Rich Paul, who was out on probation after spending nearly a year in jail for the “crime” of selling flowers has been arrested and taken straight to the jail aka Keene Spiritual Retreat. The probation department alleges that he has continued to consume the evil flowers and that Rich was in possession of a weapon at the recent attack on chalkers Monday night. (Rich had a monopod on his camera and detached it and held it at the ready for self-defense as two potential assailants approached him.)
UPDATE: He will have a bail hearing Friday at 9am and at this time he is facing the prospect of years in prison. Stay tuned to Free Keene for the latest. Here’s the RAW video of his arrest:
After being trounced in the 1st federal circuit court, the Town of Weare and the notoriously corrupt Weare Police Department have settled with Free State Project President Carla Gericke to the tune of $57,500!
After Weare police had arrested her for “wiretapping” for recording a traffic stop then dropped the charges, Carla sued. She had recently won an “interlocutory” appeal case where the 1st circuit decided (again) that there is an established right to record government police doing their job in public and that police cannot claim “qualified immunity” from personal liability when arresting videographers.
The civil case against Weare, the WPD, and the individual officers was remanded back to the federal district court to move ahead to trial, but now that trial has been canceled with the news that Weare has given up and settled the case for over $57,000! Plus, there are no restrictions on her discussing the case, as are typically found with settlements. Congratulations to Carla and her attorneys for this epic win!
Superintendent Rick Van Wickler of the Cheshire “House of Corrections” aka the Keene Spiritual Retreat has been featured on this blog several times in the past for his heroic advocacy for ending the insane war on drugs. He’s no stranger to press coverage and now has been made the subject of a recent VICE.com feature that focuses on both his support of drug legalization and his more-humane manner of running a jail.
In the article when asked about drug users, he relates,
The majority of people who drink alcohol in this country have no problems with it. They’re alcohol users: They drink on the Fourth of July, and barbecues, and at the Super Bowl. Then think about somebody who is an abuser of alcohol, meaning that they use alcohol much more than they should. But they’re still working. They still have a house. They’re still in a relationship. Finally, think about an alcohol addict—an alcoholic. Their lives have been destroyed by alcohol. Now, you can take the exact same analogy and just replace alcohol with drugs. Heroin? Cocaine? Meth? You have users, abusers, and addicts in pretty much the same ratios. Let’s not be so damn naïve and say that we in America don’t have professional people that are addicts, because we all know that’s not accurate. We have professional people who are heroin addicts, who have been heroin addicts for years, and are meeting the standards of their employment. That’s happening, and to deny it is an atrocity.
Interestingly, Van Wickler is listed as “Formerly” part of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a group of mostly former law enforcement who now speak against prohibition. I wonder what the reasons for the split were. I’ve emailed Rick with the question and will post the reasons if he chooses to make them public.
This column by state representative Mark Warden appears in the Union Leader, where he expresses frustration with the new gas tax and dumb GPS rules:
This year’s New Hampshire Legislature has launched an attack on anyone who drives an automobile. The Democrat-led House passed two major pieces of legislation that will adversely affect commuters as well as tourists visiting the Granite State.
The first is a four-cent (23 percent) increase in the gasoline tax. Driving to work, taking the kids to school and going on a weekend trip will all be more expensive. Then there is the impact it will have on groceries and other products because of the increased cost of transporting goods to market. Trucking and other transportation businesses will pass along higher expenses to consumers.
This gas tax increase will have negative effects on an already sluggish economy. While many agree that the condition of many roads is lacking, it’s not for lack of funding. The problem with this new legislation is that the money is diverted to other uses that benefit drivers in other parts of the state (such as the I-93 widening project). Only 12 percent of the new revenue is earmarked for grants to municipalities.
Rich Paul was arraigned Friday morning for “Violation Of Probation” and ordered to stay in a cage with no bail by John C. Kissinger because he’s supposedly a danger to the community. Ridiculous. ![Gericke_Carla2008[1]](https://i0.wp.com/freekeene.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Gericke_Carla20081.gif)
