Category: Ethics

Bad behavior, Crime, Dangerous Republicans, Embarrassing Republicans, Ethics

House Ethics report finds “substantial evidence” that Matt Gaetz, Trump’s first pick for Attorney General, paid women for sex, had sex with an underage girl, used & possessed illegal drugs, accepted impermissible gifts and more

by Anne Landman • December 23, 2024 • 14 Comments

Matt Gaetz, Trump’s first pick to be United States Attorney General (AG). The AG serves as the chief law enforcement officer of the United States and principal legal advisor to the U.S. President

On December 23, 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Ethics Committee, whose “singular mission is to protect the integrity of the House,” released a long-awaited report on the behavior of former House Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) (pdf), who was president-elect Donald J. Trump’s first choice to be Attorney General of the United States.

Gaetz resigned from his Congressional seat after his nomination to be AG, and prior to the release of the report.

What’s wrong with “Medicare Advantage” plans?

by Anne Landman • December 6, 2024 • 29 Comments

Frame from a TV ad by a local agency that sells Medicare Advantage plans

Re-publishing this article in the wake of the murder of the UnitedHealth Care CEO in New York this week. Authorities found the words “delay” and “deny” written on the bullets that killed the CEO — words that describe insurer tactics to avoid paying claims. UnitedHealthCare has the biggest share of so-called “Medicare Advantage” enrollment at 29% in 2024, up from 20% in 2010, according the Kaiser Family Foundation, which focuses on major health care issues in the U.S.

At this time of year, ads hawking “Medicare Advantage” plans flood every possible media outlet, imploring seniors to call 1-800 numbers for “free Medicare evaluations” where brokers can sign them up for Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. MA plans are also called Part C plans, which offer premiums for private insurance plans that cost less than traditional Medicare plans while also offering freebies like vision screenings, dental cleanings, gym memberships and a monthly allowance to spend on drugstore merchandise.

These plans definitely sound alluring, but beware.

Red Rock Auto wage theft lawsuit headed for trial Dec. 9-11

by Anne Landman • November 20, 2024 • 6 Comments

Red Rock GMC on First Street in Grand Junction, where Derek Paíz was employed as a detailer

A civil wage theft lawsuit, 23CV52 (pdf), filed by a tenacious former vehicle detailer against Red Rock Auto Group II, Inc. and Red Rock’s local minority owner Bryan Knight, is headed for a fast-approaching jury trial December 9-11, 2024 at the Mesa County Justice Center.

At a virtual pre-trial conference this morning, November 20, Judge Matthew Barrett confirmed that the trial is set for those dates and will be heard by a 6-person jury.

Bryan Knight, now listed as a minority (10%) owner of Red Rock GMC

Derek Paíz worked as a detailer for Red Rock GMC at 741 N. First Street in Grand Junction from April-September, 2022. He filed the case pro se (on his own, without an attorney) on October 26, 2023 seeking wages he alleges Red Rock failed to pay him for work he did while employed at the GMC dealership in 2022.

A “weird” watch party for Jeff Hurd and the media

by Anne Landman • November 17, 2024 • 11 Comments

Charles Ashby

The following opinion column by longtime political reporter for the Daily Sentinel, Charles Ashby, is reprinted here in full with permission from the Sentinel’s publisher. The original article is here, on the Sentinel’s website. It is a rare opinion column by Ashby, who has been a news reporter for 45 years, and who has covered politics for about half that time. It describes the unprecedented way District 3 Republican U.S. House Representative-elect Jeff Hurd treated journalists attending his watch party on election night, Nov. 5, 2024.

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In all my nearly 50 years in journalism, about half of which was in covering politics in Colorado, I’ve never heard of what happened during U.S. Rep.-elect Jeff Hurd’s election night watch party occurring anywhere else.

While it’s not uncommon to corral the media at political events, or even bar them from entry, what Hurd’s campaign did to the print, radio and television press at The Warehouse 25Sixty-five Kitchen & Bar on Tuesday night was unprecedented.

Community vigil planned for Amanda Overstreet

by Anne Landman • November 10, 2024 • 1 Comment

A community vigil will be held Saturday, November 16 at 2:00 p.m. at Long’s Park, 3117 Patterson Road, to honor Amanda Overstreet, whose remains were discovered in a freezer in the garage of a house on Pinyon Ave. in January of this year. The Mesa County Sheriff’s Office finally identified the remains on October 11, 2024 as those of the teenage daughter of the previous owner of the home. She was identified as Amanda Leariel Overstreet and was estimated to have been 16 years old at the time of her disappearance in 2005. Her disappearance was never reported. Her death is being investigated as a homicide.

Comparison of interchange projects elswhere in Colorado shows taxpayers are getting a raw deal in Ballot Issue 1A

by Anne Landman • October 27, 2024 • 9 Comments

With other highway interchanges being built elsewhere in Colorado, the developers who will benefit from these projects kicked in millions of dollars towards their completion, or paid the total cost of construction up front and will get reimbursed from the future taxes generated on the retail development it stimulates on the rest of their property.

That’s not the case with the proposed I-70 interchange at 29 Road. The owners of the land the interchange would be built on haven’t pledged a dime towards its construction, even though their land around it would likely skyrocket in value after it is built, and generate income for them far into the future.

ACLU accuses Grand Junction Municipal Judge Tammy Eret of constitutional violations on the bench

by Anne Landman • October 26, 2024 • 23 Comments

City of G.J. Municipal Judge and School District 51’s in-house legal counsel and Tammy Eret

On September 23, 2024 the Colorado ACLU sent a 5 page letter (pdf) to Grand Junction officials notifying them that Grand Junction Municipal Judge Tammy Eret has been engaging in “blatantly unconstitutional” and “harmful” practices in City court sessions. The letter accuses Eret of “persistently and illegally” denying incarcerated people access to court-appointed counsel, coercing uncounseled guilty pleas, and imposing “lengthy, uncounseled, illegal jail sentences.” The letter gives detailed examples of such instances, even including some of the the in-court dialogue between Eret and the people who were before her in court.

Sports car with Red Rock dealer plates parked in handicapped spot at Target, with two able-bodied, 20-something men loading stuff into it

by Anne Landman • October 10, 2024 • 15 Comments

Car with Red Rock Nissan license plate frame and dealer tags parked illegally in a handicap spot at 4:05 p.m. on 10/10/24 in front of Target at Mesa Mall, Grand Junction.

Today, Thursday, October 10, 2024 at 4:05 p.m., someone snapped this photo of a red, two-door Dodge sports car with dealer plates and a Red Rock Nissan license plate frame, parked, idling, in a handicap parking spot in front of Target at Mesa Mall, with two able-bodied, 20-something young men loading stuff into it. The license plate number was DQP-G43. The plate had the letters “DLR” vertically on the left side, meaning it is a dealer plate. This means at least one of the two young men had to work at a Red Rock Auto dealership in order to have access to the plate. The license plate frame said “Red Rock Nissan.”

Proposition 127: Prohibit bobcat, lynx and mountain lion hunting

by Anne Landman • October 7, 2024 • 5 Comments

Propositions with three numbers (e.g., Proposition 127, Proposition 128, etc.) are measures amending state statutes.

Proposition 127 is a grassroots citizens initiative that would make it illegal to hunt, shoot at, or trap bobcats, lynx, and mountain lions in Colorado. The only exceptions are for the protection of human life, property and livestock. Violation would be a Class 1 misdemeanor punishable by a fine and limiting of the violator’s wildlife hunting privileges.

The measure is supported by Cats Aren’t Trophies, and is endorsed by animal welfare societies, wildlife sanctuaries and rescues, Audubon Societies, Wild Earth Guardians and the Sierra Club, among others.

Judge sentences Tina Peters to 9 years of incarceration, plus 3 years of parole after she completes her sentence

by Anne Landman • October 3, 2024 • 24 Comments

Here is the last 22 minutes of today’s sentencing hearing in which Judge Barrett gives Tina a stern talk how and why he arrived at the sentence he chose, and in which she finds out she is sentenced to 9 years of incarceration (6 months in the Mesa County Detention Facility to be served first, and then 8 1/2 more years in the Department of Corrections) plus 3 years of parole after she completes her sentence.

Consumer advocacy, Crime, Ethics, Local business, Local concerns, Red Rock Hyundai, Red Rock Hyundai Grand Junction, Scams

State opens case into alleged forgery at Red Rock Hyundai

by Anne Landman • September 17, 2024 • 4 Comments

Subpoena related to a 2022 transaction at Red Rock Hyundai in which allegedly forged signatures were discovered by a credit union on purchase documents for a used 2020 GMC Sierra truck. Mr. Acevedo, the customer who tried to buy the vehicle, was the victim in the case.

The Colorado Attorney General and Auto Industry Division are subpoenaing documents related the alleged forgery of signatures discovered during a customer’s attempt to purchase a used truck at Red Rock Hyundai in 2022.

Jesus Acevedo, the victim of the alleged 2022 forgeries in the case, received a subpoena dated 8/29/2024 in the state’s case.

In January, 2022 Mr. Acevedo attempted to buy a 2020 GMC Sierra pickup from Red Rock Hyundai. He was never shown any of the documents from his purchase while he was at the Hyundai dealership. He saw them for the first time at the Sooper Credit Union, where he went to arrange financing. A loan officer printed out the documents from the sale and saw four signatures that didn’t look like Mr. Acevedo’s signature. He showed the signatures to Mr. Acevedo, who affirmed they were not his. One of the questionable signatures was on an agreement to buy a $10,000 extended warranty that Mr. Acevedo wasn’t told about and did not approve.

Trump admits he lost the 2020 election, causing supporters to turn on him

by Anne Landman • September 10, 2024 • 6 Comments

Mesa County’s die-hard, Trump-loving Republicans probably won’t want to hear this, but Donald Trump admitted in a September 3, 2024 interview with Lex Fridman that he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden “by a whisker.” The full interview of Trump is 1 hour and 4 minutes long. The admission that he lost the 2020 election starts at 10:41 in the interview.

And this is not the only time Trump has admitted this, either.

During a visit to the southern border in Arizona last August, he acknowledged that he lost the election, saying he “came up a little short.”

Trump’s admissions come after years in which he relentlessly lied to his supporters by claiming he was robbed of victory in the 2020 election due to widespread voter fraud, a claim that he’s never proven. Despite this, millions of Americans believed him.

Visual depiction of equality, equity and social justice

by Anne Landman • August 31, 2024 • 10 Comments

This is a good visual depiction of the meaning of equality, equity and social justice, as compared to the socio-cultural reality in many instances in the U.S.

Bad behavior, Conspiracy theories, Crime, Dangerous Republicans, Democracy under threat, Elections, Ethics, Tina Peters

The verdict is in in Tina Peters’ criminal trial

by Anne Landman • August 12, 2024 • 22 Comments

Tina Peters at her trial in Mesa County

Following are the findings of the jury returned at 5:20 p.m. this afternoon in the criminal case of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters:

Count 1 – Attempt to influence a public servant – Jesse Romero (employee of the Colorado Secretary of State’s office) – GUILTY
Count 2 – Attempt to influence a public servant – David Underwood (employee of the Colorado Secretary of State’s office) – GUILTY
Count 3 – Conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, April 23-May 18, 2021 – NOT GUILTY
Count 4 – Attempt to influence a public servant – Danny Casias (employee of the Colorado Secretary of State’s office) – GUILTY
Count 5 – Criminal impersonation May 23-27, 2021 – NOT GUILTY
Count 6 – Conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation – May 23-27, 2021 – GUILTY
Count 7 – Identity theft – NOT GUILTY
Count 8 – First degree official misconduct – guilty on all options on interrogatories
Count 9 – Violation of Duty – GUILTY
Count 10 – Failure to comply with requirements of the Secretary of State’s office – GUILTY with all interrogatories proven beyond a reasonable doubt

Peters’ sentencing is scheduled for October 3, 2024, at 9:00 a.m.

Advertising, Ethics, Greedwashing, Health care, Marketing, Pollution, Scams

St. Mary’s helps greedwash one of Earth’s worst corporate criminals

by Anne Landman • August 3, 2024 • 6 Comments

Cover of the new “Grand Junction Lifestyle” magazine recently distributed through the USPS mail

Yesterday’s mail brought a glossy new promotional magazine called “Grand Junction Lifestyle.” Given the cute kid and baby animal pictured on the cover, one would hope the lifestyle they’re trying to promote would be a healthy one. But instead, upon opening the front cover, readers are served up a two-page ad promoting one of the biggest corporate criminals and polluters on Earth, the Chevron Corporation:

How to watch Tina Peters’ criminal election tampering trial online

by Anne Landman • August 1, 2024 • 9 Comments

KREX TV will be streaming the entire criminal trial of former Mesa County Clerk-turned-election denier Tina Peters whenever court is in session. You can view it on their website at this link, or live on YouTube at this link. Both links have a Chromecast icon, allowing you to cast live video to your TV if you have a Chromecast device.

Defrauded by a dealership and can’t afford to sue? There’s another way to get compensation: Make a claim against the dealership’s surety bond.

by Anne Landman • July 13, 2024 • 6 Comments

Did you buy a vehicle from a local dealership only to find out later you were defrauded in some way? Can’t afford an attorney to help?

Fortunately, there’s another, completely unpublicized way car buyers can get compensation for a fraudulent deal committed by a dealership.

Surety bonds

Colorado law requires every licensed motor vehicle dealer to carry a surety bond. The bond is meant to protect customers from fraudulent business practices.

Rowland booted as commissioner

by Anne Landman • June 26, 2024 • 6 Comments

Results as of 10:25 p.m. Tuesday night

Political newcomer J.J. Fletcher of Palisade won by a wide margin over longtime career politician Janet Rowland in the primary election for District 3 Mesa County Commissioner.

Rowland conceded the race this morning via a brief Facebook post.

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