Former Hospital Administrator Takes Plea Deal

Winkler Post photo

Story from the Houston Chronicle:
(See also the Newswest9 Video and the Winkler Post story)
Ex-hospital head takes plea in retaliation case
By BETSY BLANEY Associated Press © 2011 The Associated Press
March 21, 2011, 8:16PM
KERMIT, Texas — A former West Texas hospital administrator accused of retaliating against two whistle-blowing nurses accepted a plea deal Monday and could testify in trials for a doctor, sheriff and prosecutor facing similar charges.

Stan Wiley ran Winkler County Memorial Hospital in Kermit when the nurses were unsuccessfully prosecuted after they complained anonymously to the Texas Medical Board in 2009 that Dr. Rolando Arafiles Jr. was unethical and risking patients' health.

Both nurses were fired from the hospital in June 2009 and a month later indicted with misuse of information after they complained anonymously to state regulators about Arafiles' medical procedures.

Wiley, who fired the nurses, pleaded guilty Monday to a misdemeanor charge of abuse of official capacity. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and fined $2,000. As part of the plea deal, Wiley agreed to cooperate with the prosecution of the three remaining defendants.

Arafiles, Winkler County Sheriff Robert Roberts and County Attorney Scott Tidwell face retaliation and other charges for pursuing cases against Vickilyn Galle and Anne Mitchell.

The case against Galle was dropped, and Mitchell was exonerated of a felony charge of misuse of official information at a February 2010 trial. Both women were in the courtroom Monday.

During the hearing, Visiting Judge Robert H. Moore s also heard from the other defendants' attorneys and scheduled Roberts' trial to start June 6. Roberts and Arafiles declined to comment after the hearing.

Tidwell's attorney, David Zavoda, told Moore his client should be protected by prosecutorial immunity because he was only doing his job.

Prosecutor David Glicker called that argument "shocking."

"You're not acting like a prosecutor if you do something unlawful," Glicker told the judge.

Moore rejected Zavoda's argument.

Investigators contend that Arafiles approached his close friend Roberts, who was also a patient, after the Texas Medical Board contacted the doctor about the complaint. Arafiles asked his friend to help him find out who filed the complaint and Roberts used his authority to get a copy, investigators said.

Arafiles and other officials were then able to determine the identities of those who filed the complaint — names that would have been protected from disclosure if law enforcement officials had not misused their position to obtain confidential information, the Texas attorney general's office said in a news release Monday.

Among the nurses' complaints in their unsigned April 2009 letter to the medical board were that Arafiles improperly encouraged patients to buy herbal medicines from him and had wanted to use hospital supplies to perform a procedure at a patient's home.

Arafiles, licensed in Texas since 1998, has said the nurses' letter to the board was intended to harm him personally.

The women sued the county and accepted a $750,000 settlement after they were cleared.

Arafiles faces two counts of misuse of official information and retaliation. Roberts and Tidwell each face two counts of misuse of official information, two counts of retaliation and two counts of official oppression.

The medical board technically suspended Arafiles in February but said he could continue to practice medicine while on probation for four years, if he completed additional training. The board also said Arafiles must be monitored by another physician and submit patient medical and billing records for review. The monitor will report his or her findings back to the board.

You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

(Thanks to Rawhide for the text. I found the pictures everyplace.)

1. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You believe Joe Biden is a Muslim.

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2. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You have ever referred to yourself as a ‘smart-a** cracker'.

3. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You get two pizzas, both half cheese and half pepperoni.

4. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You whine about socialism for an hour and then break into tears.

5. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You write “Ready, Aim, Fire!” on the palms of your hands.

6. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You think there really is a government program called "Obamacare".

7. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You have ever added a small mustache to a picture of Obama.

8. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You like to crumple up dollar bills and throw them at disabled people.

9. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You've ever made an information request to the Hawaii Department of Vital Records and you're not a resident of Hawaii.

10. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You need to bring a lawn chair to a 1 hour political rally.

11. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You think the 2008 Presidential election was a choice between two communist-fascists.

12. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You think armed militias are a sensible idea.

13. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You think Obama was born in Kenya, that a death panel will kill your grandmother, and argue there is no evidence of global warming.

After this winter, you still believe in global warming?

Death panel.

14. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You think George Soros wrote 1984.

15. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You argue that 'separation of Church and State' came out of Adolf Hitler’s mouth.

16. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You think the greatest threat to America is liberal media bias.

17. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You have a photo shopped picture of Obama, have carried a toilet plunger to a political rally or have ever decried a public option.

Tea partier's brain.

Faith

From fugly.com

Our First Tea Party

I got a funny e-mail about tea parties, and I may still use it, but first I thought I would show you actual photos of the Odessa Tea Party held on April 17 of 2010, to give you an idea of what a tea party is like, at least in my neighborhood.  Your experiences and your mileage may vary.



Robert claims this park for the United States of America.

  It was cold and misty on this day.  Glad the planet is warming up, or it might have been much colder.

Sleepless in Midland's blog has another review of the event, plus he took better pictures than I did.

I did not see anyone carrying a plunger.  However, we were in Roswell the previous month and just barely missed seeing Joe the Plumber.

I didn't see anyone throwing crumpled dollar bills at any disabled person, or any other act of cruelty.

I didn't see or hear any racist remarks.  I didn't see any police presence at all.

Liz was interviewed by a reporter for the Midland paper.

Here's the man we mostly came to see.  His name is Mark Williamson, founder of Federal Intercessors, and he also happens to be our preacher's son.

Above: Here is Mr. Williamson on February 17 of this year, leading the opening prayer before the U. S. House of Representatives. (You don't have to watch all 16 hours and 10 minutes of the video.)

After about an hour, we were ready to leave.  We needed to go shopping and find adequate facilities.  Meanwhile, Robert and two boys were staging a lightsaber fight on the hill.

Robert was decidedly not ready to leave.

The Future is Back!

Robert sees a DeLorean for the first time in Odessa.

Wow!

From the Pakistan Daily Mail, which all Kermit residents read
by Andrew Thompson

Twenty-six-year-old Cameron Wynne is a champion wakeboarder and fan of the electro-funk band Chromeo. His long hair, tanned skin and girlfriend-who-works-in-fashion go a long way toward completing his cool-kid persona. But his beyond-exotic ride provides the finishing touch. “When I was at the Roosevelt in L.A., they moved a Lamborghini Murcielago so they could park it in front of everything—a Murcielago!” Wynne says. “And they didn’t charge me anything. All week.” “It” is Wynne’s 1981 DeLorean DMC-12. Yes, that gull-wing stunner best known as the time machine in the 1985 Robert Zemeckis film, Back to the Future. (Wynne’s edition is wrapped in black, with matte shard effects that were a 2009 limited-edition design for The Hundreds clothing line.)

Against all expectations—and possibly common sense—the DeLorean is back in limited production, and with it has come a boomlet in DeLoreaniana. Last November Nike’s 6.0 Dunk SE DeLorean sneakers sold out online in minutes. A DMC-12 holds a prime spot in Xbox’s bestselling Gran Turismo videogame. Next month Mattel’s Hot Wheels DeLorean edition will begin its fifth product run in the past year. Not to mention the car’s popularity in the music and film communities. Pop singer Ke$ha drove one to the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards; will.i.am owns one; Kanye West and Die Antwoord are vocal fans. The British band Neon Neon devoted its entire 2008 album, Stainless Style, to DeLorean. At least four movie projects—some backed by DeLorean’s children—are making the rounds in Hollywood.

The DeLorean DMC-12 features gullwing doors, unpainted stainless steel body panels, and a rear engine.When John DeLorean launched the original as a challenge to the Corvette in 1981, its 130hp, 2.8-liter V6 went from 0mph to 60mph in 10.5 seconds. It cost $25,000. Since then the car has garnered both favor and contempt. It became notorious in 1982 when DeLorean, desperate to generate cash (a $27 million stock issue had fallen through), became the target of an FBI investigation into drug trafficking. When the Feds caught him on camera in a Los Angeles Sheraton transferring a suitcase filled with 220 pounds of cocaine and famously saying, “It’s as good as gold and just in the nick of time,” their case seemed made.

Now, 30 years later, the brand is making a comeback based on its own merits. “People like the car for the car,” emphasizes Stephen Wynne, the 54-year-old CEO of DeLorean Motor Co. Along with son Cameron and 16 employees, Wynne is building and restoring DeLoreans at a 40,000-square-foot facility in Humble, Tex., 30 miles north of Houston. A former mechanic with long caramel bangs, a Carolina Herrera shirt and Prada loafers, Wynne grew up in Liverpool obsessed with cars—his parents’ trick to calm him as a toddler was to put him behind the wheel of the family sedan. Wynne moved to California in 1980 and developed an expertise in repairing DeLoreans, since the intricacies of their French-made Peugeot-Renault-Volvo (PRV) engine and Lotus-designed chassis were second nature for someone used to European vehicles. It didn’t hurt that he could “talk the same language” when tracking car parts across Europe—back in the day DeLorean cars were assembled in Northern Ireland, thanks to millions of dollars in development incentives from the British government.

While in California Wynne heard that a company called Kapac had DeLorean engineering data and thousands of spare parts lying fallow. In 1997 he bought out Kapac’s stocks for under a million dollars and by 1999 was the proud owner of all DeLorean branding rights and subsidiaries. Today’s DeLorean Motor Co. makes about six “new” cars a year—they have stainless-steel reproduction chassis and a combination of new-old stock (NOS), original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and reproduction parts. DMC also sells about 60 certified used DeLoreans annually. (The bulk of the business comes from service, repairs and restoration—and, increasingly, from licensing agreements.) The $57,500 new builds have a few modern options—like a CD player, GPS and iPod/Bluetooth—but their look is identical to those built in the 1980s.

They’re fun to drive, too. A DMC-12 is not going to win many drag races (though it will be challenged to them often), but it is nimble enough and feels smooth cruising at 70mph down the interstate. Speed aside, the steering is slightly stiff (power steering is not available); the clutch, brake and accelerator pedals are narrow and sit closely to one another, which requires some adjustment. Stateside quality control and retooling on the doors worked out the kinks in subsequent generations, and the new DeLoreans are built on a lighter chassis and can be wrapped in any color or pattern to protect the steel panels.

Wynne says he has enough original parts to build 500 more new-old cars, including a limited-edition Final Run of 50 to commence production this June. So far, so good: Wynne demurs when asked about profit totals but says DMC revenue has grown to six times the totals of the early 1990s, and last year had an 8% increase in net profits over 2009.

Greetings Earthling

From the Whatever.

Winkler County DA to Retire

From The Odessa American:
KERMIT District Attorney Mike Fostel of Winkler County will be stepping down effective April 30, Fostel said Wednesday.

The 65-year-old, who has held the position for 29 years, recently has faced external challenges to his duties as a prosecutor in the 109th Judicial District.

After being sidelined by illness and surgery in recent years, a lawsuit brought by Kermit resident and Winkler County Hospital Board member John Walton claimed Fostel hadn’t done his full duty since March 2009. Winkler County Attorney Scott Tidwell filed the motion but made a motion to dismiss it Feb. 1.

At the time, Fostel said he had no immediate plans to retire, and Fostel said Wednesday the suit was the work of a few people, so it didn’t affect him.

Fostel said the personal toll from the Feb. 6 death of his 32-year-old daughter Paige Fostel was the motivating factor in his retirement as a prosecutor, but not in general.

“I’m not quitting law, I’m quitting being district attorney,” Fostel said.

Fostel said he planned now to go across the street to One Court Place and hopefully restart the long-time private practice he gave up about two years ago.

Looking back on his career, which included three years of pure private practice, seven-and-a-half as county attorney in addition to his time as DA, Fostel recalled that just 42 days after stepping in, he had to prosecute the case of Odessa-based serial killer Michael Eugene Sharp, executed in November 2007 for the 1982 stabbing deaths of Brenda Kay Broadway, 32. He was also convicted in the murder of Broadway’s 8-year-old daughter Christie Elms.

Fostel said it was his first and only death penalty case, and he wouldn’t let Sharp bargain for a lesser sentence.

Fostel said he wasn’t sure who Gov. Rick Perry would choose to replace him.