SCROLL FOR UPDATE:

Tim Connor has posted this report at the Center for Justice on “The Kibosh”  by S-R’s “On the Record” radio show yesterday at KJRB 790.  After he was invited to come on show by show host, Rebecca Mack, he was unceremoniously disinvited by S-R Management.  In the interest of full disclosure I’m the infamous blogger that S-R Editor Steve Smith banned permanently from S-R Blogs.  Mr. Smith with his ban sought to marginalize me and my professional opinion as a thirty-five year career criminal investigator.  Sorry Mr. Smith but you have caught my full attention now.  As I explained in the following post here at FOF I told Mr. Smith:

S-R Editor Steve Smith rails about Tim Connor & Larry Shook – maliciously?

OK to be perfectly clear I didn’t accuse anyone of anything. I said, “. . . if the shoe fits – wear it.” I said as a career investigative professional I would sure use the murder of SFD Fire Captain Hanna as a hammer in asking probative questions that no one seems to be asking in this town other than a few whom Smith attempts to marginalize with his broad brush characterizations. Mr. Smith will not debate the facts or attempt to correct where Connor and Shook are in error

[…]

Mr. Smith your most recent references of arson and murder are apparently from my comments and opinions from my own independent investigation and research of the STA Transit Plaza Project and the preceding arson/murder fire at the Zukor Bldg where the STA Transit Plaza now sits. It was during this research I confirmed the death of Captain Hanna in the Zukor arson fire as it was reported in the S-R from the archives of the Spokane Public Library. Captain Hanna’s death is also documented at the Spokane Fire Department’s web site under, “Line of duty Deaths.” I am also researching the arson fire of the District 81 School Administration Building where Nordstrom’s is now located at RPS. Mind you these two major fires occurred within a year’s time of each other. I have compiled the ownership title transfers on these properties before and after these fires. I’ve also compiled documentation that reveals the STA official build out costs of the STA Transit Plaza and the Assessor’s current value of this property and building are substantially different. Further from the recent public debate, it is apparent that the STA Transit Plaza was poorly located in the first place. Whether by coincidence or not some of these owners have associations with others who were involved in other “suspect” public projects in Downtown Spokane. I have filed several public document requests with the City of Spokane to review the police/fire investigative files on these fires and the Jo Savage death.

Ron the Cop

*****

“The Kibosh”

Published on September 17, 2008

I was supposed to be on the radio this morning a little before noon which, among other advantages, is pretty good timing for my mom who is fond of staying up late. There’s a very handy radio with a cassette recorder built into it in her kitchen and she just loves to use the thing. She’s still finding and passing on to me old audio tapes of shows that I did, years back, with Tom Grant, or with Rick Miller, talking about River Park Square. That’s usually what I talk about when I go on the radio. River Park Square.

But not today. Today the show, and its startled and frustrated host, went on without me.

UPDATE:

I just received this from Larry Shook of Camas Magazine on Tim Connor’s “The Kibosh.”    Even though the US Attorney’s Office found no “criminal intent” in the RPS bond fraud, this case by no means is closed yet.

Ron the Cop

*****

Dear Friend:

If you receive this e-mail, consider yourself respected. I’m sending it to you because I think you will find it both informative and inspiring. It’s about something that happened yesterday to an American journalist in an American city that’s not supposed to happen. The journalist was censored by an American media dynasty for reasons that have to do, the evidence suggests to me, with the dynasty’s use of its media to cover its crimes. I believe this is an internationally significant story because of its cautionary moral about the power of the media you consume to control your thoughts and actions. (Please be every bit as careful about what you put in your mind as you are about what you put in your mouth.) But that’s not why the story is inspiring. It’s inspiring because of what the journalist did. He did not surrender his voice to those who think they have the ability to own journalists’ voices. Instead, he cleared his throat and spoke out–gently, deftly, compassionately, gracefully (I dare even say lovingly), but truthfully. And the truth, no matter the softness of its expression, always has a basso profundo reverberation.

If greatness is known by its deeds, then the name of America’s greatest journalist–to my knowledge  at least–is Tim Connor. I will let him tell the story, “The Kibosh,”  in his own words. Please click  account if you’re interested. I believe his words should serve to inspire journalists everywhere (brothers and sisters, this is what we’re supposed to do) and those who love great journalism as the indispensable public servant of freedom that it is.

If you want to review the evidence of the cancerous corruption to which Connor is speaking his gentle truth go to www.camasmagazine.com and www.girlfromhotsprings.com.

If you would like to follow Connor’s work, go to http://cforjustice.org/ and click on his prolific reporting and the stories found in his in his column, “The Kitchen Table.” If you would like to consider supporting the institution that makes his work possible, Spokane’s Center for Justice, you’ll find directions on the Web site for doing so. (If you want to do something nice for yourself, I urge you to consider giving a little. Even if you can only send them five bucks, try doing it and see how you feel when your head hits the pillow tonight. Bravery comes in many forms and it always feels like a summer breeze to the soul.)

Finally, if any of this means anything to you, I urge you to circulate it widely and suggest your recipients do the same.

Yours for gutsy reporters, Larry Shook