Kelowna Summer Jam 2012

Word is there's going to be a lot of media attention on organized crime in Kelowna this summer. What with Brtiney Irving and Dain Phillips murder trial and all. Word is there's going to be a lot of heat in Kelowna this summer and I'm not talking about the sunshine. I'm talking about the Kelowna Summer Jam 2012. "If ya get jammed up don't mention my name." Much. Stay tuned, more to come. Much more. If you would like to participate in shedding the light on organized crime in Kelowna this summer, drop me a line. Cheers.

Woman killed at the Cobalt Hotel

Vancouver’s latest homicide at a rundown Downtown Eastside hotel has renewed calls for the city to clean the building up. A woman in her 30s was killed in the Cobalt Hotel in the 900-block of Main street early Monday. The woman reportedly was stabbed.

The victim was among three stabbed in a violent spree in the upper floor of the hotel at around 6 a.m. Police say the woman was found in critical condition inside the Cobalt, but are not releasing any further details. The Cobalt is known for its hard-to-house tenants, many of whom have serious drug and alcohol problems.

The Cobalt is owned by slum lords Pal and Gurdyal Sahota. Gurdyal Sahota was recently fined $115,000 under the Residential Tenancy Act for repeatedly allowing a Surrey property to fall into disrepair and dodging his responsibility to make the property livable. It was the first time an administrative penalty had been imposed under the act.

Tony Terezakis was a Hells Angels associate in East Vancouver who video taped himself beating drug addicts who owed money as he shouted Praise the Lord and spit in their face at the Cobalt and the American Hotel in East Vancouver. Gee, I wonder what organization is running the drug scene there now?

Greeks Trial: Witness describes how three gang members gunned down ‘informant’

The Vernon Greeks trial continues. They are the ones that had Hells Angels support gear. The Vancouver Province is reporting that the court heard the leader of the Greeks ordered the murder of a police informant.

Coke smuggler nabbed in SUV with 'SMUGLER' plate

The Vancouver Province is reporting about Jasmin Klair, the B.C. resident, was nabbed with 10 kilograms of cocaine at Smuggler's Inn in Blaine. I didn't realize the owner of the Inn was involved. That is tragic. They do a lot of good work for kids camps.

Gurjit Singh Sandhu, 24, Narinder Kaler, 25, and 20-year-old woman Jasmin Klair were arrested last December. Kim Bolan reported that Jasmin Klair (pictured above) told U.S. agents he needed to earn money to pay off a $325,000 debt he owed for losing 115 pounds of marijuana about 18 months earlier.

So are these part of the Dhure Dak Pak or did they owe the debt for the Marijuana to the Hells Angels? Either way they don't appear to be very bright. The sad thing is, if he lost 115 pounds of weed and 10 kilos of cocaine, he doesn't have long to live. Tragic indeed. Sometimes the easy money isn't that easy.

2 Years for sexual abuse

Graham James received a two-year prison sentence for sexually abusing ex-NHL star Theoren Fleury and Todd Holt, Fleury's younger cousin. Fleury and Holt said the decision was a national national travesty. They are absolutely right. This ties in with our earlier concerns about judicial arrogance.

Is the public really that stupid? D owe really need to be educated in the law and brainwashed by watered down jurisprudence until we come to understand that two years for sexually abusing two boys is a fair and equitable sentence? I think not. It's time the judges realize their arrogance and their refusal to be publicly accountable is in fact treason.

Fleury and Holt issued a joint statement about the decision:

"We know that childhood sexual abuse has reached epidemic proportions in our country," Holt said. "Graham James once again . . . spread his sickness right through the courts of Canada.

"He conned the judge with his 'poor me' and 'I regret' statements. His lawyer defended the indefensible, and he's been rewarded for doing so . . . Graham James is laughing all the way back to the life he's always led knowing that justice for him is but a blip on the radar."

I don't know if childhood sexual abuse is more prevalent now as oppose to 30 years ago but I do know it is heinous as is this "judgement."

In another case the Crown's appeal of a conditional sentence for a Surrey woman who exposed her three-year-old niece to scalding bathwater, leaving the little girl with extensive burns, has been dismissed.

The offences began on Oct. 21, 2007, when the accused severely shook the infant and then placed her in an over-hot bath for about 10 minutes. Three days latter the tot was taken to Children's Hospital. The girl had extensive burns and bruises to her body.

Sounds like this is the year of failure to defend the child. Canada has now officially de evolved into a backward nations with this glaring flawed system that mocks justice.

Guilty plea in the Guthrie McKay and Lisa Dudley murder

Big news in the Guthrie McKay and Lisa Dudley murder. Jack Douglas Woodruff plead guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and has been sentenced to life in prison.

We remember the tragic story well. Police described it as a targeted hit at the time. Police responded to a shots fired call but the person who called first called the non emergency number and said they weren't 100% sure it came from that house. As a result the officer didn't even get out of his car to investigate while Lisa lay wounded for days before she was found and eventually died.

Yes it was a tragedy but remember the police officer wasn't the one who shot her and her husband. People had contacted me and said Hells Angels attended some kind of fundraiser for their kids. That was somewhat strange. What did the Hells Angels have to do with this wonderful couple? Guthrie rode a sports bike not a Harley.

The news today reports that the husband was running a grow op and had been doing so for some time. So the question is, who was he running the grow op for? Is there a grow op in mission not run by the Hells angels? Don't they use violence to take over the grow ops in that area?

So if Guthrie was running a grow op for the Hells Angels, why would they shoot him? Was he told to go away on holidays and someone did a grow rip while he was gone? Was he shot by a rival? Unlikely. The rival(s) would have been taken care of. The real question that needs to be answered is what is the motive for the murder?

The court heard that Lisa Dudley, 37, was the target of the plan carried out on Sept. 18, 2008. Guthrie McKay, her boyfriend, was to be killed "if necessary," according to prosecutor Jodie Harris. Wood-ruff was designated in advance as the shooter. Sounds like an organized plan to me. Who ordered the hit and why?

The shooter, Woodruff dated Karen Batke of Surrey before she disappeared around February 2007. Now it turns out he has confessed to murdering Karen but won't be charged due to a lack of "evidence". He claims she attacked him with a baseball bat in a drug fueled rage. So far the only evidence is his word. Sad.

Cop cleared in fatal shooting

The Office of the Police Com-plaint Commissioner has ruled Vancouver police Const. Lee Chipperfield didn't use excessive force in killing Paul Boyd during a 911 call on Aug. 13, 2007. Only I disagree.

Resisting arrest is a serious offence. Yet the law and more importantly the moral obligation governing the use of force addresses the concept of reasonable force. If someone pushes someone, pulling out a gun and shooting them in the head would not be an example of reasonable force. That would clearly be excessive.

In this case the police respond to a 9/11 call. Thanks for doing that by the way. It can be a thankless job as we all know. When police arrived at the scene after receiving a report of an out of control man on Granville, they came across Boyd.

One officer, while seated in a police cruiser, was approached by Boyd, who appeared to be holding a hammer. The second officer drew his gun, and ordered Boyd to drop the hammer and get on the ground.

Boyd, 39, complied, but when approached by police jumped up and struck the officer several times with a bicycle chain. Attempts were made to stop Boyd, but he ran into the street, swinging the chain. Const. Lee Chipperfield, one of the officers at the scene, fired several shots from his service pistol, with a fatal shot hitting Boyd in the head. Boyd was suffering from bipolar disorder and hadn't taken his medication that night.

OK bipolar not taking his meds. The police had no way of knowing that nor does it excuse his conduct. It just puts it into the perspective of mental health. He put what the police thought was a hammer down. Then he ran into the street swinging a chain. Shooting him in the head is excessive. In that case the officer should have pulled out his truncheon, trapped the chain and broken disabled the suspects knee.

If he had a knife and was making stabbing motions at the public that would have been more serious but what ever happened to putting one in his leg? Why do we always have to go for the kill shot and put one in his head or chest. Guy with mental health issues swings a chain and gets shot in the head. Then someone tells us it OK because the officer didn't do anything wrong. It's not OK.

My Wild Albertan Rose

We've all heard of the term my wild Irish Rose. Well yesterday the wild rose party of Alberta made the news. Everyone was making fun of them for their silly bus(t). They said it was a mistake and everyone was saying if they can't get a bus right, how on earth are they going to get the government right should they get the job.

I have two points on the matter. First, I don't think it was a mistake. I think some male capitalist in the party thought it was a good eye idea. They thought it was an eye catcher. Kinda like writing the word sex discreetly in an ice cube advertising some form of alcohol.

Second, I think the Wild rose party is worth looking at. They are supposed to be VERY conservative. More Conservative and separate from the "Progressive Conservative" party. Progressive, regressive. Tomato tomato.

When an older lady from the party was asked about the bus fiasco she said "We need to focus on heath care and we need to focus on seniors. That's what we need to do." Did I hear her right? An ultra conservative talking about protecting health care and Seniors? Why that sounds more like a Traditional Conservative than a modern Neo Con.

They even appear to be concerned about changing the drunk driving laws from .08 to .05 which I agree is stupid. We want to stop drunk driving. The people who are obviously driving impaired. Yes some alcohol can impair your driving but seizing your car after two drinks is insane.

Alberta’s Wildrose Party has come up with a unique way of fermenting populist anger against the ruling Progressive Conservative party. Wildrose members have recently been spotted giving away drink coasters outside of local watering holes, to protest the province’s new drinking and driving law. One side of the coaster features a slash through the number “.05” with the text, “drink responsibly,” while the other side has a red line through the letters “PC” and reads, “vote responsibly.” A novel campaign tactic, to be sure.

The coasters refer to a recently passed law, which will penalize drivers who have a blood-alcohol content (BAC) of .05, even though the legal limit under the Criminal Code is .08.

“We’ve done polling on this and we know that two to one Albertans don’t want the .05 legislation. They don’t like it,” said Wildrose MLA Rob Anderson. “They think it’s a gross abuse of government power. It infringes on people’s rights and it doesn’t go after the real problem on our streets, which is people who are well over the legal limit.”

They've done some polling have they? Now we know they don't have anything to do with the Harper government. The Harper government doesn't poll their constituents like the Reform Party. The Harper government spends money on attack adds to brain wash their constituents.

Harper's new attack adds against Bob Rae are a prime example. First, it isn't anywhere near and election. Second, Bob Rae's response was right on the money. He said the Harper Government only destroy things. they only tear things down. They are not capable of building anything constructive.

I'm not a fan of Bob Rae. I think the party made the wrong choice at the leadership convention. I think they should have elected Trudeau Jr. Yet I agree with his response to the Harper attack adds. Although I don't agree with the fight fire with fire approach. That is the same message.

Saint Patrick’s Day

I guess people were expecting I’d have something to say about saint paddy’s day this year. An old post I made about Ireland was getting a lot of traffic. For me Saint Patrick’s day is about a lot more than getting drunk. It’s about a cultural reflection. Two traditional songs that come to mind are A Nation Once Again and The Town I loved so Well. Both powerful and moving.

Scotland has the Saber dance where highland dancers dance with their arms and hands raised. Traditional Irish dancing on the other hand is with the hands at the sides symbolizing being in bondage to a foreign enemy.

The Harp is a traditional instrument of Ireland. There’s a lot of harp music out there that is nice but I find kind of lame and boring. Loreena McKennitt on the other hand is a Canadian harpist that breathes new life into that wonderful instrument rekindling the ancient with a voice and melody that glows.

I remember going to see a local band called Three Row Barley perform at the Rusty Gull in North Vancouver several years ago. I really enjoyed them. They were very good. One of the lead singers was from back east. Two songs that stood out were the Majestic Shannon and Get up you drunken Bastard.

When I was at the Vancouver Occupation I had my bogran and was talking with someone with a tin whistle. Someone came up to us and asked us where we were from. I said I’m from Surrey but they’re from the Holy Land. Oh, Israel they said. No, Ireland I answered. It depends on where you’re from as to what you consider holy. Yet this is our home now and that makes this land holy too.

Charges dropped in one of the Truro murder cases

Charges against one of the accused in the murder investigation of outlaw biker Randy Mersereau have been dropped by the Crown. Crown Attorney Shauna MacDonald made the unexpected announcement in provincial court in Truro this morning that two charges against Leslie Greenwood would not be proceeding.

He is also charged in the Windsor jurisdiction with first-degree murder in the September 2000 deaths of Mersereau's brother Barry and his common-law wife Nancy Christensen. Greenwood remains in custody on those charges.

Dean David Whynott, of 541 Truro Heights Rd., also had his charge of accessory after the fact withdrawn last year in provincial court. He was charged with assisting Jeffrey Lynds escape custody between Oct. 29 and Nov. 5, 1999, while knowing Lynds had killed fellow Hells Angel member Randy Mersereau. Mersereau’s body was discovered in a wooded area in North River in December 2010.

Jeff Lynds admitted to Randy's murder for the Hells angels but was not charged for that offense. He is said to have committed suicide in prison.

Outside the courtroom, after the charges had been dropped and Greenwood had been placed back in the holding cells, MacDonald said the ongoing criminal investigation in which five individuals are facing related charges prevented her from going into details.

“We have numerous accused and numerous charges involved in this operation and an investigation ongoing so I can’t comment a lot,” she said. “But we’ve had to do an assessment of when and where the best place to call evidence is in order to ensure accountability for everybody involved and at this time we felt it appropriate to withdraw these charges against Mr. Greenwood, bearing in mind he still stands charged with two first degree murder charges out of the Windsor jurisdiction.”

All this new information has us all wondering about Rusty Halls murder and his wife Ellen. Defence lawyer Al Begin said he too was surprised about the Crown’s change of heart when he was informed earlier in the week of the pending move. "First of all, I just want to put a stop to the rumour mill," he said, "there are no deals between Les Greenwood and the Crown." Time will tell.It always does.