Monadnock Showdown continues to cover the hard issues in an intelligent, thoughtful manner. Last week’s episode featured local independent newsman Jared Goodell who made international headlines last year when he was assaulted by Pumpkin Fest’s organizer on live television. Jared and hosts Parker and Judy weigh in on all things Pumpkin Fest:
The War on Drugs is a failure.
In a recent article, Christopher Cantwell calls out the recent major heroin ring bust in the Keene area and reveals, through simple economics, how it will likely make things worse.
Odds are, prices will go up, and junkies will have to steal and rob even more in order to fund their habit. As Cantwell points out, the dopers won’t quit just because their supplier disappears. All Keene police have done is create a business opportunity for the entrepreneur willing to take some risk. Plus, those stepping in to fill the demand in the market may provide product of questionable and even dangerous quality.
Jennifer Schmidt
Jennifer Schmidt has been vindicated in Keene District Court as judge Edward J Burke has ruled there was not enough evidence to issue a permanent no-stalking order in the case brought against Schmidt by her down-the-street neighbor Anne Tallon.
Tallon had alleged that Schmidt was stalking her grandson, who is 10 years old. She claimed in her original court filing (which resulted in a temporary stalking order against Schmidt) that Schmidt had tried to corner her grandson in the supermarket, that while he was playing in the front yard she’d given him the finger, and that she’d allegedly flashed something that appeared to be a knife at him, among other things.
Despite Tallon claiming in her original filing that school superintendent Dan Black had banned Schmidt from the school property where both their kids attend, Black was not called as a witness. In fact, Tallon’s only witness was herself, and she admitted that she had basically been going on what her grandson had told her. With the exception of a mutual yelling incident between the women during an encounter at Hannaford, there appeared to be very little interaction between Tallon and Schmidt. Tallon admitted she had not personally witnessed any threatening or stalking behavior.
Schmidt’s case was much stronger. Multiple witnesses were called and when Tallon was being cross-examined she admitted that her grandson has behavioral issues. Schmidt’s case was that Tallon’s grandson has threatened to kill people and is generally a little hellion, so she has been concerned for her daughter’s safety.
Tallon’s case was weak without witnesses or any evidence whatsoever and she ultimately lost, with judge Burke taking the case under advisement then later issuing an order denying Tallon’s request for a permanent stalking order to be issued. As a result, there should no longer be a temporary stalking order against Schmidt, either.
Is Schmidt just an innocent mother protecting her child from a school bully? (Don’t expect the government schools to do that for you, despite forcing your kids to go there.) Or did Schmidt intimidate Tallon’s grandson when no one was watching? No one will ever know for sure except her and him. We do know that Schmidt is the wife of the very angry Matthew “Boston Strong” Schmidt, who recently threatened on video to make some neighborhood childrens’ lives a “living nightmare” and who regularly removes downtown chalkings (including those created by children) in Central Square. Both Schmidts are members of a local group of Free Keene haters.
Here’s full video of the hearing from earlier this week:
DEA Gang Robbing Phat Stuff in 2014
In a terrible update to an already awful story, the DEA has arrested the owners of Phat Stuff, the popular local head shop on Main Street that was raided in May of 2014. Panos and Katie Eliopoulos were arrested (allegedly in front of their kids) in February and have been charged with one count of “Conspiracy to Offer Drug Paraphernalia for Sale” and one count of “Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering”. You can read the short, three page indictment here.
The paraphernalia sales charge carries up to three years in prison and an unspecified fine and the money laundering charge carries up to twenty years in prison, an up to $500,000 fine, and an additional fine relating to the value of the property involved.
Longtime readers of Free Keene may recall that the raid nearly destroyed their business and left them penniless as the federal gangsters cleaned out their bank account and even stole their truck. Oh, and don’t forget the DEA’s theft of an entire box-truckload of store merchandise – probably $100,000 in inventory, which they’ll likely never get back, even if they’re found not guilty. The raid was done with the assistance of Keene police, who were protecting and serving their federal masters, not the people of this community. In an ideal world, the Keene police would have arrested the DEA agents and charged them with armed robbery. You can watch the 17-minute video of the raid, cut down from over four hours of raw footage here.
Eliopoulous Family’s Life Destroyed By Insane War on Drugs
The indictment was issued on February 11th and the arrests appear to have occurred a week later on February 18th, according to the bail paperwork. Bail conditions for Panos (and presumably Katie, though I haven’t seen her bail paperwork) include him submitting to search anytime police want, submit to urine testing, and give up any weapons, among other conditions.
Trial is currently slated for two weeks in federal court in Concord beginning on April 21st, 2015 at 9:30am. The Eliopouloses are represented by attorney Charles Keefe. Stay tuned here to Free Keene for the latest.
podcast:
The Seditious Sirens join us in studio to recap Liberty Forum. New mover and host of Unity Evolved Liberty Phoenix also makes a cameo appearance for a segment. Topics discussed on this week’s show all revolve around Liberty Forum. At Liberty Forum multiple 420 rallies took place, RLS recorded three shows, Polyamory and Secession talks Rob did with the artist formerly known as O-Girl, and the Liberty Forum Party hosted by the Rebel Love crew. Long story short, a lot of sex, drugs, and Anarchy ensued. Rebel Love Show broadcasts live every Tuesday night at 10 pm EST on LRN.FM with fellow Free Keene blogger Shire Dude.
Being Rob’s roommate and cohost of the Rebel Love Show, it was within my best interest to help fight the infamous sticker ticket he received in January. I drove him to the courthouse this morning for his pretrial hearing.
Camcorder in hand, I entered the courthouse. While being ushered through the security theater, a man behind the counter told me that I wasn’t allowed to record while in the building. I stood down, telling him I’d keep the device stowed in my pocket. He did not object.
The pretrial hearing consisted mostly of waiting in a small, unused courtroom with about 20 other victims of the state. They sat in complete silence, each person not sure what to do during this mandatory free time (posted forms in every room of the courthouse prohibited the use of cellphones, so some major Facebook withdraws were being felt). Rob and I entered the room, but we spoke to each other at a normal volume (other pairs started to follow suit, speaking amongst themselves – the resulting murmur dispelled most of the room’s tension). Sitting in the pews of the courtroom, Rob and I pondered aloud about the similarity of this room to a small church.
When Rob’s name was finally called, we were escorted out by a woman who wore a blazer that nearly covered her holstered gun. We were not allowed to carry weapons, according to gratuitous courthouse signage. Without saying a word, Rob handed over the letter that summoned him to court as well as a receipt for his current, valid vehicle inspection (which he had done promptly after his police encounter).
Upon seeing these two sheets of paper, the woman immediately said she would drop the charge against Rob. He no longer has to pay $60. There will be no trial.
Before exiting the courtroom, Rob and I spoke with the court’s head of security, who introduced himself as Bob. We inquired about the court’s policy about video and audio recording during trials, introducing ourselves as bloggers for Free Keene.
Walking us through proper courtroom film etiquette and regulations, he responded, “I’m very familiar with [Free Keene]. I’ve seen them come in.” He even printed a short list of pre-approved media outlets, showing us that Free Keene was already listed.
Next time Rob and I go to court, I will be attending the pretrial for a parking ticket that was left on my car during the insane Manchester parking prohibition. The ticket cites a $25 fine.
Randy Clemens
When more people who love liberty move to New Hampshire, we solidify the position as the obvious destination for those who want to be more free. Success breeds success. If freedom matters to you, then please join Randy, and as of now more than 16,000 others like you and sign the Free State Project’s Statement of Intent. Then, start planning your move to join the fun. Still not sure? Here are 101 reasons to move to New Hampshire.
Here’s Randy’s blog post explaining why he’s making the move to New Hampshire.
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