Tuesday, December 12, 2023

Jenny Blalock Was Unable To Recover From Auto Pilot Spin, Crashed and Died

Jenny Blalock was full of ambition but lacked the experience to fly solo according to aviation flight instructor Dan Gryder--She was pretty far behind the airplane most of the time, which means the model airplane she was flying was way beyond her capability. Jenny and her Dad will be greatly missed by friends and family.

 

Tuesday, October 31, 2023

Former Sheriff Eric Watson Saga Played like a Shakespearean Tragedy

Bradley County TN is the most densely populated part of the the TN 10th judicial district, which means it is sort of a bellwether of future trends.

Serving only one term, Watson's tenure was filled with multiple investigations and lawsuits. He was even jailed in the same county jail he was in charge of until he bonded out.

When a 12-count felony indictment was handed down by a Bradley County grand jury in 2018, he was vacationing with his family at Disneyworld in Florida. He continuously 'sniveled and whined' blaming others: the county commissioners, the TBI, and the news media outlets. Even though charges against Watson were dismissed, he was not re-elected. After losing re-election, his glamorous wife filed for divorce and remarried: a few months later, she died from complications of the COVID-19/coronavirus. Former County Commissioner Dan Rawls shared his opinion on the Watson case dismissal. 

The mishandling of the Watson prosecution was one of the first major failures of former DA Steve Crump; he had grown to be close/friendly with the sheriff and would recuse himself from the case, which was decided by an outside prosecutor. Another major failure was resigning as DA shortly after being re-elected, and then moving out of town. 

Nearby Unicoi County DA Tony Clark was in a similar situation as former DA Crump: a grand jury indicted the local sheriff--he said that even though the sheriff was a friend, he had to perform his duties as prescribed by law. Watch Video

Thursday, October 12, 2023

That Horrible Move-in Neighbor from Florida: This One was Even Worse

As seen on ArsTechnica 

If you thought the neighbor who returned after getting booted out of Transylvania was bad--meet Barry Ardolf...

A Minnesota hacker prosecutors described as a “depraved criminal” was handed an 18-year prison term Tuesday for unleashing a vendetta of cyber-terror that turned his neighbor’s lives into a living nightmare.

Barry Ardolf, 46, repeatedly hacked into his next-door neighbors’ WiFi network, and used it to try and frame them for child pornography, sexual harassment, various kinds of professional misconduct and to send threatening e-mail to politicians, including then-Vice President Joe Biden.

His motive was to get back at his new neighbors after they told the police he’d kissed their 4-year-old son on the lips.


“Barry Ardolf has demonstrated by his conduct that he is a dangerous man. When he became angry at his neighbors, he vented his anger in a bizarre and calculated campaign of terror against them,” (PDF) prosecutor Timothy Rank said in a court filing. “And he did not wage this campaign in the light of day, but rather used his computer hacking skills to strike at his victims while hiding in the shadows.

“Over months and months, he inflicted unfathomable psychic damage, making the victims feel vulnerable in their own home, while avoiding detection.”

Ardolf had no criminal record, but an investigation revealed that he’d also hijacked the WiFi of other neighbors, and terrorized them as well. 

A father of two, Ardolf had turned down a two-year plea agreement last year to charges related to the Biden e-mail. After that, the authorities piled on more charges, including identity theft and two kiddie-porn accusations carrying lifetime sex-offender registration requirements. He pleaded guilty to them all last year.

The bizarre tale began in 2009 when Matt and Bethany Kostolnik moved in the house next door to Ardolf, who at the time was a Medronic computer technician living in the Minneapolis suburb of Blaine.

Sunday, September 17, 2023

Monroe County Constable Tommy Jones Was Arrested and Re-elected--Trump Supporters Hope For The Same

 If as the saying goes, 'truth is stranger than fiction' we may be seeing former President Donald Trump re-elected in 2024.

Despite facing several felony charges in March of 2014, Monroe County TN Constable Tommy Jones won re-election before his case went to trial...if you are wondering whether justice was served, all the charges were dismissed and he remained in his elected constable position...
The presiding judge Andrew Freiberg pointed the finger at the DA's office for taking too long to bring the case to trial, and the DA's office claimed they had been ready all along.

Regardless of where the blame lies for Tommy Jones Senior not having to answer to the serious felony charges; one can only imagine the difficulty involved in the district attorney's office prosecuting Monroe County TN Sheriff Tommy Jones' father--had Daddy Jones been prosecuted, it may have created a 'humbug chaos' with other pending criminal cases: deputies not showing up for court, contraband being lost or mishandled, and other obstructionist tricks and tactics...simply put, it could have been a worst case scenario for the legal system. 

Seen here during the Channel 8 news interview admitting that... "he shouldn't comment" -- Even those who should know better than to make public comments during pending litigation often make incriminating remarks.

Sunday, June 25, 2023

Field Day 2023--Drones Assist set up HF antennas and Dstar Demonstration of Icom 52

Setting up a wired HF antenna used to be more commonly done using a slingshot to set the antenna wires between trees...not anymore--with the advent of personal drones or UAVs, drone-assisted setups are common for temporary and permanent installations.

Also shown is the latest handheld by Icom, model 52-A which is Dstar as well as analog capable...You can communicate around the world or locally with the Dstar system.

Get into ham radio and you will have a tremendous resource if you are ever lost in the woods and find yourself without cell phone service. There are many situations of lost campers and hikers that ventured out thinking their cellphone was the only lifeline they needed in an emergency: avoid being another DOA statistic--learn about radio communications and you will increase your chances for survival.


Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Daniela Valderrama's Facebook Alert was a Hoax

 

Daniela Valderrama
On Monday May 22, 2023 an alert was posted on the local facebook users group by Daniela Valderrama saying..."Does Anyone know who this creepy guy is?"

The so called "creepy guy" was an innocent victim and was falsely accused--he was interviewed by MCNW and wants to share how he ran into the accuser...

                         ...........................

Manny Silva says...I was driving towards Cooper Hollow road and saw what looked like a stranded or perhaps a lost motorist on the side of the road and stopped and said hello...As soon as I realized she must be a friend or girlfriend of dirty trickster Billy Smith using his truck I drove on, and could hear as she screamed and hollered: she wanted to know 'how did you know that, and who are you?'...

As I looked in my rear view mirror, she had turned around and was following me--GPS cache meta data would show that she followed me after our brief conversation...I felt she was so enraged that I better stop and try to calm her down--she started video recording her shouting and screaming, so I took a picture of her...I later made a police report at the Tellico PD with a MCSD officer...I was in fear for my life and felt I was being chased by a "raving lunatic."

Sunday, March 26, 2023

Rural Forest Service Road Used as a Racetrack...? Residents Meet to Discuss Impact

8:06 AM...April 8th, 2023 Rally Race Updates

100% chance of rain for most of the day--Nature is not supporting those that would violate the natural forest environment...some consider the location for this race event as "Insanity passed off as logic."

With the approval of the local USFS office in Cleveland TN, a Chattanooga Tourism Company is leading the effort to bring a World Rally Championship car race to the Cherokee National Forest in a rural and narrow gravel road in Polk County TN. Some of the local residents are strongly opposed to the event...Race event is set for April 8th, 2023.

Polk County resident Brian McCord shares his opinion on the race in the woods ... "The idea reveals the worst kind of disrespect for Polk County residents, the forest environment, quality of life and nature in general--the arrogant idea is to draw the financial gain to Chattanooga, with some scraps leftover for Polk County, which will only to be overwhelmed with excessive noise, air pollution, and terrified wildlife."

"All who enjoy the natural wonders of this national treasure will be victimized by the roaring of engines, the screeching of tires, and the aftermath of damaged roads and trails through our beloved forest, all in the name of entertainment."

Another local resident recalls the problems caused by a similar event..."We had a similar rally race here in 2002 that caused a lot of problems as far as local people being behind closed access roads, and a funeral procession being held up for an hour and a half due to the race. It's going to cost our county, it's going to tear up roads, will cause an increased danger to residents, and impact all emergency services for the entire weekend...it's a wacko idea proposed by greedy city slickers."...come to the forum at the high school next Tuesday.

There will be a public forum at the Polk County High School to discuss the proposed race rally event  on Tuesday March 28th at 7 PM...This video was recorded on April 1st, it shows the actual path where the rally race will take place.

Sunday, March 5, 2023

Enjoy the Benefits of Living in East Tennessee

Spring has sprung.  Enjoy all the natural wonders that attracts more out-of-town visitors  each passing year.  In the southern part of Monroe County,  there's cell phone service using any of the AT&T affiliated cell phone service providers.   And, there's a Dstar wide-area coverage repeater in nearby Benton TN that has crystal clear audio for both receive and transmit...as well as the 147.180 analog repeater.

Just over the TN/NC border there is an amazing waterfall and cave formations that is not on the tourist map...take Joe Brown road in Coker Creek for about 10 miles,  and you will run into this wonderful recreational area--it is so well hidden that during the 5 years Eric Robert Rudolph was a federal fugitive,  this area was one of his hangouts in the wild.  To prevent the overflow of tourists, you must travel and do your own research:  otherwise it may become as busy as Bald River Falls,  which is usually way overcrowded with visitors during the summer months.