7/11/10

UNFRIGINBELIEVABLY LOUD CONCERT IN SOLDOTNA ANGERS HUNDREDS, UPDATE

I can’t even begin to describe how angry I am especially considering my past experiences on the Kenai Peninsula. Being one of the biggest nerds in Alaska I was trying to read a book and my apartment was being shaken by music that was so loud I could not believe it. At first I thought it was one of the many boom box cars that circulate all night. I then went for a walk looking for the source thinking erroneously that it must be a neighbor close by. Because who the hell would think that a concert by the sports arena on K-Beach Road over two miles away would be allowed by the city of Soldotna to play music so loud that people were angry and upset all over the city. Holy crap!!! I was not even very close to it and my apartment was shaking, there were homes that literally must have been vibrating all around the concert. What kind of thinking process went into issuing this permit? Well, first of all let’s look at the “business” that sponsored the event. It was Hooligans, aka Sodom and Gomorrah. I am not prudish, but have to ask should a business that promotes drugs, drunkenness, prostitution, and has shady business practices be allowed to promote concerts which if not managed properly could cause problems for the people in the community? The City of Soldotna says, Hell YES to that. I have my own personal story about Hooligans I should write some time. Imagine how people who came here to have a nice relaxing vacation are feeling about Soldotna this morning. If I was them I would never come back. How's that promoting tourism thing workin our for ya?


We have had problems with vandalism, theft, and harassment at the apartments I live in from some teenagers who live next door to Borough Mayor Carey. He doesn’t ever seem to notice, even when the police have them in his back yard at 3 A.M. standing in a row with their hands on the fence which  btw is right outside my kitchen window. Of course when I called about them at 2:30 AM the dispatcher gave me the Kenai Peninsula law enforcement run around. There are some kids who already had no trespass warrants for this property. When they ran through the property at 2:30 A.M. (insomnia) with at least one of them wearing a helmet with a face covering looking behind them as if someone was chasing them I found this alarming considering the vandalism and theft history here recently. I thought the police might be chasing them. I already had a police chase and arrest one night right in front of my apartment. So, to have the dispatcher ask me if they were playing paint ball as if I am just a silly ass for calling got this response, “Look buddy, my IQ is fairly high, people who are playing paint ball generally have paint ball guns!” I then called the manager of our apartments who is a retired police officer who has a business as a consultant to police departments with corruption problems. He does not put up with any crap. Sometimes I think maybe there might be a God, because what are the chances with all I have been through with police corruption in Alaska that he would show up to manage the apartments I live in. The reason he and his wife are here is because the owners of the apartments are fabulous people. As it turned out one of them was on juvenile probation and was not supposed to be out by himself let alone at 2:30 A.M. and the other was a runaway they had been looking for.

Some kids at a house close by were having bon fires in their back yard starting about 9:30 P.M. or 10:00 PM. Why? They are teenagers, they wanted to drink beer, smoke pot, and boys think fires are cool. My concern was a fire burning all night with a bunch of intoxicated kids running around acting like idiots tending it. This was about a week before all the fires in the spring, when it was really dry. I got the run around from police dispatch and then the fire department. I got no response and the kids came on the property here and took firewood for their fire and someone threw rocks at my apartment. That is how they ended up with no trespassing warrants.

You know down here on the peninsula it seems there are no laws to protect citizens from actions of those who have bad judgment about safety or being good neighbors, it is all a “civil matter”. That is what they told me about theft of my property in Homer, the abuse my cat suffered, or lying to law enforcement to get me falsely arrested, they did not charge Robin or Steve Hume with crimes, it was just a “civil matter”. It’s funny how those things are illegal in other places, but not here, isn’t it. Yes, law enforcement, especially the state troopers have been trained to say that to people who have complaints about anything. As if as a citizen I can go right down and get a court injunction against their behaviors. For one thing the law libraries as I found out the hard way have essentially been eliminated here. They have put Alaska case law and statutes on computers and you can only access the information at a designated law library. They also have the printed statutes. This means if you do not live in Homer or Kenai you have to go pretty far to even access this limited information. This is done on purpose, they know most people will just get tired of the hassle and most will not be able to figure out where to even start the case. There is very little information about how to file cases. There is absolutely no staff to provide assistance except unlocking of doors. They just tell people they don’t need any other information than what is on the computer. Of course this is not true. In Kenai I have actually had to run between two different rooms which would have to be unlocked each time. The treatises, etcetera, have been eliminated. In other words the ability to do research to put a logical case together has been blocked. To understand how to use the courts one must understand the legal history, supreme court decisions, and constitutional law. This is a violation of the 7th amendment right to trial by jury in civil cases, but hey, what isn‘t a constitutional violation in Alaska?

Then there is the insanity of allowing music to be played that loud at a concert with no regard for the safety of those attending the concert. There is no question about music this loud damaging hearing. When people allow their kids to go to a concert they probably think there are regulations about loudness, there aren’t any regulations or apparently any common sense either. If my apartment shook two miles away how could it not damage hearing? Loud noise increases stress hormones so an event like this has an effect on people with health problems, but they don’t think about that sort of thing do they, they only think about money. The bands sounded like they were pretty good and I actually liked the music they were playing. They could have had a concert with the volume at a decent level and I would not have even known about it. A state trooper told me the city of Soldotna issued them the permit for the concert and they could do nothing about the noise. They did ask them to turn it down. I did not notice a difference. I was told they would make them end the concert at one minute after 10 P.M., it was after 10:30 when the bone rattling noise finally ended. It was quite a relief.

Remember it does not make money for anyone for law enforcement to respond to everyday calls of disturbing the peace, safety issues, or even harassment and vandalism as the defendants will most likely not be sent to prison. Law enforcement does not make the laws, they wanted to stop that concert, but could not. It is very profitable to arrest drug and alcohol offenders as it is a sure thing they can send them to prison due to harsh legislature being passed which is job security for many and prison-industrial complex companies make more money the more prisoners there are. Even if a prison is state run and not private, they buy supplies from these companies. If police go tell kids to stop doing an unsafe activity they are preventing problems which could result in kids getting in less trouble and the community being safer. In fact having them know they are being checked and watched will change their behavior. Why doesn't the fire department have the authority to investigate unsafe situations? Perhaps they do and they were just giving me the Kenai Peninsula ignore.

My warning to these kids is don't mess with me, I may look like a typical moderately obese middle age woman, but, I‘ll go Madea on your ass. Did I mention I have PTSD and could snap at any moment?

Now when I went through being wrongfully arrested which resulted in wrongful imprisonment(with medical malpractice and torture), my cat starved/abused, and my property destroyed or stolen by one of the Homer areas most upstanding citizens, Robin Hume (she said sarcastically) I went to the borough meeting held in Homer and told that story during the three whole minutes I was allotted(In 2007). I know this is surprising, who could believe I could tell a story in three minutes. I can’t even believe it. I left a lot out which almost caused me to have a seizure. The reaction from the borough was absolutely non-existent, but as I have learned since, typically Kenai Peninsula Borough. The reason is businesses are all that matter to the borough. Their motto should be, ScrewThe People. I have had to learn this lesson several times as I could not believe it was as pervasive as it is. The man who was borough mayor at that time did everything he could to avoid me which I have also learned is a typical Alaska politician technique. There is one exception, Mark Begich did call me himself to discuss something we disagree about. I still disagree with him, but was very impressed considering my past experiences in Alaska. Remember Sarah Palin’s staff told me the Department of Law(Directed by Tallis Colberg) told them not to talk to me or help me with anything.

UPDATE: Last night we had someone break into a car and steal a tricycle that belonged to an elderly woman. The owner just came by to tell me there had been eggs thrown on the side of my apartment. It feels like we are under seige. Apparently this is going on all over Soldotna and they are especially targeting apartment buildings. There is a huge problem with meth here. I know from my experience in the Homer area how reluctant the state troopers are to look for meth labs, I hope the Soldotna police don't have the same attitude. Since I have insomnia and end up awake a lot at night I am rearranging my furniture for maximum viewing and management is taking some security measures. We are afraid they may try and get in apartments next. I sure hope they pick me and not one of these little old ladies. This is rediculous I have lived in Tacoma and L.A., anyone who says the crime is less in Alaska is full of crap. If I get lip from another police dispatcher there is going to be trouble.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, I've got to say that the more I read about Alaska, the more I don't want to visit. They need to change their tour guides brochures.

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear of what a horrible situation you are in. To bad you can't shoot the little brats with something non-life threatening. And not get charged. Target practice.
I thought i lived in a messed up place here in Alaska. Glad to know it's not that bad. Hope it gets better and the police and community step up their vigilance. The parents should be held accountable.
Hang in there.

Anonymous said...

I finally picked my family up and moved out of Alaska. Our quiet little neighborhood got invaded by the Samoans and Laotians. Luau's and drinking in the front yard everynight. This is happening all over in Anchorage neighborhoods. You have to move to the Hillside to avoid it. Along with the brightly painted houses with their barbeque's in the front yard came the low rider cars and all the riff raff that drove them. Good riddance Anchorage. Oh and I forgot the homeless that wandered around the nieghborhood. The police found three dead homeless in our neighborhood in 2 weeks.

Celia Harrison said...

The good thing about my situation is the owners and managers are the loveliest people anyone could hope for, it's the crime. Right now I am positioned in a window for maximum viewing of the property and have already chased a couple people off the property tonight. The thing that really makes me mad was stealing a little old ladies tricycle.

Anonymous said...

Wow. Soldotna puts on a show with famous bands outside that people were excited to go to and you're mad you couldn't be a huge geek and read your fucking book in silence? Get. Over. it. Young adults have been begging to have fun positive things to go do and it finally happened. I hope they do it again this year. And how sad that you say we make our town look bad by having concerts in the summer, for all ages. That was probably one of the funnest things I've gone to in 20 years of living there. I was proud of the town for listening to the younger people. It gave us something to look forward to, make memories with friends, stay out of trouble, and of course the lame ass people that sit in their homes being "nerds" all the time complain. Try getting involved with your community instead of taking a dump on it. So close minded. Buy ear plugs, it was for ONE night and you couldn't hold back, you had to complain. Do you hate blog about the fireworks at the sports center too? Try having some fun and think of other families that like to actually get out and experience things. And for those of you that haven't EVER been here, don't knock AK till you try it. If you think negatively about our town move away if you hate it so much. Whining about it on stupid blogs is childish but I guess its easier to bash something when you're sitting behind a keyboard.

Celia Harrison said...

Anonymous 6:20 PM wrote:
"I guess its easier to bash something when you're sitting behind a keyboard." Let me point out, ANONYMOUS that I am not hiding who I am like you are. It takes little courage to make a comment on a blog without revealing who you are. Not only did I write about this concert which was so loud it could have damaged the hearing of those attending it was shaking people's homes, I also went to the city counsel and spoke about it. Many people agreed with me including some on the city counsel. I suspect you may be the person who promoted it.