03.25.08 Two Fer Tuesday Bugs and Mongo

Like the dissertation of the Unibomber, Terry Sellers read from a rambling 5 page letter before he was sentenced in the two murders and one attempted murder of 3 Omaha men.

As Sellers read his statement families of the victims scoffed at him. He blamed bad attorneys, corrupt prosecutors and a racist jury pool for his conviction. The same man who early in the trial looked at the families and said “Sorry you had to be here” now wanted to act like he played no part in the murders.

The Judge handed down a sentence of 2 counts of life without parole plus 50 years each on the murder charges and 80-100 years for use of a gun, attempted murder. Maybe Terry can perfect his writing skills while he rots away.

OPS is looking into a study on school uniforms after a report on how much time principals waste dealing with inappropriate clothing.  The item wasn’t acted upon and just came up in discussion. Board President Sandra “I never met a buzzword I didn’t like” Jensen said “We will have to engage our parent groups, and the students on this issue.” Board member Bambi Bartek then shouted “Bingo” (The winning word in buzzword bingo was ENGAGE) then stated the district needed to spell out a list for the parents as to what is and isn’t acceptable. So much for common sense. Bambi, that is your real name isn’t it? Bambi let us spell it out. If the top of a teenage girls thong sticks out over the low rise waist and she has more cleavage than Elvira….inappropriate…..If a boys pants hang past his ass crack and his shirt reads “Don’t hate me because I did your mom”…inappropriate. Or if you look at your kid getting ready for school and feel the urge to call the cops because hookers and gang bangers have taken over your bathroom, it might be time for a wardrobe change.

3 men were arrested for graffiti charges after the police helicopter spotted them tagging the 24th and Martha viaduct. The men ages 19,20 and 16 were arrested for destruction of property,graffiti, trespassing and misspelling.

Two men are safe after a wave hit their boat and flipped it over on Lake Manawa (Indian word for stay off the icy lake idiots). The men were rescued and taken to Creighton Medical Center Trauma unit in critical condition. The boat was not found but the cooler of Bush Light was rescued .

And David Horvath admitted in court to threatening a neighbor girl who made a derogatory comment about the Westroads shooter on the Internet. Horvath had sent the girl a message saying “If you say another word about Robbie I’ll put a cap in your ass.” Horvath will be sentenced in about 4 weeks in Juvenile Court.

More later……………….

Bugs Manderson

Mongo Torrey

02.24.08 Weekend Edition

Armed with a laptop, a bottle of cough syrup, prescription antibiotics and my favorite blanket, I will attempt to put together something worth reading.

The story on the news of the 4 year old girl who has show police how she smokes pot with her mom and mom’s boyfriend just made me vomit even more.

Police were called to the house after reports of the 4 year old girl and 2 year old boy filthy dirty and within reach of drug paraphernalia. The little girl demonstrated for investigators how she smoked joints used a pipe and a bong and how her mom’s friends laughed when she did it.

25 year old Lisa Schuchard faces felony child abuse charges and could get up to 6 years in prison. How someone can do this to their own child just sickens me.

2 shootings were reported early Saturday making it sound like the NO-K coral is business as usual.

2 males , one 19 the other 23, were victims in a drive by at 27th and Fort.

And a 26 year old male was shot at 37th and Saratoga after an SUV chased the vehicle he was driving and shot him. Can’t wait for the weather to warm up and this stuff to get totally out of control again.

Look like DiAnna Schimik is at it again with her “Government Knows Best” nonsense.

Her bill, LB1141, would require home schooled students to take state mandated tests or have school work assessed by an outside evaluator. If the student should fall short they would be sent to a private or public school, even though home schooled children test at or above their private/public schooled counterparts on a regular basis. HMMMMM…. Oh did we mention DiAnna’s husband is a lobbyist for the Teachers Union.

DiAnna if there were a real problem this might make sense but when the home schooled kids are scoring higher than others on the ACT and SAT’s, well somebody is doing something right and it isn’t you and Brad Ashford trying to make the state the parents for every child.

The Governor said he will veto this if it should happen to make it to his desk.

And while we are on the school issue, LB1135 would blur the lines between club and high school programs when it comes to sports.

Right now a student-athlete is not allowed to participate in and outside activities in the same sport during the active season.

Jim “I don’t care if it’s a Blizzard, drive the bus to Lincoln anyway” Tenopir says it regulates the kids time and keeps the playing field even. Mediocre but even.

I loved the example by one parent, “So does that mean a kid shouldn’t be allowed to take extra math lessons on the side, or work?” Good point. At what time is the child’s time belong to the parent and when did the NSAA get parental rights.

My favorite quote came from Kelley Hood.”People have got to trust that those of us who work in education, we know what seems to be best for kids.”

Translate that to mean “Parents we will tell you what’s best for your kids and you will like it”.  Better living through Bigger Government.

The Lancers are pulling away from the pack in the USHL. Last nights win in Des Moines 8-2 coupled with Friday nights win over Sioux City 3-2 has them playing their best hockey of the year.

UNO on the other hand has dropped 3 in a row and got swept at Northern Michigan, losing 6-4 on Friday and 4-3 in overtime on Saturday after entering the 3rd leading 3-1.

Creighton won it’s bracket buster game over Oral Roberts Saturday on a 3 pointer at the buzzer and the earth is still standing still as Nebraska beat it’s second ranked opponent in 2 games.

That’s all I have the strength to muster up at this point.

Bugs Manderson

02.16.08 Weekend Update

Another well liked teacher/coach has shocked all that knew him and has been charged with possession of child porn.

Tom Gellatly, the speech and drama teacher at McMillan Magnet Middle School was charged after dozens of images of prepubescent males were found on his home computer. Gellatly also served as the swimming coach and had previously taught at Blessed Sacrament Catholic School.

Friday must have been the day for stupid court rulings. A Sarpy County Judge has released Heather Henning on bond pending her appeal that the sentence for her killing Douglas County Sheriff Deputy Shad Nicks while she was driving drunk was excessive. Henning was given a mere 3 1/2 to 5 years in jail for the incident. Due to an error in labeling the blood alcohol evidence Henning’s charges were lowered as it is. Heather had only sat in jail for a month before her release. Shad’s family will serve a lifetime without him.

A Knox County District Court Judge has ordered a couple who was attempting to adopt a child, to return the three month old to it’s biological mother after it was discovered they did not disclose the mothers pregnancy.

The 22 year old biological mother had wanted her son to be an only child and now could no longer support the placement.

The couple said they had not intended to deceive anyone and that the mother had miscarried three times previously.

Karen Authier, Executive Director of Nebraska Childrens Home Society’s praised the Judges ruling.

Ok let me get this right, the 22 year old didn’t want to raise the child but wanted to dictate how many kids were to be in the family? The people adopting the child had miscarried 3 times so it would be prudent to think it could happen again and they want badly to raise a family, unlike the woman giving the child up?

It sounds to me like birth mom didn’t want the expense and responsibility of raising the child but wanted to call all the shots while it was being raised. And maybe it’s just me but this sounds like Baby Brokering and a Judge just facilitated it.

Hope Brad Ashford is reading this….In the second time in a week a driver contracted by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services was been charged with endangering a child in their care after a man was arrested for sexually assaulting a 15 year old he was transporting to a group home. This follows a woman arrested for DUI with a blood alcohol level of .40 transporting a ward of the state down I-80. Another youth being transported earlier this year escaped and was later charged in a murder in Omaha.

So Mr.Ashford do you really still want to clog up Juvenile Court with kids missing school when it appears the State has a big enough problem watching out for  the kids in it’s care already?

And then we spotted this.

The Dawson County Board has ignored the advice of its County Attorney and voted to hire outside council to fight the opening of Shaker’s West, a nude dance club owned by the same person who runs the location in Waverly.

The County Attorney informed the board that the code did not differentiate between the types of commercial use. No alcoholic beverages would be served or permitted. He warned the board that this will cost an enormous expense to the county to fight an unattainable battle.

The owner of the club’s attorney vowed to file suit if the Board attempted to halt the opening saying they would charge them for  loss of revenue and reduction in property value all which will cost the County taxpayers considerable expense if the win.

Just a word to the County Board out there, you better look around and do some research on this because you won’t win this case and you will cost everyone a ton of money, wait what am I saying , you won’t win…Shit Heather Henning’s out of jail, anything can happen. Lawyer up folks and may the best suit win.

A big high five goes out to Mike Hastings of the Omaha Lancers. With last nights 7-2 blasting of the Tri-City Storm Mike ties former Des Moines Coach Bob Ferguson’s all-time USHL win mark at 517. He will look to break that mark tonight when the Lancers take on Sioux Falls. The win also puts Omaha ahead of Sioux City by 14 points.

And UNO rocked the old barn last night with a 5-3 win over Bowling Green at the Civic. ( Hockey is so much better there). The two teams meet again tonight in the old house.

And there is some pretty good hockey going on out at Moylan as the O.M.A.H.A. Jr Lancers host Shattuck St. Mary’s this weekend. Games are Sat 2/16/07 at 11:15 and 7 p.m. and Sunday 2/17/08 at 10 a.m.

And the Midwest Champion Bantam AA team will be hosting the Presidents Day tournament over the weekend as well.

So get your butts off the couch and get out there.

And Pat, I don’t care what anybody else says, but as I sit here and write this I have to say NICE JOB on the TV’s. What a pleasant surprise to walk in here today and not have to lean on the front counter or fight 15 unwatched siblings over the Disney Channel. The place looks great and you and your staff should be commended. The only thing that could make this wall of video any better would be if everyone passed the hat and kicked in for a subscription to Center Ice. Then again, some of us would never go home.

Have a great weekend everyone………

Bugs Manderson

02.15.08 Friday Edition with an Editorial from Mongo

Just when I thought Manderson Street had something to brag about the story takes a turn. It appears the two victims that fought back the would be robber had a very large stash of marijuana in their home and have since been arrested. You just can’t find role models anymore.

Murder charges against a gang member arrested for the 2006 shooting of 24 year old Kenny Miller outside a convenience store near 24th and Redick have been dropped. It seems the 18 year old gang member scares the witnesses and now they wont testify out of fear of retaliation. Well you know this wanna be bad ass will mess up again soon enough and be back in custody, lets just hope there isn’t another victim on a slab because of it.

The Millard South teen accused of rape has been charged as an adult. Tyler Jacobson is being held on a $50,000 bond after a classmate reported that he assaulted her while giving her a ride home from school. He has since been expelled from school as well.

The NCAA doesn’t want a court battle over location of a new stadium and has said so after MECA voted 4-1 against using the parking lots at the Qwest as a location. MECA said it is willing to take legal action to protect the lots.

Muppet Mike said he and Mayor Landow are not concerned over the NCAA comments because the legal fight would be “quickly resolved in our favor”. Who’s favor Mr Muppet? You and Paul’s or the people of Omaha? This guy wont be happy till we have the highest Hotel tax in the country or our property taxes on our home’s rivals the house payment itself.

And now Mongo Torrey is here with editorial comment on LB1159,

State Senator Brad Ashford’s bill, LB 1159, proposes to help in the reduction of truant school children. The bill will require Juvenile Court Mediation after 20 absences from school,excused by the parent or not and will also take out wording in state law that no longer allows the school to take a parents word at face value for an absence.

Now Brad I know you have good intentions. You claim one out of five kids in Nebraska drops out of school which if that fact is correct puts us next to Arkansas as the leaders in retard production. However Mr Ashford, you can’t wipe our ass for us forever.

Here is the problem with this bill which is said to have no opponents down in Lincoln.

This requirement of Juvenile Court mediation would put an undue hardship on a family that has a child who has missed x amount of days due to an illness. Take a good case of mono for example, or a child injured in a car accident. Not only do the parents have the medical costs to deal with, now they have to hire one of your lawyer friends to take care of this court issue. I am guessing you did think of that didn’t you?

Ok then there is the issue of holding the parents responsible with fines and jail. You do know what’s going to happen here don’t you? The parents that really don’t give a shit if their kid is in school or not are going to claim they can’t control them and have them made wards of the state. Better hire some more drivers Brad.

Back when I was in school I didn’t know 5 kids that dropped out, let alone one in five. Did you ever think of looking at the school itself and asking why so many kids stop wanting to attend if your numbers are correct? Christ I just quoted Ernie Chambers. Well he has a point. Somewhere in the last 20+ years we did something in the schools that caused this problem. Figure out what that is Brad and you might be on to something.

Now does your bill require Homeschooler’s to report when their students miss 20+ days? If not then that’s a bit unfair don’t you think? Oh wait, I hear you and a couple other meddlers want to get involved in that department as well even though there really isn’t a problem.

I’m starting to think you would be better off relegated to checking the men’s room to make sure the toilet paper holders are full than attempting to parent for the entire state of Nebraska. We don’t need to clog our Juvenile Courts up with kids missing school for being sick, attending college workshops, family crisis. If you insist on running this up the pole then maybe you need to put in a provision that says “Court Intervention after 20 days unless the child has C+ average or better”. That way the Honor Role student who misses a few days to explore future options visiting college campuses and attending outside learning opportunities and then happens to get sick doesn’t have to force themselves to attend class and infect the entire student body with the plague just to keep their parents from having to mortgage the house to pay for an attorney to represent them and prove they are not unfit parents.

Now toss this one in the trash and go back to hiding boogers under your desk.

Mongo Torrey

MongoTorrey@hotmail.com

The views expressed in that Editorial are that of the writer and not necessarily that of the entire staff of the Eye On Omaha, however I am guessing not one of us has the balls to differ with him at this point in time, YIKES….

Don’t forget the UNO-Bowling Green series is at the Civic this weekend. We don’t want any fans going to the Qwest expecting to see the Mav’s and instead getting exposed to two guys on a mat in tights. (Here comes the email).

Have a good weekend everyone.

More later………………….

Bugs Manderson

02.05.08 Two Fer Tuesday with Bugs and Mongo

Kyle Bormann’s lawyer has asked to be excused from the case. (Translation, the kid either doesn’t have a chance in hell of being innocent or has no money or both) The public defenders office expects to get the case.

Police are looking for Anthony Miller after he abducted his former girlfriend and her child who suffers from downs syndrome. The woman jumped from a moving car at 72nd and Ames Ave. yesterday morning around 7:45 a.m. and ran for help. A delivery driver in the area came to her aid and managed to push Miller away and rescue the child from the car. Thankfully someone wasn’t afraid to step in and help this woman.

It must be domestic violence month as a 19 year old was arrested for felony domestic violence, strangulation, terroristic threats, destruction of property, felony child abuse and using a weapon to commit a felony.

Police were called to a house in the 6700 South block of 27th street where this idiot had broken into his former girlfriends house and assaulted her and her 5 month old and also threatened another woman with a knife. Police took them to the hospital where they discovered the 19 year old male being treated for injuries. Hopefully it was a frying pan to the head or something similar.

OK I have not ranted for awhile but this one did piss me off.

Omaha North High School Principal Gene Haynes has told students to either choose a different play or remove the N word from it.

The play entitled “The Member of the Wedding” is set in late 40’s Georgia and addresses racism. Considering the amount of racial tension in Omaha these days wouldn’t it be good to get some dialog going and start talking about it? No lets censor a key part of making this play significant.

This problem all came about because some step parent who’s step daughter may or may not have gotten the lead role objected to some language and adult themes. And I bet you a dollar this chick has a collection of hip hop songs on her MP3 and looks to Britney Spears for fashion advice. Get real.

First of all you need to stop being overly sensitive to every little stupid thing that comes down the road.

I applauded the Benson High newspaper for their efforts to discuss the use of the “N” word and it’s effects on all people.If you want people to understand the issue you must discuss it from all perspectives so that no one can assume and that all viewpoints are looked at.

If this play was such an issue then why did the school secure the rights to it over the summer? Now all the sudden one sissified step dad gets his boxers in a bunch and OPS administration goes running for cover like always. Never mind being innovative and dare I use the buzzwords Forward Thinking. Never mind having the fortitude to take an issue head on and maybe do something to make a difference. OPS claims to be the front runner in providing a diverse environment in which our children can learn to be tolerant and understanding of other cultures and backgrounds but then shamefully buries it’s head whenever the issue might get a little warmer than room temperature.

The students were seeking another location to perform the play however an OPS spokesperson has stated that they secured the rights therefore the play cannot be performed away from OPS. In other words kids, you have been silenced unless you do it on the front steps of the school one evening only to be drug away for daring to question the administration.

Kinda sounds like Georgia in the 40’s when some other fine people dared to start asking questions and creating dialog. Thank god they never gave up the fight.

I applaud the students efforts in trying to take on this issue, to bad their Principal will more than likely win this and relegate them to doing a timeless rendition of OKLAHOMA once again.

Back later with more……………………..

Bugs Manderson

Mongo Torrey