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High court decides against Sizemore
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Saturday, July 05, 2008 | No comments posted.
PORTLAND (AP) — The Oregon Supreme Court has upheld damages assessed against an organization founded by anti-tax activist Bill Sizemore.
It’s a win for public employee unions who said Sizemore was trying to bleed them of campaign money.
The unions alleged that Sizemore’s nonprofit group used forged signatures and misused contributions to get two initiatives on the ballot in 2000.
The measures would have crimped payroll deductions for union dues. Voters defeated them.
A jury found Sizemore’s group violated state racketeering laws, and a trial judge put the damages at $2.5 million.
A union lawyer says the nonprofit group has no known money to pay the damages, and the unions want to hold Sizemore personally liable — an issue yet to be decided.
State sues Arizona service provider
SALEM — Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers is suing an Arizona Internet service provider for allegedly trying get Oregon businesses and nonprofits to deposit checks the company claimed were contracts for Internet services.
The lawsuit names Simple.net of Mesa, Ariz., claiming it sent more than 195,000 solicitations containing “activation checks” of under $3.35 which, when cashed, created a contract to pay $16.95 or more a month for dial-up Internet access.
The state says those who cashed the checks thought they were payments on small debts, not a contract for services and that most customers never used the service or knew they had it.
Miniature dachshund eats owner’s toe
ALTON, Ill. — An Illinois woman says her beloved miniature dachshund gnawed off her right big toe while she was asleep.
Linda Floyd told the Alton Telegraph for a story Wednesday that her beloved Roscoe was euthanized because of safety concerns.
The 56-year-old says she has no feeling in her toes because of nerve damage from diabetes. She discovered the toe missing after waking from a nap Monday.
She called her daughter, who called 911.
A veterinarian says the toe had been bandaged because of a healing hangnail. That might have somehow attracted the dog.
Teen charged with offering his vote
MINNEAPOLIS — A college student claimed it was all a joke when he put his vote in this fall’s presidential election up for sale on the Web auction site eBay.
University of Minnesota student Max P. Sanders, 19, was charged with a felony Thursday in Hennepin County District Court after allegedly asking for a minimum of $10 in exchange for voting for the bidder’s preferred candidate.
“Good luck!” Sanders wrote under the eBay handle zepdrummer612. “You’re (sic) country depends on You!”
Sanders was charged with one count of bribery, treating and soliciting under an 1893 state law that makes it a crime to offer to buy or sell a vote.
According to a criminal complaint, the Minnesota secretary of state’s office learned about the offering on the Web site and told prosecutors. Investigators sent a subpoena to eBay and got information that led to Sanders.
The student told investigators he made the eBay posting, adding, “That was a joke. It’s no longer listed,” according to the complaint.
“We take it very seriously. Fundamentally, we believe it is wrong to sell your vote,” said John Aiken, a spokesman for the office. “There are people that have died for this country for our right to vote, and to take something that lightly, to say, ’I can be bought.’
“It’s a real shame,” he said. “I can imagine the conversations being held in American Legion Clubs and VFWs about whether this is a joke or not.”
The scarcely used law had its heyday in the 1920s, when many people sold their votes in exchange for liquor, Assistant County Attorney Pat Diamond said.
“There are two things going on here in terms of why it’s a crime,” he said. “One is the notion that elections should be a contest of ideas and not of pocketbooks — at least not in the sense of straight-out ’I can buy your vote.’ The second notion is that everybody gets one vote, and you don’t get to buy another one.”
Sanders and his attorney, Steven Levine, declined to comment Thursday. The charge carries up to five years’ imprisonment and a $10,000 fine.
As for the offer on eBay? It got no bids.
It’s a win for public employee unions who said Sizemore was trying to bleed them of campaign money.
The unions alleged that Sizemore’s nonprofit group used forged signatures and misused contributions to get two initiatives on the ballot in 2000.
The measures would have crimped payroll deductions for union dues. Voters defeated them.
A jury found Sizemore’s group violated state racketeering laws, and a trial judge put the damages at $2.5 million.
A union lawyer says the nonprofit group has no known money to pay the damages, and the unions want to hold Sizemore personally liable — an issue yet to be decided.
State sues Arizona service provider
SALEM — Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers is suing an Arizona Internet service provider for allegedly trying get Oregon businesses and nonprofits to deposit checks the company claimed were contracts for Internet services.
The lawsuit names Simple.net of Mesa, Ariz., claiming it sent more than 195,000 solicitations containing “activation checks” of under $3.35 which, when cashed, created a contract to pay $16.95 or more a month for dial-up Internet access.
The state says those who cashed the checks thought they were payments on small debts, not a contract for services and that most customers never used the service or knew they had it.
Miniature dachshund eats owner’s toe
ALTON, Ill. — An Illinois woman says her beloved miniature dachshund gnawed off her right big toe while she was asleep.
Linda Floyd told the Alton Telegraph for a story Wednesday that her beloved Roscoe was euthanized because of safety concerns.
The 56-year-old says she has no feeling in her toes because of nerve damage from diabetes. She discovered the toe missing after waking from a nap Monday.
She called her daughter, who called 911.
A veterinarian says the toe had been bandaged because of a healing hangnail. That might have somehow attracted the dog.
Teen charged with offering his vote
MINNEAPOLIS — A college student claimed it was all a joke when he put his vote in this fall’s presidential election up for sale on the Web auction site eBay.
University of Minnesota student Max P. Sanders, 19, was charged with a felony Thursday in Hennepin County District Court after allegedly asking for a minimum of $10 in exchange for voting for the bidder’s preferred candidate.
“Good luck!” Sanders wrote under the eBay handle zepdrummer612. “You’re (sic) country depends on You!”
Sanders was charged with one count of bribery, treating and soliciting under an 1893 state law that makes it a crime to offer to buy or sell a vote.
According to a criminal complaint, the Minnesota secretary of state’s office learned about the offering on the Web site and told prosecutors. Investigators sent a subpoena to eBay and got information that led to Sanders.
The student told investigators he made the eBay posting, adding, “That was a joke. It’s no longer listed,” according to the complaint.
“We take it very seriously. Fundamentally, we believe it is wrong to sell your vote,” said John Aiken, a spokesman for the office. “There are people that have died for this country for our right to vote, and to take something that lightly, to say, ’I can be bought.’
“It’s a real shame,” he said. “I can imagine the conversations being held in American Legion Clubs and VFWs about whether this is a joke or not.”
The scarcely used law had its heyday in the 1920s, when many people sold their votes in exchange for liquor, Assistant County Attorney Pat Diamond said.
“There are two things going on here in terms of why it’s a crime,” he said. “One is the notion that elections should be a contest of ideas and not of pocketbooks — at least not in the sense of straight-out ’I can buy your vote.’ The second notion is that everybody gets one vote, and you don’t get to buy another one.”
Sanders and his attorney, Steven Levine, declined to comment Thursday. The charge carries up to five years’ imprisonment and a $10,000 fine.
As for the offer on eBay? It got no bids.
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