Former County Attorney May Be Sentenced to Prison Today

IN 2004, JACK LONDON AND JIM
HENDRICK WERE AMONG THE
MOST INFLUENTIAL MEN IN THE
FLORIDA KEYS. BUT BEHIND THE
SCENES, LONDON WAS A BRIBETAKER
AND HENDRICK WAS THE
FIXER

by Dennis Reeves Cooper

Back in February 2007, a
federal jury convicted former
Monroe County Attorney Jim
Hendrick of conspiring to obstruct
a federal grand jury and
witness tampering. He was sentenced
to five years probation
and 2500 hours of community
service. In addition, he was
fined $50,000.

Hendrick appealed his
conviction and government
lawyers cross-appealed the
sentence. Hendrick’s appeal
failed, but the Eleventh Circuit
Court of Appeals ruled that
the sentence was too lenient
and ordered that Hendrick be
re-sentenced.

That re-sentencing is
scheduled for 10:30 this morning,
Friday, September 11, in
federal court in Ft. Lauderdale.
That sentence could include
some prison time.

The charges against Hendrick
stem from a May 2004
indictment of former Monroe
County Mayor John “Jack”
London on charges of tax fraud
and making false statements
to the FBI. Hendrick was also
indicted in May 2005 on charges
of conspiring to obstruct and
tamper with witness involved
in the grand jury investigation
of London.

Political Forum Set for Bahama Village

This coming Monday, September 14, the Hometown!
Political Action Committee (PAC) will hold its second election
forum of this year’s political season. The focus of this event will
be on the contenders for city commissioner for District VI and
for mayor.

The forum will be held at the VFW Post at 803 Emma Street
in Key West’s BahamaVillage starting at 5:30 P.M. Hometown!
Board members will moderate the event.

The race for District VI city commissioner features incumbent
commissioner Clayton Lopez and challenger James
Marquardt. The candidates for mayor are incumbent Morgan
McPherson and challengers, Sloan Bashinsky, Craig Cates and
Mike Mongo.

PAGE ONE COMMENTARY: Is the FKCC Board of Governors Really Capable of Acting without Bias?

ANTIONETTE McPHERSON
MARTIN HAS A CLEAR CONFLICT
OF INTEREST AND COULD FIND
HERSELF ON THE CARPET IN
FRONT OF THE FLORIDA ETHICS
COMMISSION

by Rhonda
Linseman-Saunders

It is said that, after a
while, people start to resemble
their pets. Of course there’s
no science behind it, but don’t
tell me you haven’t seen it a
few times and thought it was
curiously remarkable. Does Ed
Scales have a pet weasel?
Honestly, that jab at Scales
was what I’d originally planned
as the tone of this entire commentary.

But the more I see
and learn about “scandal” and
“corruption,” the more I think
that most of the time it just isn’t
that blatant. I think there is a
process by which the players
convince themselves that their
motives are unquestionably
pure and that their integrity is
securely intact.

The infamous Marjorie
Monique Acevedo is a perfect
example of what I’m talking
about. She probably didn’t
wake up one day and say, “By
God, it’s time for me to devise
a diabolical, detailed multi-year
plan by which I will bilk the
school district out of hundreds
of thousands of dollars, if not
more. Muhahaha.”

LETTER FROM BAGHDAD: Carl & Emily

EDITOR’S NOTE: Ken Davis’ Letters from Baghdad are
scheduled for publication every-other-week. They are excerpts
from his book-in-progress “Road to Baghdad.” Davis is the former
head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency here in the Keys
and was a candidate for sheriff in last year’s county elections.
“The Road to Baghdad” chronicles the tales and stories of the
women and men in Iraq, written as seen through Davis’ eyes.
The story is based on solid truth and written with a humorous
license. The names are changed to protect the guilty and confuse
the innocent.

by Ken Davis

It seems like everyone
here smokes cigars—men and
women alike. It’s one of the
few vices supported by the
command. No one complains
about the cigar smoke. In a
hostile environment 90% of
the men smoke cigars and the
other 10% are acting too manly
to complain about it. Women
either enjoy a cigar themselves
or enjoy the company of the
men smoking cigars. It’s usually
good conversation and unlike
most cigar smoking deliberations
at home, these are sober
events. The majority of the cigar
smoking takes place outside a
coffee shop that, much like the
ones in the U.S., serves lattes
and espresso drinks made by
baristas with foreign accents.
Yep, just like home.

That’s where I came to
know Carl. A “Romeo y Julieta
tubo” guy with coffee black,
Carl was a stocky man with
a southern drawl, constant
two day stubble of beard and
an assortment of sweaty Atlanta
Braves ball caps. Curiosity
drove me to befriend Carl as
there was a definite contrast
between who he appeared to
be and who he really was. Truly,
he was a bit of an enigma. His
appearance said slow southern
boy with limited education,
but his eyes and the manner
in which he carried himself
frequently revealed a confident
educated soul.

Fundraisers You Need to Know about

HALFWAY TO ST. PATTY’S DAY at Finnegan’s Wake,
next Thursday, September 17, 5:30- 8:30pm, to benefit Heron-
Peacock Supported Living, which provides services to mentally
ill men and women in our community. Irish buffet by Finnegan’s
Wake and Irish music by Suzanne Moore and John Kreinces &
Bounce. $50 donation. Tickets and info: Linda Russin 292-1071.

BENEFIT FOR GINNY GILKISON, who is battling
melanoma cancer. Sloppy Joe’s, Wednesday, September 16, 5:30-
9:30pm. Music and entertainment by Pete and Wayne. Super
raffle tickets available from Tina at 294-2342.

Flu Shot Clinic

The Monroe County Health Department will run a seasonal
flu shot clinic from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on September 12 in the Key
West High School cafeteria.

“This is not for H1N1 swine flu,” Bob Eadie, health
department administrator, said. “This is for the strain of flu that
routinely comes around about this time every year.”

Seasonal flu is a contagious respiratory illness that
typically brings fever, headache, fatigue, dry cough, sore throat,
runny or stuffy nose, muscle aches and upset stomach.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
up to 20 percent of the U.S. population contracts seasonal
flu each year. The virus hospitalizes more than 200,000 people
and results in about 36,000 deaths nationwide.

OPINION: Followup

INVESTIGATORS IN THE
STATE ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
REALLY DON’T HAVE THE
AUTHORITY TO WRITE
TRAFFIC TICKETS

JUDGE SLATON’S ARRESTFREE
RESTRAINING
ORDERS

EDITOR’S NOTE: Rhonda’s column, which is
usually in this space, is on page one this week.

by Dennis Reeves Cooper

As is our custom, we like to keep you updated
about new developments in stories we’ve recently
covered. We have two updates this week.

Last month, we had a couple of stories about an
investigator in the State Attorney’s Office (SAO) who
chased down a driver who was going the wrong way
down a one-way street, handcuffed him, called the
Key West cops, borrowed a citation book and wrote
the driver a ticket.

The reason we here at Key West the Newspaper
were interested in this story was not because we
condone the violation of traffic laws. We don’t. We
were interested in the story because we recognized it
for what it was— another I’m-a-cop-and-you’re-not
incident. Somehow, for some reason, the guy who
drove the wrong way down the one-way street pissed
off the SAO investigator, who then chased him down
and used his badge to punish him.

Hoping for the Impossible

by Hal O’Boyle

A persistent assertion from those hoping for the passage of ObamaCare is that government competition in the insurance market will lower costs.

Not
much is said about how this will come about, or why the massive
Medicare and Medicaid programs haven’t already provided the cost
lowering competition that Obama Care will. The details of how
government participation will increase competition remain vague, except
to point out the obvious fact that if Uncle Sam is selling insurance it
would represent one more outfit doing so. But there are already
hundreds, if not thousands, of companies selling insurance. Presumably
one more wouldn’t effect competition all that much.

Unless, of
course, that one competitor had some special advantage. As it happens,
the U.S. government does have an advantage. A couple of advantages,
really. First, Uncle Sam doesn’t have to compete in the usual way. If
the government is losing money on a venture, it can charge the losses
off to taxpayers who may not even be involved. The second advantage is
that government can simply force people to become customers whether
they want to be or not.

Continue reading here.

Today Is Tradesman Day at the Green Parrot

Today, Friday, September
11 from 4 to 7 p.m., The Green
Parrot Bar will again host
Tradesman’s and Tradeswoman’s
Appreciation Day, which
over the years has evolved as
a fundraiser to benefit AIDS
Help, thanks to the tireless
work of the candidates for King
& Queen of Fantasy Fest and
the desire of the hard-working
patrons of The Green Parrot to
“give something back” to the
community.

Tradesman’s and Tradeswoman’s
Appreciation Day
is a tradition that began in
1994 when a John Martini
sculpture depicting various
tradespersons was permanantly
installed at The Parrot with
much fanfare.

What began as just another
parrot party became the first
Tradesman Appreciation Day,
a day dedicated to the working
men and women of Key West.
This year, as always, Tradesman
and Tradeswoman passes will
be issued to mark the occassion,
complete with photo, name, occupation,
sequential numbers,
and authorization.
It should be noted, however,
that you don’t even need
a job to get one of these prestigeous
documents.