Neighborhood Watch | A Citizens Crime Commission

Hey, guess what, I had this awesome great idea for starting a neighborhood watch program in Palmer, specifically the Green Acres neighborhood. Yeah, I'm calling it a citizens crime commission, but it's more or less a neighborhood watch. It's a loose-fit organization of Second Amendment-supporting neighbors and friends who are entrusted with keeping close contacts with the Palmer police department (and establishing a rapport with them) and making sure that children and young people are safe, and all that good stuff. I figure since no one else is using a citizens crime commission anywhere in this county, or saw to it that one would be established, I would just take it upon myself...I want to especially thank former Ellis County Sheriff's Office deputy Daryl Ray Spence (who is running for county commissioner against Bill Dodson in November, btw) for some guidance on this, as well as Palmer Chief John Zaidle for his department making a concerted effort to launch various neighborhood watch programs in Palmer, and of course to my Minnesota-based graphic designer for the first concept logo of what Green Acres Watch will be:

Efforts Under Way to Save Downtown Water Tower

Some disappointing reactions from the Palmer City Council's June 15 decision (a 4-1 vote; Dianne Drewery in opposition) to tear down the downtown Palmer water tower has prompted the wife of one of the four yay votes to spur a special meeting to gather more public input. The Palmer Post is steadfastly supportive of Drewery and the effort to have the June 15 decision rescinded. Councilmen Jeff Vick, Kenneth Bateman, Chris Ivie and Jeffery Greenlee voted to tear down the city's landmark.








The Palmer Post favors keeping the water tower at all costs, but just in case, we will have new logos created (some with the tower, some without.)

Permission granted to use/distribute/copy/publish/print the water tower photo.

Direct Link: thepalmerpost.wordpress.com/2010/06/17/efforts-to-save-downtown-palmer-water-tower-under-way/

Massachusetts-Based Dunkin Donuts Comes to Ellis County

In my eight-month experience in New Hampshire last year, there were Dunkin Donuts stores on virtually every street corner, kinda like Texas has a church on every street corner (or so the saying goes.) The coffee was great, the donuts were full of sugar (truly the last thing I really need to have) and now, this local town will be getting Dunkin Donuts sold -- which is good, because it reminds me of New England. It's by far the best thing Boston puts out other than Harvard women.

Gun (Control) Free Zones? A Q&A w/a Local Police Chief Over ISD Gun Laws

Rather than wait until the print-edition of The Palmer Post is out, I thought this would be a good way to spark a discussion and get people's opinions...please specify if you do not want your answers included in the June 14 issue of the paper, though.
Palmer Police Chief John Zaidle Q&A: Gun Laws in School Zones

As a matter of public discourse, The Palmer Post publisher Joey G. Dauben proposed a question to both Palmer Police Chief John Zaidle and Palmer ISD. This question and answer interview is designed to spark independent thinking, judgment and public dialogue.

Question: Some guys at Lee's Gun Repair and I were discussing gun laws, and they brought up something that got me thinking...First, where do those PISD school zone zero-tolerance policies/laws/etc. stop? Do they extend to and over FM 813 or Jefferson Street or Dick Street, or is it just the property that PISD owns? Second, the item of discussion was that in theory, Palmer police could pull over a parent on the shoulder of say, 813, and spot a gun and therefore, the gun would be in violation of the zero-tolerance policy. Or if the police pulled over anyone and they were to drive onto school property in say, a parking lot, the theory went, the rifle in the back window could be in violation of the school zone policy. My intent with these questions is to clear up some of the "rumors" about the gun laws, and inform and educate the public as to what the zero-tolerance policy is on guns.

Chief Zaidle: As with so much of our body of laws, things are not very clear and can be quite confusing. Many times in my law enforcement duties, I am forced to make an educated guess as to what the law currently is, and advise individuals as best I can while trying to navigate them through the mine fields of American Laws. Why do you think we call the decisions of appellate courts "opinions"? Their opinion is not necessarily right, or better than mine or yours. It's just their opinion. Look at all the cases that get reversed; each and every one means that some judge was wrong about the law. Here is the state of things as of now: The Federal Gun Free School Zones Act was re-enacted a few years ago. This law makes it illegal to possess any gun with in 1000 feet of any piece of property that is used by a school. It is vague. Does it cover office space rented out in an office building by the administration of our local school district? What if they rent out a room in a nondescript building for monthly meetings of a school-sponsored activity group? What about home schools? It's all very messy and unclear and there are no easy answers. Until someone gets prosecuted and fights it will we get any judicial "opinions" on what is legal or not under this law. The stated exceptions are for guns possessed in your home, CHL's, and guns unloaded and locked in a container. One must also realize that federal laws are not often enforced. Many local police often will not alert federal authorities to violations of federal laws. Even when they do, the US Attorney's office, often does not trouble itself with prosecuting them. Remember, reliance upon police agencies (or even their attorneys') "opinions" on the law is NO defense if a court disagrees with that opinion. We are all presumed to "know the law" and ignorance thereof is no excuse. This doctrine worked fine in the days when laws were few and simple. Not so today. Not even lawyers and courts can agree on what the law is. As regards our state's 300 foot gun free school zone law, it applies only to handguns, and it excepts CHL's. So, possession of a handgun in your car as you drive to the gun range on a Saturday past an unmarked building where after-school activities are conducted on Wednesdays may still land you in jail and punishable for a felony. Not likely, but possible. Under the law as it is now, "premises" is defined to exclude driveways and parking lots. So a CHL can carry in those places. I hope this helps.

Pretty Gay | 2 Seniors Told No Diploma Unless They Shaved

Two high school seniors last week were told that if they didn't shave small amounts of facial hair, they would be barred from walking across the stage to receive their diploma...there was a discussion about this on last night's EllisCountyRadio.com broadcast (daily broadcasts at 9:30 p.m., CST, seven days a week), so check there for more details: elliscountyradio.com