Public Documents Redux

Amherst Regional Middle School

Sometimes you hit a treasure trove and sometimes it's just junk, but a public documents request -- which my friends in the bricks and mortar media make all too infrequently -- is never a waste of time.

At the very least it sends a message that anything public officials say relating to public matters can and will be used against them.  Or for them as the case may be, since sometimes the information gained sheds a positive light.

   Concern Over Public Documents Release by Larry Kelley

Click headline "Concern over Public Doc Release" to better read document

As the 4,500 of you who read the previous release of internal emails may remember, the $180,000 payoff of Carolyn Gardner was done without the standard "non disclosure agreement," after the schools did everything in their power to have it included.

Gardner's legal team insisted the settlement not be done under the cloaking device of a non disclosure agreement. 

Of course maybe that's why the Public Schools are more inclined to give away the store with  legal cases, since they assume the non disclosure agreement will protect them from prying eyes.  All the more reason to challenge it.

At every opportunity. 

Public Documents Snafu

There is no standard playbook for redacting documents

When it comes to Public Documents Law (Massachusetts version of the Freedom Of Information Act) I'm a "strict constructionist."

In other words -- like the Attorney General -- I consider almost anything put in writing by a town employee, elected official or appointed committee member to be a public document.

Trick is to know what to ask for and who to ask.

On July 15, based on inside information, I requested "Any emails over the past 10 days sent between Regional School Committee members or directed at ARPS administrators discussing the release of
settlement documents in the Carolyn Gardner affair."

On July 27 I received a single file that contained seven emails that fit the description.  One of the emails was Superintendent Geryk complaining about my already publishing one of her emails to a Regional School Committee member (who was NOT my source).

I of course instantly published the material, floating the document on Scribd, which makes it easier for readers and gives me a total number of views.

The next day I was informed that the documents sent to me had been redacted but did not show up as redacted on my upload.  Turns out it was a computer snafu between a windows file and my Mac.

By that time the document already had over 1,200 views and any one of those people could have downloaded it to their computer with a single click.  Since my friends in the bricks and mortar media seem to follow me pretty closely, I assumed that had already happened.

So NO, the schools never formally requested I take down the document and replace it with the corrected one (sent the second time as a PDF).  But it does bring up interesting questions.

What if I had used technology to undue their redactions and then willfully published it?

Interestingly if public officials ignore public documents requests you take it to the Public Records Division of the Secretary of State's office and they send a threatening letter to the public officials.

But since the Public Records Division has no enforcement powers said officials can continue to ignore you.

When viewing exactly what was redacted it becomes clear the main thing the Schools want kept secret is they like to keep things secret. As in using a "confidentiality statement," which time and time again has been proven NOT valid for settlements involving taxpayer money.

Like the tragic Phoebe Prince case for instance.

   Amherst Public Records Snafu

Redacted portions below

 Click to enlarge/read

Ms. Gardner and her attorneys specifically wanted this agreement to go public, but now I hear they're complaining about too much transparency via these public documents disclosures.

Could it be they expected a far different reaction from the general public when the terms of the agreement first became public?

You would think a prestigious legal firm would know taxpayers are never thrilled about financing large settlements like $180,000 -- especially when they take a one-third cut.

Of course it could have been far worse, as the original demand was for $500,000.  So at least the Schools got them down 64%.

And of course if that $500K figure attains mainstream circulation it kind of takes the legal dream team down a notch or two.

Simply put, the general public has a right to know how their money was spent.  And why.

Information is intimately connected to free speech:  The more of it the better.  If you don't like it, then redact me.

The High Cost Of Racist Graffiti

Carolyn Gardner was allegedly targeted by racial notes and graffiti numerous times

UPDATED 3:00 PM 

(Scroll down for School Superintendent Maria Geryk response to School Committee member Vira Douangmany)

Under increasing public pressure the Amherst Regional Public Schools just released the settlement amount in the sad case of math teacher Carolyn Gardner:  $180,000 total payout from three sources:  $90,000 insurance, $60,000 from the Regional School District, and $30,000 from payroll.

But only $120,000 went directly to Ms. Gardner, the other $60,000 was paid to her esteemed attorneys Sasson, Turnbull, Ryan & Hoose, LLC.

   Carolyn Gardner $180K Agreement

Some will argue the total amount is W-A-Y too much, but considering her initial request was $500,000 maybe not so much.  Others will argue it's W-A-Y too little for the indignity of it all.  Most, however, will agree the lawyers got too much.

The truth, inevitable, stands somewhere in the middle.

Click to enlarge/read

Email from School Superintendent Maria Geryk to Regional School Committee member Vira Douangmany, copied to the entire School Committee

Hush Money

Amherst Regional High School

The recent settlement with Carolyn Gardner that school officials refuse to release any details about is only the most recent example of tax money paid out to, presumably, right a wrong or make an individual whole again so they can get on with their life.

Somewhere other than the Amherst Regional Public Schools.

Over the past four years the Public Schools have paid their attorney Giny Tate $562,066, or an average of $140,516 per year for legal services.  And "Legal Settlements" cost the taxpayers $821,668 over that same time period or an average of $205,417 per year.

Thus legal activity taken as a whole cost taxpayers an average of $345,933 per year for the past four years.

   Amherst Public Schools Legal Costs by Larry Kelley

The report to the Regional School Committee is dated March 31 so FY15 was three quarters completed (ends June 30), thus the Carolyn Gardner settlement is not included.

 Chart composed by HR Director Kathy Mazur

A few years ago I requested all the (former) employees who were paid a settlement greater than $5,000 and was given a chart showing 13 individuals (between 2006 and 2013) paid a total of $367,427.

The Schools refused to release the names of the individuals or any further details even though the Secretary of State's Public Records Division clearly told them to do so. 

Back then I had figures but no names, today we have a name (Carolyn Gardner) but no figure.

Go figure.

Sky High Price of Transparency

Besides outright refusal to provide requested documents and then running the risk of losing an appeal to the state Public Records Division  (although they have no enforcement powers), another way of keeping things buried is to charge a high price for fulfilling the request.

State law allows "reasonable fees" to be charged by a public institution to fulfill a request, and it really doesn't matter if you are an average citizen or legacy news organization.

Of course these days newspapers can barely afford to pay for employees coffee so an unexpected $11,000 for public documents is a little hard to swallow.

Which of course only makes you wonder, what is UMass trying to hide?

Our flagship of higher education seemed to be pretty transparent last month when they fairly quickly released total costs ($305,000) associated with the Mullins Center Concert designed to distract students from participating in the Blarney Blowout.

So what's the big deal about giving out the cost breakdown?  Will Ludacris and Juicy J be upset that Kesha was paid more? 

Or are there extra costs we don't know about?

These days public relations personnel outnumber journalists by five to one.  With UMass it's far worse since there really are no professional reporters exclusively assigned to cover UMass/Amherst, while their  "Office of News & Media Relations" has a full-time staff (many of them former reporters) of eleven.

But when you mess with one reporter, you mess with them all.  As well as intelligent readers who take transparency seriously. 

When UMass messed with me

Public vs Private Documents

The Sony Entertainment hack has led to some salacious materials meant to be private suddenly making it into the bright limelight provided by media bandwidth, which many readers probably find entertaining.

Over the past few years I have published more local public documents than all the media outlets combined who cover Amherst. 

And as someone who relishes that role of being first I have to say, I would not publish the Sony trove, even if contained mentions of Amherst (My "Only in Amherst" movie deal is still a few years away).

Sony is a private sector organizer, not some government agency doing harm to the American people.

The materials were stolen via a criminal illegal act.

They are being used to bribe a private company into scuttling a movie that makes fun of the whacko despot of evil empire, and since the hackers probably work for that goofball government, a clear violation of Sony's First Amendment rights.

Do journalists who ethically have their own version of the Hippocratic Oath to live by, really want to be used as pawns by a chubby little North Korean killer?

The Best Laid Plans ...

27 Kendrick Place

I guess the only way to ensure a contract is carried out after you die is to never die, or quickly return as a vengeful ghost.

Eva Schiffer, former Select Board, Finance Committee member and long-time German language professor at UMass, left very specific instructions when she bequeathed her cute little house on Kendrick Place (the street, not the five-story mixed use building currently under construction in the north end of town center) to the Amherst Housing Authority.

After she dies, sell the house for 40% off to a blue collar town employee -- police, fire or DPW -- who would otherwise find it hard to afford the high property values in town combined with the highest property tax rate in the area.

In fact she was so specific she even banned anyone associated with those other branches of Amherst public services, the schools and library.

   Agreement for Eva Schiffer House

Thus the buyer, a town employee, would have benefited somewhat greatly via a hefty discount; but not so much the Housing Authority for brokering the deal.

Instead we have a town employee, Sandy Pooler, with a bleached white collar and member of the $100K club benefiting by a reduced price, $225K vs $269,700 assessed value ($307,000 appraised).

And the Housing Authority also greatly benefits by about $200,000 vs zero if the original contract had been followed.

Finance Director Sandy Pooler presenting to Amherst Town Meeting (showing them the money)

A dozen people did make inquiries about the property and they had equal opportunity to place a bid, so no special favors were shown to Mr. Pooler, the sole bidder.   Plus, those that know him would agree he's about as strait laced, goody two-shoes as they come -- so no aspersions on his involvement.

After all, who doesn't like a great deal on a house within walking distance to your office.

But there's also no doubt that the auction could have been better publicized, or the project turned over to a professional real estate agent (of which Amherst has many) who would have been motivated to work tirelessly for the greatest return.   

An Unattended Death

UMass Amherst: Not exactly a drug free zone

UPDATE January 24, 2015

My sitemeter tells me a bevy of folks are now coming to this post after doing Google searches for "heroin death UMass Amherst" or something similar, no doubt in response to the ABC 20/20 episode aired last night, which interestingly enough used the same alias for Eric Sinacori as did the Boston Globe, "Logan."

So they can interview his Mom on camera and show his picture, but not use his real name?

And I wonder when the next student dies of a heroin OD supplied by an on campus dealer who was free to ply his pernicious trade because UMPD can no longer use student informants, will 20/20 cover that?

####

ORIGINAL REPORT 

Although nestled in a quaint little New England town, UMass/Amherst, the flagship of higher education in the state, is virtually a city unto itself.

So it's not overly surprising that death on occasion comes calling, even to the young of age.

Last Fall two sudden unattended deaths occurred that were (initially) covered by the local media -- Eric Sinacori, age 20, and Evan Jones, age 19.  Although technically Sinacori died off campus in his Puffton Village Apartment.

But since they both died in the town of Amherst the medical examiner files a certificate of death with the Town Clerk, although it takes up to six months. 

In Evan Jones case, death was caused by a "seizure."

In Eric Sinacori's case the injury occurred because of "Illicit substance abuse," and the immediate cause of death was, "Acute Heroin Intoxication."

Governor Deval Patrick and Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan have declared war on opioid abuse.  At a press conference in late February, DA Sullivan called the surge in drug overdoses, "A public health crisis" while citing, "19 deaths in Hampshire and Franklin counties since November 1st, 2013." (Twice the rate of the rest of the state.)

And since Mr. Sinacori died just prior to November 1st he would have pushed the DA's list to 20 deaths! 

Last week in the little town of Deerfield, three individuals were saved from death by heroin overdose over the course of three days by a quick spray of Narcan.

Governor Patrick has signed off on allowing first responders statewide to carry Narcan, as well as friends and family of opioid users (with proper training).

Today UMass graduates 5,500 dedicated young adults who have worked hard over the past few years to attain their degrees.  Governor Patrick is the keynote speaker.

I hope he remembers the students who will never make their graduation ceremonies.

Sunshine Makes The Best Disinfectant

From: Larry Kelley  
To: Kathy Mazur ; Maria Geryk

Subject: Public Document Request 

Please consider this a re-request of my April 7, 2011 public records request for "copies of all separation, severance, transition or settlement agreements made since January 1, 2005 between the School and its employees with settlement amounts in excess of $5,000." 

This would now include any agreements made since April 7, 2011 up until this morning. In other words, specifically, the case of Robert Detweiler. 

Superior Court Justice Thomas A. Connors recently upheld the Public Records Division finding in a case exactly like the one I patterned my April 7, 2011 request on. 

As you may remember, the Public Records Division told you to release the full agreements including names of the 13 individuals. 

If you still insist on keeping these public records secret I will be forced to take it to Hampshire Superior Court, where Judge Mary-Lou Rup already found in a journalist's favor, forcing South Hadley to release settlement agreement information in the Phoebe Prince case. 

Larry Kelley 
Sent: Fri, Jan 31, 2014 11:18 am

That Too Is Banned @ ARPS

ARHS

According to the Amherst Regional Public Schools handbook, under Code of Conduct:  

Lockers are the property of the Amherst Regional High School. In a search and seizure situation, the student who has been assigned the locker may be given the opportunity to be present. This will occur only when a student’s personal possessions are being checked and the student’s presence does not present a threat to that student’s safety or to the safety of others. Contraband found in the course of a search of a student’s locker, bag or person will be confiscated and, if appropriate, turned over to the Amherst Police Department. Disposition of contraband turned over to the APD is the responsibility of the police.

Around noon Friday via scanner traffic I heard the familiar voice of an APD detective tell Dispatch he was en route to Amherst Regional High School, 21 Matoon Street, to retrieve drug paraphernalia so it could be destroyed.

General weekly logs posted to town website

When I requested under Public Documents law the (more extensive) "media log"  for that particular incident it was, err, somewhat redacted:


The reason I'm told for such NSA type secrecy is that the incident involves a juvenile; and it's an "open incident." So be it.

Now it's even more open.

Email backstory

Open Government?

 

Eastern Hampshire District Court, Belchertown

Sign out front

Transparency Tweak

 

Amherst Town Flag, Town Hall

So better late than never, the village that -- like President Obama -- wants to be known for transparency has uploaded to our award winning town website all town employee salaries, mimicking the 18 month old state program known as "Open Checkbook."

Well, all town employees -- but that does not include the public schools who eat up the lions share of our $68 million budget.

Northampton, our sister city to the west, has been doing this for years now and of course my readers will note I uploaded both schools and town salaries a couple months ago.

And yes it still attracts a fair number of hits.  And will continue to do so since folks seem more interested in the schools than the town.

Breaking news bulletin from amherstma.gov

Editor's note: opening sentence contains sarcasm

Something Doesn't Add Up

When I made the identical Public Documents request of the town and UMass exactly 10 days ago for their written exchanges since the 1st of January, I was kind of thinking the equation was fairly simple:  UMass Bigwig A writes to town official Bigwig B, who then responds:  that equals one response (C) captured by my request.

So A + B should  = C, or B + A should = the same C.

Of course the reason for the redundancy is to keep people honest.  If each party knows I'm double checking by making the identical request of both parties then they will be careful in giving me all the documents. 

Kind of like cops putting two suspects in separate rooms for an interrogation.  In journalism it's called "verification".

So I'm trying to figure out why UMass (A) is charging 12 times the amount the town (B) is charging to fulfill the identical request (C)?  Anyone?

   UMass response to Public Documents Request

#####

From: Roussel, Debra
To: Larry Kelley
Cc: Ziomek, David ; Selectboard ; Brian Riley ; Musante, John
Sent: Thu, Apr 18, 2013 6:22 pm
Subject: RE: Public Documents Request

Good afternoon Mr. Kelley,

Thus far we have confirmed a minimum of eight hours of staff time to review, pdf and redact as necessary the documents you have requested.   The lowest paid individual able to produce the documents is paid approximately $32 an hour.  Therefore, if you decide to move forward with the request, you will need to submit a check in the amount of $256.00.  This estimate does not include the cost of paper copies, as it was unclear as to the number of copies that were involved. 

Regards,

Debra A. Roussel

Assistant to the Town Manager

Let The Sunshine In

From: Larry Kelley
To: AG Division of Open Government 

Sent: Mon, Apr 8, 2013 2:22 pm 
Subject: Open Meeting complaint

I was prevented entry to a meeting on April 4 at the UMass Police Station between high ranking school officials, town officials and private landlords to discuss a matter of utmost public concern:  rowdy off campus student behavior by a minority of students who attend the University. 

I was told in an email from a UMass offical that the meeting was closed because it was a "working meeting."  

UMass did issue a press release before the end of the day but, for instance, did not provide the names of the ten landlords who attended the meeting.  A violation of the very first rule in journalism concerning the five W's (WHO, what, when, where and why). 

 Since this issue is an ongoing problem in the town of Amherst and since these meeting will probably happen again, I would like the Attorney General to issue a ruling as to whether they should be open or not.  

Sacrificing transparency for the expediency of public employees is not a healthy trade off. 

Thank you for your attention and time spent upholding the People's right to know. 

Larry Kelley 

#####

To: buffone Cc: jeankim ; jkennedy ; egelaye ; edblag 
Sent: Mon, Apr 8, 2013 7:35 am 
Subject: Public Documents Request 

Could I please get any and all written correspondence -- email, text, snail mail -- between any UMass employee and Amherst town officials (either appointed or elected) between January 1, 2013 up until this morning concerning off-campus student behavior especially but not limited to the recent "Spring Strategy Meeting" held April 4, as well as any correspondence concerning Amherst's Safe & Healthy Neighborhoods upcoming town meeting bylaw. 

Since this request is in the public's interest I would also request a fee waiver.  

Larry Kelley

#####

To: MusanteJ ; selectboard ; ZiomekD  
Sent: Mon, Apr 8, 2013 9:42 am 
Subject: Fwd: Public Documents Request 
Subject: Public Documents Request 

Could I please get any and all written correspondence -- email, text, snail mail -- between Amherst town officials (either appointed or elected) to any UMass employees between January 1, 2013 up until this morning concerning off-campus student behavior especially but not limited to the recent "Spring Strategy Meeting" held April 4, as well as any correspondence concerning Amherst's Safe & Healthy Neighborhoods upcoming town meeting bylaw. 

Since this request is in the public's interest I would also request a fee waiver.  

 Larry Kelley 

 #####

Sent: Mon, Apr 8, 2013 11:19 am 
Subject: Public Documents Request 
Sally Linowsky Campus and Community Coalition 

Could I please get a list of the  ten landlords who attended the April 4 "Spring Strategy Meeting" held at UMPD as well as a list of all the landlords who were invited.  

Thanks, 

Larry Kelley

A Little Awkward Indeed

Attorney Larry I've-got-a-secret Farber 1/31/13 ZBA Meeting

So yes, I was tempted to scream at this point in the meeting (or assume a lotus position and self immolate).  But I figured the sparsely attended meeting was being recorded by Amherst Media, so at some point the whole world could see -- and hear. 



Of course one thing the Grandonicos wish to keep secret is the provision that ties students into a 15 month lease (June 1 through August 31 the following year) that spans two summers. 

Thus the average UMass student, who does not live in Amherst year round, pays for 15 months but only gets 9 months worth of use.

Or they could spend $450 each to get out of the last three months.

Back story in emails

No Scarlet Letters Here

Abandoned house (but not the property) on South East Street

So to repeat what I wrote yesterday about the coordinated PR surge Amherst and UMass are now jointly putting forth on the their solutions to problem party houses in town, I question if either has the will to actually back up their tough talk.  And now, for your consideration, I present exhibit B:

Board of Health Problem Houses

Interesting that this "list" of dwellings the Board of Health has dealt with since the June 30 start of FY13 does not give exact addresses?

When a public health problem rises to the level of being placed on a watch list, that list becomes a public document.   And since the Board of Health is an investigatory body with state mandated powers I assume they put the exact address on their list.

So why protect them from public exposure?  Don't neighbors have a right to know about a problem house in their neighborhood (although they are usually all too familiar).  Isn't that why the state has a Sex Offender rule for public exposure of their whereabouts?

Notice the Board of Health has issued only one fine (to a house somewhere on Glendale Road) out of the 60 or so locations on the list, or under 2%.  No indication if it was for the $50 minimum or $1,000 maximum, or anywhere in between.

And it's also interesting that this fine was issued only last week.  Since this powerpoint slide is to be presented tomorrow night to the Amherst Select Board as part of the Town Manager's report on "Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods", a conspiracy theorist might think they just randomly picked one token house to fine in order to demonstrate toughness. 

At least the 9/13 basement apartment fire at Gilreath Manor on Hobart Lane shows up (but only as "Hobart Lane").  At least we now have an official admission from the town that those basement apartments were indeed illegal.  And they have given the owners an "Order To Correct"... at least.

That seems to be an apt description for the efforts the town and UMass are showing for enforcement action:  At least.

And a sternly worded letter too!

Yet Another Smoking Gun

Email sent by AFD to select influential Amherst individuals:

From: "McKay, Donald" <McKayD@amherstma.gov>
Date: September 18, 2012 1:44:49 PM EDT

I thought that I would apprise you of a situation in which your assistance would be welcomed. Last Thursday the Fire Department responded to a basement fire at # 28 Hobart Lane. 28 Hobart Lane is one of the 14 units that Lincoln Realty owns and manages in the 3 apartment buildings collectively called Gillreath Manor Apartments. The basement contained 2 illegal bedrooms. One of these would be considered to be OK as a bedroom with some modifications as directed by the Building Commissioner. The second bedroom 1) physically cannot be used as bedroom and 2) exceeds the maximum occupancy of 4.

Currently, the Fire Department, Health Department, and Building Commissioners office are awaiting the opportunity to inspect all 14 units in the complex. On Monday the 17^th of September, we were invited to inspect 2 of the 14 units. We observed two rooms, constructed without permits, in each basement with no beds contained therein. We did observe two beds that had been stacked beneath the stairs in each occupancy.

The issue: We have one email and now one phone call from the displaced occupants that clearly indicate that they have been instructed by Lincoln reality to remove the evidence of the two illegal bedrooms until after the combined inspections. We are working with the University to acquire permanent residence hall accommodations for the 14 students who will be displaced from the 5^th bedroom in each unit. It appears that the 28 students displaced from the basement bedrooms are in need of temporary accommodations and I believe that Lincoln Realty needs to step up and procure these temporary living arrangements.

The charade needs to end and these kids need safe housing.. To date, we believe that we (the combined inspection departments) have not proceeded in an untoward manner, we have withheld action through an administrative search warrant instead seeking to act cooperatively with Lincoln Realty to inspect the apartments and we are very cautiously approaching a cease and desist order to compel Lincoln Realty to reduce the occupancy of the apartments to 4.

Any assistance you may be able to provide in motivating Lincoln Realty to provide the necessary temporary housing would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Don

Assistant Chief Donald R. McKay, EMT-P, MPH

Amherst Fire Department

Discussion on UMass Reddit 

Fire Postmortem

 Gilreath Manor, main building, six units

Two violations jump out in this AFD report, one not so serious, one deadly serious.  Amherst has a zoning bylaw limiting unrelated tenants to four per household -- that's the not so serious violation.

State building codes requires two means of egress from a basement bedroom -- that's the deadly serious infraction.

As I pointed out in my original post, what if the fire had happened in the wee hours of the morning rather than 12:00 noon?  A fire across the main floor would have trapped anybody asleep in those basements.

Two bedrooms per unit times six units:  "Nobody gets out of here alive."

Hobart Lane Fire Redacted

Smoking Gun?

 Town Hall in a storm

UPDATE (12:45 PM) The town and UMass have just announced an "open forum" to address concerns over student off-campus behavior.  Looks like we're getting their attention.  Of course none of the students who cause the problems will attend.

#####

Well it took a while longer than the ten days required by Public Documents Law, and some of my request was carefully ignored, and the moment of release timed for the start of a slow news cycle (beginning of a long holiday weekend) ... even so, the slightly panicky email to town officials concerning the fire at Gilreath Manor from "Heather" who lives there (still) tells an interesting story, one town officials obviously did not want you to see:

Smoking Email Town Officials

The backstory in emails

We know where you are

Amherst Police assisted State Police making an arrest Friday morning after a cell phone "ping" (where the carrier sends out a signal to locate and track a particular cell phone) gave authorities a general idea where the perp was hiding in North Amherst after being involved in a domestic abuse situation Thursday night in Shutesbury.

According to APD logs:


While doing area search a passing motorist stated he just observed suspicious white male in back yard on Henry Street who fled to railroad tracks.  Jacobsen observed walking down tracks where he was taken into custody.  Turned over at the scene to Massachusetts State Police.

Phillip Jacobsen, 78 Pelham Hill Rd, Shutesbury, MA, age 24, Arrested for Assault to Murder, domestic A&B

Some of you may remember Mr. Jacobsen as he was a test case in a public documents fight two years ago between the Daily Hampshire Gazette (when they were a tad less arthritic) and Northampton Police Department.

The Gazette requested his mug shot after he was arrested for--you guessed it--beating and attempting to murder his former girlfriend. NPD denied the request claiming the photo was protected because of Criminal Offender Record Information.

State Supervisor of Public Records Alan Cote sided with the Gazette and the photo was released.  But the decision was appealed and another ruling simply left it up to individual police departments as to whether mug shots could be released.

In this morning's Gazette police log article,  no mug shot or previous background accompanies the brief of Mr. Jacobsen's most recent exploits.

Phillip Huckleberry Jacobsen