Woman was cold and unresponsive, now in critical condition
Humboldt Sentinel staff
6/30/09
Trinidad
A woman is clinging to life in a local hospital after a passing motorist spotted a comatose body on the northbound side of Highway 101 this morning.
Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the call at 6:30 a.m., and found an unnamed woman alive, but cold and unresponsive. When she was hospitalized, the 48-year-old transient showed significant bruising which may have been several days old, according to the HCSO release.
Deputies and California Highway Patrol officers are working to determine how the woman sustained her injuries, and anyone with information is asked to call (707) 445-7251.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Attempted murder in Hoopa
Sheriffs looking for Chevy pickup truck
Humboldt Sentinel staff
6/29/09
Hoopa
Deputies are looking for a Chevy pickup truck involved in a late night attempted murder which left a woman shot in the face.
According to the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office release, deputies were called to a residence on Masten Flat off of Pine Creek Road at 11:30 p.m. yesterday, where they discovered a woman lying in the yard with a single gunshot wound in her face.
The victim, Kodi Elainna Downs, was hospitalized in critical condition -- but not before speaking to deputies about the incident. She reported hearing a woman’s voice from the passenger side of a truck which pulled up alongside her as she was walking to a friend’s house on Masten Flat. Downs was shot before being able to identify the woman, however, and the truck pulled away.
The HCSO is looking for a tan or brown four-door Chevy pickup, with the model year somewhere between 1998 and 2002. Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to call sergeant Wayne Hanson at (707) 268-3639.
Humboldt Sentinel staff
6/29/09
Hoopa
Deputies are looking for a Chevy pickup truck involved in a late night attempted murder which left a woman shot in the face.
According to the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office release, deputies were called to a residence on Masten Flat off of Pine Creek Road at 11:30 p.m. yesterday, where they discovered a woman lying in the yard with a single gunshot wound in her face.
The victim, Kodi Elainna Downs, was hospitalized in critical condition -- but not before speaking to deputies about the incident. She reported hearing a woman’s voice from the passenger side of a truck which pulled up alongside her as she was walking to a friend’s house on Masten Flat. Downs was shot before being able to identify the woman, however, and the truck pulled away.
The HCSO is looking for a tan or brown four-door Chevy pickup, with the model year somewhere between 1998 and 2002. Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to call sergeant Wayne Hanson at (707) 268-3639.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Budget cuts could cause ‘public safety emergency’
State crime lab funding on chopping block
Emily Witt, ProPublica
6/28/09
Sacramento
As California lawmakers tackle their state's $24 billion deficit, one little-known proposal on the table is a $20 million cut to the state crime lab.
That may not sound like much alongside the hundreds of millions in proposed slashes to the state's education, prison and health care systems. But it's half the lab's budget and would likely halt or delay the testing of rape kits, DNA and other crucial crime scene evidence in many counties, law enforcement officials warn.
The $20 million cut was approved by the state's budget committee last week and now goes to the entire legislature for approval. If it is passed, the lab would have to charge law enforcement agencies for tests it has always provided for free, even though many of those agencies are facing budget cuts of their own. Last year, the state lab tested evidence in about 50,000 cases, including more than 1,400 containing DNA.
Advocates for crime victims are urging lawmakers to reject the proposal, because they worry that delays in testing evidence will allow rapists, murderers and other violent criminals to remain on the streets.
"It's a public safety emergency," said Gail Abarbanel, who heads the rape treatment program at the Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center. "The last thing that should be cut is public safety. I don't know what they're thinking."
Hundreds of police departments and district attorneys' offices in 47 of the state's 58 counties currently rely on the state lab to test their crime scene evidence. The other 11 counties, mostly concentrated in the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas, have their own labs to test forensic evidence.
But many law enforcement agencies in small or rural counties doubt they'll be able to afford the new charges, which are likely to run about $215 an hour. If the agencies can't pay, the lab will have to close some of its branches and lay off some of its scientists, said Jill Spriggs, the lab's bureau chief.
The agencies also could be forced to shelve thousands of DNA samples, bullet casings and other pieces of evidence used to identify violent criminals. There are already more than 350,000 untested DNA samples nationwide, according to federal government statistics.
Ultimately, some police chiefs said they might have to choose: pay to process evidence, or lose more cops on the streets. More than 1,000 police officers were eliminated statewide in the past year.
"I think that most law enforcement agencies would not be in a position to pay for those services," said Jerry Dyer, the police chief for the city of Fresno and past president of the California Police Chiefs Association. He estimated that the state lab's assistance to Fresno, which has some facilities of its own but relies on the state to process DNA evidence, amounted to approximately $1 million worth of testing last year.
Joe Grebmeier, a police chief from Greenfield, Calif., said his budget is already so tight that detectives are paying for crime scene supplies, including cameras, out of their own pockets.
"Decisions on how to proceed with investigations will now include, 'can we pay for it?'" said Grebmeier. "We might have to go to the public and have a fundraiser just to process a rape case."
Even in Los Angeles County, where the Los Angeles Police Department and the County Sheriff's Department have their own labs, DNA testing is in danger. Since May, the cash-strapped and understaffed Sheriff's office hasn't tested DNA evidence from thousands of rape and sexual assault cases, according to news accounts.
State budget officials acknowledged the danger the cut poses but said it is needed to keep the state from plunging even deeper into debt.
"We have had to make many difficult decisions to close our budget gap this year," said Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, chair of the Assembly Budget Committee.
Dan Carson, of the state legislative analyst's office, which has recommended cutting the lab's funds for the last few years, agreed that "the easy choices are gone."
But Carson also defended the cuts, saying that it's unfair to allow 47 counties to get free services while others pay for their own crime labs. He said a state law already allows the lab to charge for testing.
"If this is a priority, one would assume they'll work out a way to do it."
But it could take years for a county to build its own lab or secure enough funding to pay the state. In the meantime, police and prosecutors could find it more difficult to send violent criminals to prison.
"Juries expect forensic evidence," said Spriggs, the state lab's chief. "When it's not there, cases could be lost."
Spriggs also noted that her lab "provides a very important service" to people wrongfully accused of crimes—those who rely on DNA testing to prove their innocence.
The proposed cut could go into effect between July 1 and Jan. 1, she said. It's unclear if it would be permanent. The entire state budget is likely to go to the full legislature for a vote on Wednesday.
When lawmakers debate the budget this week, Grebmeier, the police chief from Greenfield, suggested that they keep crime victims in mind.
"It's an academic discussion about these cuts and what we can afford and not afford until you look into the eyes of a victim or a family that's lost a loved one."
Emily Witt, ProPublica
6/28/09
Sacramento
As California lawmakers tackle their state's $24 billion deficit, one little-known proposal on the table is a $20 million cut to the state crime lab.
That may not sound like much alongside the hundreds of millions in proposed slashes to the state's education, prison and health care systems. But it's half the lab's budget and would likely halt or delay the testing of rape kits, DNA and other crucial crime scene evidence in many counties, law enforcement officials warn.
The $20 million cut was approved by the state's budget committee last week and now goes to the entire legislature for approval. If it is passed, the lab would have to charge law enforcement agencies for tests it has always provided for free, even though many of those agencies are facing budget cuts of their own. Last year, the state lab tested evidence in about 50,000 cases, including more than 1,400 containing DNA.
Advocates for crime victims are urging lawmakers to reject the proposal, because they worry that delays in testing evidence will allow rapists, murderers and other violent criminals to remain on the streets.
"It's a public safety emergency," said Gail Abarbanel, who heads the rape treatment program at the Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center. "The last thing that should be cut is public safety. I don't know what they're thinking."
Hundreds of police departments and district attorneys' offices in 47 of the state's 58 counties currently rely on the state lab to test their crime scene evidence. The other 11 counties, mostly concentrated in the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas, have their own labs to test forensic evidence.
But many law enforcement agencies in small or rural counties doubt they'll be able to afford the new charges, which are likely to run about $215 an hour. If the agencies can't pay, the lab will have to close some of its branches and lay off some of its scientists, said Jill Spriggs, the lab's bureau chief.
The agencies also could be forced to shelve thousands of DNA samples, bullet casings and other pieces of evidence used to identify violent criminals. There are already more than 350,000 untested DNA samples nationwide, according to federal government statistics.
Ultimately, some police chiefs said they might have to choose: pay to process evidence, or lose more cops on the streets. More than 1,000 police officers were eliminated statewide in the past year.
"I think that most law enforcement agencies would not be in a position to pay for those services," said Jerry Dyer, the police chief for the city of Fresno and past president of the California Police Chiefs Association. He estimated that the state lab's assistance to Fresno, which has some facilities of its own but relies on the state to process DNA evidence, amounted to approximately $1 million worth of testing last year.
Joe Grebmeier, a police chief from Greenfield, Calif., said his budget is already so tight that detectives are paying for crime scene supplies, including cameras, out of their own pockets.
"Decisions on how to proceed with investigations will now include, 'can we pay for it?'" said Grebmeier. "We might have to go to the public and have a fundraiser just to process a rape case."
Even in Los Angeles County, where the Los Angeles Police Department and the County Sheriff's Department have their own labs, DNA testing is in danger. Since May, the cash-strapped and understaffed Sheriff's office hasn't tested DNA evidence from thousands of rape and sexual assault cases, according to news accounts.
State budget officials acknowledged the danger the cut poses but said it is needed to keep the state from plunging even deeper into debt.
"We have had to make many difficult decisions to close our budget gap this year," said Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, chair of the Assembly Budget Committee.
Dan Carson, of the state legislative analyst's office, which has recommended cutting the lab's funds for the last few years, agreed that "the easy choices are gone."
But Carson also defended the cuts, saying that it's unfair to allow 47 counties to get free services while others pay for their own crime labs. He said a state law already allows the lab to charge for testing.
"If this is a priority, one would assume they'll work out a way to do it."
But it could take years for a county to build its own lab or secure enough funding to pay the state. In the meantime, police and prosecutors could find it more difficult to send violent criminals to prison.
"Juries expect forensic evidence," said Spriggs, the state lab's chief. "When it's not there, cases could be lost."
Spriggs also noted that her lab "provides a very important service" to people wrongfully accused of crimes—those who rely on DNA testing to prove their innocence.
The proposed cut could go into effect between July 1 and Jan. 1, she said. It's unclear if it would be permanent. The entire state budget is likely to go to the full legislature for a vote on Wednesday.
When lawmakers debate the budget this week, Grebmeier, the police chief from Greenfield, suggested that they keep crime victims in mind.
"It's an academic discussion about these cuts and what we can afford and not afford until you look into the eyes of a victim or a family that's lost a loved one."
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Madoff Client Jeffry Picower Netted $5 Billion
Big winner likely made out with more than Madoff himself
Jake Bernstein, ProPublica
6/27/09
New York
It is rare these days to see Bernard Madoff's name in print unaccompanied by the word "Ponzi." Yet recent allegations raise the possibility of one key difference between Madoff's crimes and those of legendary con artist Charles Ponzi. While Ponzi's scam was under way, Ponzi himself was its biggest beneficiary. It now appears that the biggest winner in Madoff's scheme may not have been Madoff at all, but a secretive businessman named Jeffry Picower.
Between December 1995 and December 2008, Picower and his family withdrew from their various Madoff accounts $5.1 billion more than they invested with the self-confessed swindler, according to a lawsuit filed by the trustee who is trying to recover money for those Madoff defrauded.
In contrast, shortly after he confessed, Madoff declared his household net worth to be between $823 and $826 million, according to court documents. While the Madoffs clearly lived opulently, no evidence has emerged that their combined assets and expenditures approached the amount the Picower family is alleged to have withdrawn from the scheme.
In an era when billions of dollars are being tossed about in financial collapses and government bailouts, remarkably little attention has been paid to Jeffry Picower's extraordinary success with Bernie Madoff. If Picower has penetrated the popular consciousness at all, it is as a Madoff victim. The victim narrative is buoyed by testimonials from the nonprofits who received funding from his charitable foundation – which quickly closed on the heels of the swindler's confession. For this reason, ProPublica decided to take a closer look at both Jeffry Picower and the complaint filed against him by Madoff trustee Irving Picard.
Fortunately for the trustee and the federal investigators presently swarming over the case, Madoff apparently kept detailed notes of communications between his office and his clients. But despite this documentary evidence, which is cited but not provided in court documents, Picard's complaint raises more questions than it answers. Above all, what was the exact relationship between the two men? The complaint is larded with the legal catch-all phrase, "knew or should have known," to describe Picower's cognizance of Madoff's fraud, but the intricacies of the relationship are left to the imagination.
One question is the role that Picower's charitable giving played in all of this. The amount Picower withdrew for his foundation is separate from the quarterly withdrawals for his personal accounts. During the 1995-2008 time span, Picower took out about $291 million from Madoff for the foundation account. During the same period, the foundation doled out more than $235 million in donations, according to tax forms.
Perhaps the most pertinent question: If Picower withdrew $5.1 billion in "profit" from Madoff, where did all the money go? The Picowers own a home in Palm Beach that is appraised at a little over $28 million. They also have a 28.4-acre compound in Connecticut valued at $4.5 million. A search of numerous online sources, both aggregate databases and county property records for the couple, their daughter, and the companies named in the complaint, reveals few other major assets. If someone needed the skills to hide billions of dollars, few would be better equipped than Picower, an attorney and accountant who has been described as a "tax shelter expert." Even so, it's curious our search did not even uncover a boat or plane under the Picower name.
Messages left for Picower and his wife Barbara requesting comment for this story were not returned. Their lawyer, William Zabel, declined to comment to ProPublica on the Madoff matter. Earlier, Zabel told The Wall Street Journal that the couple "were in no way complicit in" Madoff's scheme.
Emailed questions to David Sheehan, an attorney at Baker & Hostetler who is working alongside Picard on the case, went unanswered.
Picower, 67, began his career as an accountant and lawyer in New York but seems to have made much of his fortune as an investor in the medical industry. He has avoided media interviews and, with a few notable exceptions, succeeded in keeping a low profile. If the Picowers were recognized at all, prior to their Madoff notoriety, it was through praise for their philanthropy. Yet even here, their ties to Madoff loomed large. The growth of their largest foundation was attributed to their Madoff investments. Madoff himself served as a trustee on another Picower foundation.
The court-appointed trustee makes a powerful, albeit still largely circumstantial, case in court filings that Picower knew Madoff's fund was illegitimate. Although Madoff ostensibly produced eerily consistent 10-12 percent annual returns for his clients, the returns he provided Picower were other worldly:
■In 14 instances between 1996 and 2007, a group of Picower trading accounts experienced annual returns of more than 100 percent. On 25 occasions, the annual return exceeded 50 percent. During this same period, the biggest annual gain in either the Dow Jones Industrial Average or the S&P 500 was 31 percent, for the S&P in 1997. The S&P 500's annual average for that period was slightly under 9 percent.
■The annual rate of return for two of Picower's regular trading accounts in the four years between 1996 and 1999 ranged from about 120 percent to more than 550 percent annually.
■In 1999, one account earned 950 percent.
Each quarter, the Picowers would withdraw various sums from Madoff from different accounts. Usually the total for each quarter’s withdrawals amounted to round numbers. Click to see the full listing of the Picowers' withdrawals from Madoff accounts. [5]Picower belonged to a select group of Madoff investors who received souped-up returns. A Wall Street Journal story [6] published in May cited unnamed sources saying that prosecutors were looking into eight investors who appear to have received special treatment from Madoff. Among the eight named, Picower seems to have withdrawn the most money, with the bulk of it coming from an account called "Decisions, Inc." According to the Madoff trustee's court filings, "the account reflected little trading activity and relatively few holdings," yet Picower took hundreds of millions out of it. At the time of Madoff's arrest, the account had a reported negative net cash balance of more than $6 billion.
At the beginning of each quarter, the Picowers received sums that grew from an annual total of $330 million in 1996 to $1 billion in 2003. These withdrawals were divided into odd numbers spread over various accounts. Added together, they usually equaled large even sums. For example, on January 2, 2003, Picower withdrew $1,378,852 from his account Jln Partnership. Yet when withdrawals across all accounts were totaled for that day, they amounted to precisely $250 million.
Picower's quarterly withdrawals reached their zenith in 2003 and then decreased by half the next year, eventually dropping to their lowest point in 2006. For some reason, the quarterly withdrawals totaled an uneven $16,975,422 in 2006, only to rebound to exactly $40 million in 2007.
Picower's extraordinary gains do not appear to have been achieved at random. The trustee's complaint details how Picower, often acting through a subordinate, ordered up "returns" which Madoff's office then delivered. In some cases, Picower is alleged to have requested backdated returns for trades or sales of securities.
■On April 18, 2006, Picower wired $125 million to Madoff to open a new account. Madoff's office began "purchasing" securities in the account, but "it backdated the vast majority of these purported transactions to January 2006" when the stock market was at its lowest for the period, according to the complaint. Twelve days later, the net equity value of the account was $164 million, a gain of $39 million – or more than 30 percent – in less than two weeks.
■The complaint details conversations between Picower associate April Freilich and Madoff's office beginning around May 14, 2007, when Freilich stated that the Picower Foundation needed gains during January and February of 2006, a year earlier.
■On May 18, Freilich specified that the foundation needed "$20 mil in gains" and "want[ed] 18% for year[] 08 appreciation" for January and February of that year. Five days later, Freilich changed the amount to $12.3 million. Subsequent statements reflected gains of $12.6 million.
■On December 22, 2005, Picower or Freilich allegedly faxed a letter to Madoff dated December 1, directing him to sell specific holdings. The statement for that month reflects that the sales were finalized on December 2, a process that typically takes three days. The clues that the letter was back-dated: A fax with the tell-tale December 22 date and an attached portfolio appraisal dated December 16 that included the positions that were supposedly "sold."
■On or around December 29, 2005, Freilich allegedly faxed a letter to Madoff asking for $50 million in gains across certain accounts. Subsequent statements generated by Madoff for the accounts show stock sales, presumably to satisfy the request, that were supposedly recorded around December 8 and 9, 2005, approximately three weeks prior to Freilich's letter.
Who is Jeffry Picower?
The Picowers' generosity to deserving charities, particularly in New York, Florida, and Massachusetts, has earned them admiration and respect. However, the image belies a more complex reality.
The Picowers gave to a host of worthy causes from the Children's Aid Society to the New York City Ballet, but Jeffry Picower's passion centered on health issues, particularly funding for medical research. On December 1, 2005, the couple made a rare public appearance at a ceremony at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to dedicate a new center to study the brain, the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory. The Picowers' gift of $50 million, spread over five years, was the single largest from a private foundation in the school's history. In a video of the ceremony, Nobel Prize winning Japanese scientist Susumu Tonegawa told the crowd that without the Picowers there would be no institute. The Picowers stood by silently as Tonegawa unveiled a portrait of the couple to conclude the ceremony.
The gift to MIT was the largest single donation to an outside entity the Picower Foundation had ever made, according to tax forms the foundation filed. Prior to late 1995, when Madoff trustee Picard's records start tracking Picower's Madoff activity, the Picower Foundation was relatively small in size and scope. At year's end in 1994, it had assets of just under $75 million and had donated $375,754. By 2007, it was reporting about $958 million in assets and about $23.4 million in donations for the year.
Picower's attention to cutting-edge medicine was the sole focus of a second foundation, The Picower Institute for Medical Research, created to find cures for human diseases. He launched the Institute in 1991 with a $10 million donation from the Picower Foundation. Madoff served as a trustee of the Institute.
In 2001, the St. Petersburg Times revealed that Picower used both his foundations and a private corporation called PharmaSciences, of which he was the majority shareholder, to gain control of a potentially lucrative medical discovery. In 1999, Picower merged PharmaSciences with a for-profit spinoff of his institute called Cytokine Networks, essentially negotiating with himself. The merged company called Cytokine PharmaSciences had the rights to develop a new drug that could help minimize such illnesses as arthritis and multiple sclerosis. The newspaper raised the question of whether Picower had shortchanged his nonprofit in the deal.
An IRS audit concluded that the Picower Foundation had not jeopardized its tax status or incurred extra liability during the period in question. The Foundation's lawyer William Zabel provided ProPublica with a letter from the IRS dated September 2006 that he said "cleared the Foundation." Addressed to Barbara Picower, the letter is from the IRS' Office of Exempt Organizations and formally accepts the Foundation's tax returns. Zabel also said that shares Picower received from the merger were given to other charitable organizations.
The publicity-shy Picower is no stranger to lawsuits or regulators, a trip through several decades of legal and regulatory filings reveals. In 1984, the SEC cited him for a late disclosure over how much he owned in a company called Bradford National Corporation. The SEC filing alleged that Picower was part of a scheme to take over the company.
A year later Picower had to pay out a $21-million settlement when shareholders sued over the collapse of Physicians Computer Network. Picower controlled 45 percent of the stock and chaired the company before it went belly up. In 1989, Picower paid an undisclosed settlement over a questionable tax shelter he helped set up years earlier for a client. In 1990, it was Picower's turn to recover money – from a settlement involving infamous insider trader Ivan Boesky. Picower had been one of his investors.
Perhaps the most revealing case against Picower was a lawsuit filed for failure to pay for renovations on his New York office. Picower alleged that general contractor McHugh, DiVincent Alessi had done such a bad job on his office that the toilets didn't even flush properly, according to Jeremy Morley, the firm's lawyer at the time. Rather than take Picower at his word, the judge decided the jury members should see for themselves. Arriving by city bus from the courtroom, the judge, with jury in tow, made a surprise visit to Picower's office.
"The jury wandered around, looking at the office, testing the toilet," Morley said. "They quickly realized that the case was full of crap in more ways than one."
The judge awarded Morley's client what Picower owed them and some of their attorney fees, according to the lawyer.
Picower's legal and regulatory history was outlined in an article by Forbes Magazine. The 2002 article, which didn't mention Picower's activities with Madoff, said Picower was "worth at least $300 million." That same year, the trustee reports, Picower's quarterly withdrawals from Madoff totaled $895 million.
ProPublica Research Director Lisa Schwartz and Kitty Bennett contributed to this report.
Jake Bernstein, ProPublica
6/27/09
New York
It is rare these days to see Bernard Madoff's name in print unaccompanied by the word "Ponzi." Yet recent allegations raise the possibility of one key difference between Madoff's crimes and those of legendary con artist Charles Ponzi. While Ponzi's scam was under way, Ponzi himself was its biggest beneficiary. It now appears that the biggest winner in Madoff's scheme may not have been Madoff at all, but a secretive businessman named Jeffry Picower.
Between December 1995 and December 2008, Picower and his family withdrew from their various Madoff accounts $5.1 billion more than they invested with the self-confessed swindler, according to a lawsuit filed by the trustee who is trying to recover money for those Madoff defrauded.
In contrast, shortly after he confessed, Madoff declared his household net worth to be between $823 and $826 million, according to court documents. While the Madoffs clearly lived opulently, no evidence has emerged that their combined assets and expenditures approached the amount the Picower family is alleged to have withdrawn from the scheme.
In an era when billions of dollars are being tossed about in financial collapses and government bailouts, remarkably little attention has been paid to Jeffry Picower's extraordinary success with Bernie Madoff. If Picower has penetrated the popular consciousness at all, it is as a Madoff victim. The victim narrative is buoyed by testimonials from the nonprofits who received funding from his charitable foundation – which quickly closed on the heels of the swindler's confession. For this reason, ProPublica decided to take a closer look at both Jeffry Picower and the complaint filed against him by Madoff trustee Irving Picard.
Fortunately for the trustee and the federal investigators presently swarming over the case, Madoff apparently kept detailed notes of communications between his office and his clients. But despite this documentary evidence, which is cited but not provided in court documents, Picard's complaint raises more questions than it answers. Above all, what was the exact relationship between the two men? The complaint is larded with the legal catch-all phrase, "knew or should have known," to describe Picower's cognizance of Madoff's fraud, but the intricacies of the relationship are left to the imagination.
One question is the role that Picower's charitable giving played in all of this. The amount Picower withdrew for his foundation is separate from the quarterly withdrawals for his personal accounts. During the 1995-2008 time span, Picower took out about $291 million from Madoff for the foundation account. During the same period, the foundation doled out more than $235 million in donations, according to tax forms.
Perhaps the most pertinent question: If Picower withdrew $5.1 billion in "profit" from Madoff, where did all the money go? The Picowers own a home in Palm Beach that is appraised at a little over $28 million. They also have a 28.4-acre compound in Connecticut valued at $4.5 million. A search of numerous online sources, both aggregate databases and county property records for the couple, their daughter, and the companies named in the complaint, reveals few other major assets. If someone needed the skills to hide billions of dollars, few would be better equipped than Picower, an attorney and accountant who has been described as a "tax shelter expert." Even so, it's curious our search did not even uncover a boat or plane under the Picower name.
Messages left for Picower and his wife Barbara requesting comment for this story were not returned. Their lawyer, William Zabel, declined to comment to ProPublica on the Madoff matter. Earlier, Zabel told The Wall Street Journal that the couple "were in no way complicit in" Madoff's scheme.
Emailed questions to David Sheehan, an attorney at Baker & Hostetler who is working alongside Picard on the case, went unanswered.
Picower, 67, began his career as an accountant and lawyer in New York but seems to have made much of his fortune as an investor in the medical industry. He has avoided media interviews and, with a few notable exceptions, succeeded in keeping a low profile. If the Picowers were recognized at all, prior to their Madoff notoriety, it was through praise for their philanthropy. Yet even here, their ties to Madoff loomed large. The growth of their largest foundation was attributed to their Madoff investments. Madoff himself served as a trustee on another Picower foundation.
The court-appointed trustee makes a powerful, albeit still largely circumstantial, case in court filings that Picower knew Madoff's fund was illegitimate. Although Madoff ostensibly produced eerily consistent 10-12 percent annual returns for his clients, the returns he provided Picower were other worldly:
■In 14 instances between 1996 and 2007, a group of Picower trading accounts experienced annual returns of more than 100 percent. On 25 occasions, the annual return exceeded 50 percent. During this same period, the biggest annual gain in either the Dow Jones Industrial Average or the S&P 500 was 31 percent, for the S&P in 1997. The S&P 500's annual average for that period was slightly under 9 percent.
■The annual rate of return for two of Picower's regular trading accounts in the four years between 1996 and 1999 ranged from about 120 percent to more than 550 percent annually.
■In 1999, one account earned 950 percent.
Each quarter, the Picowers would withdraw various sums from Madoff from different accounts. Usually the total for each quarter’s withdrawals amounted to round numbers. Click to see the full listing of the Picowers' withdrawals from Madoff accounts. [5]Picower belonged to a select group of Madoff investors who received souped-up returns. A Wall Street Journal story [6] published in May cited unnamed sources saying that prosecutors were looking into eight investors who appear to have received special treatment from Madoff. Among the eight named, Picower seems to have withdrawn the most money, with the bulk of it coming from an account called "Decisions, Inc." According to the Madoff trustee's court filings, "the account reflected little trading activity and relatively few holdings," yet Picower took hundreds of millions out of it. At the time of Madoff's arrest, the account had a reported negative net cash balance of more than $6 billion.
At the beginning of each quarter, the Picowers received sums that grew from an annual total of $330 million in 1996 to $1 billion in 2003. These withdrawals were divided into odd numbers spread over various accounts. Added together, they usually equaled large even sums. For example, on January 2, 2003, Picower withdrew $1,378,852 from his account Jln Partnership. Yet when withdrawals across all accounts were totaled for that day, they amounted to precisely $250 million.
Picower's quarterly withdrawals reached their zenith in 2003 and then decreased by half the next year, eventually dropping to their lowest point in 2006. For some reason, the quarterly withdrawals totaled an uneven $16,975,422 in 2006, only to rebound to exactly $40 million in 2007.
Picower's extraordinary gains do not appear to have been achieved at random. The trustee's complaint details how Picower, often acting through a subordinate, ordered up "returns" which Madoff's office then delivered. In some cases, Picower is alleged to have requested backdated returns for trades or sales of securities.
■On April 18, 2006, Picower wired $125 million to Madoff to open a new account. Madoff's office began "purchasing" securities in the account, but "it backdated the vast majority of these purported transactions to January 2006" when the stock market was at its lowest for the period, according to the complaint. Twelve days later, the net equity value of the account was $164 million, a gain of $39 million – or more than 30 percent – in less than two weeks.
■The complaint details conversations between Picower associate April Freilich and Madoff's office beginning around May 14, 2007, when Freilich stated that the Picower Foundation needed gains during January and February of 2006, a year earlier.
■On May 18, Freilich specified that the foundation needed "$20 mil in gains" and "want[ed] 18% for year[] 08 appreciation" for January and February of that year. Five days later, Freilich changed the amount to $12.3 million. Subsequent statements reflected gains of $12.6 million.
■On December 22, 2005, Picower or Freilich allegedly faxed a letter to Madoff dated December 1, directing him to sell specific holdings. The statement for that month reflects that the sales were finalized on December 2, a process that typically takes three days. The clues that the letter was back-dated: A fax with the tell-tale December 22 date and an attached portfolio appraisal dated December 16 that included the positions that were supposedly "sold."
■On or around December 29, 2005, Freilich allegedly faxed a letter to Madoff asking for $50 million in gains across certain accounts. Subsequent statements generated by Madoff for the accounts show stock sales, presumably to satisfy the request, that were supposedly recorded around December 8 and 9, 2005, approximately three weeks prior to Freilich's letter.
Who is Jeffry Picower?
The Picowers' generosity to deserving charities, particularly in New York, Florida, and Massachusetts, has earned them admiration and respect. However, the image belies a more complex reality.
The Picowers gave to a host of worthy causes from the Children's Aid Society to the New York City Ballet, but Jeffry Picower's passion centered on health issues, particularly funding for medical research. On December 1, 2005, the couple made a rare public appearance at a ceremony at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to dedicate a new center to study the brain, the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory. The Picowers' gift of $50 million, spread over five years, was the single largest from a private foundation in the school's history. In a video of the ceremony, Nobel Prize winning Japanese scientist Susumu Tonegawa told the crowd that without the Picowers there would be no institute. The Picowers stood by silently as Tonegawa unveiled a portrait of the couple to conclude the ceremony.
The gift to MIT was the largest single donation to an outside entity the Picower Foundation had ever made, according to tax forms the foundation filed. Prior to late 1995, when Madoff trustee Picard's records start tracking Picower's Madoff activity, the Picower Foundation was relatively small in size and scope. At year's end in 1994, it had assets of just under $75 million and had donated $375,754. By 2007, it was reporting about $958 million in assets and about $23.4 million in donations for the year.
Picower's attention to cutting-edge medicine was the sole focus of a second foundation, The Picower Institute for Medical Research, created to find cures for human diseases. He launched the Institute in 1991 with a $10 million donation from the Picower Foundation. Madoff served as a trustee of the Institute.
In 2001, the St. Petersburg Times revealed that Picower used both his foundations and a private corporation called PharmaSciences, of which he was the majority shareholder, to gain control of a potentially lucrative medical discovery. In 1999, Picower merged PharmaSciences with a for-profit spinoff of his institute called Cytokine Networks, essentially negotiating with himself. The merged company called Cytokine PharmaSciences had the rights to develop a new drug that could help minimize such illnesses as arthritis and multiple sclerosis. The newspaper raised the question of whether Picower had shortchanged his nonprofit in the deal.
An IRS audit concluded that the Picower Foundation had not jeopardized its tax status or incurred extra liability during the period in question. The Foundation's lawyer William Zabel provided ProPublica with a letter from the IRS dated September 2006 that he said "cleared the Foundation." Addressed to Barbara Picower, the letter is from the IRS' Office of Exempt Organizations and formally accepts the Foundation's tax returns. Zabel also said that shares Picower received from the merger were given to other charitable organizations.
The publicity-shy Picower is no stranger to lawsuits or regulators, a trip through several decades of legal and regulatory filings reveals. In 1984, the SEC cited him for a late disclosure over how much he owned in a company called Bradford National Corporation. The SEC filing alleged that Picower was part of a scheme to take over the company.
A year later Picower had to pay out a $21-million settlement when shareholders sued over the collapse of Physicians Computer Network. Picower controlled 45 percent of the stock and chaired the company before it went belly up. In 1989, Picower paid an undisclosed settlement over a questionable tax shelter he helped set up years earlier for a client. In 1990, it was Picower's turn to recover money – from a settlement involving infamous insider trader Ivan Boesky. Picower had been one of his investors.
Perhaps the most revealing case against Picower was a lawsuit filed for failure to pay for renovations on his New York office. Picower alleged that general contractor McHugh, DiVincent Alessi had done such a bad job on his office that the toilets didn't even flush properly, according to Jeremy Morley, the firm's lawyer at the time. Rather than take Picower at his word, the judge decided the jury members should see for themselves. Arriving by city bus from the courtroom, the judge, with jury in tow, made a surprise visit to Picower's office.
"The jury wandered around, looking at the office, testing the toilet," Morley said. "They quickly realized that the case was full of crap in more ways than one."
The judge awarded Morley's client what Picower owed them and some of their attorney fees, according to the lawyer.
Picower's legal and regulatory history was outlined in an article by Forbes Magazine. The 2002 article, which didn't mention Picower's activities with Madoff, said Picower was "worth at least $300 million." That same year, the trustee reports, Picower's quarterly withdrawals from Madoff totaled $895 million.
ProPublica Research Director Lisa Schwartz and Kitty Bennett contributed to this report.
Friday, June 26, 2009
California commercial fishing in jeopardy
New data shows many fisheries running losses
Paul Mann, Humboldt State University
6/26/09
Arcata
Many California fisheries are running losses, the number of licensed commercial fishermen is plummeting and the port and harbor infrastructure that supports them is underfunded as the industry shrinks, according to an in-depth economic analysis commissioned by the California Department of Fish and Game from Humboldt State University.
The findings suggest that without major management changes, commercial fishing could meet the same fate as Santa Clara County’s extinct truck produce and processing industry and Sonoma County’s withered apple sector.
Commercial salmon fishing, which has suffered recently from limited seasons and outright closures, is far from alone in the industry’s plight, according to statewide data analyzed by Humboldt State Economics Professor Steve Hackett, his research associate, Doreen Hansen, HSU undergraduate researchers and the Maryland consulting firm King and Associates. Although Dungeness crab fishing is strong on a cyclical basis, money-losing operations include such fisheries as harpoon/spear, hook and line, near shore and ground fish trap, sea urchin and southern California trawl.
Persistent revenue losses have shrunk the industry dramatically. Department of Fish and Game sales of commercial fishing licenses of all types sank 31% from 2000 to 2008, dropping from 26,049 to 18,052, according to Terry Tillman, a senior biologist and fisheries economist at the department.
Correspondingly, Hackett said, “The number of vessels in the industry has shrunk substantially across the whole state, the average age of commercial fishermen is getting older and a lot fewer people are engaged in commercial fishing. All this results in a struggle for funding to maintain the harbor and port infrastructure the industry is dependent on.”
Strong competition is in play as well. The commercial sector duels for catch with private sport fishermen, intensely so in southern California. Meanwhile, competition for fishing grounds is heightened by marine protection initiatives and the likelihood California will deploy wave energy conversion systems at sea to gain alternative electrical output.
“What you have is a constellation of policy challenges besetting commercial fishing,” Hackett emphasized, noting a corrosive feedback effect. “When it’s so hard to fish commercially and you don’t have enough fishermen, then the fish processors begin to fall by the wayside. And without them, you can’t have a commercial fishing industry. It’s very similar to what happened with truck produce and processing in Santa Clara County, which was completely eliminated by urbanization. Same thing with apple processing in Sebastopol and Sonoma County: the industry shrinks, you lose the processors and then eventually the rest of the industry goes away.”
Tillman said the new economic analysis could be a crucial underpinning for bold management actions to restore the industry’s health. “In some instances, bold action may even be for [state and federal] management to let the industry operate with more flexibility, as an unfettered or unencumbered business enterprise,” he said in an interview. “Of course, there have to be biological constraints that the department, as a custodian of a public resource, needs to keep tabs on. But as long as we have acceptable fishing practices and sustainable levels of fish, there may be room to allow the fishing fleet to operate more profitably.”
Many other states and countries have taken that direction under fisheries quota programs, he said, but California has not been in the forefront.
The analysis and companion files are titled “The Economic Structure of California’s Commercial Fisheries,” available at http://www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/economicstructure.asp
Paul Mann, Humboldt State University
6/26/09
Arcata
Many California fisheries are running losses, the number of licensed commercial fishermen is plummeting and the port and harbor infrastructure that supports them is underfunded as the industry shrinks, according to an in-depth economic analysis commissioned by the California Department of Fish and Game from Humboldt State University.
The findings suggest that without major management changes, commercial fishing could meet the same fate as Santa Clara County’s extinct truck produce and processing industry and Sonoma County’s withered apple sector.
Commercial salmon fishing, which has suffered recently from limited seasons and outright closures, is far from alone in the industry’s plight, according to statewide data analyzed by Humboldt State Economics Professor Steve Hackett, his research associate, Doreen Hansen, HSU undergraduate researchers and the Maryland consulting firm King and Associates. Although Dungeness crab fishing is strong on a cyclical basis, money-losing operations include such fisheries as harpoon/spear, hook and line, near shore and ground fish trap, sea urchin and southern California trawl.
Persistent revenue losses have shrunk the industry dramatically. Department of Fish and Game sales of commercial fishing licenses of all types sank 31% from 2000 to 2008, dropping from 26,049 to 18,052, according to Terry Tillman, a senior biologist and fisheries economist at the department.
Correspondingly, Hackett said, “The number of vessels in the industry has shrunk substantially across the whole state, the average age of commercial fishermen is getting older and a lot fewer people are engaged in commercial fishing. All this results in a struggle for funding to maintain the harbor and port infrastructure the industry is dependent on.”
Strong competition is in play as well. The commercial sector duels for catch with private sport fishermen, intensely so in southern California. Meanwhile, competition for fishing grounds is heightened by marine protection initiatives and the likelihood California will deploy wave energy conversion systems at sea to gain alternative electrical output.
“What you have is a constellation of policy challenges besetting commercial fishing,” Hackett emphasized, noting a corrosive feedback effect. “When it’s so hard to fish commercially and you don’t have enough fishermen, then the fish processors begin to fall by the wayside. And without them, you can’t have a commercial fishing industry. It’s very similar to what happened with truck produce and processing in Santa Clara County, which was completely eliminated by urbanization. Same thing with apple processing in Sebastopol and Sonoma County: the industry shrinks, you lose the processors and then eventually the rest of the industry goes away.”
Tillman said the new economic analysis could be a crucial underpinning for bold management actions to restore the industry’s health. “In some instances, bold action may even be for [state and federal] management to let the industry operate with more flexibility, as an unfettered or unencumbered business enterprise,” he said in an interview. “Of course, there have to be biological constraints that the department, as a custodian of a public resource, needs to keep tabs on. But as long as we have acceptable fishing practices and sustainable levels of fish, there may be room to allow the fishing fleet to operate more profitably.”
Many other states and countries have taken that direction under fisheries quota programs, he said, but California has not been in the forefront.
The analysis and companion files are titled “The Economic Structure of California’s Commercial Fisheries,” available at http://www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/economicstructure.asp
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Arcata cops raid 215 grow
Daniel Carbonneau popped for cultivation despite doctor’s recommendation
Humboldt Sentinel staff
6/25/09
Arcata
A local man was arrested today at the scene of a moderate-sized marijuana grow in Sunny Brae by Arcata Police Department officers acting in concert with the Humboldt County Drug Task Force.
A search warrant was served this morning at a residence and storage building on the 1100 block of Old Arcata Road by APD, DTF and agents of the Drug Enforcement Unit run by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office. According to the APD release, the warrant targeted a “criminal marijuana growing operation” following complaints from unnamed members of the public -- although the presence of doctor’s recommendations under the auspices of Proposition 215 were apparently ignored.
Arcata resident Daniel Carbonneau, 38, was arrested without incident at his home, and booked into the county jail on illegal cultivation charges. Police estimated the catch at approximately four pounds of cannabis bud, and 275 growing marijuana plants were also seized.
APD officials alleged that the electrical wiring in the buildings was faulty and had been modified in such a way as to create a significant risk of fire, and used their assessment to bring in building code officials from City Hall. Their inspection resulted in a request to Pacific Gas and Electric to cease service to the address due to unsafe electrical conditions, and power was cut off shortly thereafter.
Humboldt Sentinel staff
6/25/09
Arcata
A local man was arrested today at the scene of a moderate-sized marijuana grow in Sunny Brae by Arcata Police Department officers acting in concert with the Humboldt County Drug Task Force.
A search warrant was served this morning at a residence and storage building on the 1100 block of Old Arcata Road by APD, DTF and agents of the Drug Enforcement Unit run by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office. According to the APD release, the warrant targeted a “criminal marijuana growing operation” following complaints from unnamed members of the public -- although the presence of doctor’s recommendations under the auspices of Proposition 215 were apparently ignored.
Arcata resident Daniel Carbonneau, 38, was arrested without incident at his home, and booked into the county jail on illegal cultivation charges. Police estimated the catch at approximately four pounds of cannabis bud, and 275 growing marijuana plants were also seized.
APD officials alleged that the electrical wiring in the buildings was faulty and had been modified in such a way as to create a significant risk of fire, and used their assessment to bring in building code officials from City Hall. Their inspection resulted in a request to Pacific Gas and Electric to cease service to the address due to unsafe electrical conditions, and power was cut off shortly thereafter.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Gunshots inflict major damage on comm tower
State parks building also vandalized, suspect remains elusive
Humboldt Sentinel staff
6/24/09
Shelter Cove
Construction workers at a new U.S. Coast Guard communications tower returned to work Tuesday morning to discover severe damage to the facility and the neighboring State Parks building.
Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies are looking for information about those responsible for firing several high-powered rifle rounds into the radio tower, damaging one of the support legs. The construction company manager estimated damage at $100,000; several shots fired at the State Parks building caused an estimated $10,000 worth of damages.
The 120-foot tower, located within a fenced compound at the intersection of Kelly and Toth roads in Shelter Cove, is on federal property. The State Parks building houses radio communication systems for state and local fire and law enforcement agencies.
The attack probably took place after 9 p.m. Monday, as construction workers were on site until sundown. HCSO deputies recovered about 25 shell casings nearby, and are looking for more information -- the public is urged to come forward with any details by calling the HCSO at (707) 445-7251.
Humboldt Sentinel staff
6/24/09
Shelter Cove
Construction workers at a new U.S. Coast Guard communications tower returned to work Tuesday morning to discover severe damage to the facility and the neighboring State Parks building.
Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies are looking for information about those responsible for firing several high-powered rifle rounds into the radio tower, damaging one of the support legs. The construction company manager estimated damage at $100,000; several shots fired at the State Parks building caused an estimated $10,000 worth of damages.
The 120-foot tower, located within a fenced compound at the intersection of Kelly and Toth roads in Shelter Cove, is on federal property. The State Parks building houses radio communication systems for state and local fire and law enforcement agencies.
The attack probably took place after 9 p.m. Monday, as construction workers were on site until sundown. HCSO deputies recovered about 25 shell casings nearby, and are looking for more information -- the public is urged to come forward with any details by calling the HCSO at (707) 445-7251.
Transportation chiefs talk turkey
RCAA decries lack of ongoing support for bike trails
David Courtland, Humboldt Sentinel
6/24/09
Eureka
Regional state and county transportation officials talked about funding challenges to projects at a Wednesday town hall meeting in the Eureka Marina’s Wharfinger Building.
The California Transportation Commission held the well-attended meeting, hosted by the Humboldt County Association of Governments, to hear public comments as well as presentations by officials.
Humboldt County public works director Tom Mattson said that like every county in Northern California, Humboldt needs much more money for current projects than is available.
Mattson said about every two years the department has to deal with declared disasters like floods, on top of maintaining 1,207 miles of roads and 167 bridges at an annual cost of $100 million.
Asked how proposed county budget cuts will affect his department, Mattson said it could continue with its current projects for about a year.
“The current budget proposals call for deferring funds, we’re fighting that diversion,” said Mattson, adding his department has about $900,000 in reserve. “That second year, I don’t think I can get through it, I don’t think any county can.”
Jennifer Rice of the Redwood Community Action Agency said that while she is generally able to get grants for community projects such as bicycle trails, there is virtually no ongoing state mechanism for funding non-motorized transportation.
Arcata mayor Mark Wheetley presided over the forum, which also included presentations from Del Norte, Trinity, Mendocino and Lake county officials. Wheetley suggested holding transport-focused town hall meetings more often in Humboldt County, as the area’s unique challenges have less to do with traffic congestion as compared to the rest of California.
David Courtland, Humboldt Sentinel
6/24/09
Eureka
Regional state and county transportation officials talked about funding challenges to projects at a Wednesday town hall meeting in the Eureka Marina’s Wharfinger Building.
The California Transportation Commission held the well-attended meeting, hosted by the Humboldt County Association of Governments, to hear public comments as well as presentations by officials.
Humboldt County public works director Tom Mattson said that like every county in Northern California, Humboldt needs much more money for current projects than is available.
Mattson said about every two years the department has to deal with declared disasters like floods, on top of maintaining 1,207 miles of roads and 167 bridges at an annual cost of $100 million.
Asked how proposed county budget cuts will affect his department, Mattson said it could continue with its current projects for about a year.
“The current budget proposals call for deferring funds, we’re fighting that diversion,” said Mattson, adding his department has about $900,000 in reserve. “That second year, I don’t think I can get through it, I don’t think any county can.”
Jennifer Rice of the Redwood Community Action Agency said that while she is generally able to get grants for community projects such as bicycle trails, there is virtually no ongoing state mechanism for funding non-motorized transportation.
Arcata mayor Mark Wheetley presided over the forum, which also included presentations from Del Norte, Trinity, Mendocino and Lake county officials. Wheetley suggested holding transport-focused town hall meetings more often in Humboldt County, as the area’s unique challenges have less to do with traffic congestion as compared to the rest of California.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Three busted for roadside heist
Marijuana sale goes south when guns get pulled
Humboldt Sentinel staff
6/23/09
Redway
A Southern Humboldt man’s plan to sell some marijuana went horribly wrong Saturday when his prospective buyers brandished firearms and led him on a high-speed chase, catching the attention of law enforcement.
Shortly after a 12:45 p.m. report of gunshots being fired on Redwood Drive in Redway, Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies were sent to help California Highway Patrol officers.
Deputies joined the CHP officers at the Mendocino and Humboldt county line, where they were talking to Robert Anthony Mendez, 23, of Redway.
Mendez said that during a marijuana sale on Oakridge Road at Redway Beach, one of his buyers pointed a handgun at his head and another holding a rifle took his wallet—and the marijuana—before leaving in a car driven by a third suspect.
As Mendez chased them in his car the driver hit her brakes near Dean Creek on Redwood Drive, causing Mendez to rear-end the car. The passenger with the handgun fired several shots at Mendez’s car.
Mendez continued to chase his assailants, who were throwing things from their car. His car broke down on Highway 101 near Dean Creek as Mendocino County deputies and the CHP had already stopped the suspects’ car and arrested them for robbery.
Mendocino County deputies busted the thieves, Nicholas Bradford Brown, 19, of Sherman Oaks; Rayshaun Antowina Brock, 28, of Inglewood and Amber Capri Wendorf, 20, of Chatsworth. All three were taken to the Mendocino County jail and will be transferred to the Humboldt County jail later.
Deputies could not find the semi-automatic rifle, but several pounds of marijuana tossed from the robbers’ car were found along the roadside. Two civilians found Mendez’s wallet in the roadway and turned it in. No injuries were reported.
Humboldt Sentinel staff
6/23/09
Redway
A Southern Humboldt man’s plan to sell some marijuana went horribly wrong Saturday when his prospective buyers brandished firearms and led him on a high-speed chase, catching the attention of law enforcement.
Shortly after a 12:45 p.m. report of gunshots being fired on Redwood Drive in Redway, Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies were sent to help California Highway Patrol officers.
Deputies joined the CHP officers at the Mendocino and Humboldt county line, where they were talking to Robert Anthony Mendez, 23, of Redway.
Mendez said that during a marijuana sale on Oakridge Road at Redway Beach, one of his buyers pointed a handgun at his head and another holding a rifle took his wallet—and the marijuana—before leaving in a car driven by a third suspect.
As Mendez chased them in his car the driver hit her brakes near Dean Creek on Redwood Drive, causing Mendez to rear-end the car. The passenger with the handgun fired several shots at Mendez’s car.
Mendez continued to chase his assailants, who were throwing things from their car. His car broke down on Highway 101 near Dean Creek as Mendocino County deputies and the CHP had already stopped the suspects’ car and arrested them for robbery.
Mendocino County deputies busted the thieves, Nicholas Bradford Brown, 19, of Sherman Oaks; Rayshaun Antowina Brock, 28, of Inglewood and Amber Capri Wendorf, 20, of Chatsworth. All three were taken to the Mendocino County jail and will be transferred to the Humboldt County jail later.
Deputies could not find the semi-automatic rifle, but several pounds of marijuana tossed from the robbers’ car were found along the roadside. Two civilians found Mendez’s wallet in the roadway and turned it in. No injuries were reported.
Driver flees, passenger arrested at traffic stop
William Lee Nicholson of Eureka sought for parole violations, new charges
Humboldt Sentinel staff
6/23/09
Eureka
At about 5:30 p.m. Friday, June 19, an Eureka police officer stopped a white Buick sedan near the intersection of Hawthorne and A streets for a traffic violation. The driver, William Lee Nicholson, 29, of Eureka, gave a fake name and seemed nervous. Hearing the officer ask for backup, Nicholson suddenly fled through the passenger door.
The officer chased Nicholson but lost sight of him when he ran into an alley about a block away. The officer returned to his patrol car just in time to see Nicholson’s passenger, Katrina Marie Gerace, 23, drive away eastbound on Hawthorne.
Gerace was stopped a short time later near Carson and G streets, where she was busted for not obeying an officer. Searching the Buick, officers found several Vicodin and methadone pills, some marijuana and a stolen digital camera.
Gerace was taken to the Humboldt County jail and booked for felony possession of stolen property, possession of a controlled substance and failure to obey a traffic officer.
Officers were unable to find Nicholson, who is on parole for drug violations. A warrant for his arrest is being sought for possession of stolen property, possession of a controlled substance, driving on a suspended license and providing a false identity to a peace officer.
Anyone who knows Nicholson’s location is asked to call the Eureka Police Department at 441-4044 or 441-4060.
Humboldt Sentinel staff
6/23/09
Eureka
At about 5:30 p.m. Friday, June 19, an Eureka police officer stopped a white Buick sedan near the intersection of Hawthorne and A streets for a traffic violation. The driver, William Lee Nicholson, 29, of Eureka, gave a fake name and seemed nervous. Hearing the officer ask for backup, Nicholson suddenly fled through the passenger door.
The officer chased Nicholson but lost sight of him when he ran into an alley about a block away. The officer returned to his patrol car just in time to see Nicholson’s passenger, Katrina Marie Gerace, 23, drive away eastbound on Hawthorne.
Gerace was stopped a short time later near Carson and G streets, where she was busted for not obeying an officer. Searching the Buick, officers found several Vicodin and methadone pills, some marijuana and a stolen digital camera.
Gerace was taken to the Humboldt County jail and booked for felony possession of stolen property, possession of a controlled substance and failure to obey a traffic officer.
Officers were unable to find Nicholson, who is on parole for drug violations. A warrant for his arrest is being sought for possession of stolen property, possession of a controlled substance, driving on a suspended license and providing a false identity to a peace officer.
Anyone who knows Nicholson’s location is asked to call the Eureka Police Department at 441-4044 or 441-4060.
Monday, June 22, 2009
HSU geographer named top scholar
Steve Cunha recognized for Central Asia expertise
Paul Mann, Humboldt State University
6/22/09
Arcata
Humboldt State University President Rollin Richmond has accepted a faculty panel's recommendation of award-winning Geography Professor Stephen Cunha to be the 2009 Scholar of the Year.
In accepting the recommendation, the President said, "Professor Cunha is a natural choice. While he is an internationally known and respected scholar with a fascinating background, he is also a teacher with a real passion for his discipline. Humboldt State students recognize his commitment, and his classes here are much in demand."
The Advisory Board for Research and Creative Projects, appointed by the Academic Senate, called Cunha "an internationally known expert on the geography of Central Asia and a national leader of K-12 geographic education."
"The real honor," Cunha said, "is to be included among Humboldt State's finest teacher-scholars. Their collective erudition in science, art, humanities and social science defines and supports our educational mission. The field work, writing and professional meeting presentations kick my work with students up a notch. Scholarship is the score, teaching and student advising are the performance."
Cunha added, "I've always felt lucky to turn a youthful passion into a lifelong career, and to work with motivated HSU students who share that interest."
As for the Outstanding Scholar Award itself, Cunha said, "My cartographer wife Mary deserves at least 51% of it."
Prior to joining HSU in 2001, Cunha served 10 seasons as a park ranger in Yosemite and Alaska and four years examining the potential for a national park and biosphere reserve in the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan in Central Asia. They are famed as Marco Polo's "Roof of the World."
A graduate of UC Berkeley and UC Davis, Cunha is the director of the California Geographic Alliance. Under his leadership, the organization has involved more than 75,000 of the state's teachers in various instructional activities in a concerted drive to offer more effective geography education. He and his alliance partners have secured more than $3 million in grants in the last 10 years to advance geographic literacy and education in the state. In 2007, the alliance and its partners won a $1 million start-up endowment from the David & Lucille Packard Foundation and the National Geographic Society to allow the alliance's efforts to continue in perpetuity.
Cunha himself has received many major grants for his scholarship, including funds from the Bechtel Foundation, the California Department of Education, the University of California and the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund.
Since the inception of the National Geography Bee in 1989, Cunha has worked closely with the National Geographic Society to expand the contest, and California now has the largest bee in the nation. More than 100,000 of the state's fourth through eighth graders compete each year, led by Cunha as state coordinator. He assists schools, presides over the state final each spring and, with HSU's Mary Hackett, maintains the state office in Arcata. This July, he is the backup to Jeopardy host Alex Trebek at the National Geographic World Geography Championships in Mexico City. The three-day competition involves student winners from 21 countries.
A prolific author, Cunha writes for diverse audiences-children, young adults, the general public and scholars-in textbooks, journals, encyclopedia entries, government reports and book chapters. Often they are illustrated with photographs from his frequent world travels. This year he is a contributor to the five-volume Encyclopedia of Asia.
Both of his National Geographic books, Our 50 States and The Official National Geographic Bee Study Guide, reached Amazon Children's best seller list. He has co-authored social studies and science textbooks for grades two through high school, and consulted on more than 75 National Geographic Society books, maps and magazine articles.
Cunha was one of five 2007 recipients of the $20,000 California State University Wang Family Excellence Award, which recognizes outstanding faculty and administrators. That same year, he won the Hilda Taba Award from the California Council for Social Studies for outstanding and enduring contributions to social science education in the state. In 2001, he was selected for the Distinguished Teaching Award of the National Council for Geographic Education.
Paul Mann, Humboldt State University
6/22/09
Arcata
Humboldt State University President Rollin Richmond has accepted a faculty panel's recommendation of award-winning Geography Professor Stephen Cunha to be the 2009 Scholar of the Year.
In accepting the recommendation, the President said, "Professor Cunha is a natural choice. While he is an internationally known and respected scholar with a fascinating background, he is also a teacher with a real passion for his discipline. Humboldt State students recognize his commitment, and his classes here are much in demand."
The Advisory Board for Research and Creative Projects, appointed by the Academic Senate, called Cunha "an internationally known expert on the geography of Central Asia and a national leader of K-12 geographic education."
"The real honor," Cunha said, "is to be included among Humboldt State's finest teacher-scholars. Their collective erudition in science, art, humanities and social science defines and supports our educational mission. The field work, writing and professional meeting presentations kick my work with students up a notch. Scholarship is the score, teaching and student advising are the performance."
Cunha added, "I've always felt lucky to turn a youthful passion into a lifelong career, and to work with motivated HSU students who share that interest."
As for the Outstanding Scholar Award itself, Cunha said, "My cartographer wife Mary deserves at least 51% of it."
Prior to joining HSU in 2001, Cunha served 10 seasons as a park ranger in Yosemite and Alaska and four years examining the potential for a national park and biosphere reserve in the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan in Central Asia. They are famed as Marco Polo's "Roof of the World."
A graduate of UC Berkeley and UC Davis, Cunha is the director of the California Geographic Alliance. Under his leadership, the organization has involved more than 75,000 of the state's teachers in various instructional activities in a concerted drive to offer more effective geography education. He and his alliance partners have secured more than $3 million in grants in the last 10 years to advance geographic literacy and education in the state. In 2007, the alliance and its partners won a $1 million start-up endowment from the David & Lucille Packard Foundation and the National Geographic Society to allow the alliance's efforts to continue in perpetuity.
Cunha himself has received many major grants for his scholarship, including funds from the Bechtel Foundation, the California Department of Education, the University of California and the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund.
Since the inception of the National Geography Bee in 1989, Cunha has worked closely with the National Geographic Society to expand the contest, and California now has the largest bee in the nation. More than 100,000 of the state's fourth through eighth graders compete each year, led by Cunha as state coordinator. He assists schools, presides over the state final each spring and, with HSU's Mary Hackett, maintains the state office in Arcata. This July, he is the backup to Jeopardy host Alex Trebek at the National Geographic World Geography Championships in Mexico City. The three-day competition involves student winners from 21 countries.
A prolific author, Cunha writes for diverse audiences-children, young adults, the general public and scholars-in textbooks, journals, encyclopedia entries, government reports and book chapters. Often they are illustrated with photographs from his frequent world travels. This year he is a contributor to the five-volume Encyclopedia of Asia.
Both of his National Geographic books, Our 50 States and The Official National Geographic Bee Study Guide, reached Amazon Children's best seller list. He has co-authored social studies and science textbooks for grades two through high school, and consulted on more than 75 National Geographic Society books, maps and magazine articles.
Cunha was one of five 2007 recipients of the $20,000 California State University Wang Family Excellence Award, which recognizes outstanding faculty and administrators. That same year, he won the Hilda Taba Award from the California Council for Social Studies for outstanding and enduring contributions to social science education in the state. In 2001, he was selected for the Distinguished Teaching Award of the National Council for Geographic Education.
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