Has Jim Lembke Stepped Off in the Deep End ?

I knew Jim Lembke had some oddball ideas, but he's really becoming an embarrassment to our community. As reported in the St. Louis Post Dispatch, it appears Lembke didn't take kindly to a fellow politician's daughter losing in a child custody dispute. Jim decided to try to have the judge impeached. This has only been done three times since our state constitution was enacted 1945. The Republican State Representative from the area Darrell Pollock backed the judge's integrity. Fortunately, Missouri House Speaker Rod Jetton put a stop to this nonsense before it could go very far.
I can't imagine a worse scenario for our courts than to have state legislators running around trying to impeach them for doing their jobs.

Mr. Lembke- Here's your sign!

Please, No More Threats.

Hey look. I'm just a guy with a computer and some public records. Stop sending the little threats. I'm not afraid, I'm bored.
I won't put anything on here that's not the truth, which means I can't be sued. If I write something that is misleading by accident and you point it out, I'll correct it with an apology. I've been doing this about 9 months now and the only time I had something wrong is when I said our fire chief had two restraining orders against him. I didn't know one had expired. Hell, don't harass your employees and constituents and there won't be anything to write about. For you thieves out there, don't get caught stealing anything and I won't call you a thief.
For those of you who send their compliments, thanks. Please do me a favor and pass my BLOG address on to your friends. Happy Blogging!

The Call Newspapers / Hilmer Family

It was good to hear the Call finally decided to cover the school budget crisis this week. I guess they were a little embarrassed being scooped by this BLOG last week. Amazingly, they had two prominent anti-public school letters to the editor right along with the article. This was great timing. What was even better was the fact that Der Chairman Hilmer, Mehlville Fire Department, even mentioned this humble blogger. And by just a coincidence, his cousin Joel Hemme wrote the other letter to the editor. This makes me wonder what's in the coffee at Starbucks these days. So the Hilmers are one big anti-firefighter and anti-public education family. That's sweet. That the Call would print their letters together certainly makes you think the Call has no objectivity left whatsoever. You have to think that Call owner Bill Milligan owes these clowns money. He can't be this incompetent on his own.

Crestwood Independent

I've already listed a couple of the postings, but I wanted to point out that they have more shots at the Call for printing incorrect information about their city. Just hit the link and visit the discussion about the mayor.
I love it. It just proves the people of Crestwood see through them.

Mehlville School District CFO Demoted

I'm sure the Call has been trying to keep a lid on the current budget crises at Mehlville in an effort to support Karl Frank, Jr. for re-election. But the pot just boiled over last night. Word on the street has it the board voted 4 to 3 to demote their Chief Financial Officer due to the district's budget crisis.

Things are bad and they should have seen it coming. It was great politics to give everybody a 6 % raise last year, but what board doesn't ask for a couple of year's projections?

Let me just say this: Karl Frank, Jr. needs to resign and withdraw from the election. If he really loved our schools and wanted them to succeed, he should put the children's needs before his own.
Should Frank win and the district go out for something before the voters, there's no way they can respect the board after what he's done in his own personal bankruptcy and putting the district on the same path.

Karl, quit for the kids!

And let me ask you, have you heard anything about this other than here?

I'm Not a Republican

I used to be. I even worked as a Republican election judge many years ago. But now, I most often vote for Democrats. I realize as I read the paper that I view the stories with some bias. Sometimes though, I have to wonder, is this the best they've got.
I read about the registrations for the upcoming County Council election. For our district, we have the incumbent John Campisi. Mr. Campisi has been caught stealing water while in office. In addition, there are quite a few questions out there about his financial dealings. He recently took a job working for Applied Scholastics. This is the same group of people that John Travolta and Tom Cruise worship with. This is just strange.
Then we've got Republican Mike Rohrbacher running as a Libertarian. Now if Mike isn't a piece of work, I don't know what is. He's in hot water over the missing funds involved in the Community College tax election. Perhaps he thinks that being a candidate for the County Council will keep him out of a federal penitentiary.
Prediction: The Call will sponsor Campisi. They are peas in a pod.

Happy Easter!

More Thoughts from Crestwood About Call Newspapers

Anonymous said...
They are a slanted little newspaper that is mailed to homes in the area..... Not much "journalisim" being practiced at the Call. They missed, or chose not to cover, the biggest story in Crestwood history.... why a certian Mayor resigned after a certain holiday party to save his skin and how his buddy Police Chief worked his "majic" to make sure that no trail was left. Actually, the certian Mayor resigned, because the heat was getting too hot even for DG to handle as the St. Louis County Prosacuting Attorney made several inquires into the event. DG was able to take care of it, but the deal was that JIMBO had to go.
12:03 PM, March 22, 2008
Crestwood Independent said...
11;18 AM blogger: Hate Don Greer? why he is dead! Why should I hate him? I admit he was less than stellar in my eyes, but now that he's DEAD, I have no time for him.Wrong job? Do you really think the police chief allowed the adult book store into the city? No, it was the doing of the Board and the C/A, just as it would be here.Sad? no, but I do have a word for your continued trite diatribe under the name "anonymous," Pathetic, very pathetic!Tom Ford
12:13 PM, March 22, 2008
Anonymous said...
12:03 March 22 Yeah! God Bless You whoever you are. Love it! Love it! Love it! At last I know somebody out there does know the real truth.
12:29 PM, March 22, 2008
Anonymous said...
Why did City pay Ms. Madrid when she left but not Frank?Because she had a VERY good sexual harrasment claim against the City. You see, the JIMBO R. and Tommy F., two lawyers by the way, allowed their CA/Police Chief to have a “social relationship” with a subordinate employee who he hired, supervised and promoted.Another story that the Call chose to look the other way on.
12:31 PM, March 22, 2008

Mike's note: It's hard to believe that someone would think the Call would deliberately look the other way on some ethical improprieties. Well maybe it's not that difficult if you know their history.

Where are the Black People?

I copied this from the ACC site. Their link is over to the right>.

ACC News
March 20, 2008
American Bemoans "Black Exodus" At Post
From today's Eye: since September 2007 about 15 African Americans have left the newspaper, and the Post has hired just one African American during that time.Our reader writes, “Let’s look at the scorecard for the daily paper that is covering a diverse city:? No African Americans in senior editor positions.
? No assistant Metro editors of color.? No assistant editors of color in any department.? No blacks covering the city; the only black reporter on the Metro staff covers North County (and how many stories from North County have you seen in the daily paper?) .? No blacks writing editorials.
? No blacks on the copy desk (copy desk chief Courtney Barrett is black, but his is an administrative job, although he reads some copy)? No blacks on the national or foreign desk.? No black page designers.? No blacks in the research department.

How about our weakly paper?

I ask the question again, if the Call is liberal or even progressive, have they ever hired a black person since they've been in business?

I guess this is another case of: Do as I say, not as I do!

What Other BLOGS Say About Call Newspapers

Here's what they're saying at the Crestwood Independent:
Anonymous said...
11:01 AM That is what I have been trying to tell bloggers many times. I did what you did and told The Call not to send their paper to me a long time ago. I am glad I am not the only one and I agree with your comments 100%.Their are other papers like the Journal where I can read what is going on without the one-sided view.Mike Anthony and his paper have always played politics and in doing so will only endorse politicians who give credence to his paper. You will never get anything but his "slant" on what is going on and who is doing what.His writers follow the leader and will never print anything that is positive about this mayor because his paper was made popular by a past mayor who used it to further his political ambitions. When that person resigned, he never wrote the truth about his resignation. Heavens No! Why bite the hand that feeds you. His paper again slanted the truth.Mike Anthony fuels political egos and in turn they get in "bed" together and everybody is happy. He gets what is necessary to keep his paper afloat and politicians get all the accolades and homage from his written words.Mike Anthony has had an allegiance to those who oppose this mayor. That's what keeps him in business. As I have said before, if Mike Anthony and his paper throws this administration a "bone", don't accept it as attempting to upgrade his journalistic talents because he has none.This is my view which I am entitledjust as others have done.12:18 PM, March 16, 2008

Violating the Law Mehlville Fire and Call Newspapers

The Fire Department continues to violate two Missouri Laws and their own policies that cover meetings and records. I guess the Call will cover this sometime but since they don't like to follow the law either, maybe not.

Litigation versus
William & Deborah Milligan
Concord Publications, Inc dba Call Publishing
Call Newspapers

· Case #21C94-18795 Landlord, Darrel D. Climer back rent for over $11,000 Release of Garnishment Oct 27, 1995.
· Case # 21C97-23879 State of Missouri Failure to pay taxes,
· Case #681813 Alonzo Potts- Former Business Partner with Call Publications sues the Milligans and the Call for Breach of Fiduciary Duty, Breach of Contract, and Fraud ($30,000).
· Case # 97CC-001749 continued action to settle previous case by Alonzo Potts- Judgment #781307, March 26th, 2003.
· Case # 21S90-02371 Small claims by Lockos, hostile work environment
· Case #21S90-02372 by Voyles
· Case # 21S96-01019 by Service Assurance Corporation

Against
William T. Milligan

· Case # 21B901359 07/17/90 Adult Abuse brought by Deborah S. Baker (spouse)
· Case #21C98-04554 Failure to pay account Commercial Phone Marketing
· Case #931976939 Failure to register vehicle
· Case # 932000078 speeding
· Case #96010990 Failure to register
· Case #76151990 Failure to appear
· Case #90030990 speeding
· Case #7651990 Failure to appear
· Case #21-94TR-011892 speeding
· Case #94TR-11892
· Case #95TR-7291
· Case # 90TRTR-26455 Disobeyed red light
· 2 cars were totaled in 1990!

Against
Deborah (Baker) Milligan

· Case # 613949 Dissolution of marriage 08/14/90

Mehlville, We Have a Problem!!

Ladies and Gentlemen,
I don't usually write about Mehlville School District business. When I left the school board, I told myself and others ,that I would be a supportive parent and I think I am. I promised not to complain about issues unless I could spend some time to study and reflect upon how my comments could help the district. I've seen others leave the board to become grouches and self-proclaimed experts. I didn't want to be like that. I had no intention of spending any more time on district business but I'm compelled to comment this week after receiving the information below.

For those of you not familiar with the financial ins and outs of school budget requirements, let me summarize this for you. The current school board has approved a plan leading our district into bankruptcy.

This is what the district's Chief Financial Officer told the superintendent last week:
03/07/2008 06:26PMSubject: budget
Just wanted to touch base with you before the meeting on Monday. I went through all revenue and expenditures for the next two years. The situation is pretty much what we discussed before - which is dismal.

If the 08-09 budget is adjusted for:
an additional 4 math teachers
channel changes (columns on teacher sal. schedule)
new Webmaster position
increased retirement rates
e-newsletter
decreased fees for Unicom, Access Mgt., and Dickinson Hussman
increased utilities and security costs
a decrease of $600K to Maint.
then that will bring the balance to 4.94% in FY08-09 from 9.58% in the current year.
Looking at FY09-10, just carrying the SAME expenditures over from FY08-09 (no increases) but adjusting revenue, the balance will be at .9%.
Thanks,
Brent

And here's what the board was told:

The CFO has projected decreasing fund balances to the point of an alarming level. The Board obviously received some poor advice last June when the administration recommended raises with one time funds. When the district decided to use one time funds (fund balances) to pay for recurring expenses (salary increases for this year).

I remember leaving the school board. There were some unhappy people. We cut a lot of staff, we cut a lot of programs and we gave meager raises to our teachers and our administrators. We made plans to charge most students for transportation. We did one other thing. We let the community know what we were doing and we weren't even facing a crisis. Never did the CFO use the word dismal in our budget discussions.
Our current school board has remained silent. This week's board meeting lasted just over an hour and not one word was made of the alarming budget issue. One can only assume Board President Tom Diehl would like to keep this quiet until after the April 8th school board election.
The Mehlville School District is facing an incredible financial challenge. They're sure to be asking voters in the next year to approve bond or other types of tax issues and we will need directors on our school board with some financial sense and integrity.
And look at what we have. Mr. Karl Frank, Jr., current Board Vice President, was rejected by his fellow board members just last year when he sought the board presidency. They told him privately that his personal financial irresponsibility was not appropriate for the office. It seems Frank just filed for bankruptcy and numerous lawsuits were filed against him and his business. They also learned that Frank had been fired from his last employer, the President Casino. Frank has also demonstrated an irresponsible voting record as a school board member including voting against refinancing some bonds with Bank of America which saved the district $750,000. Frank was the lone dissenter in the 6 to 1 decision. Also, Karl Frank, Jr, has been cited by the Missouri Ethics Commission twice during his campaigns for school board. Once was for failing to document major campaign contributors and the other was for failing to file quarterly financial disclosure forms.
Mehlville School District voters will go to the polls in just a few weeks to vote for three directors for our school board. The taxpayers in the district will need someone they can trust. We need directors who care about kids, but also have fiscal commonsense and integrity.

I'm voting for the three women at the bottom of the ballot:

Marea Hoppe, Deborah Langland and Erin Weber.

Changing My Prediction for the Mehlville School Board

Whooooooooa, not so fast. The Call will not sponsor Chris Brown and David Bertelsen for the Mehlville School Board. Nope, no way, no how. Not after last night's forum. These fellows are truly pro-gun. Bertelsen even said he'd like kids with concealed permits to be able to have guns in schools. Although I think he changed that later, he wants more guns and Brown agrees. Milligan and Anthony are afraid of guns. Milligan once said he was afraid of me because I had ARMY TRAINING (pronounced Armeeeeeeee Training). We'll have to give this some more thought.
The Call will continue to sponsor Karl Frank, Jr.

Benefit Pool Tournament

A tournament will be held noon Saturday, March 29th at The Phoenix ( on Lemay Ferry, just north of Lindbergh). All proceeds will benefit the families of the two fallen Kirkwood police officers, Officer Ballman and Sgt. Biggs.
The entrance fee is just $20 and they'll be a bunch of prizes. This will be a two out of three, single elimination tournament.
This should be a good time and a great way to help these families out. Hope to see you there.
Mike Heins

More Hypocrisy from Call Newspapers

I don't know anyone who respects our weakly newspaper. How could they? Active community leaders will tell you they are mean, biased and insulting in almost every story they publish. Conservatives complain about the liberal slant of their editorials. Time and time again, they prove to have no standards or principles. This was reinforced for me this week, when I caught this little article, written by their Editor from Arnold, Mike Anthony, at the Heartland Institute's website. Now why would a liberal paper give a right wing organization permission to use their property? Would James Stonebraker, aka the Truth Detector, give something to www.firedupmissouri.com/. I don't think so. I guess they were excited that anyone would want to reprint something from their paper that wasn't a sports team's photo.
The article is about the Mehlville Fire Board's new water carrier, State Representative Walt Bivins and his efforts to craft legislation on their behalf. Bivins has been truly doing a remarkable job on behalf of Mr. Hilmer. I can see him now driving around their lobbyist Cathy Enz in his Jaguar introducing her to people in Jeff City. Perhaps if Walt was representing his constituents, instead of Chairman Hilmer, he wouldn't have Mr. Don Hoskins as an opponent in the upcoming Republican primary. I am impressed though. All all these years the Call has been unmercifully slamming Bivins for some petty stuff, now they've taken a real liking to him. Look for Gunga Din to get a huge sponsorship in upcoming elections.
http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=22877&CFID=10984655&CFTOKEN=62073668

Oakville Call Deadbeats

History can be fun! I thought I recognized the name. Darrel D. Climer, who recently sold the property for the new fire house to the district has beat Mr. Milligan (Call Newspapers) in court before. I love it when Milligan is taking the beating. It seems that Milligan can't lick a man. Milligan rented office space from Climer in Oakville. But like the deadbeat that he his, he tried to skip out without paying over $11,000 in rent. Milligan tried to play a little name game to outsmart his landlord. He attempted the same game with his partner also and took another beating, but that's a story for another day. Reading through the court papers just confirms what a crumb bum this guy is.
· Case #21C94-18795 Landlord, Darrel D. Climer back rent for over $11,000 Release of Garnishment Oct 27, 1995.

Prediction for the Mehlville School Board Election

As I wait and wait and wait for the fire district, let my go ahead and make my prediction for the Call's sponsorships for the upcoming Mehlville School Board election.
The Call will sponsor:
Karl Frank, Jr.
Chris Brown
David Bertelsen
Why will they sponsor these fellows? That's easy. When Bill Milligan tells Karl to jump, Karl asks high high he'd like him to try. These two are peas in a pod, even though I don't like vegetable metaphors.
Chris and David are running on an anti-tax platform. That spells controversy and the Call likes controversy. To hell with the kids and our community, give them controversy. They could support Linda Mooy since she's part of the same anti tax slate, but she's a woman. Everybody knows, given the choice between slapping a woman around or sponsoring her, the slap wins every time. We'll see come April 8th.

Slow Week

I haven't been posting much lately. I blame some of that on being a little busy. Some of the blame falls on our fire district as they drag their feet to provide documentation that they are required to under the law. Also, more stuff is heading my way about the fire department's unofficial 4th director. I'm just considering this my own spring training. As I'm working on a few pitches, I want you to think about these relationships.

The Truth Spot Blogger aka James Stonebraker, Stoney, Truth Detector (Defector)
married to

Mariam Stonebraker Political Director for

John Hancock served as the official spokesman for the Blunt for Governor campaign in 2004
and most likely will do the same thing for

Kenny Hulshof who's running for Governor this year.

Should I post a reward for the first person who gets me a picture of Stonebraker and Hulshof?