Puppa
Aarika
Katie
Courtney
Brittany
Parker and Warren
Mommy, Parker, and Warren
Auntie Laura
Auntie Krystal
He's so handsome!
Sweet Family
Nini Loves the BabyTuesday, May 27, 2008
Lot's of Arms to Hold and Love
PuppaAarikaKatieCourtneyBrittanyParker and WarrenMommy, Parker, and WarrenAuntie LauraAuntie KrystalHe's so handsome!Sweet FamilyNini Loves the Baby
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
No Court
I received a phone call yesterday afternoon informing me that court would be continued because a witness could be present for the May 20th date. Oh well. Let you know how that goes whenever it is rescheduled.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
OMG!
My neighbor two doors down has had a junk collection in his front yard since before we moved here 17 years ago. In all that time the neighborhood has beat up the city about making this guy clean up. I don't know if he finally grew a wild hair and decided to clean up his lot or what but he had all the cars removed last weekend. It's amazing! I wish I had a before pic, wait, there was one in the Decatur Daily, wonder if I can retrieve it. No, can't get the picture. We did have a duck to spend the day in our neighbors yard Sunday and I was taking pictures of it. Perhaps you can see the junk before and after.
All these cars have been collecting for decades!
See! No cars beyond the basketball goal! It's amazing.
All these cars have been collecting for decades!
See! No cars beyond the basketball goal! It's amazing.There must be a city council meeting this week.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Why these women so stupid?
In court this past Tuesday no settlement could be reached. We come to a settlement all agree to and the minute we leave the courthouse it's breached. The judge even sounded like he was fresh out of patience and tired of playing games.
After the last session Shamika was to give up the addresses of the dogs. She wouldn't give up the address where Tracker was kept even after animal control officers told her where he was. This week she still claimed they are not her dogs and doesn't know where Tracker is.
This weeks problem sits around why Shamika is still being dragged to court when this other guy on Harrison claims Tracker to be his dog. I don't know what happened to the you can't get rid of property involved in a crime thing. I didn't get to sit in on the settling talks in the witness room this time. I had to take one of my toddlers out to have a diaper change before we were held in constench of court.
I could not understand what was being said when the parties stood in front of the judge. A nine percent city tax and our courtroom can't afford microphones. No, it's not The People's Court by a long shot. I did hear the judge repeat over and over that if there are charges that can be brought against the person that has the dog now then that case should be brought before him.
After court we stood just outside the doors talking to M, the animal control officer that was there that day. As Shamika passed us on her way out she cussed and fussed and I heard the B word a couple of times before she hit the first landing of the stairwell and I could hear her no longer. M explained to us that because someone else claims ownership that they have to have a reason to go after that person. Since that dog has caused havoc and chaos in it's new neighborhood that wont be difficult.
Now, this is the crazy part. No matter who the dog owner is, when there's a dog crime, the owner of the property the animal resides on is the one charged with a crime. In this case, the one who signed the lease on the rental property.
Here's the stupid part. I don't know what's so great about these dogs that two women are willing to spend so much time in and out of court, paying fines, and gaining a criminal record. Shamika with her four kids and freeloading boyfriend who is technically "the baby sitter" according to the landlord and doesn't live there according to Section 8 records, is willing to take the crap for Nick's dogs? Lie in court? Pay fines? Stupid.
Now, Nick's cousin has the dog but Dude (I think in a previous post we agreed to refer to him as "Dude on Harrison St.") doesn't legally live there. No, his girlfriend is the only person on the lease at that address. According to animal control, there are animal cruelty issues that they will be bringing against her. Hello! Would I allow my freeloading boyfriend to let his loser cousin dump his dogs on my property causing me trouble with the law, fines, and criminal charges? I would be telling a man to take the dog and an f 'ing hike! At the very least I would call animal control to relieve me of the damn thing (and the dog too if a spare cage was available).
What I found interesting was that the animal control people already checked into whether or not they could prove Nicholas lives on Clearview St. with Shamika. The way this is done is to get mail records. I'm guessing a warrant is needed for this. I'm also guessing they had one. Apparently Nick gets no mail at the Clearview address so legally does not live there. They're pretty good at committing fraud over there. What I'm thinking is how neighborly it would be of me to send him a gift subscription to something like Dog Fancy. Anyone in on that with me?
See you after Tuesday's trial.
After the last session Shamika was to give up the addresses of the dogs. She wouldn't give up the address where Tracker was kept even after animal control officers told her where he was. This week she still claimed they are not her dogs and doesn't know where Tracker is.
This weeks problem sits around why Shamika is still being dragged to court when this other guy on Harrison claims Tracker to be his dog. I don't know what happened to the you can't get rid of property involved in a crime thing. I didn't get to sit in on the settling talks in the witness room this time. I had to take one of my toddlers out to have a diaper change before we were held in constench of court.
I could not understand what was being said when the parties stood in front of the judge. A nine percent city tax and our courtroom can't afford microphones. No, it's not The People's Court by a long shot. I did hear the judge repeat over and over that if there are charges that can be brought against the person that has the dog now then that case should be brought before him.
After court we stood just outside the doors talking to M, the animal control officer that was there that day. As Shamika passed us on her way out she cussed and fussed and I heard the B word a couple of times before she hit the first landing of the stairwell and I could hear her no longer. M explained to us that because someone else claims ownership that they have to have a reason to go after that person. Since that dog has caused havoc and chaos in it's new neighborhood that wont be difficult.
Now, this is the crazy part. No matter who the dog owner is, when there's a dog crime, the owner of the property the animal resides on is the one charged with a crime. In this case, the one who signed the lease on the rental property.
Here's the stupid part. I don't know what's so great about these dogs that two women are willing to spend so much time in and out of court, paying fines, and gaining a criminal record. Shamika with her four kids and freeloading boyfriend who is technically "the baby sitter" according to the landlord and doesn't live there according to Section 8 records, is willing to take the crap for Nick's dogs? Lie in court? Pay fines? Stupid.
Now, Nick's cousin has the dog but Dude (I think in a previous post we agreed to refer to him as "Dude on Harrison St.") doesn't legally live there. No, his girlfriend is the only person on the lease at that address. According to animal control, there are animal cruelty issues that they will be bringing against her. Hello! Would I allow my freeloading boyfriend to let his loser cousin dump his dogs on my property causing me trouble with the law, fines, and criminal charges? I would be telling a man to take the dog and an f 'ing hike! At the very least I would call animal control to relieve me of the damn thing (and the dog too if a spare cage was available).
What I found interesting was that the animal control people already checked into whether or not they could prove Nicholas lives on Clearview St. with Shamika. The way this is done is to get mail records. I'm guessing a warrant is needed for this. I'm also guessing they had one. Apparently Nick gets no mail at the Clearview address so legally does not live there. They're pretty good at committing fraud over there. What I'm thinking is how neighborly it would be of me to send him a gift subscription to something like Dog Fancy. Anyone in on that with me?
See you after Tuesday's trial.
Friday, May 09, 2008
Oh did I get messed up!
Correction!
Ok, I am confused with my players. Let me untangled them now:
Shamika Shirley and Nicholas Kennedy are my foolish, violent, irresponsible dog owner neighbors. They have had four offensive dogs on that property over the past three years. The almost white dog, a big hairy thing I have no idea what breed. Bamboo, who showed his teeth at a daycare parent and an animal control officer on at least one occasion each. Tracker, the brown and white spotted pit bull, and the little white pit pup that we discovered after court January 15th. No dogs, as far as I can see, have resided on the property for a couple of months.
Now here's where I messed up. The dude formerly referred to as "Cousin Chris" and possessing Tracker, is not the man on Harrison St. SE. He's the guy with the white pup and he lives over by the fairgrounds. He is Shamika's brother.
I don't know the name of the dude on Harrison St. so I will here on refer to him as . . . er . . . uhm . . . I don't know, how about Dude on Harrison St. He's the one that claimed that Tracker belonged to his cousin Nick until Animal control came with a court order to pick up Nick's dog and he claimed it was his. My advice to this momo, pick a side of the fence and stick with it or the barbed wire will really rub your nu. . . . I'm sorry, no more Dr. Phil.
I think I've got it right now. See you Tuesday!
Ok, I am confused with my players. Let me untangled them now:
Shamika Shirley and Nicholas Kennedy are my foolish, violent, irresponsible dog owner neighbors. They have had four offensive dogs on that property over the past three years. The almost white dog, a big hairy thing I have no idea what breed. Bamboo, who showed his teeth at a daycare parent and an animal control officer on at least one occasion each. Tracker, the brown and white spotted pit bull, and the little white pit pup that we discovered after court January 15th. No dogs, as far as I can see, have resided on the property for a couple of months.
Now here's where I messed up. The dude formerly referred to as "Cousin Chris" and possessing Tracker, is not the man on Harrison St. SE. He's the guy with the white pup and he lives over by the fairgrounds. He is Shamika's brother.
I don't know the name of the dude on Harrison St. so I will here on refer to him as . . . er . . . uhm . . . I don't know, how about Dude on Harrison St. He's the one that claimed that Tracker belonged to his cousin Nick until Animal control came with a court order to pick up Nick's dog and he claimed it was his. My advice to this momo, pick a side of the fence and stick with it or the barbed wire will really rub your nu. . . . I'm sorry, no more Dr. Phil.
I think I've got it right now. See you Tuesday!
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Ugh!
I just checked my mail and I have been subpoenaed to appear in court again next week! Here we go again!
I just called my buddy about this and she says that help has been found. Apparently it's against the law to get rid of or sell or whatever property involved in a crime. The dogs being that property. There's new hope.
I just called my buddy about this and she says that help has been found. Apparently it's against the law to get rid of or sell or whatever property involved in a crime. The dogs being that property. There's new hope.
Oh what a tangled web we weave. . .
You know what's wrong here? No body has been sworn to tell the truth. One can't perjure oneself if he hasn't taken an oath.
We went to court Tuesday morning. We agreed on a settlement that goes something like this: Shamika Shirley agrees to let both dogs, Tracker, the brown and white spotted pit and the little white puppy pit, to be picked up by the animal shelter. The shelter would then offer the dogs (at the regular fee) to be adopted out by the people who are currently taking care of them as long as they have a suitable environment. Simple.
This should have been a painless solution since the first thing Shamika Shirley's attorney said to the judge was that these dogs belong to neither Nicholas Kennedy nor Shamika Shirley. So, Shirley was to give the addresses where the dogs could be found. It was hard to hear everything said and I didn't hear this part but apparently Shirley was less than forthcoming with the 411. L, our animal shelter representative, informed the judge that she already knew where Tracker was. He's on Harrison Street irritating the crap out of the SE neighborhood. Finally an address was given for somewhere over by the fairgrounds for the white pup.
The judge was careful to state that this deal was not sealed until the animals could be taken into custody. If they couldn't be obtained then he would see us all back in court next Tuesday. L seemed certain that there would be no problem picking up the dogs.
Not so. T and I spent a couple of hours after court shopping and had hardly returned home when trouble began. It went something like this though the details aren't really clear to me. In trying to take Tracker from the Harrison St. address, L had a run in with Nick (who is one scary and violent SOB). He says that the dog on Harrison St. is not the same dog they have an order to pick up. Bullshit. Actually, I don't think that was L's reply but I know she was thinking it. L called me asking for the best pics I have of the dog. She had to prove to Shirley and Kennedy's attorney that this was the dog. Of course it was. The animal has several very distinguished makings and there was no question.
So, back on Harrison St., this is the dog they have a court order to collect. now there's a problem with the resident, Chris. Chris who two weeks ago when the animal shelter confronted him about the dog getting loose and terrorizing the neighborhood said, It's not my dog. I'm just keeping it for my cousin." The cousin turned out to be none other than Nicholas Kennedy. A nice break for this case. Nicholas Kennedy avers strongly and repeatedly and up in the animal control officers faces, "It's not my dog!" one minute and "You can't take my dogs!" the next.
Ok, let's go over this. It's not Nick's dog. It's not Shamika's dog. It's not Chris' dog. What's the problem then? The problem is now, Chris, who lives at the same address as Tracker but is not the property owner, (no, he's a freeloader just like his cousin, living off his girlfriend) now claims Tracker is his dog. SAY WHAT? And the property owner wont let them take the dog. And that's another thing, Chris says Nick is his cousin. An animal control officer told me that Chris was Shamika's brother. This would make Shamika Shirley shacking up with and having kids with her cousin? I don't even want to go there.
New plan. The animal shelter draws up a new proposal to settle that says that the current property owner can keep the dog up until the dog leaves the property then it becomes the City of Decatur's property. BUT. . .
Now I don't understand this and I may have it wrong but my friend called this morning and said that the magistrate made a little clerical error. The case at hand was not listed as a vicious animal case, it was more a case against Shamika Shirley. This means that Trackers new owners could keep him no strings attached and Tracker doesn't get labeled a potentially vicious animal. The difference is, I think, that had this been a vicious animal case, the dog, no matter who claims him (or not), would have been picked up on the court order. Big slip up. Back to square one.
Oh yeah, one last admission from Nick, "Bamboo isn't dead but you'll never find him."
No shit.
We went to court Tuesday morning. We agreed on a settlement that goes something like this: Shamika Shirley agrees to let both dogs, Tracker, the brown and white spotted pit and the little white puppy pit, to be picked up by the animal shelter. The shelter would then offer the dogs (at the regular fee) to be adopted out by the people who are currently taking care of them as long as they have a suitable environment. Simple.
This should have been a painless solution since the first thing Shamika Shirley's attorney said to the judge was that these dogs belong to neither Nicholas Kennedy nor Shamika Shirley. So, Shirley was to give the addresses where the dogs could be found. It was hard to hear everything said and I didn't hear this part but apparently Shirley was less than forthcoming with the 411. L, our animal shelter representative, informed the judge that she already knew where Tracker was. He's on Harrison Street irritating the crap out of the SE neighborhood. Finally an address was given for somewhere over by the fairgrounds for the white pup.
The judge was careful to state that this deal was not sealed until the animals could be taken into custody. If they couldn't be obtained then he would see us all back in court next Tuesday. L seemed certain that there would be no problem picking up the dogs.
Not so. T and I spent a couple of hours after court shopping and had hardly returned home when trouble began. It went something like this though the details aren't really clear to me. In trying to take Tracker from the Harrison St. address, L had a run in with Nick (who is one scary and violent SOB). He says that the dog on Harrison St. is not the same dog they have an order to pick up. Bullshit. Actually, I don't think that was L's reply but I know she was thinking it. L called me asking for the best pics I have of the dog. She had to prove to Shirley and Kennedy's attorney that this was the dog. Of course it was. The animal has several very distinguished makings and there was no question.
So, back on Harrison St., this is the dog they have a court order to collect. now there's a problem with the resident, Chris. Chris who two weeks ago when the animal shelter confronted him about the dog getting loose and terrorizing the neighborhood said, It's not my dog. I'm just keeping it for my cousin." The cousin turned out to be none other than Nicholas Kennedy. A nice break for this case. Nicholas Kennedy avers strongly and repeatedly and up in the animal control officers faces, "It's not my dog!" one minute and "You can't take my dogs!" the next.
Ok, let's go over this. It's not Nick's dog. It's not Shamika's dog. It's not Chris' dog. What's the problem then? The problem is now, Chris, who lives at the same address as Tracker but is not the property owner, (no, he's a freeloader just like his cousin, living off his girlfriend) now claims Tracker is his dog. SAY WHAT? And the property owner wont let them take the dog. And that's another thing, Chris says Nick is his cousin. An animal control officer told me that Chris was Shamika's brother. This would make Shamika Shirley shacking up with and having kids with her cousin? I don't even want to go there.
New plan. The animal shelter draws up a new proposal to settle that says that the current property owner can keep the dog up until the dog leaves the property then it becomes the City of Decatur's property. BUT. . .
Now I don't understand this and I may have it wrong but my friend called this morning and said that the magistrate made a little clerical error. The case at hand was not listed as a vicious animal case, it was more a case against Shamika Shirley. This means that Trackers new owners could keep him no strings attached and Tracker doesn't get labeled a potentially vicious animal. The difference is, I think, that had this been a vicious animal case, the dog, no matter who claims him (or not), would have been picked up on the court order. Big slip up. Back to square one.
Oh yeah, one last admission from Nick, "Bamboo isn't dead but you'll never find him."
No shit.
Friday, May 02, 2008
The little prince is here!
Our baby was born yesterday! Parker Liam McKillop was born May 1st, 2008. He is 7lbs. and 13 oz., 20 inches long, and perfect in every way. Sarah is doing very well. We are truly blessed.
Parker looks just like Warren!
Sarah and Parker
Laura, Sarah, and Parker
Warren and Sarah
Sarah and Parker
Nana the Great holding Parker
Our beautiful baby
Aunt Laura and Parker
Parker looks just like Warren!
Sarah and Parker
Laura, Sarah, and Parker
Warren and Sarah
Sarah and Parker
Nana the Great holding Parker
Our beautiful baby
Aunt Laura and Parker
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