On The Eighth Day of Grinchmas

On the Eighth Day of Grinchmas, the Grinches want to see...

Eight empty theaters...

Seven Abominations...

Six Grinches on Council...

No golden rings...

Fourth Ward Foolishness...

Three Evil Websites...

Two-Faced Bloggers...

And the Portsmouth Times in bankruptcy.

A very nice (and rare) success story for the City of Portsmouth in the last several years has been the development of the old "Viaduct" property on the 1600 block of Chillicothe Street. Remember when you had to go to Wheelersburg (to sit in a run down, dingy movie theater) or further to see a movie? Now we have a very nice, clean movie theater right here in town.

Isn't that nice? Who could be against that?

Well, of course, you know the answer to that. The CAVE People. Harold Daub, Teresa Mollette, Austin Leedom and his son Wally, and the rest of their group opposed the project vigorously at City Council meetings and on-line every step of the way: from the sale of the property, the clean-up, and even the installation of a stop light at the intersection.

They objected to the price ($60,000) for which the property was sold to the developer (Mullins Construction). As usual, these Grinches were afraid a local businessman might actually make a profit of something. In fact, for years the City had tried to give the property away (for $1) to Krogers, Lutes, Big Sandy, or anyone would develop it.

They claimed that the property was polluted. For years many of the CAVE people claimed they would not patronize businesses built there because the "toxic chemicals" in the ground. In fact, the State of Ohio certified it to be free of hazards before anything was built there. (As if Buffalo Wild Wings or Penn Station would risk building a restaurant on a contaminated site.)

They complained that the employees would only receive "minimum wage."

In other words, typical CAVE People B.S. As recently as last year, Robert Forrey indulged in more rumor mongering (his stock-in-trade) about the "Toxicity" of the site.

"Residents of Portsmouth may be eating chicken wings, drinking milk shakes, and watching movies on a toxic site without realizing it. Rumors began circulating about seven years ago that the ground under the Route 23 Viaduct site was toxic."

The "rumors" he refers to are those spread by the CAVE People themselves (the Mollette's and "The Shawnee Sentinel," in particular). He acknowledges that there is no truth to the rumors, but apparently, as a CAVE person he is obligated to spread them anyway.

Fortunately, City Council had the good sense to stand up to the Grinches and support Mullins' project, anyway. If they had listened the critics we would have:

No Portsmouth 8 Cinemas!

No Dairy Queen!

No Buffalo Wild Wings! No Penn Station!

Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Ryan Salmons Allstate Insurance

would have moved

somewhere else, possibly out of the city.

And finally, we would not be getting a new steak house.

No Logan's Roadhouse

(coming in 2010)

Thank you, Portsmouth City Council. Thank you, Elmer Mullins. We hope you make a handsome profit on your investment. The citizens of Portsmouth are in your debt.

On The Seventh Day of Grinchmas

On the Seventh Day of Grinchmas, the Grinches want to see... Seven Abominations... Six Grinches on Council... No golden rings... Fourth Ward Foolishness... Three Evil Websites... Two-Faced Bloggers... And the Portsmouth Times in bankruptcy. We received the images and comments below by email (ptownu@yahoo.com), from an individual who says he (or she) is a resident of the Third Ward. This person asked us topost this today, in honor of Bob Mollette's last day on City Council. The emailer states that every time he (or she) thinks about the CAVE People, these verses come to mind:

These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked imaginations, feet that are swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaks lies, and he that sows discord among brethren. (Proverbs 6:16-19)

We think it is very appropriate. God doesn't hate people. He hates what people do to each other: petty, selfish, harmful, and mean-spirited actions and attitudes that all of us are subject to. The CAVE People of Portsmouth seem to be obsessed with almost everyone of these, even those who claim to be Christians. We hope that all of us will truly examine our motives as the discussion of the future of our City continues. (As usual, if you have trouble reading the images below, click on them and a larger version will appear.)

This last picture is, of course, from Teresa Mollette's website, portsmouthcitizens.info, and it is typical of her constant name-calling and accusations of city officials. In other words, "sowing discord among brothers."

We hope that the Mollettes are not too surprised at Bob's defeat by a kid that no one had ever heard of before. But they probably are. Teresa's years of ballistic tirades and hate-filled accusations were a major source of embarrassment to the citizens of Portsmouth. The people in their incestuous little group of malcontents, no doubt, loved it and egged her on.

But really, Teresa, is it appropriate for you to call the elected Mayor of Portsmouth a "tool and a fool" and to constantly refer to Mrs. Kalb as "the mayor's second wife"? Even openly wishing for the death of your husband's fellow councilmen? If you really wanted openness and communication and fairness as you claim in you various websites, perhaps a little grace and common decency would have been preferable.

At any rate, we can now say good-bye and good riddance to the Mollettes, and thank you to the voters of the Third Ward.

On The Sixth Day of Grinchmas (Part Two of Two)

NOTE: Well, we're just halfway through the Sixth Day of Grinchmas and it's already Christmas Eve. It just seems like the more we dig into the rat's nests of the CAVE People's incestuous little schemes, the more we uncover. (It's sort of like termites.) We hope to finish our 12 Days series by New Year's and we appreciate the patience of our readers.

Now enjoy Part Two of the Sixth Day of Grinchmas...

Fourth Ward: Wayne Nichols

We now return briefly to our Fourth Day subject, the pitiable tool of the CAVE People, Wayne Lee Nichols.

On election night, Nov. 3, Nichols' home on Eighth Street burned nearly to the ground. Robert Forrey had the indecency to make the truly bizarre claim that Mayor Kalb had something to do with the fire, despite the fact that Forrey knew Nichol's house was a fire trap piled high with so much trash it endangered Nichols' neighbors. He also knew that Nichols had a criminal record and a reputation for consorting with drug addicts and prostitutes. Still, he defended Nichol's 2007 run for City Council. He and the other CAVE folks were unanimous that he was the best candidate, even though they were well aware of his sordid past. Nichols, now awaiting a January trial for

Was Nichols truly "qualified" for the office for which the CAVE People endorsed him? We'll let his record speak for itself. Specifically his record in the Scioto County Common Pleas Court and the Portsmouth Municipal Court. (See below.)

Source:

http://www.sciotocountycpcourt.org/

Source:

http://www.pmcourt.org

Fifth Ward: Larry Essman In 1993, Larry Essman moved to Portsmouth and bought a house on Grandview Avenue. Shortly after purchase, he installed a commode in his basement...without getting a building permit from the City. On several occasions over the next decade, sewage backed up into Essman's basement through the non-approved basement commode. By his own admission, it was recommended to him that he install a backflow preventer in his sewer line, at a cost of $5,000, to prevent continuing property damage, but he decided "the preventer probably would not solve the problem." So instead of installing the recommended backflow preventer (or removing his basement toilet), Essman and others sued the City of Portsmouth for over $2,000,000. The lawsuit has been in limbo for several years now, but is slowly workingits way through the courts. (You can read the story in Essman's own words here.) Essman is a darling of the CAVE People and a supporter of Jane Murray. She recently appointed him to serve on her cabinet of volunteer advisers. Essman will “deal with all financial matters of the city,” according to a report in the Portsmouth Times. So the citizens of Portsmouth face the following bizarre situation: a man with a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the City will serve as a volunteer advisor "on all financial matters" to the newly-elected mayor, who has another multi-million dollar, copy-cat, lawsuit of her own against the City. Huh? As the kids say nowadays: "Awkward!" Only in Portsmouth, friends. This could happen only in Portsmouth. Sixth Ward: Richard Noel Who could represent the CAVE People as Sixth Ward Councilman better than Rich Noel? That's a rhetorical question. No one could. Next to Wayne Nichols, Rich Noel is probably the most cynical, hypocritical candidate ever put forward by the CAVE People. In 2005, the C.A.V.E. People organized Citizens For Responsible Government, whose purpose was to recall Councilman and local businessman Marty Mohr (6th Ward.) In Portsmouth, to recall a candidate, you must provide a name on the recall ballot to filled the candidate's un-expired term. The pawn they chose was Rich Noel. Fortunately, Mohr survived the recall. But after months of lies and vicious attacks by the CAVE People (including attacks on his business, accusations of adultery, and other lies we won't repeat), he decided not to seek re-election. Unfortunately, Mohr's withdrawal opened the door for the CAVE candidate to run and win the 6th Ward Seat in 2007.

"Integrity and experience." Yeah, right. 1. When Noel campaigned to recall Mohr in 2005, one of his arguments against Mohr was that he illegally accepted City-provided health insurance as a City Councilman, a benefit that all council members have had available for many years. When Noel was elected in 2007, one of his first acts was to sign up for the same insurance. (The man has a strange concept of integrity.) 2. Due to an oversight dating back over 30 years, Rich Noel's residence was never connected to the City water and sewer systems. To this day, Noel remains on a private well and a septic tank while all of his neighbors on Dunlap Road, above and below him, have to pay for City services. As a result, when the garbage collection fee was initiated in the 1980s, Noel's residence was never added to the City's billing system and Noel knowingly received free garbage pickup for over 20 years. Shortly after his 2007 election the City found the mistake. Noel is now being billed but he refused to pay for the 20-plus years of free service the City mistakenly provided. We understand that the City Health has yet to enforce sanitation regulations that require Noel to connect to the water and sewer system, like every other citizen who lives adjacent to a sewer line. Much of this information was reported in the Scioto Voice newspaper of Wheelersburg. (Click on images below to read the articles.) 3. Maybe he doesn't need the water/sewer and garbage service because he doesn't really live there. A 2008 report in the Scioto Voice newspaper (see the first article above) accuses Noel of maintaining his residence in Porter Township. Noel's Wheelersburg home is larger, nicer, and better maintained than the Dunlap Road house. He forwards his calls to his phone in Wheelersburg, and neighbors report that he spends most of his time at there, near his daughter and grandchildren. Oddly enough, he DOES have water and sewer service in Wheelersburg. So Noel's only water and sewer bills are paid, NOT to the City he represents, but to Scioto Water, Inc., and the Scioto County Sanitary Engineer. Now that's some "integrity" for you, right there. If you would like to discuss Mr. Noel's integrity with him, make sure you call ahead of time. It can take 30 minutes or so to get from Wheelersburg to North Moreland. If that's not enough evidence of Noel's hypocrisy for you, how about this? Back in 2006, when the Mayor and some members of Council were trying to salvage something positive for the City out of the Marting's fiasco, they held an open house at Marting's so citizens could see architectural drawings showing the development possibilities for the structure, which for better or worse is now owned by the City. The City displayed the drawings, gave tours of the building, and provided refreshments: punch and cookies. Noel and several other CAVE People showed up wearing hardware store dust masks, as if it was dangerous to breathe the air.(An environmental study had already shown the building air was safe). During the open house, Noel kept his mask on. Except when he went to the refreshment table to eat cookies and drink punch! That is our classy Sixth Ward Councilman, Rich Noel. (If Noel wasn't a hypocrite he would were a dust mask every time he walks in the City building and work toward replacing it. Instead he is content to condemn City workers to inhale whatever flakes off the crumbling ceilings and walls.) Remember. Mr. Noel is the kind of candidate the CAVE People want to see running Portsmouth. MERRY GRINCHMAS TO ALL!

On The Sixth Day of Grinchmas (Part One of Two)

On the Sixth Day of Grinchmas, the Grinches want to see...

Six Grinches on Council... No golden rings... Fourth Ward Foolishness... Three Evil Websites... Two-Faced Bloggers... And the Portsmouth Times in bankruptcy.

Since the 1970s, the Citizens Against Virtually Everything have tried to get control of City Council. (In those days the called themselves the "Little People.") In 1979, they got about as close as ever, when Harold Daub, and the late Mark Price and Andrew Clausing were elected to City Council. They controlled just three seats on the Council but they did a lot of damage in a short time. They drove away a developer who would have helped revitalize the City with a Downtown Mall. The developer went to Ashland, Kentucky, instead, and built what became the Ashland Towne Center. (So thanks to Daub and his friends we have to drive to Huntington or Ashland to shop for Christmas with money that could have been spent here. Merry Grinchmas.)

Daub, Price, and Clausing were recalled in late 1980 (which was, legally, the quickest that the trio could be removed), leaving quite a bit of chaos that still haunts the area today. Daub, supported by the CAVE People, ran for County Commissioner in 2006, and received an embarrassingly tiny number of votes. (We still wonder how he lost with that catchy slogan!)

Since then we have had one or two of their obstructionist gang on Council over the years. With the defeat of Bob Mollette, hopefully, we will never go back to the bad old days.

But it made us wonder. If the CAVE People had their choice, who would be on their dream team? If their Grinchmas wishes came true, who would control our City? Here's who we think they would choose: First Ward: Kevin Johnson Kevin Johnson made this claim on his campaign website: "Deciding to run for Portsmouth City Council in the First Ward was, as you may know, not an easy decision." Excuse us for doubting that.

We reported during the campaign that Johnson told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2002 that he had political aspirations to "shake things up" in Portsmouth. Describing a conservative, California town that Johnson left when he moved to Portsmouth, the Chronicle reported:

"Kevin came into town and stirred things up...He was everywhere, putting on candidates forums...He's very passionate. You knew this was a guy who wasn't just going to move to Concord and quietly blend in."

Doubtless, he won't stay quiet for long in Portsmouth, Ohio. "I've already got a list of 700 names back there, people with political issues to call," he says, letting loose another raspy belly laugh. "Gawd, I love it!" (SF Chronicle, 3/16/2002.) Click here for the whole Johnson story.

He told the San Francisco newspaper of his intention to move to Portsmouth and become active in local politics. The article made it clear that Johnson's priorities were gay rights and gay-friendly policies. Johnson lived here just long enough to be eligible when he announced his run for office. (The 2009 primary election was the first opportunity to run after the required five year residence.) So we don't exactly swallow his "not an easy decision" claim. But of course he is a politician. His most recent blog post (which he entitled "Getting Started") describes some of the multiple commissions and committees, Johnson would like to establish now that he has been elected. (Especially note the ones we have marked with an asterisk*):

Commission on Aging

Community Services Commission

Human Relations Commission*

Parks, Recreation and Open Space Commission

Personnel Board*

Housing & Economic Development*

Infrastructure & Franchise

Neighborhood & Community Services

Policy Development & Internal Operations*

Recreation & Cultural Affairs*

As we reported during the campaign, Johnson also wants to form a "personnel policy sub-committee*" to revise the city charter and personnel policies...to bring them "into the 21st Century." As he stated, "We have a LOT of changes to make."

We believe that the committee and commissions marked with an asterisk (*) above are some of the tools that Johnson intends to use to force a strong gay rights and liberal agenda on the people of Portsmouth. We hope that citizens with traditional moral values will keep a close eye on these proposed new policy-making bodies, and try to be appointed to them if they are formed.

And remember that self-proclaimed "gay rights activist" Kevin Johnson was the candidate of choice of the CAVE People. Merry Grinchmas, Portsmouth.

(If you have any questions about our claims about Mr. Johnson, we strongly recommend you re-read our previous posts about his past and his likely agenda on City Council. Click here.)

Second Ward: Austin Leedom

A vampire named Austin Leedom has been haunting the City of Portsmouth for many years.

In a previous post, we spoke of the odious Mr. Leedom and his nasty little so-called "Shawnee Sentinel" website, where Leedom indulges in bad grammar and delights in portraying Portsmouth in the worst possible light.

But his pathetic and embarrassing website is just the latest reincarnation of this nasty, little, self-proclaimed "journalist." Leedom started his career in 1995 as a reporter for a trashy little newspaper, loosely associated with Shawnee State University, which like his current website was called the "Shawnee Sentinel." It was true tabloid trash. The best use that was ever made of it was as toilet paper for homeless people.

Early on it became an advocate for disgraced local politicians and university personnel: various professors charged with sexual harassment (SSU must have been quite a hotbed of horny professors at that time), a New Boston police chief fired for corruption, etc. One so-called reporter who appeared within the first year of the Sentinel, along with Leedom was Doug Deepe, "a special investigative reporter," whose main interest was in exposing the suspicious circumstances of SSU's firing and the subsequent prosecution of the school's bursar, John Welton, who ultimately went to prison. According to Deepe, Welton was an innocent victim targeted by the University for exposing corruption.

Actually Doug Deepe was John Welton himself. (If you ever wondered where Welton's infamous pen-name came from, it was the Welton's own self-serving attempt to deceive the Sentinel's readers into the thinking that Welton's was the victim, not the criminal in the case. And this was done with Leedom's full knowledge and complicity.)

Over the years since Welton was released from prison, he and Leedom have been off-again, on-again partners-in-grime starting and closing various newspapers and websites and posting to other local web forums. Sometimes working together. Sometimes attacking each other.

As the new Anti-CAVE website the Irish Mob reported recently, Doug Deepe, aka convicted felon John Welton has been accusing his former colleague, Leedom of tax evasion. He claims Leedom has bragged about it on several occasions. (CLICK HERE for the original story):

Does Sentinel Owner Austin Leedom Pay Taxes? Does the owner of the Shawnee Sentinel Website pay his fair share of taxes? Well out of his own mouth Austin Leedom told me that he refuses to pay Portsmouth City Income Taxes on income he makes when he works out of the State of Ohio. Leedom has been asked this question directly by Portsmouth Mayor Jim Kalb but Leedom refuses to answer the question. So, if what Leedom told me is the truth, and it was told to me during the 2004 tax year, what right does Leedom have to denegrate any public servant? I knew there might come a day that Leedom would turn on me so I wrote it all down, dated it, timed it, and had a witness sign it, including the location where it was told to us, and the time it was said to us and I have verified that my friend still has his copy of the document. The statement was made during a morning breakfast at the Gallia Street McDonalds. The time has come for Leedom to come clean on his tax information. Leedom leaves Portsmouth and makes thousands of dollars after hurricanes, floods, ice storms, etc. ... He rarely writes stories. He still uses my stories even though my attorney wrote him an email to stop using my intellectual property. Leedom now has hooked up with a well known drug abuser named Joe Ferguson and Leedom is promoting how honest this guy is and how great his (Ferguson's) investigations have been. I challenge anyone to go find a story Ferguson actually investigated and didn't just hear on a scanner or get a call to come rush to see a fire or something to that affect. Ferguson pled guilty to drug charges. This guy claims to be disabled yet he worked for "free" (if you believe that) for Lee Scott at the Columbia Music Hall. Could Scott have been paying Ferguson under the table too?? Are Leedom and Ferguson two peas in a pod? Only their tax forms and the people that hired them know the truth about these matters. Until Leedom shows his out of state income and proves to the people of Portsmouth that he paid his fair share of city income taxes nobody should ever believe a word he says or writes. I believe Leedom told me the truth, that he won't pay his city taxes on the money he made while working out of state. -John Welton (aka Doug Deepe)

Whoever said there was no honor among thieves, must have known the CAVE People.

Sorry to repeat ourselves but it must be said. The low-life Austin Leedom is the type of person that the CAVE People want to run the City of Portsmouth. People like the Mollette unapologetically supported Leedom in his 2007 run for the Second Ward Council seat. See below for more.

Third Ward: Teresa Mollette The idea that the Mollette's will go away or quiet down with the stunning and welcome defeat of Bob Mollette in the November election is probably wishful thinking. Especially the wife of the outgoing councilman.

Mrs. Mollette is literally so full of hatred for everyone who has a differing idea about the direction the city should be taking, that she actually wishes death upon her political enemies, as you can see by the outrageous letter produced below. She claims that her political enemies are literally "deserving" of being shot.

[NOTE: The following documents were sent to P-Town Underground at our email address (ptownu@yahoo.com) by sources who wishes to maintain their anonymity. Mrs. Mollette distributed her 3-page letter to Portsmouth city council members and to the local media, prior to reading it aloud at a council meeting. The internet posting appeared on a web forum operated by Mrs. Mollette herself. Of course, we will honor our source's request for confidentiality. We have independently verified all information presented below.] In 2005, the Melchers, owners of the Melcher funeral homes, were attacked and shot by burglars. The couple received life-threatening injuries and still feel the effects to this day. One of them lost an eye. Teresa Mollette, in a post to her web forum on 10/3/2005, condemned the attack. Her next thought was to wish that other "individuals" in the community had been shot instead. (Click on the images to read full-size.)

"When I first learned about the tragic crime I kept asking myself why? Why the Melcher's? Why to such good people, I could think of a few more deserving individuals of such a crime? This type of crime those deserving individuals are promoting in our community by their actions and/or inactions. While I was pondering these whys out loud an individual in our community made this comment to me, "If it had been one of these individuals instead of the Melcher's the community would have taken little notice and forgotten about it quickly." God speaks in mysterious ways. Teresa"

In case there might be any question who the "more deserving individuals' were that Mollette was referring to note the phrase "by their actions and/or inactions," Mollette herself provided the answer. Less than two months prior to the horrific attempted murder at Melcher's Funeral Home, Teresa had submitted to City Council a long, rambling manifesto accusing council members of "tyranny...dictatorship...rape of the constitution...cover-ups of abuse and corruption..." and all many of heinous crimes. The 3-page letter was written and signed by her alone.

The subject of the letter? "RE: ACTIONS AND/OR INACTIONS BY PUBLIC OFFICIALS"

Who were the "public officials" deserving of attempted murder? Mollette's letter left no doubt:

"Public officials like Martin Mohr, Howard Baughman, Greg Bauer, Carol Caudill, Ann Sydner, David Malone, Gerald Albright, David Kuhn, JoAnn Aeh and many others are being exposed to the public's view... "

So if some lunatic with a gun was looking for someone to punish for all of the city's perceived crimes (tyranny, rape, cover-ups, corruption, etc.), the killer would have "hit list" ready made, thanks to the deranged ramblings of the wife of a Portsmouth City Councilman.

Believe it or not the letter above is typical of Mollette unhinged tirades and attacks on public officials at many City Council. Also please note her slobbering praise for the reprobates, John Welton and Austin Leedom (candidate for Council at the time) on page 2 of her diatribe. As we have said before, the CAVE People are a vile and incestuous little group.)

Thank God the people of the Third Ward rejected Bob Mollettte and his dreadful wife in November. (Now can they please just go away?)

TO BE CONTINUED...

On the Fifth Day of Grinchmas

On the fifth day of Grinchmas, the Grinches want to see... No golden rings... Fourth Ward Foolishness... Three Evil Websites... Two-Faced Bloggers... And the Portsmouth Times in bankruptcy. The CAVE People do not want you to have golden rings. Specifically, those little golden rings of sugary goodness called donuts! "What's that?" we hear you say. "We've seen the CAVE People. It's hard to believe they are ALL against donuts!"

Well, ok. You caught us. They're not ALL against ALL donuts. Just Crispie Creme donuts. And just since City Solicitor Mike Jones became a co-owner of the Crispie Creme donut shop. One CAVE Person in particular hates Crispie Creme donuts: our favorite Grinch, Robert Forrey. You know how some old people are. Especially if they don't work...if they live alone...and if they have naturally nasty dispositions. If they left their job under suspicious circumstances. And they have alienated everyone that should matter in their lives. And if they look like they are constipated a lot. The type of person has nothing to do but pry around in other people's business. Retired Professor Robert Forrey, of the River Vices blog, is just that type of person. And like the Grinch, his heart is three sizes too small. That makes him a very mean old man. Unfortunately, he is mean AND not very smart, so his blog is filled with factually incorrect AND mean-spirited statements. A great example of this is his recent entry about Portsmouth's favorite donut shop. ("From Dollars To Donuts.") Forrey reports that, in 2007, "Mike Jones and a partner" (that is, business partner, NOT the type of "partner" Forrey normally is concerned about) "completed the purchase of the Crispie Creme Donut Shop, at 1202 Gallia Street. The value the County Auditor put on the donut shop was $107,990, but Jones and his partner paid an eye-popping $325,000 for the property. Did Jones confuse Crispie Creme with the national chain Krispy Kreme? What was he thinking? I suspected there might be an error in the $325,000 figure, so I checked with the County Auditor’s Office to make sure that figure was correct. I was told it was. Granted the valuation put on property for purposes of taxation is usually less than the putative market value, but a nearly 300 percent increase can hardly be accounted for on those grounds. The $325,000 for Crispie Creme sounds as inflated as the $2 million dollars the city paid for the Marting building."

Forrey goes on to complain that the Southern Ohio Growth Partnership and American Savings Bank would make loans to a business that in Forrey's vaunted opinion is doomed! Not content to slander Jones' business endeavor, Forrey goes, as he puts it, "Closer To Home."

"Unfortunately, Jones’s indebtedness is not confined to his business. He appears to have financial problems closer to home. In April 2005, two years before taking out the two mortgages on the donut shop, he bought a home in Portsmouth, on “the Hill,” at xxxxxxxxxxxx, for $xxxxxxx. (We left this information out, for the sake of decency.)... If the City Solicitor is no better at handling the city’s legal problems than he is at handling his own finances, his term in office may seem even longer to the citizens of Portsmouth than it will to him."

What a disgusting person Forrey is! What a bitter, nosy, old busybody! The self-importance and lack of decency of this man knows no bounds. What business of his is it how much Jones paid for his house? Does he know how much Jones has in savings? Does he know how much his wife makes? Forrey seems amazed that an attorney would be able to afford a house that costs six figures, and uses that fact to claim that Jones is a crook.

Reader, how would you like to have Forrey snooping around the Courthouse digging into your personal information? And if it were any of this vile idiot's business, if he had even an iota of common sense, he might realize that Jones was not just "buying a building." He was buying all the equipment: the donut presses and fryers and display cases and cooling racks and refrigeration units and whatever the hell else it takes to make donuts. Forrey probably does not even know that the building has a basement with even more equipment in use down there.

The new owners also bought a name. A reputation. An 80-plus year relationship between the people and a cherished establishment. People in Portsmouth have a love for the Crispie Creme shop. What person in Scioto County doesn't have fond memories of being taken to the donut shop by mom or dad and picking out their favorite donut and drinking a cool carton of milk? Crispie Creme is a wonderful Portsmouth institution. Thank God someone has the foresight to keep the place going. A normal, decent person would hope that the owners profit handsomely from their investment, but not the CAVE People. They would love to see it close its doors, just like they want the Portsmouth Times, the hospital, and the City itself to fail. Dear Reader, think of your fondest memories of Crispie Creme donuts. Now read what Forrey has to say: "...a walking-dead donut shop." "a financial deep fry [that] soon may be toast." "artery-clogging cholesterol and ass-over-the-stool obesity." "the only healthy thing about a donut is the hole." "a business that appears to have nothing going for it but donut nostalgia." "how in the world [has] it managed to stay in business." Forrey, maybe you should eat a donut sometime. But don't buy a Long John, because you might not know where to stick it. Apparently, the thing that really gets Forrey's panties in a wad is the fact that some of the financing for the purchase of the donut shop was assisted by the Southern Ohio Growth Partnership (the "evil S.O.G.P."). Imagine that! An organization whose main purpose is to make small business loans in Southern Ohio actually helped someone buy a business! What an underhanded thing to do. Obviously they are all crooks! (That's sarcasm, Mr. Forrey.) Or as Forrey concludes, "Jones was bought and paid for from the beginning." We at the Underground can't help wondering, Mr. Forrey, if you're such a brilliant businessman, where are the thriving businesses you've started? If you know so much more than American Savings Bank, why aren't you living "up on the hill"? How much does your house cost? Have you ever had a real job, Professor, instead of sucking on the government teat and brainwashing the "backward children of Appalachia" with your atheism and homosexual propaganda? Despite Forrey's oh-so-brilliant financial analysis of Mike Jones' business and personal finances, we believe the donut shop will do just fine. The people Portsmouth love their Crispie Cremes. They have increased their product line and have expanded into outlets around the county to share the goodness of their products. It's rare to go by the shop and not see people sitting and enjoying coffee and a donut, or picking up an order while their vehicle idles outside the door. PHS students seem to love it and Crispie Creme literally has dozens of coffee shops around the county that they supply donuts to, as well as brownies and turnovers and cookies. As usual Forrey doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. With the holidays upon us, why not make a special effort to patronize this fine local business that Forrey, the outsider from Massachusetts, attacks so callously? Let them know we're glad they're here. Give the gift of donuts. Make someone happy.

On The Fourth Day of Grinchmas

On the fourth day of Grinchmas, the Grinches want to see... Fourth Ward Foolishness... Three Evil Websites... Two-Faced Bloggers... And the Portsmouth Times in bankruptcy.

 
 In 2007, the citizens of Portsmouth dodged a bullet, fired by the Portsmouth CAVE People. The bullet's name was Wayne Nichols. He was the the CAVE People's chosen candidate to run to be the Fourth Ward Councilman. As you will see below, Nichols may have been the least qualified candidate ever to almost be elected to Portsmouth City Council. As Robert Forrey said, in promoting Nichols' candidacy:



FOURTH WARD FOOLISHNESS Jerrold Albrecht currently represents the Fourth Ward of Portsmouth. He is a decent, well-respected, genuinely nice man. A family man. A public servant and asset to our community. A man who everyone likes.

Well, everyone except for the CAVE People. These people have decided that anyone who does not agree with their little self-stimulation society is obviously a pawn of some sinister cabal that wants to destroy Portsmouth. Albrecht became a target of these moral pygmies early on. The list of hateful things they said (and continue to say) about this decent fellow on the internet is long and shameful. We won't repeat them here.

The CAVE People, who video tape every second of each council meeting, like to play childish games to try to make their victims look bad. They select individual frames to catch someone with their eyes closed or looking at the ceiling or with a strange expression. (Heaven forbid one of them might scratch his nose!) They picked a picture of Mr. Albrecht looking down or blinking. Now their mean-spirited mantra about Albrecht is that he is an old man who can't stay awake during council meetings. The picture at the left, from the River Vices site, is just one of multiple examples of this cheap, contemptible smear tactic. (We have noticed they have never produced a video of the man actually dozing off in a meeting.)


When they were unable to recruit an intelligent, capable and decent candidate, who would vote the CAVE way, to run against Albrecht, they scraped the very bottom of their nasty little barrel to find one. They foisted the most unqualified, undignified candidate imaginable to run in the Fourth Ward: Wayne Lee Nichols. The following ad appeared on Austin Leedom's and Teresa Mollette's website.

Nichols had already proven himself to be a danger to the community. According to the Portsmouth Times (10/23/2007), in 2002, Nichols "was arrested and charged with aggravated menacing and inducing panic." Police say he pointed a gun at someone he was arguing with and threatened to shoot her. But Nichols said the gun actually was a BB gun that did not work and the charges were dropped. According to Nichols, the problem started when eight or 10 people started a fire near his house." (If we were using the innuendo techniques of Forrey, Mollette, or Leedom, we would say something like: "We hear it was a drug deal gone bad." or "It's common knowledge that he pointed a pistol at a prostitute." Instead we'll give him the benefit of the doubt. We'll just say he was taking a 'hands-on' approach to drugs and prostitution.)

Nichols' home was called a serious menace by the City Health Department. In 2007 they cited Nichols for having “recyclables, scrap wood, scrap metal, etc., in [his] yard and on his porch.” The house was a firetrap. The house was so piled up that he often slept in broken down camper in his driveway. He parked a truck on the street that he moved a few feet every day or so (to keep from being ticketed.) The truck was as piled up with trash as his house. The owner of the Star Dry Cleaners next to Nichols on 8th Street rightfully feared that Nichols' trash was a fire hazard and threatened his livelihood, and complained to the police and the Health Department.

The City tried to force Nichols to clean up his property, but the CAVE People complained that their innocent candidate was being harassed. They wrote letters to the editor and spoke out at council meetings in defence of this poor "disabled veteran" who was being picked on by the City and a heartless business owner.

Possibly due to the relentless criticism, the City ultimately failed to enforce the clean-up of Nichols property.

Despite Nichols' neighborhood endangerment and gun brandishing, the CAVE People stood by their man against the "corrupt" incumbent. Fortunately, despite their best efforts, Albrecht won the election, but by a frighteningly close margin. And Albrecht remains in office, thank God.

But Nichol's continued to make himself a menace in other ways. Actually the view at the left is the view of the man that citizens are treated to at most city council meetings. (This drawing does not do justice to the dirtiness of this man or his odor.) There was time when lunatics like him were locked up for their own safety. The list of his statements and accusations before city council is long and bewildering. Here are few examples:

• Every single shopping cart in Portsmouth should be required to have a GPS tracking device attached.
• The Fire Department should purchase used fire trucks on e-bay.
• Every house is Portsmouth should be fitted with a sewage meter. (Apparently no such meter exist.)

Perhaps, his most outrageous statement came after a terrible house fire in Portsmouth with multiple fatalities, including children. The firemen who fought the fire and had to recover the bodies were devastated. The whole department was affected. At the next City Council meeting, Nichols came to the podium to address "items not on the agenda." He used his "free speech" rights to claim that the department had too much equipment and they were lazy. If they were better at their jobs "those babies wouldn't have died," Nichols said. This was too much even for some of the CAVE people present, several of whom stood up to speak in support of the firemen and Nichols' idiotic statement.

In July of this year, the former candidate for the Portsmouth CAVE Party was arrested for "aggravated menacing." Once again, Nichols' victim was a young lady from the neighborhood with dubious intent. (For details, click in the documents below.)

On 10/21/2009, while awaiting trial for this case, Nichols was arrested and jailed for theft, forgery, and receiving stolen property. He was released pending a pre-trial hearing on 1/5/2010.

If you ever wonder if the CAVE People really want what's best for the City, just remember this man that they tired their damnedest to foist on the City, in 2007: Wayne Nichols.

P.S. Nichol's house, with all of his "recyclables," and the camper where so many strange rendezvous took place in his driveway, burned to the ground in November, destroying the dry cleaning business next door, just as the business owner had feared. All courtesy of the Portsmouth CAVE People.

Wayne Nichols, this pawn of the CAVE People, a man whose "most serious offense," according to Robert Forrey was "not his procrastination in cleaning up his premises but rather his attending city council meetings and speaking up in those periods set aside for citizens to address the city council," is now homeless and facing jail, thanks to the CAVE People "protecting him" from the malicious enforcement of health department regulations. What irony.

Make no mistakes. The charred rubble of 2018 Eighth Street and the likely defunct business next store stand as monuments to the goals and tactics of the CAVE People.

Merry Grinchmas, Portsmouth.

On The Third Day of Grinchmas

On the third day of Grinchmas, the Grinches want to see... Three evil websites... Two-Faced Bloggers... And the Portsmouth Times in bankruptcy. They say there is a "trinity of evil" in the Bible: the Anti-Christ, and his followers the Beast and False Prophet, who will decimate the earth in the last days. Portsmouth has its own internet version of Satan's servants, and they are the favorite websites of the CAVE People. This is our evil trinity. Shawnee Sentinel/Austin Leedom: The False Prophet. Go to google.com (or Yahoo! or any internet search engine). Do a search for "portsmouth ohio information." One of the first results that comes up will be the following: "Inside news that tell [sic] why a small, poverty ridden Ohio River town has been devastated by local gangsters, dishonest businessmen, bankers..." This is how Austin Leedom and his CAVE people friends see our town. This is the face these bastards strive to present to strangers...people from around the world, seeking information about Portsmouth. People who may want to visit or retire here. Maybe someone who is looking for a place to start a businees or build a factory. It pisses off normal people like us, but it just makes the CAVE people smile. The only "good" thing about Leedom's website is that it is ugly and practically unreadable. Leedom's mindless ramblings are an embarrassment to the town and anyone who associates with him. This idiot claims to be a "reporter" but his grammar is as sloppy as his "inside news." The man's stupidity is amazing. Consider his latest clueless entry on his vile website:

The Spirit and Love of Christ is with us in Portsmouth, Ohio as Dr. Robert Forrey’s latest cultural literary gem celebrates Our Savior’s eternal love and compassion, with timely poetry that gives us food for thought and reason for fervent prayers “O, Little Town of Portsmouth" http://rivervices.blogspot.com/

Leedom is talking about Forrey's latest entry at the River Vices blog. Now everyone knows (except Leedom apparently) Forrey is an atheist. He even wrote a poem, published on an atheist website, in honor of 9/11, which says Jerry Falwell is just as bad as Osama bin Laden and calls religion "psychosis"! Only a true idiot like Leedom would say Forrey "celebrates Our Savior's eternal love and compassion." But then, intelligence is not Leedom's strong point. (P-Town Underground uses an "artist's representation" of Austin Leedom's face, since there are no photos of him available. We suspect that he may be an aging vampire, and like most undead blood suckers his image cannot be photographed.)

PortsmouthCitizensInfo.blog/Teresa Mollette: The Beast

There is no doubt about it. Teresa Mollette is the reason that her husband lost his seat on City Council. Bob is a likable enough guy who may even want what's best for Portsmouth. But if he doesn't make an ass out of himself at each council meeting, you can be sure there is hell to pay on Franklin Avenue on Monday night. But his antics pale in comparison to his wife's lunatic ramblings at Council meetings. Citizens are allowed up to 10 minutes to speak (5 minutes at two points in the agenda). Mollette uses her "free speech" to screech like a banshee at the City's leaders, calling them "crooks," "fools," and "liars," criticizing every decision of the council that her husbands sit on (at least for one more meeting.) Sometimes when she runs out of things to bitch about early, she says something like "Well, I have a little bit of time left, so I think I'll just stand here and tell you all what idiots you are." (That's nearly verbatim.) Teresa's disgusting website is about the same. Full of threats, accusations, innuendo, and outright lies. (But then the meaning of the word "satan" is accuser.)

River Vices/Robert Forrey: The Anti-Christ

Of course, Professor Forrey is the inspiration for this group. They dutifully pass on his evil words of wisdom every time he blesses them with a new blog entry. Like the biblical anti-christ, Forrey comes from the East (Massachusetts), and he despises all things Christian. A former professor at Shawnee State (he won't say where he taught before he came here, probably to keep anyone from uncovering past scandals), he remains in a town which, if you judge by his website, he loathes with a passion. He "retired" from SSU under suspicious circumstances. Here are the complaints that his students posted about him on-line (at ratemyprofessors.com):

• The Worst. Needs to get a job where he doesn't need to interact with other people. The kind of guy who'd get punched in the nose for being a jerk. Other than his personality flaws, he also sucks at teaching. He uses some kind of self-published paperback handout, which is not only terribly uninteresting, it's inaccurate. Worst class I've had.
• Sucks... plain and simple. The worst teacher I ever had. He mentioned his ties to Yale about twenty times during the course. Unfair and arrogant. Prick.
• Sorry dude...not everything written in the history of writing has a homosexual element.
• I did not specify a course, because every one teaches focuses on Atheism and Gays. Its fine that he supports those things, but why not save them for a course that pertains to them? He is rude and arrogant and needs to retire.
• Jerk. Went to "YALE" and wants you to know it. Used his own leaflet; won't call it a textbook because it so short and not really related to course content. Unhelpful and arrogant.
• Hated his class. He doesn't stick with the subject. He is more interested in his own agenda than teaching the course. Tired of hearing that he is Atheist. He is more impressed with that than anybody else is. He was probably a good teacher at one time, but not anymore.

To be fair, he had good comments, too, on that site. But they must not have been enough to save his ass when it came down to it. People in Southern Ohio get tired of that biased anti-Christian, gay rights, liberal crap. If his classes were like his miserable little website, it's no wonder Shawnee State got rid of him. Hey, Forrey! If you "really" want to make Portsmouth a better place, here's something you can do all by yourself. Move your ass back to Massachusetts!