Showing posts with label Katie Leach. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Katie Leach. Show all posts

Monday, October 8, 2012

Dynamite! Bob Norman adroitly uses facts and context to lower-the-boom on the Broward School Board for their abysmal handling of the purported Douglas H.S. cheerleader coach 'scandal" -and drops School Board member Katie Leach squarely on her head; One month before the election, docs show Donn Korn opponent Franklin Sands funds his race with lots of money from his stepson’s lobbying firm -shocker!; @mattgutmanABC




ABC News Good Morning America video: Florida Cheerleader Coach Fired for Alleged Pay-to-Play Scheme, Cheerleaders, Parents Battle Coach Over Booster Funds.
Reported by Matt Gutman, Originally aired October 5, 2012. 
Wow, what a one-sided report! 

This kind of shallow reporting by ABC News reporter Matt Gutman, based in Miami, is exactly what Bob Norman demolishes in his story below. I suspect that most of the accusers who foolishly agreed to be in this video will live to regret having put their fragile egos over the truth, especially the teenage girls, who seem like they need a very hard reality check delivered upon them ASAP, before the poor girls get to college and ruin someone else's lives. 

As for Gutman, someone whom in the past has usually come across to me as a very fair-minded and conscientious reporter -with the exception of the Trayvon Martin casewell, he completely drops the Basket Toss on this one, as it reeks of lazy, incomplete reporting.
Dynamite! Bob Norman adroitly uses facts and context to lower-the-boom on the Broward School Board for their abysmal handling of the purported Douglas H.S. cheerleader coach 'scandal" -and drops School Board member Katie Leach squarely on her head; One month before the election, docs show Donn Korn opponent Franklin Sands funds his race with lots of money from his stepson’s lobbying firm -shocker!; @mattgutmanABC

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This is a corrected version of my earlier post that transposed some lines in the title and body.

Courtesy of Channel 10's investigative reporter and blogger Bob Norman, some long-neglected facts and context -remember them?- finally showed-up over the weekend on his blog in a controversial story that the South Florida Sun-Sentinel has rather consistently mis-reported, and which the Miami Herald actually ignored for months -shocker!- even as more facts emerged that challenged the South Florida press corps' "Mean Girls" narrative, which had them positively giddy at the possibilities of this story being the 2012 local news story that keeps on giving, even as they failed to report the whole truth. 

Again.

A story that initially seemed more parts Oprah then genuine news, but which now, in hindsight, clearly shows the scary lack of integrity and oversight of the Broward School Board.
It also once again painfully highlights the clear lack of leadership of its Chair Ann Murray, whom we already loathed even before this story showed-up months ago, and proved that -wait for it- yes, we were correct all along about her.
Ann Murray is the worst sort of bad news, the bad news that never ends...

Yes, unrepentant Ann Murray, the woman who was a no-show for Broward Schools Supt. Robert W. Runcie's first appearance in Hallandale Beach, two weeks ago at City Hall, which is both in Murray's district and a short drive from her home in Hollywood.

Just as predicted in this space.

Yes, hard as it is to believe, Murray STILL appears to be afraid of setting foot publicly in Hallandale Beach and taking the chance that she will be asked hard questions by residents and taxpayers -but not print reporters- about her appalling behavior, serial poor judgment and abysmal track record in office, a giant disappointment and embarrassment to so many people I know in southeast Broward County who had put their trust in her.


Too many years in office where she has been anything but the genuine reformer she touted herself as prior to her election, something that regular readers of this blog know all too well, as I've faithfully documented her in the past with both spot-on facts and useful photos that accurately connect-the-dots on Murray's failed tenure..

I may be uploading the video I shot of Supt. Runcie's appearance in Hallandale Beach onto my YouTube Channel within the week, so I'll let you know here when and if I do. 




WPLG-TV/Local 10, Miami, FL
Bob Norman's Blog
The firing of Coach Melissa
By Bob Norman
Published On: Oct 07 2012 10:33:04 AM EDT  
Updated On: Oct 08 2012 11:16:26 AM EDT
Well now it's gone international.
The Daily Mail in London has published a story on what it calls the "'Mean Girls' high school cheerleading coach" of Broward County.
That is, of course, Melissa Prochilo, the now-former cheerleading coach of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Good Morning America had a piece on her Friday morning tossing around allegations of a diabolical-sounding "pay to play scheme" and the old mainstay in this case, bullying.
Read the rest of the post at:
http://www.local10.com/news/blogs/bobnorman/The-firing-of-Coach-Melissa/-/3223354/16884040/-/8enkprz/-/index.html

Meanwhile, At-Large District 8 Broward School Board member Donna Korn's opponent, former state House Minority Leader Franklin Sands continues to make headlines for dubious and unflattering reasons.


MediaTrackers blog

Broward School Board Candidate Franklin Sands Posts Another Eye-Raising Funding Report
Franklin Sands continues to fund his school board campaign with money from his stepson’s lobbying firm, public records show.
By Tom Lauder
October 4, 2012 at 16:30

MediaTrackers blog
School Board Candidate Rides Campaign Cash Merry-Go-Round
By Tom Lauder
August 10, 2012 at 11:59

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Hint to newcomers -If "Broward Schools" get mentioned in the newspaper or on local TV newscasts, it's rarely if ever about educating. Sad but true...


RedBroward's video: Occupy Ft. Lauderdale protesters outside the Broward Schools HQ at 600 SE Third Avenue, a block east from the Broward County Courthouse. The protesters were marching north toward Las Olas Blvd.

Above, the video shot last week by RedBroward, the popular GOP blog and a generally good source of information, of the Motley Crew that serenaded themselves silly outside the Broward Schools HQ, home of the School Board.
Someone sent me an email head's-up about it just as I was reading some of these pieces and emailed them around the grapevine.


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South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Has Broward Teachers Union been serving best interests of rank-and-file?
Latest financial questions highlight disconnect between leadership and membership
Michael Mayo, Sun Sentinel Columnist
10:20 PM EST, November 16, 2011

I got embattled Broward Teachers Union president Pat Santeramo on the phone Wednesday, but he wouldn't fall for my Bob Costas act. The normally talkative Santeramo declined comment on two state investigations into his handling of union money, or a damning internal audit that found he blew through $3.8 million in reserves and may have improperly used dues to reimburse people for political contributions.

Read the rest of the column at:

Reader comments, oldest first, at:

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Channel 10 News/WPLG-TV (Miami-FTL)
Bob Norman's blog
Davie Vice Mayor Involved In School Union Scandal
Names Emerging Of Those Who Were Reimbursed Political $$$
Published On: Nov 17 2011 09:16:56 AM EST Updated On: Nov 17 2011 10:10:22 AM EST

The scandal is heating up -- and that means a lot of people are lawyering up.

And it's political contributions that are at the heart of the scandal targeting the Broward Teachers Union and its president Pat Santeramo.


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Broward Beat
Battlin’ Board Members: One Files To Run Against Another
By Buddy Nevins

One School Board member opened a campaign against another Friday.

Katie Leach filed papers to run for the Fort Lauderdale-based seat now held by member Maureen Dinnen.

Read the rest of the post at:

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South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Davie official was reimbursed by union for campaign donation
But vice mayor later repaid the money, her attorney says
By Susannah Bryan, Sun Sentinel
5:53 PM EST, November 19, 2011

DAVIE
Vice Mayor Caryl Hattan has been swept up in the scandal surrounding the Broward Teachers Union and its beleaguered president, Pat Santeramo.

Santeramo has been accused of using union dues to reimburse 26 union staffers and their relatives for about $20,000 in campaign contributions to Hillary Clinton and failed gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink.

Hattan, a top union leader, was among the 26 reimbursed for making campaign contributions.


Read the rest of the article at:

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Channel 10 News/WPLG-TV (Miami-FTL)
Bob Norman's blog
Investigated BTU President Lived High Life
Pat Santeramo Made Big Money, Bought Peninsula Getaway Home
Published On: Nov 20 2011 12:28:14 AM EST
While criminally investigated Broward Teachers Union President Pat Santeramo was representing educators in attempts to get small raises on their modest pay, he was living an opulent life on their dime.

Read the rest of the post at:

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Channel 10 News/WPLG-TV (Miami-FTL)
Bob Norman's blog
UPDATED: Former Broward Housing Official Lawyers Up In Union Probe
Santeramo Overpaid Construction Company
Published On: Nov 21 2011 11:39:33 AM EST Updated On: Nov 21 2011 12:50:07 PM EST
Embattled Broward Teachers Union President Pat Santeramo often ran the 11,000-strong BTU in secretive fashion -- and some of the exorbitant amounts he paid to contractors remain shrouded in suspicion.
Read the rest of the post at: