Sunday, May 26, 2013

Citizen Kicks Corporate Butt in Nexus Lawsuit!


http://www.messagemedia.co/millelacs/news/local/article_10277648-bca5-11e2-a9a5-001a4bcf6878.html

From the Mille Lacs Messenger:

Lawyers win in Konze lawsuit


Posted: Friday, May 17, 2013 6:00 am

After more than a year of parry and thrust, the Bill Konze case against the City of Onamia and Nexus came to a conclusion at the regular monthly meeting of the Onamia City Council on May 8.
“We reached a settlement on the mediation two weeks ago,” said Paul Reuvers, attorney from the League of Minnesota Cities. “As far as 357th Street goes, we’re done.”

Konze sued the city and Nexus for chopping down a stand of pines along 357th Street. The pines were planted by Konze decades ago. The right of way was wrongly interpreted by the city and project engineers, which led to the clearing of Konze’s trees.
The city will pay $50,000 for their part in the error, and Nexus will contribute $137,000. The Konzes will receive $69,500, plus another $9,000 for their expenses. The Konzes lawyers will receive $109,000.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Well Shut My Mouth? I Think Not!

Okay, I admit it. I miss writing to y'all on the Bradbury Buzzz. (Hi Victor!) Blogging can be a good venue for stating opinions, as well as presenting facts, thereby enjoying the benefits of self-expression while educating the public and the government. I used my blog to do both. But after all the years of legal harassment and with the stress of acting as my own lawyer, I needed a break. Whew! Talk about emotional burnout! Besides, I actually triumphed in the Nexus case. So there seemed little reason to continue.  Except.....

There is. There's so much more to say. Several things that occurred during the legal phase of my personal story remain very troublesome and need to be addressed. Of course, there are still problems with the local government - and who better than me to complain? :) And a lot has happened that I feel compelled to share. Mostly about the aftermath.... the post-script. But then again, it's an election year! I've got plenty to say on that front!

But today I just want to tell you to ignore my last post about the demise of the Mille Lacs News. It's still alive! As Fate would have it, my account automatically rolled over. I took it as a sign that maybe I should worry about that old credit card bill later, and keep my newspaper up and running for posterity. What the heck!

Of course, I have a lot of updating to do. Plus I've got some new features in mind for both the News and the blog. Wait until you hear about the Deadbeat Renters!

"This looks like a job for Hannabelle!"
Hannabelle





Thursday, May 24, 2012

The Mille Lacs News - Update vs Downdate

Time flies like the wind. (Fruitflies like bananas).

It's been five years since the Nexus/Onamia City Council coalition conspired to build their juvenile sex offender facility in Bradbury Township. It's been four and a half years since Nexus CEO Jim D'Angelo, Nexus Board Member Peter Freeman, and Nexus, a Not for Profit Corporation sued me for talking about it. It's been about two years since I abandoned my home of 30 years and moved far, far away. It's been about eight months since Nexus dropped its bogus charges against me (a week before I was scheduled for jury trial.) Yep. Time flies when you're having fun, right?

Actually, it wasn't much fun for me... Not much fun at all. I don't know if I will ever recover from the mental anguish and emotional stress of what happened to me as I stood up for my Constitutional Rights against the local government and its boss corporation. I know I will never recover financially from two SLAPP lawsuits waged against me by Freeman & D'Angelo and Nexus. I don't know if Larry Milton, Bob Mickus, Bill Hill, Mark Loch, and Jerome Kryzer set out to intentionally ruin my life. I do know that they did absolutely nothing to stop Nexus in its efforts to destroy me with their costly legal assaults and harassment. You might want to take my case under consideration in any upcoming elections. That is, if you have the luxury of voting. I did not have that luxury. My rights were obliterated by the Onamia City Council.

If you read my blog over the course of the past five years, you're aware of what happened in Bradbury Township and of my long, impossible fight for Liberty and Justice for all. You may have visited my website: The Mille Lacs News. Well, the time has come... The website is expiring soon. Although I still have lots of people visiting it each and every day and would like to leave the record up for others to learn from, I really can't afford to renew it. The lawyers left me with nothing.

The future? Well, of course, there are free websites available on the Internet. I might even start up a new blog or, possibly, a book, should I feel the need to write. But the old Mille Lacs News, which was created simply to bring you the Truth that the local "real" newspaper - the  Mille Lacs Messenger wouldn't tell you, will soon gone. I've had my differences with the "Mess" in the past, but I would like to commend them on the way they report on the "buffoonery" of the current city council of Onamia. Ha! All that news of who brought cookies to the meetings! Well done, Messenger! You are spot-on! (I guess you get what you vote for!)

As for me - I'm doing better. Thanks for asking.










Saturday, February 25, 2012

Bill Maher tells it like it is.


Getting away with murder.... (It's an idiom.)


Monday, January 16, 2012

Nexus Blinked

I've been meaning to tell you how things turned out...

I won in the Minnesota Court of Appeals in the Nexus lawsuit and the case was sent back to District Court for a do-over. However, judge John Sommerville quit. The case was assigned instead to Joseph Klein. Ironically, I'd been a defendant longer than he'd been a judge. And whereas I should never have become a defendant, he should never have become a judge... But that's neither here nor there. I am no longer a Defendant. No doubt he will have a long and successful career in the Minnesota "Justice" System. What he lacks in knowledge of the Law, he makes up for in knowledge of politics. It helps to know which side of your bread is buttered, and by who.

I ran out of butter a long time ago. Didn't have much to begin with, but in the end I couldn't even afford a lawyer. But I didn't give up. (I never gave up!) Hannabelle became my lawyer. I am confident that at jury trial, she would have prevailed. But that day in court - MY day in court - didn't happen.

My trial was scheduled for September 6, 2011. Approximately one week before my trial, Nexus quit. Nexus moved to dismiss. And indeed, on the day my trial was slated to begin, Klein did what the corporation wanted and dismissed the case. He dismissed it without prejudice. Without prejudice means that Nexus and the court recognized that I was innocent of the charges of defamation. Nexus didn't want to face Hannabelle in front of a jury in court. It was over at last. In the four year "staring contest", Nexus blinked. I won. I beat them. Yay... Bring on the confetti.

It was a hollow victory. It was all such a waste.
Well, almost.

I abandoned my home in Onamia over a year and a half ago. I could not conceive of staying in such a community as this one had become - the one I'd once loved enough to put myself on the line for. Oh, don't get me wrong... There are good people in Mille Lacs County and if I thought real hard, I might even be able to give you a name or two. But for whatever reason - through fear, intimidation, apathy, or ignorance, the "good" people are powerless to stand up to the "bad" people. Mayor Larry Milton once called them "gutless". Maybe so. My guess is that it's just self-preservation. Look what happens when a person tries to express their opinions and do the right thing. Look what happened to me.

Anyway, in July of 2010, I packed up the remnants of my life and left Minnesota for good... well, other than those quick and nasty trips back for Nexus' court hearings... I left voluntarily - with my head held high, proud of what I'd tried to accomplish, still strong in principles and secure in the knowledge of who I am and what I stand for.

After what I experienced in my last years in Onamia, I never thought I could be happy again. But I am. I am still hurt, but the healing has begun. I moved to a very remote wilderness area that is exceptionally beautiful in both scenery and spirit. I already have a network of wonderful friends and neighbors - independent, good-natured folks that just wouldn't allow what happened in Onamia to happen here. For one thing, their sympathies lie with innocent victims, not with those who perpetrate the crimes that create victims. They have been very understanding and supportive of me. Not only have they made me feel welcomed and accepted, they've made me feel safe and protected. After the ostracism and harassment I experienced in Onamia - what I call "the New Minnesota Nice" - it is a little overwhelming to adjust to being treated with kindness and respect. But isn't that how it's supposed to be, after all? People caring for one another? Protecting our rights from corrupt government and greedy corporations? Standing up for each other? I believe that's how it should be. Happy MLK Day.


"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."


"Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor;

it must be demanded by the oppressed."


"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies,

but the silence of our friends."


Martin Luther King Jr.