Legalectric

Remember Clive Bundy and his Nevada stand-off when the feds decided to evict him, and his cows, from BLM land they had leased but stopped paying the lease and owes over $1 million?

Now his son Ammon Bundy, from Phoenix, has organized his militia and gone up to Burns, Oregon (temp around 9 today!) for another stand-up/stand-off/stand-down over Dwight and Steven Hammond.  another federal land lease issue, where they were convicted of arson, burning the BLM land, and then a federal judge determined that their sentence was not sufficient, and ordered them to report back to prison this coming Monday.  Ammon Bundy has issued a “call to arms” which sounds a lot like inciting violence to me.  From what I’ve been reading, people are ignoring that this was LEASED land, they did not own it, it was not there, it is OURS, as in “we the people” ours!

Eastern Oregon Ranchers Convicted of Arson Resentenced …

When you check out the videos and photos, note the “111%” on T-shirts and signs.

Militia takes over Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters

Thing is, Dwight and Steven Hammond want nothing to do with Bundy and his militia, the Community doesn’t want them around…  they “stand with the Hammonds” but Hammonds not so much…

Who Wants A Burns, Oregon Standoff? Not The Sheriff, The Ranchers, Or Even Cliven Bundy

Oregon ranching case spurs anti-government sentiment

The Hammonds have not welcomed the Bundys’ help.

“Neither Ammon Bundy nor anyone within his group/organization speak for the Hammond Family,” the Hammonds’ lawyer W. Alan Schroeder wrote to Sheriff David Ward. But Hammonds don’t have clean hands, going beyond the federal crimes for which they’ve been convicted and are now serving time:
Showdown in the Malheur marshes: the origins of rancher terrorism in Burns, Oregon

What if your militia showdown isn’t wanted?

A local resident organized a meeting to address the militia, learn about their plans:

Burns residents confront militia over fears of violence

… This was no government-led meeting. Brandy Mosher, a local resident worried about her community, arranged the meeting, promoting it on social media. On a frigid holiday evening, about 60 people showed up. She just wanted people to talk to each other instead of resorting to rumors.

There was a protest this afternoon in Burns, Oregon:

Militia holds march, rally in Burns

After the protest, Bundy brothers and other supporters took over the National Forest Reserve office, and they want to give it back to loggers, miners and the ranchers:

Armed militia, incl Bundy bros, occupy forest reserve HQ in Oregon, call ‘US patriots’ to arms

Armed militia, including Bundy brothers, occupy forest reserve HQ in Oregon, call “US patriots” to arms

Convoy takes off from Bend to protest ranchers’ convictions

Here’s the decision:

Line 67 ruling Dec 2015

This decision is important because it is not just this pipeline — because the basis for it is the Presidential Permit, and the notion that issuance of a Presidential Permit may not be appealed applies to the Presidential Permit for the (Not-so) Great Northern Transmission Line too!

Hillary, it’s time to withdraw.  You and your employees and toadies have gone too far in attempts to trash Bernie Sanders’ campaign.  It didn’t work.  And now it’s time for you to accept responsibility for those acting in your interests and withdraw from the race for President.  You’ve failed in the character and ethics department.  You’re disqualified.

(And for the record, Aharon Wasserman says he is NOT related to Debbie Wasserman-Schultz.)

Tuesday night, the Onalaska Plan Commission took up the revised Comprehensive Plan.

Onalaska Comprehensive Plan Final Draft – 12-07-2015

Here’s where you can check out the new Comprehensive Plan (search for “transmission” and you’ll find not much):

City of Onalaska 2015 Comprehensive Plan Page

The current Zoning map (click for larger version):

Future:

Do you see any transmission lines on that map?  Any pipelines on that map?  The City doesn’t have a map of transmission lines, or pipelines, yet it’s a prominent feature of Onalaska, just drive up Hwy 35 or Hwy 53 and you’ll see what I mean.  The City Land Use & Development Director said in the meeting that they don’t have one, it would be very difficult to put together and that this info can be regarded as “proprietary.”  Not quite, it could be “CEII” information, but when you see it driving down the road, when you look at google and there it is, there’s no reason the City can’t draw a line on the map!

There’s a lot of transmission through Onalaska, lining both sides of the highways, in the middle of the city bottlenecked in-between the river and the bluffs (like Red Wing), and it runs right through the heart of the city.  Here’s ATC’s “map” of transmission:

Here’s WI-PSC’s map:

As you can see, it’s not rocket science to put a map together of transmission through Onalaska and its potential expansion areas.

Dairyland is wanting to tear down its old line on the west side of Highways 53 and 35 and virtually double the height of the towers and the capacity.  That’s not updating or maintenance, that’s “tear down the old line and build a new one” construction.

NOW is the time, because there’s not yet a Dairyland application, and because Xcel’s line on the east side of Highways 35 and 53 is also old, they’re going to want to “upgrade” soon too.  The routing of transmission through Onalaska in light of Wisconsin’s adoption of its Electrical Code which prohibits construction under a line, means that new construction should be carefully reviewed.  And right now, rebuilding, tearing down and new construction of something much bigger, shouldn’t be allowed over and next to homes and businesses.  What to do?  It’s a narrow area with a lot of transmission!  But this is what “planning” is all about.  Looking into the future and figuring out what they want the City to look like, how they can address the extreme impacts of transmission, and if they can minimize or mitigate these impacts.  Here’s an example of it running through people’s back yards, stars indicate pole placement in people’s back yards, and the white/red lines are access roads through people’s back yards!

On behalf of No CapX 2020, I sent the Planning Commission and City Council these comments:

NoCapX2020 Comment_OnalaskaCompPlan

At Tuesday’s meeting, there were few commenters, and they quickly wrestled with the issues raised, and sent it back to the Committee for consideration of transmission issues and impacts.

THANK YOU, ONALASKA PLAN COMMISSION!

So I just got a call today from the DHS Background Studies Unit.  Time to get very public about this!

WTF?

She had no information on what it was about, just that there was a “ticket” written up from a call received, the voice mail messages aren’t saved, so no way to go back and figure it out.  It was a voice mail message left with them at 10:58 a.m. on December 15, 2015.  It’s true I did make a call at 10:58 a.m. on December 15, 2015, to Alan!  No wrong numbers, no “right” numbers, it sure wasn’t a call I made.  But she said that in that call, I had either requested a background check, or someone had requested a background check on me.

WTF?

It was a long time ago that an NSP employee filed a false complaint against me, and though the investigation, the FIRST interview, resulted in the conclusion that the complaint was unsubstantiated, it was open for three years.  It was also a long time ago when I tried to get a transmission map entered into the record of a major transmission proceeding and objections implied CEII violations.  oh, pluh-leeeeeze… I’ve been a licensed attorney for 20 years!?!  I even have a TWIC card, with birth certificate, passport, background and underwear check — isn’t that enough?

Something tells me someone’s playing games!