Continued From Page 1
NEW FEES TARGET MICHIGAN DRIVERS–On October 1, new fees, fines and surcharges aimed at generating more revenue, at the expense of Michigan motorists, goes into effect. Most drivers don’t realize the full extent of the penalties coming their way.
Public Act 165 has instituted new “Driver Responsibility Fees” which amounts to raised fines and surcharges on traffic tickets. If you have seven points on your drivers license, you will be paying $100 each year for two years. And, you will be paying an additional $50 per point for every point above seven. If you’re stopped and you can’t present proof of insurance, youmust pay a $300 fine, even if you later prove you do have insurance.
If you receive an Operating Under the Influence of Liquor (OUIL), not only do you have to pay your fine, a new $40 surtax, and license reinstatement fee, but you will also be getting a $1,000 bill each year for the next two years (courtesy of Governor Granholm and Senator Gilbert).
This additional money will go to local governments and police, county sheriffs, the State Police, the state General Fund and local fire departments. This sets a dangerous precedent, as the agencies that issue tickets will directly profit from them.
“Guaranteeing police a share of motorist fines will lead to further fine increases down the road,” says Eric Skrum of the National Motorists Association. “It creates a vested interest effect: more police revenue equals more patrols, which equals more tickets, which equals more revenue. The state legislature and city governments are sure to put pressure on police agencies to issue more tickets.”
The National Motorists Association (NMA) was established in 1982 to represent the interests and rights of North American motorists.
BIKERNET CARIBBEAN REPORT–As you might know by now I just got back from California and like always it was great to see friends once more, visit the Bikernet headquarters, Chica, WCC, Diamond frames, etc, plus be able to hang out with all those who I call friends. Nui from Grumpy’s Custom in Hawaii joined us, Jay Hodge was there as well, trying to finish his WCC CFL, Wicho, Fabricator Kevin and Irish Rich to name a few.
Unlike last year where it was raining and cold, this year the No Love party took place on a really nice day. There were so many bikes and cool cars that it was impossible to soak it all in, and let’s not even talk about the primo “talent” Man ! Good looking chicks galore, I’m sure Frank Kaisler filled a few photo cards there….
No more about that since the story is coming soon…. I guess…Although Bandit gave me the Pan registration as soon as I walked in the door I did not ride, we mostly cruised in Nui’s rental Town Car. I still would like to score a Shovel or Pan, even better a Knuckle, to leave it in Pedro and be able to cruise, maybe I’ll keep that bike and send it to Hawaii so I can also have a ride there. I tell you, I would love to be able to go more often to the West Coast, even though it’s a pretty far trip from our slab of earth in the Caribbean, it’s always good to be there. Maybe I’ll find a girlfriend that lives there, that means housing, comfort and a pretty good excuse to head over more often….Any takers on the bike or the girlfriend let me know, I’m on the look out.
I’ll also want to thank Jesse, Bill and Renay for the hospitality and giving me carte blanche to hang out in the “forbidden’ areas at West Coast Choppers.The only shitty part is that it seems like time flies away, there are so many things to do, so many people to visit.
On the other hand….
Von Dutch, the clothing people is building some bikes, and I have been invited to their opening of the Miami/South Beach store. I will have to sacrifice and take a trip over; will keep everyone posted on how the party unveils.
I want to congratulate Bill Dodge and Renay on the birth of their twins, I know it’s been some time from this happening, but with all the shit going on I tend to forget stuff.
Kid Rock and Jesse James have a pretty cool article in the new issue of Men’s Journal, it’s about their antics in Mexico while filming Jesse James Rides… I guess boys will be boys…
I’m taking the time to do my 64′ Impala, I need airbag suspension and wheels, if anyone knows of a good deal on these items let me know….I might use the installation on an article for Old Skool Rodz.
Right now we are back into work, I have to finish a couple bikes for the upcoming Puerto Rico event, December 5th to 7th, two of them almost done, three to go. I’ll post some photos as things progress. Yeap, way too many trips cut into the work, but what the hell is work good for if you can’t spend some of what you earn.
Well, that’s it for now….See ya’ next week..
Jose Bikernet Caribbean Report
BROTHER DOWNED–Bob Bryant was killed by a 20 year old girl in Fairfield Ohio.Deals were being made in this small town to get her off with a minimum sentence.Local, State and National Motorcycle groups got involved and she was recently sentenced. See e-mail I received from a local friend. The efforts of those concerned and the wishes of the family were all taken into consideration. This shows that the work all these groups and indivuals did have a influence.
She received a fine of $750.00, 1 yr suspended jail time, and 3 years suspended drivers license, she cannot get caught driving even to school, or she loses her license permanently, and the she has about a million hours of community service, well a lot of it, at a driver safety class, on how to observe for motorcycles. Bob Bryants children got up and asked the judge not to put her in jail.
–Michael
–from Rogue
JANKLOW JURY WON’T SEE TICKETS– The prosecution cannot use U.S. Rep. Bill Janklow’s past speeding tickets and traffic accidents as evidence in the congressman’s manslaughter trial, a judge ruled Monday.
Moody County Circuit Court Judge Rodney Steele said Janklow’s driving record, which includes 12 speeding violations and three accidents, would unfairly prejudice the jury in the case. The decision is a victory for the defense, a legal expert said.
But the judge will allow the testimony of a Trent woman who said Janklow nearly ran into her family’s pickup truck in December. She said the near miss occurred after Janklow allegedly ran a stop sign at the same rural Moody County intersection where the former governor collided with a motorcycle in August, killing the driver.
Janklow faces a felony second-degree manslaughter charge and three misdemeanors in connection with the accident. He has pleaded not guilty. The trial is scheduled to begin Dec. 1.
The felony carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.The accident has cast doubts on the political future of Janklow, a former four-term governor who won election to the House of Representatives last year.
–David Kranz
–from Rogue
THE INSIDE REPORT–The average person does not know how big Prison Labor Industry is. Yet prisons still want more tax money. It is another Big Goverment Con.
When I was working for Quantum Cycles they negotiated to have a lot of the work handled in one of the private prisons in Florida. Private Prisons are making Big Money from Slave Labor.
–ROGUE
Scott Gilreath is on his lunch break after a hot morning bent over a welding machine. He and 26 other men work along an assembly line in a torque converter plant where old automotive transmission parts are reconditioned.
The windowless building looks much like any manufacturing plant with large industrial equipment, a tool room, and piles of boxes waiting to be shipped out.
It’s only at lunchtime that the plant’s identity becomes apparent — the South Bay Correctional Institute. Gilreath and his prison work mates silently line up to be counted before they shuffle off to picnic tables and wolf down hamburgers and chocolate cake delivered on plastic trays.
The torque converter shop is one of 20 businesses run through the St. Petersburg-based nonprofit Prison Rehabilitative Industries and Diversified Enterprises program, or PRIDE, in Florida’s 56 prisons.
Moving well beyond hammering out the traditional license plates, Florida’s inmates today churn out some 3,000 products and services ranging from orange juice to cardboard boxes to digital document conversion.
Last year, they generated $62 million in sales, mostly to state government agencies such as the Department of Corrections.
The feeling of being in the outside world — at least during their eight-hour work shifts — is one reason the inmates at South Bay prize their jobs and why dozens more are on a waiting list.
“It’s like being off the ‘pound. You’re not being harassed by other inmates or officers,” said Gilreath, a 32-year-old from Fort Lauderdale serving 10 years for parole violation, escape and battery. “And it’s the only paying job on the ‘pound.'”
Inmates may like it, but prison industries are not universally popular. Across the country, some companies, organized labor and industry groups charge that prison businesses are unfair competition and exploit a captive, malleable population.
“They have an extraordinary advantage,” said John Palatiello, executive director of Mapps, an association of digital mappers and surveyors that wants prisons barred from its sector.
“It makes a huge difference in the institution,” said Kanut Rostad, president of the Enterprise Prison Institute, a private research group in Maryland. “It’s very important because of the ripple effect it has on the inmates. About half believe they can compete for the job. This really is a different world than the outside.”
–Associated Press
Continued On Page 3
