Friedman in the Times yesterday:

My fellow Americans: We are a country in debt and in decline — not terminal, not irreversible, but in decline. Our political system seems incapable of producing long-range answers to big problems or big opportunities. We are the ones who need a better-functioning democracy — more than the Iraqis and Afghans. We are the ones in need of nation-building. It is our political system that is not working.

I continue to be appalled at the gap between what is clearly going to be the next great global industry — renewable energy and clean power — and the inability of Congress and the administration to put in place the bold policies we need to ensure that America leads that industry.

“America and its political leaders, after two decades of failing to come together to solve big problems, seem to have lost faith in their ability to do so,” Wall Street Journal columnist Gerald Seib noted last week. “A political system that expects failure doesn’t try very hard to produce anything else.”

We used to try harder and do better. After Sputnik, we came together as a nation and responded with a technology, infrastructure and education surge, notes Robert Hormats, vice chairman of Goldman Sachs International. After the 1973 oil crisis, we came together and made dramatic improvements in energy efficiency. After Social Security became imperiled in the early 1980s, we came together and fixed it for that moment. “But today,” added Hormats, “the political system seems incapable of producing a critical mass to support any kind of serious long-term reform.”

If the old saying — that “as General Motors goes, so goes America” — is true, then folks, we’re in a lot of trouble. General Motors’s stock-market value now stands at just $6.47 billion, compared with Toyota’s $162.6 billion. On top of it, G.M. shares sank to a 34-year low last week.

That’s us. We’re at a 34-year low. And digging out of this hole is what the next election has to be about and is going to be about — even if it is interrupted by a terrorist attack or an outbreak of war or peace in Iraq. We need nation-building at home, and we cannot wait another year to get started. Vote for the candidate who you think will do that best. Nothing else matters.

There are so many reasons and causes for this inevitable chicken roost homecoming that I can’t even begin to hurl epithets at them. But I’m willing to overlook them for now just to have some people in congress take some bold steps that will help us in the future. Fewer international misadventures and more time and money being spent on transitioning our economy would be a swell idea.

Literally.

English al Jazeera did a piece about Buffalo and how it’s weathering the American economic downturn. It paints a picture of “2nd poorest” Buffalo as being a horrible poverty-ridden place, but that there are a few well-meaning social organizations that are trying to help the destitute by, e.g., pushing living wage legislation and renovating dilapidated homes. It’s far too simplistic, and the whole “2nd poorest” thing is somewhat of a statutory accident. If, like other places, Buffalo had been able to annex its suburbs, it wouldn’t be close to 2nd poorest.

What the piece also tends to ignore is that Buffalo has been in the midst of an economic downturn for decades. If anything, we’ll fare a bit better through this than lots of other places, and we’re an example of the 40-year-long death of American large manufacturing - not of the 2007-2008 economic downturn.

If the piece wanted to focus on the credit crunch or the foreclosure crisis or a real rapid fall from wealth to abandonment, there are loads of other parts of the country that are more indicative of the current slump. Our real estate market is healthier than most.

The video, while not untruthful, was somewhat relentlessly negative and was a bit too selective about whom it spoke with as far as solutions are concerned. It also glossed over (and Byron Brown was the one who made the point) that Buffalo operated under a control board that froze the pay of city workers.

One thing’s for sure - Brown needs to stop parading this list around as evidence of Buffalo’s “renaissance”. Any such renaissance is a figment of people’s imagination, and a new Tim Horton’s at a South Buffalo B-Kwik doesn’t count. Byron Brown’s administration needs to stop using this particular list as Exhibit A of a renaissance. What it shows is a tremendous amount of public and publicly-funded/subsidized projects, many of which will never be built, many of which have been done for ages, and some others that are worth a mention only in a world of insular silliness.

So we have a city that’s in decline overall, and an administration that, instead of tackling the systemic, structural problems that lead to this state of affairs, it touts a make-believe “renaissance”.

Two people from the Coalition for Economic Justice. Aaron Bartley from PUSH are shown in the video. There wasn’t much representation from the business community, with the exception of the bit about collection jobs being the future of Buffalo. There are some initiatives like the centers for excellence that were ignored, and I chuckled at the woman who was foreclosed-upon who was nevertheless able to afford Rock Band. That’s a $170 game, and her mortgage shot up $400 from $900 to $1300.

So, take it for what it’s worth, and I’m sure many will attack the source as being al Jazeera, and a glance at the show’s website reveals that it’s generally a very critical show that selects topics that reveal America at its ugliest.

HT David Torke

Buffalo’s own Tim Russert died today from an apparent heart attack while at work at the NBC bureau in Washington.

Update: Tim Russert wasn’t just a well-respected journalist and debate moderator. He didn’t just host the Sunday political talk show of record. He wasn’t just that guy who would be up all night during an election and then show up on the Today Show at 0-dark-hundred. He was a devoted father, son, husband, and a son of Buffalo who never forgot his roots, and was a tireless booster for his hometown. It’s safe to say he was the best-known and most vocal Buffalonian in America.

His loss is tragic, too early, and shocking.

As I recommended yesterday afternoon on Twitter:

After all, he introduced Buffalo to much of the country. Why not name our gateway after him?

Terrorist fist jabs everywhere! Oh NOES!

All of this happened in 1994, so my memory of exact events and places may be somewhat faulty. For that, my apologies.

During the summer and fall of 1994 I was living with my then-fiance in a small one-bedroom apartment in Waltham, Massachusetts. At the time, I was either studying for the New York and Massachusetts Bar exams or else I had started working for the small neighborhood law firm at which I spent my first few years of practice. I was a rarity at the time - a registered Republican in Massachusetts, although we had a charismatic Republican governor, Bill Weld (more on him in a separate post). We did, however, have two very well-known Democratic Senators, Kerry and Kennedy.

In 1994, Senator Kennedy’s continuity in the Senate was being threatened by a charismatic Republican challenger named Mitt Romney. He was doing so well in the polls that the Kennedy campaign was getting spooked. Luckily, a lot of old Kennedy hands came back on board to help the Senior Senator keep his seat, which he ultimately did. Say what you want about the Senator, he always looked out for the poor, for the less fortunate, and for the Commonwealth.

One day I received a call from a dear family friend who was helping the Senator’s re-election effort. He remembered that we lived in Waltham and asked if we wanted to come and see him address a campaign rally at a union hall on Trapelo Road. Not being one to pass up seeing and hearing a living legend speak on friendly home turf, I jumped at the chance.

We parked on the street and made our way through the union guys and volunteers handing out lit and chose our seats on the aisle halfway back in the majestic hall. At some point I recall being permitted to go backstage where I didn’t see the Senator, but then-gubernatorial candidate Mark Roosevelt was waiting to speak.

(Note this from the Wikipedia entry for Roosevelt: “Roosevelt was appointed on August 3, 2005, to the position of [Pittsburgh] school superintendent. He accepted this post under the terms of a unique performance-based “Accountability Contract.”)

After Roosevelt and some other pols spoke, someone went up to introduce Senator Kennedy. We stood up and looked back towards the doors of the hall and our family friend was pointing at me and whispering something in the Senator’s ear. As the Senator made his way down the aisle to a standing ovation, roaring applause, he shook just about every hand extended to him. He made a special stop to our seats and shook our hands, thanking us for being there.

The speech itself is both a blur and seared in my memory banks. Although I have no recollection of its content, I distinctly remember how riveting it was. That unmistakable, familiar voice. That dropping of the r. The cadence and tone. It was a magical thing to hear and an incredible place to be.

I was pleased that I had the opportunity that November to pull a lever for the Senator in 1994 and again at the Oak Square firehall in Brighton in 2000. The news that he is ill came as a shock and I wish him a speedy recovery and good thoughts.

(Edit - one of the paragraphs didn’t read right. I make change. KTHXBAI).

As you read through this account of the heavily redacted script of what’s become a most fascinating local soap opera, remember the title of this particular blog post:

It Isn’t Just a Myth, Power Turns People Into Assholes.

UPDATE: You can get a copy of the incredibly redacted report via WBEN.

Saw this at Andrew Sullivan’s site, and it made me laugh:

I had a busy night yesterday, so I didn’t even know about the standoff until someone told me. Sure, I checked out Channel 2 and Channel 4, but my phone can’t show the video feed, so the information was spotty.

What I did was go to Twitter to see what my “twitter friends” had to say about it all. First, the alert:

JoshBflo: Armed standoff on the I-190. All traffic is stopped in the 198Industrial curve corridor. I missed it by about 15 minutes. Ch 2 … …

mikealicious: Police standoff in Buffalo with some guy waving a gun around. Avoid the I-90 at all costs.

rocketsareneat: hostage situation on the 190. WTF?

leonwestbrook: Buffalo people plz stay the hell away from the 190. There is a police standoff going on.

Then came the waiting, and with it the snark. A smattering:

GWI Hey I was on TV today! Not the crazy with a gun on the I190, but the one in a pink shirt talking about garden blogging

speljamr: Guess I might as well make some popcorn and watch till something happens.

speljamr: After 3 hours either blow your damn head off or put the gun down. I know, I’m an asshole.

ceakowal: Watching the standoff - almost in its 3rd hour. Afraid that if I go do something else, something will actually happen!

rocketsareneat: I don’t know what people are thinking sitting across the road from this gun waving dude with their damn kids.

AngelaStockman: Police standoff: armed gunman on the same stretch of road that I take to work. Two hours and no movement. Grateful I wasn’t in office 2day. about 10 hours ago from web

ceakowal: … How dare he come from out of town and disrupt our life!!!

captaingig: 5 Bucks says this I190N guy gets poped. Now substitute ’says’ for ‘hopes.’

rocketsareneat: Standoff finally over. And right in time for House!

speljamr: SWAT team go the guy out of the truck. Traffic can now resume on the 190.

ceakowal: go SWAT team!

ceakowal: … my thought was if I was on the 190 at rush hour and some idiot did that - I would help him end it all

Twitter: Keeping you connected.

[UPDATE: This is a post from March that I’m promoting back to the top (with new title to fit this week’s theme) because of the continuing drama in Amherst Town Hall regarding Benderson’s proposed lifestyle center project at Maple near North Forest. A vote earlier this week was pushed off to June 2nd to permit county involvement with traffic mitigation issues. Benderson recently made some changes to the design of the 34-acre, $44 million mixed-use project.

The comments tend to talk about the fakeness of the project versus the authenticity. Given that Amherst actually has no town center - the Village of Williamsville technically being its own governmental entity - as fake as it is, at least it’s not just another shopping plee-yeea-za.]

Benderson Development recently bought the parcel of land formerly known as the Buffalo Shooting Club. They’re planning to build Western New York’s first lifestyle center there. A lifestyle center is a new form of shopping center that resembles a village downtown. It encourages walking, and usually features nice amenities and upscale shops. Cleveland’s Legacy Village is an example (careful - loud music).

Predictably, there is opposition to the proposal from neighbors and others. Some complain that Benderson has loads of vacant storefronts throughout Amherst - a valid concern, for sure. Others are more NIMBY-ish. Like these people.

Anyone who knows Maple Road in that area knows that we’re not talking about some bucolic little country lane. It’s a four-lane road with a suicide lane in the middle. The Pepsi Center is right there. UB North is walking distance (as are its thousands of well-financed students). Just over the 290 to the east is a bona fide retail strip.

But what’s amazing to me is that there had been a shooting club there. People with guns shooting at pieces of clay thrown in the air, or at targets set up. Shooting? OK. Lexus SUVs coming to visit Trader Joe’s (which is rumored to be opening its first WNY location at this location)? No good.

Not only that, but this will be a mixed-use facility. The plan includes a new hotel, some non-retail commercial space, and even condominiums. In my mind, a development like this can only enhance the value of the surrounding neighborhoods, offers them a new amenity, and adds value to the town’s tax base. The Benderson plan is here in a large .pdf.

All Things Buffalo wrote about lifestyle centers as being evidence of an evolution in shopping.

The fact that it’s taken Buffalo 10 years to pick up on a nationwide trend is amusing, and the NIMBYism is something that must be anticipated. I’m in favor of this project, because it will enhance the quality of life in Amherst, and will most likely have a positive effect on nearby property values.

Build it.

Upon departure from Fort Lauderdale Saturday at 3:00 p.m.:

Upon arrival in the Buffalo area at 5:30 p.m.:

We spent most of our time down in Southern Florida, but did relent and take the kids to Disney on Wednesday. We stayed overnight at a Radisson in Lake Buena Vista. After checking out, I went to retrieve the rental (Dodge Grand Caravan base model through Thrifty - there were 6 of us - which was ok, but a touch underpowered for a 6-cylinder, and managed only 20 MPG). Parked next to me was a Ford Taurus with three bumper stickers; two enjoining the reader to join the taxpayer revolution, and one for Free NY. That was random.

I watched only some local Florida news and had generally zero internet access while down there, which was fine by me. I’ll note that what passes for a newscast on Miami’s Channel 7 makes any one of Buffalo’s local newscasts seem like the BBC by comparison. I have no idea what’s been going on locally, nor do I really care.

I’d like to wholeheartedly thank Paul Wolf, Chris Smith, and Dr. Kevin Hardwick for babysitting the blog and keeping it fresh all week.

I saw more Bentleys down in South Florida than I’ve ever seen in my life, and I kept thinking to myself that each one costs more than 99% of the homes in Western New York. The traffic is bustling, construction cranes are everywhere, shopping is world-class, and South Beach has managed to do the whole architectural tourism thing without apology or excuse.

South Florida is no shangri-la, and I wouldn’t want to live there unless I was stinking filthy rich, but upon return to Buffalo I realize we have become collectively quite content in our perpetual mediocrity. While I was away, ArtVoice held its “Best of” party. Someone texted me that I did not win this year as “best blogger”. That’s fine. I purposefully did not campaign for anyone to vote for me in that category. I’m past the point where I crave that sort of approval. Buffalo Rising’s Newell Nussbaumer won, and congratulations to him. He writes his pieces there at least daily, and they serve their purpose. The SMS also mentioned that he won “best cheerleader” for Buffalo.

Which got me thinking.

Cheerleader.

We spend a lot of time patting Buffalo on the back for its two steps forward that are inevitably met with that step back. Should every neighborhood have an Elmwood Strip? Maybe. But Elmwood is successful by Buffalo standards.

Glaeser received his greatest applause when he stated “Population growth is not the right measure for success. the right measure is how well a city is delivering basic services and providing a quality of life.”

The quality of life here is great, but let’s face it and admit that part of what makes life here good is its slow pace, bereft of urgency or hustle. You know what? A little hustle never killed anyone. Are basic services being delivered well? Adequately? Considering their cost? Buffalo and her people need to be shaken out of their complacency and bullshit excuses.

Will our population ever grow again? Maybe, maybe not. But why wouldn’t we at least consider taking the steps needed to enable that to happen. Not through our sprawl-without-growth, Titanic deck-chair rearrangement. Through structural changes addressing the size and cost of government, eliminating redundancies, lowering taxes, easing regulations, and otherwise making this place not just a great place to live, work and raise a family, but also an attractive place to move to.

We get mediocrity because we expect mediocrity. And vice-versa. It’s a vicious, nasty spiral. Who’s out there who is willing to not only do some thinking about our problems, but implement solutions to them?

Our rust-belt problems of depopulation aren’t unique to us, and frankly the fact that we continue to talk about it underscores the fact that we’re just stumbling through our decline. Why care when it’s easier to just up and move?

Consider Eastern Germany. On the flight back from Florida, I read this article about the formerly bustling state of Saxony-Anhalt, which is part of what was once East Germany:

City planners, normally keen to promote the building of homes, factories and roads, are responding to a double demographic crisis: the collapse of communist-era industry, which sent workers, especially young women, fleeing westwards; and a sharp decline in the birth rate.

Saxony-Anhalt, cradle of the Reformation and of East Germany’s chemical industry, lost a fifth of its 2.9m people in the 16 years after Germany’s unification in 1990. By 2025 it expects to lose nearly half a million more. In Köthen, where Johann Sebastian Bach composed the Brandenburg Concertos, so many young workers have left that “the population pyramid has become a mushroom”, says Ina Rauer of the town’s building department.

The cities of the east no longer imagine they can avoid demographic decline. Instead they seek to manage its consequences, and a few are inventing ways to shrink gracefully. Saxony-Anhalt, which suffered an acute shortage of apartments in communist times, has now destroyed some 45,000 homes with federal help.

Sounds pretty familiar, hm? If your population is down to 75,000…

“We can’t pay for infrastructure for 100,000 people,” he says.

Urban attrition is frightening those left behind, bringing the threat of blight and crime. Eastern cities are courting industry, but capital is footloose and productive new factories employ hundreds rather than the thousands who once manned East Germany’s behemoths. “It’s not clear what the recipe for success is,” says Hans-Joachim Bürkner of Potsdam University.

In Buffalo, we talk of green jobs and the fact that we have loads of fresh water, we don’t think outside the box at all. Where is the charitable foundation that will put up a million dollar X-prize to someone who comes up with a way to return prosperity, if not population, to WNY? In Germany, meanwhile…

That may account for the spirit of zany experimentalism that prevails in cities such as Dessau and Köthen. Under the motto “city islands”, Dessau is nudging life and commerce towards “core areas”, which means making a verdant city (which is already three-quarters parkland) even greener.

Traces of Dessau’s busier past—a disused tower for smoking sausages or a dairy’s chimney now occupied by storks—are being preserved. Parts of the void are being parcelled into “claims” of 400 square metres, which citizens can use free of charge for projects such as growing biomass for fuel. “Where buildings fall, gardens rise,” a hopeful billboard claims.

…and…

Dessau and Köthen are drawing inspiration from the Internationale Bauausstellung (IBA) 2010, a project dreamt up at the Bauhaus Foundation in Dessau, which occupies the building where Walter Gropius and friends helped pioneer the stark geometrical Bauhaus style in the 1920s.

Such “building exhibitions” are a German tradition, held when social and economic change demands new ways of using space. Omar Akbar, the Bauhaus’s director, sees IBA 2010 as a “laboratory” for coping with demographic decline that will one day afflict other cities in the industrialised world. He says the aim is to shape the process of urban contraction, rather than “merely let it happen”.

But IBA 2010 does not just bring cities extra fame and money (around €150m or $235m, largely from the federal and state governments). Its organisers also want to cultivate intangible qualities, like greater public involvement and a sense of distinctive identity for each community.

We need less cheerleadership and more leadership. The US could and should be doing something similar to this initiative to come up with ways to address urban shrinking. If the US won’t, then Buffalo and other Great Lakes cities should.

This Bob McCarthy article steamed me up. There’s a laundry list of eager swots looking to convince party bigshots that they can buy their way into Reynolds’ open seat. So-and-so will pledge $3 million in personal funds; so-and-so will pledge $1 million in personal funds, etc.

So are only the ridiculously wealthy worthy?

It’s evident that I’m a supporter of Jon Powers in this race. Jon isn’t rich, and he hasn’t been able to pledge hundreds of thousands of dollars of his own money towards his own race. Instead, he’s spent uncountable time, precious shoe leather, and when he meets prospective voters, the connection he makes is worth more than a five-figure loan to one’s own campaign account.

Republican sources say his inability to so far attract big Democratic donors shows his fundraising has a long way to go. But Powers says he’s satisfied with the fact that 65 percent of his donations are $50 or less.

Powers’ “inability to so far attract big Democratic donors” is partly due to the fact that the biggest counties in the district haven’t endorsed anyone yet. The Republicans have loads of names, few of whom can be bothered to run. The Democrats, by contrast, have too many candidates talking about running.

Today, some other website leaked the results of only part of a poll showing Jon Powers to be largely unknown in the district. That’s not really surprising, is it?

If one took a poll measuring the public perception of Michael Powers (who has declined to run) or Anthony Baynes (who has declined to run) or Jordan Levy (who was out before he was ever in), or David Bellavia (heard of him? He’s a Republican running in NY-26), the results would no doubt be rather similar. Ever heard of Stephen Hawley? If you’re in Genesee County, maybe. Not very familiar here.

Naturally, Jack Davis has name recognition coming out the wazoo. He’s run for congress twice, spent a lot of money on ads galore, and almost won last time out. Jon Powers has been doing the retail politicking that gets him one-on-one with voters. He invariably connects with them, but it’s far, far too early to spend megabucks on profile-raising TV ads right now.

In his stump speech, Powers says that, in the service, some lead by rank, and others lead by example. Using it against Reynolds, he states that, for too long, the representative from New York’s 26th has led by rank. Jon pleads to lead by example.

I have a feeling there are a lot of people who are going to be pulling rank on Jon in the following weeks. Rank based on money, and rank based on longevity in public service.

1. I am happy to have affixed my name to this statement in support of newly sworn-in Governor David Paterson.

2. Watch Paterson’s swearing-in:

UPDATE 6: (Putting it up here for its sheer newsworthiness): By clicking this link, you can read the criminal complaint, as well as the affidavit in support of the request for search and arrest warrants. Paragraphs 73 - 85 deal with “Client-9″, who is reportedly Eliot Spitzer, Governor of the State of New York. He is caught on tape arranging for the transfer of money to the escort service, and helping arrange for “Kristen’s” travel from New York City to Washington, D.C.

LEWIS said that they would probably not know until 3 p.m. if the deposit arrived because Client-9 would not do traditional wire transferring.

A headline from the New York Times: Spitzer Is Linked to Prostitution Ring

Gov. Eliot Spitzer has informed his most senior administration officials that he had been involved in a prostitution ring, an administration official said this morning.

Mr. Spitzer, who was huddled with his top aides early this afternoon, had hours earlier abruptly canceled his scheduled public events for the day. He is set to make an announcement about 2:15 this afternoon at his Manhattan office.

Mr. Spitzer, a first-term Democrat who pledged to bring ethics reform and end the often seamy ways of Albany, is married with three children.

Just last week, federal prosecutors arrested four people in connection with an expensive prostitution operation. Administration officials would not say that this was the ring with which the governor had become involved.

Update:

From the New York Sun:

During a court hearing in the case, at which the four people were arraigned, it emerged that all three of the assistant U.S. attorneys assigned to the prosecution are part of the U.S. attorney’s public corruption unit. One is the bureau’s chief, Boyd Johnson III. The unit investigates wrongdoing by both elected and nonelected officials and bureaucrats at various levels of government.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, Yusill Scribner, would not comment when asked whether a public official was among the clients of the Emperors Club. But the involvement of the public corruption unit raised eyebrows among the defense lawyers.

“When we first got the case, we were surprised that these were the assistants handling the case,”

Now we know why.

The Times story has now added:

Just last week, federal prosecutors arrested four people in connection with an expensive prostitution operation. Administration officials would not say that this was the ring with which the governor had become involved.

But a person with knowledge of the governor’s role said that the person believes the governor is one of the men identified as clients in court papers.

The governor’s travel records show that he was in Washington in mid-February. One of the clients described in court papers arranged to meet with a prostitute who was part of the ring, the Emperors Club VIP on the night of Feb. 13.

Mr. Spitzer appeared on a CNBC television show at 7 a.m. the next morning. Later in the morning, he testified before a Congressional committee.

New York’s Channel 4 will have the presser live.

UPDATE 2: Sources: Spitzer Will Resign as Governor

George Holt > Eliot Spitzer?

UPDATE 3: Spitzer gave a very short statement acknowledging that he “failed to live up to the standard” that he had set for himself. He apologized to his family and the public, and said that politics is about ideas and the public good. He did not resign outright - not yet, anyway. He indicated that he needed to “take some time to regain the trust” of his family, and he did not take questions. He said he’d “report back” to us “in short order.”

You know, this is one of those stories I had to triple-check and make sure it was the real New York Times website I was reading.

UPDATE 4: The Times is now reporting that Spitzer was recorded on a federal wiretap arranging for the hooker’s services:

Gov. Eliot Spitzer has been caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a high-priced prostitute at a Washington hotel last month, according to a person briefed on the federal investigation.

An affidavit in the federal investigation into a prostitution ring said that a wiretap recording captured a man identified as Client 9 on a telephone call confirming plans to have a woman travel from New York to Washington, where he had reserved a hotel room. The person briefed on the case identified Mr. Spitzer as Client 9.

WBEN is saying that Fox News is supposedly reporting that Spitzer has been indicted. I can’t confirm that anywhere. Looks like he hasn’t been indicted. Yet.

Via Ben Smith comes Here’s a cached version of the escort service site with which Spitzer is linked.

UPDATE 5: At least he wears a lapel pin. Also, for sheer entertainment value, Sir Norman Fry, M.P.:

As it happens, Crystallynn Girard wasn’t murdered, and her death is no longer classified as a homicide, but as an accidental overdose.

Evidently, the then-13 year-old died of acute cocaine intoxication. Certainly a question is posed as to how she got a hold of cocaine in the first place, but Lynn Dejac did not strangle her daughter to death, nor did anyone else, for that matter.

Looking at a case with a fresh pair of eyes and a revised outlook is always good, but this is so fundamentally basic that a further question is raised as to why this wasn’t revealed as fact until now - 15 years later. One wonders why a woman who is now apparently innocent of the crime with which she was charged (and of which she was convicted), had to spend 13 years in prison for it. It’s the cause of death, for God’s sake.

Many in the local media and in legal circles have made much of the fact that Ms. Dejac didn’t exactly lead a law-abiding, upstanding lifestyle back when her daughter was found dead, but that is now tragically beside the point. Evidently, the accidental, tragic death of a young girl led to additional and egregious tragedies.

An independent investigation into how this happened is wholly appropriate.