My Upcoming Nexus Lawsuit

Nexus' lawyer said that I sit at my computer and make things up because I think its funny. Of course, since his statement is not true, Nexus' lawyer actually defamed me. But since that is his opinion and I believe in free speech, I'll let it slide for now... Meantime, I'd like everyone who reads the Bradbury Buzzz to take a few minutes to search on Google for information on Tanner Wilson's death. I guarantee that you will find plenty on the boy who was killed by a Nexus employee at Gerard in Mason City, Iowa.

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You will find this deceased Nexus client on several websites such as Children in Treatment, Mental Health Abuse: DESTROYING LIVES, The Assault on Children, and the Coalition Against Institutionalized Child Abuse. In articles such as: The Silent Death of America's Children. Listed in Victims from Fornitswikicopy. Other bloggers besides me have written about Tanner. Or if you don't trust the words of bloggers such as myself, you can read what the Iowa Attorney General has to say about the death of this child at the Nexus facility. Tanner Wilson is all over the Internet. His story has been used as an example at the Mental Health Council of AUSTRALIA! Its even being sold in a publication on EBAY . Everyone's allowed to talk about the death of this boy except Hannabelle. Nexus doesn't grant me Freedom of Speech.

(But then, believe it or not, Nexus is not the boss of me....)

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Wanda K. Mohr Ph.D, RN, Faan included the death of 11 year old Tanner Wilson in a presentation she made on behalf of The Advocates Coalition For The Appropriate Use Of Restraints to The Centers For Medicare And Medicaid Services. She said:

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"According to the well-known forensic pathologist, Ronald O'Halloren, Tanner died unnecessarily as a result of asphyxia secondary to intense pressure on his chest during a restraint. According to witnesses, Tanner cried repeatedly "Help me, I can't breathe" as he struggled. No one paid attention."

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There are two differing conclusions about Tanner's death. The first one was that he died as a result of asphyxia (that means smothered to death, Bill.) That conclusion was conveniently changed to that he died from a heart attack, (as if that were somehow a natural cause?) Someone just happened to be sitting on him at the time...

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"What's the relevance?" asked Bob Mickus, the new, unelected mayor of Onamia when I informed the uninformed city council of this particular skeleton in Nexus' closet. At the time, I felt it was extremely relevant in the fight to keep a Nexus institution out of our neighborhood. After all, Nexus sold the Gerard of Iowa facility after their employee killed a child and we had already discovered the charge of "child abuse" by a Mille Lacs Academy employee on the sheriff's reports. The point being: If an MLA employee kills a client here, will Nexus also sell this institution? And if so, to whom?

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The second point I tried to make to the city council is that they had not researched the company that they were about to extend 15 years tax abatement (the maximum allowed). You know.... YOU pay taxes so Nexus doesn't have to. One wonders just how many lawsuits Nexus uses your tax dollars to 1. defend cases such as Tanner Wilson or 2. to SLAPP folks like me around.

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Nexus is suing me because I reported what so many others reported. An 11 year old boy was killed by a Nexus employee at their Gerard of Iowa facility. To my knowledge, I am the ONLY person to be sued over Tanner Wilson.

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I'm sure that Nexus sued me to shut me up. But you know me...

I always have plenty more to say. Below is one of my sources, printed out so that you don't have to do the Googling yourself.

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Parents Sue Facility And Staff For Boy's Restraint Death By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily ExpressAugust 16, 2001

*

MASON CITY, IOWA--On Tanner Wilson's first day at Gerard of Iowa care center two years ago, staff member Lori Ingham tried to "take him to the ground". During the attempt to restrain him, Ingham succeeded in breaking the boy's leg.
On February 9 of this year, a year and a half after being admitted to the mental health facility, Wilson died while being restrained in a "routine physical holding".
He was 11 years old.
Officials have ruled the cause of death as asphyxiation -- he suffocated to death -- and are considering it a homicide.
One of the employees allegedly involved in restraining Wilson when he died was none other than Lori Ingham. She now faces a charge of child endangerment in connection with the death.
This Tuesday, Tanner's parents, Robert and Karen Wilson, filed a lawsuit against Ingham and fellow employee Jeremy Witt, along with Gerard Treatment Programs and an affiliate known as Nexus Inc..
According to the Des Moines Register, the suit claims Ingham and Witt "used unreasonable and unnecessary force in restraining and eventually killing" the boy. It also charges Gerard, which was being paid $9,000 a month to care for Wilson, with failing to properly train and supervise its employees.
The Wilsons are asking for unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. They say they do not want other parents to go through what they have gone through.

Alien Nation

"Often times I have hated in self-defense;

if I were stronger
I would not have used such a weapon."
Kahlil Gibran

***

Dear Readers,

I was recently delighted to receive an intelligent anonymous comment (See my last blog entry "Now We Know - More") which, although filled with some rather harsh but good criticism about me and my blog, actually expressed thoughts and ideas! Thoughts and ideas in an anonymous comment? Wow! So different from the nasty personal attacks and death threats I've grown accustomed to receiving. And this commenteer gave me issues to which I can respond with more than a "oh yeah? Well I'M rubber, YOU'RE glue!" In fact, he made so many valid points for me to address that I won't be able to respond in a single post. (You know how wordy I am...)

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Writing and Style

First of all, as I've stated on numerous occassions, although I've spent much of my time typing at the computer these past two years, I am NOT a "writer". While many bloggers use the Internet to show-off their literary skills and clever ways with words, I have used this medium in self-defense to alert people to what has happened to my neighborhood with the goal of keeping sex offenders out of my backyard. I see myself not as a writer, but as an activist. A failed one, at that...

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Alienating Supporters

The commenteer indicated that my use of profanity and referring to the PTBs as having intercourse with toddlers is distasteful and alienates people who might otherwise support me in my cause. Supporters? What supporters? When I first learned that Nexus intended to bully their way into my residential neighborhood, I expected cries of public outrage. Putting sex offenders next to day care centers and helpless little old ladies? NEVER! But the public outrage didn't appear. It didn't seem to exist. The commenteers who said that I am the only one who cares, the only one who doesn't want the sex offenders in my back yard is pretty close to being correct. Most people's sympathies lied with Nexus. Why, I wondered...

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I've always realized the power of words, (but especially now that I'm being sued for mine). The power of the press to influence the opinions of a community is enormous, even monumental. Public words slant public opinion. Most people DO believe what they read in the paper. Most people DO trust their local government. The gentle words bestowed upon our community about Nexus were always benign terms like: boys, kids, Academy, teenagers, students, residents, campus, and non-profit. (At least until Hannabelle came along to set the record straight...) Awww. Shucks. Who wouldn't want these poor troubled ABUSED boys to have a good "home"? Hannabelle must not like children!!!! But those nice, soft words which might pertain to your own children do not express the unfortunate reality of the situation of the Nexus clientele. Yes, I might have offended many people by telling it like it is, but how else would people know? Nobody else was speaking the truth. At least, not the WHOLE truth.

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In a letter denying Nexus request for tax exemption for their Gerard facility in Austin, the Mower County Assessor states that Mille Lacs Academy is NOT and does not qualify as an "academy" (and is not elligible for tax exemption). Yeah, you can call it whatever you want. You can call it an "academy", a "school", a "home" etc. but the truth is that every inmate at the Mille Lacs "Academy" has been convicted through the court system as a juvenile sex offender who has caused harm to others. [Nexus' own admission]. Do you actually believe that they would be "very well-behaved in church" or raking leaves for the senior citizens if they weren't forced to be "in treatment"? These aren't little angels. These PTBs (poor troubled boys) earned their stay at the Mille Lacs Academy through their own bad deeds. The "campus" is an unlocked facility for juvenile sex offenders, licensed by the Minnesota Department of Corrections. Why do the "students" need 24/7 constant supervision and have their shoes taken from them? (And still there have been hundreds of escapes through the years.) If you read the actual court cases of some of the past inmates, [see Mille Lacs News] you get an idea of the type of crimes these "kids" are capable of committing. It is because they are dangerous in their own communities that they have been placed in ours.

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Yes, some people have been disgusted by my use of profanity. Usually its the people who have been duped into sympathy for the sex offenders that get most angry at Hannabelle's potty mouth. But I only use words. I am not violent. I don't rape people. No judge has put ME away (yet). WORDS are my sword. :) If you can't handle a few four letter words, how can you support the MLA "resident" convicted of the kidnap of two girls who were held in a garage and gang-banged repeatedly all day long.

From the court document:

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"J.K. was 14 years old when he committed the offenses. In the order revoking probation, the district court found:
"The offenses were committed against two young girls, ages 12 and 13, who were sexually assaulted by multiple individuals as part of a gang initiation. [J.K.] was in the car that drove Victim One to the garage where Victim Two was being assaulted. He admitted to having intercourse with Victim One and stated that he was the third one to “f…” her and that he ejaculated in her because another gang member told him to kill his sperm. [J.K.] was an active participant and forced the girls to have sexual intercourse with him at different times in a garage. Both victims were allegedly prevented from leaving. After one of the victims had been assaulted by another accomplice, [J.K.] pushed the victim back to the floor and forcibly penetrated her vagina with his penis. The victim tried to get away and told [J.K.] she was in pain during sexual intercourse. Afterwards, [J.K.] and the other gang members celebrated by going to McDonalds.
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J.K. was committed to Mille Lacs Academy, a residential treatment program for sex offenders."

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Gawd! I'm disgusted by the crimes these "poor troubled boys" have committed. Think of all the victims they have left numerous victims in their wakes, (at least one each.) I feel so much pity for the victims! I don't understand why others don't. If people are afraid of a little naughty language, why aren't they outraged that our local government is putting this kind of criminal next to day care? Its pretty ironic... Don't they think that these "boys" use that kind of language? Worse. Yes, it is a distasteful subject. But these are my new neighbors... I might not write about sex offenders in an eloquent manner, but I think I have a right to complain. These aren't "normal" kids. These are sex offenders who don't just "talk the talk", they "walk the walk".

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So if I shocked a few readers by using the F-word, I did my job. Shock therapy... Welcome to the ugly, dirty little world of sex offenders. Welcome to MY backyard. "Bringing you back to Reality" is more than just a slogan to me. Before Nexus intruded on our lives, my own mother, an intelligent woman thought that the Mille Lacs Academy was some kind of private school for privileged children, perhaps a military or prep school. What led her to think this? How many others were bamboozled? Why the misconceptions? - the propaganda fed to the public all these years. Until Nexus decided to move down the street, I too was guilty of not enlightening Mom- because knowing there were roughly a hundred sex offenders in our small town would scare her. Having them in her own backyard will, unfortunately change her life.

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So Hannabelle is the source of counter-propaganda, disspelling the Nexus propaganda spun by the local newspaper and city government. I realize that it is hard to hear. (This is NOT how I wanted to spend my time either... Yuck!) And I realize that I've been brash. Someone has to. The people have a right to know the truth. (Otherwise they might be lulled into a false sense of security and leave their keys in their car, only to have it stolen out of a grocery store parking lot by an escaped 13 year old sex offender...) The truth not only will set you free, it will keep you safe.

And although many people don't want to hear the truth, Hannabelle has tried very hard to tell it, even if it means losing friends and

becoming an alien in her own community.

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"How many legs does a dog have

if you call the tail a leg?

Four;

calling a tail a leg

doesn't make it a leg.

***

Abraham Lincoln

So Now We Know (More)

In April of this year I wrote a Buzzz article entitled "Doth Thous Protesteth Too Much?" which questioned the gung-ho-edness of Sex Offenders R Us, C3EO, and R2D2 in persecuting an obscure, private citizen who opposed forcing convicted sex offenders into a quiet, private neighborhood - next to day care centers, children, elderly widows, children, and vulnerable adults (Uh, that would be me...) - through abusing the justice system by filing multiple bogus law suits - frivolous SLAPP suits. My question was: WHY are they going to such lengths to shut me up and make me go away??? What do they have hidden that they don't want Hannabelle to unearth?

Well, now we know .... more....

Remember Paul Smith? He is (or perhaps the past tense would be more appropriate here) WAS the Executive Director of the Mille Lacs Academy - the local head honcho, so to speak. He is the guy who, when I asked him why JIM D'ANGELO, the former CEO of Nexus is suing me answered, "You didn't show Mr. D'Angelo proper respect." Really??? Can you really get sued for not respecting someone? In America? Well, I guess you can, if some bastard is wealthy enough and vindictive enough - and this one certainly seems to be.

Anyway, I feel pretty confident to express my candid opinion about MR. Smith without fear of yet another law suit from him because.... it looks like he has his hands so full with his own legal fees for his own trial that he probably won't want to waste more money on l'il ol' Hannabelle here. Yes, MR. Smith has bigger fish to fry. Or perhaps he IS the "bigger fish" about to be fried.

When, so many meetings ago, I asked him why he didn't live in our community, he said "I choose to live in the country. I don't want to live next to a .... school." This was just plain sadistic. To me it seemed like he was enjoying my pain of having my own choice of country living ruined by his "school". I certainly didn't choose to live by 94 convicted sex offenders. He seemed to enjoy rubbing it in... my lack of power to stop Nexus from taking over Dahmerville.... A na-na-na-boo-boo sort of thing.

But, MR. Smith (notice how respectful Hannabelle can be!!!) have no fear!!! My research indicates that - unlike your "Academy", most correctional facilities are situated away from residential areas, often in rural settings. So, if you are indeed convicted, whatever prison you end up in - you probably won't have to worry about living next to a school. Yay for you!!! Of course, you are presumed innocent until proven guilty - because this is the United States of America and we have a Constitution to protect citizens. Right?

But since I no longer trust my own Rights, especially when it comes to FREEDOM of SPEECH, I'll defer to other people's words.

from: Former head of Marie Detty indicted

"Smith served as the director of Marie Detty Youth and Family Services Center that administered a Head Start Program with a federal grant from September of 1989 to August of 2004.
The counts include theft and embezzlement from the non-profit agency's employee benefit profit-sharing plan, converting funds for his own personal use.

Smith is also indicted for a scheme to defraud and mail fraud in a contract where Marie Detty sent thousands of dollars in payments to a ghost company called Paradigm Associates. Court documents say Paradigm is a company Smith set up to advise, consult and direct management for Marie Detty, but in this scheme, it had no employees, no business location and provided no such services.

Other counts involve providing false information to federal investigators.
If found guilty of the crimes, Smith would face up to 30 years in prison, and $750,000 in fines."

http://www.kswo.com/Global/story.asp?S=9222926

Fry Fishy, Fry.

If You Tell, We'll Sue You!

Dear Readers,

This is a Mille Lacs News article about the SLAPP lawsuits, dated May 28, 2008 - reprinted here for your information.

If You Tell, We'll Sue You!

by Hannabelle
Mille Lacs News Staff Writer

"Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want rain without thunder and lightning."
Frederick Douglass

It would appear that Nexus is all in favor of Freedom of Speech - unless you say something they'd rather you not say - about them. The old mantra your mother may have taught you: "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all" seems to have become obsolete. According to the new lawsuit threatening Hannabelle, Nexus' stance is: If you can't say anything nice, we'll sue you.

And of course, Hannabelle can't find anything nice to say about Nexus. She has, however, taken up the role of Town Crier, letting the world know what she has found out about Nexus, in spite of the oncoming lawsuits meant to shut her up. Hannabelle can't say anything nice, but she keeps telling it like it is. But keep in mind that Nexus hasn't shown Hannabelle any of the "Minnesota Nice" that might temper her comments about the multi-million dollar private corporation which has forced itself upon her. They've been feeding her fire.

Jim D'Angelo - Plaintiff
The first defamation lawsuit facing Hannabelle was filed by former Nexus CEO Jim D'Angelo and Nexus board member Peter Freeman, who is a college teacher in the Social Work Department at St. Thomas University. The D'Angelo portion of the lawsuit complains that Hannabelle called him "arrogant" and said that he is a "snake". One must wonder how this corporate president made it through grade school unscathed. Or perhaps he was indeed scathed. Of course, he will probably sue Hannabelle for mentioning that he might have been scathed... The point is, Hannabelle did not defame D'Angelo. If calling someone "Poopsie" is defamation, the courts would be filled with second graders.

Peter Freeman - Plaintiff
The Peter Freeman portion of the lawsuit is equally ridiculous. When Peter Freeman, a teacher of Social Work, used hostile tactics of ostracism against Hannabelle, he behaved in a manner incongruent with the mission of the University which employs him. Just hanging up the phone on someone is unprofessional and immature, but it can also be strategic. Freeman hung up on Hannabelle as soon as she identified herself, refusing to even listen to why she has contacted him. But it wasn't this typical Nexusian act - the Silent Treatment - that prompted Hannabelle to lodge a complaint against the professor - who has special interest in "scapegoating" by the way... Hannabelle, who was also a college instructor (before a health crisis left her permanently disabled), expressed her concern to the Dean of his department via a personal email, and only after Freeman sent a maliciously cruel response obviously meant to cause pain to her. It was this show of cruelty which disturbed Hannabelle. Now, keep in mind that Hannabelle didn't over-react by filing a formal complaint. She merely notified the Dean that one of St. Thomas' teachers had behaved badly. (An apology by Freeman would have gone a long way...) It was private and personal until Freeman himself couldn't let it go. He retaliated. Shortly thereafter, Hannabelle received the "We're gonna sue your ass" letter from D'Angelo and Freeman's lawyers.

Is litigation justifiable for a simple complaint?
Since when is it forbidden for a person to complain about being treated badly, (especially about someone who is forcing 94 convicted sex offenders down the street from her elderly, frail mom?) The First Amendment of our Constitution says that Freedom of Speech is not forbidden. It is something to be protected. It is something that makes us America. Both D'Angelo and Freeman are using this lawsuit to silence, damage and punish Hannabelle. Money might not be able to buy everything, but it can buy several lawyers unethical enough to wage a frivolous lawsuit intended to gag the Town Crier. Think about it... You are no longer allowed to complain about anything or anybody without the threat of a lawsuit against you? If that's the way it works, perhaps a countersuit against Peter Freeman is in order. After all, he complained about Hannabelle... when he sued her.

Nexus - Plaintiff
On the same note, Nexus is now threatening to sue Hannabelle for writing about and making a video which exposes the homicide of one of Nexus' clients by an employee of one of their affiliates - Gerard, in a former facility in Mason City, Iowa. Hannabelle made a comment that Nexus didn't like - so they are threatening to sue her for defamation. The comment? "Nexus - getting away with murder."

Getting away with murder
The interesting part is that in order to tell Hannabelle why her statement is "defamatory", the lawyers also proved her point. They basically emphasized that they got away with murder. The boy died in a "take-down" situation in a Nexus facility. He was smothered to death by the employee. The medical examiner ruled it a homicide. Yet, Nexus attorneys point out that Nexus was never charged. Exactly. The boy was killed. Nexus got away with murder. Is this defamatory? Nope. Opinion based on facts. Remember, Hannabelle has merely reported about Nexus. It is not Hannabelle's fault that Nexus has skeletons in their closets.

But why Nexus would want to go to court to explain the fact that one of their boys was killed by one of their employees is beyond me. There's sure to be negative publicity. In the discovery phase of the lawsuit, wouldn't all the nitty-gritty details come out? Dirty little secrets? The angry parents of the boy claimed that the employee had not received proper training. They intended to sue Nexus for the boy's death - but never did. Don't you wonder if there was a settlement and how much money Nexus paid to make this horrible situation go away? hmmm. Frankly, I'm surprised that Nexus didn't sue the boy's parents for expressing their anger about the homicide.

Suing their victims
The problem with Nexus is that they have victimized property owners in my neighborhood, then threaten to sue us if we complain - about having 94 sex offenders, a five building institutional complex in our rural area, about laws and ordinances being changed or ignored, our rights being disregarded, and the outright lies about safety/risk, etc.

Indeed, Nexus seems to utilize some of the very tactics of the sex offenders they purport to treat. If you study juvenile sex offenders, you will find that in order to control their victims, they often make threats like:

"If you tell, I'll kill you..."

millelacsnews.com

Good morning Readers,

And what a gorgeous morning it is. Its the kind of day that used to fill Poncho and I with absolute awe, as we took in the beauty of Nature and exclaimed, "Wow! I can't believe we live here!" Of course, that was before NEXUS.... Now its more like, "Shit! I can't believe we live here!" By now it should be pretty obvious that NEXUS stole our happiness and ruined our lives. They ruined yours too. Its just that some of you haven't realized it yet. Don't worry. Eventually you will...

The reason I'm writing to you today is to talk about the Mille Lacs News website. Its been a long time since I checked on it, even longer since I've worked on it, and last night I realized it is having problems with its pictures showing up, or if you are of the "half-empty glass" ilk, NOT showing up. My sincere apologies.

As you know, I created the Mille Lacs News to counter the pronexus propaganda imposed on the public by the local newspaper - the "real" newspaper.... You see, we don't have advertisers to answer to or worry about. We are free to write the Truth without the fear of losing accounts. I'm not saying that the Mille Lacs Messenger is in bed with the sex offenders, but you have to admit it is a pretty good metaphor. They certainly have treated the Mille Lacs Academy with "kid gloves".

I know.... eeeeeyooooo....

Anyway, here's the deal. Our war to save the neighborhood ended a year ago - when NEXUS broke ground and began destroying the 38.81 acres. We lost. Of course I'm bitter. Who wouldn't be? But, I had planned to "move on" with my life. What was left to fight for? Well, our rights, I guess. There was still the horrible city council which had changed or ignored the Law in order to serve a private corporation; a council of five poorly-educated incompetent wannabees who described citizens who opposed them as "outsiders"; who greedily chose their own personal agenda over our Constitutional Rights; who were derelict in their duties and failed We The People. Actually, they threw us under the bus....

There was also the Mille Lacs board of horrible commissioners... (I'm not through with them yet...) So, even though my neighborhood was lost, there were still issues to fight for (and against). Did I want to continue fighting? Well, to tell you the Truth (and I always do), I didn't think so. You The People re-elected these clowns in the last election. So be it. You made your bed, now lie with them in it.

My enemies wish I'd go away. They have told me so. They have, in fact, tried to force me to "go away". At least, that is what Jim D'Angelo said when I asked him why he was suing me. He said, "We thought you'd go away!" Later he lied (shock of shocks) on his sworn affidavit, denying that he said that. But of course, he did.

With the Freeman/D'Angelo SLAPP lawsuit and now the Nexus Inc SLAPP lawsuit, I have no real choice but to keep my website, my blog and my videos on the Internet. Kind of ironic. But in trying to bully me, to make me "go away", they have in fact, forced me to "stay".

All of this is a long explanation of why I will be working on fixing and improving the Mille Lacs News website. I may have lost the War against City Hall. Now there is another war to fight. The War against Nexus. The War against tyranny. The War against Big Business abusing the Justice System to crush We The Little People.

The War to protect our First Amendment Rights.

(sigh...) In my opinion, Nexus must be even stupider than I thought. (Go for it Vic!)

Oh what a beautiful morning.

Oh what a beautiful day.

I've got a beautiful feeling

everything's going my way.

Hannabelle: "I told you so".

Recently, a Mille Lacs Academy (NEXUS) sex offender escaped from the unlocked correctional facility. Apparently nobody working at the institution noticed he was missing for two hours. Where did he go? Well, presumably, he bee-lined to Onamia councilman Bill Hill's grocery store parking lot to steal a car. Maybe he didn't bee-line. Maybe he walked around in town for awhile. I don't know. We don't know. They don't let us know... No matter, the end result is that he stole a car and drove it all the way across the county and all the way to St. Cloud, Minnesota. The escaped convict is thirteen years old. Should he be driving??? hmmm. While "on the lam", he stole a laptop computer and pornography. This in itself might indicate the sick nature of these criminals.

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When the "poor, troubled boys" are moved to the new facility, where will they go when they escape? Well, what do you think? Where will they find cars to steal out here?

The sex offenders NEVER escape. Or so they tell us.

Dear Readers,

Brett Larson, editor of the Mille Lacs Messenger, often reprints articles written by other authors on his blog. So, in the same spirit of sharing the news, here is an article he wrote today. You can click the link to go to their website. (Tell 'em Hannabelle sent you.)

Mille Lacs Academy resident steals car

Written by Brett Larson
Wednesday, 06 May 2009 13:22

A 13-year-old boy from Mille Lacs Academy stole a car from a grocery store in Onamia and drove to St. Cloud, where he was apprehended Tuesday night with a stolen laptop and stolen pornography.
The boy was picked up at about 8 p.m. when St. Cloud police officers noticed a vehicle that had been reported stolen driving southbound on 33rd Ave. The police report says the vehicle had been left with the keys in it and that the boy had stolen a laptop computer from a landscaping company near Foley and pornographic materials from various gas stations.
The boy was being held in a secure detention facility until his first court appearance.
According to Onamia Police Chief Bob Matzke, the boy was reported missing from Mille Lacs Academy between 10 a.m. and noon on Tuesday. He said he filed his report with Mille Lacs County, but he expected the boy to be prosecuted in Stearns County. Matzke said the boy was a resident of Itasca County and was a "sneaky kid." "How he got out, I don't have a clue," Matzke said.
Paul Smith, the executive director of Mille Lacs Academy, acknowledged that the incident had occurred but could not provide any details beyond that because of confidentiality laws. "It happens," Smith said. "Once in a blue moon, but it happens." He said the Academy would be looking at policies to reduce the chance of it happening again.
He also provided the following written statement:
"Federal and State laws exist to protect the confidentiality of residents in our care. These laws are in place to contribute to the therapeutic environment so residents can fully benefit from treatment and make progress toward goals. Nexus takes these responsibilities seriously and we do not release any confidential information regarding our residents. "As active and responsible members of our community, Mille Lacs Academy takes its obligation to look out for the welfare of our residents as well as the welfare of our friends and neighbors. As part of a best practice effort, we regularly review all policies, protocols, and procedures to provide the best care for our residents and to maintain positive relationships in our community."