A reference in this document shows they met the very next month. They publish their meeting minutes and annual reports online, and those records show that the the county's Ethics Commission members meet an average of seven times a year. In their first full year, they met eight times. Their meetings are open to the public in accordance with Pennsylvania's Sunshine Act. I covered their January 25, 2007 meeting. When they had to hold a portion of their meeting in executive session, they followed the letter of the Sunshine law: announcing the reason during their public session first, and then inviting the public back in at the conclusion of the closed-door executive session. Member names and their complaint form are available online.



Pennsylvania's State Ethics Commission has extensive information available on its website. Meetings of its members are not only open to the public, they're available via streaming video on the state's site.





Philadelphia installed its new Board of Ethics members in November, after action by voters last spring to create an independent panel. A news release dated December 18, 2006 refers to members' "fourth public meeting in its first three weeks of operation". Their website has a special section dedicated to spotlighting their "WhistleBlower Protection Policy".

(Links updated April 3, 2007.)

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On Moderated Comments

Demosthenes Practicing Oratory
by Jean Lecomte du Nouÿ 1842-1923 BB
(Before Blogging)

Some of you may have read this note in the comments section. I thought it was worth recapping here for future reference.

A note to Anonymous:

“Sorry for editing your post. As I've written earlier, I'm experimenting with moderated comments for The Busman's Holiday. My instinct is to avoid playing host to anonymous critiques of colleagues, competitors, or public figures. There are other active online forums available for those discussions. I do welcome feedback of all kinds via personal e-mail; the nature of moderated comments here will evolve as we go. Thanks for your comment.”


-Bob Mayo

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