Harold and Kumar escape from Hardin, MT

[Grizalltheway]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... AD97OGCUO2

President Barack Obama has 240 terror suspects he has said will be moved out of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within a year. The city of Hardin has a brand-new empty jail.

A match made in heaven? Hardin officials think so; Montana's congressional delegation thinks not.

The development authority in Hardin, a city of 3,400 people bordering the Crow Indian Reservation, built the $27 million, 460-bed jail two years ago and has been looking for tenants ever since. Its construction loans are in default.

The City Council voted 5-0 Tuesday in favor of a resolution supporting a proposal to house terror suspects currently detained at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay while they await trial

[Wedgebuster]

Gotta love them kooks up there in Hard-on!

[wideright82]

[bobbythekidd]

Who would build a prison without the need to house prisoners?

[Wedgebuster]

Who would build a prison without the need to house prisoners?

It was totally speculative, the state refused to send prisoners there, they have something against private prisons.

[TwinTownBisonFan]

in a related story, attendance plummets at Little Bighorn Battlefield for some reason...

[travelinman67]

And getting a morning parking spot downtown in front of Rosie's Cafe just got harder...

[TwinTownBisonFan]

And getting a morning parking spot downtown in front of Rosie's Cafe just got harder...

the only difference between this pic and everyday in Hardin is skin tone...

[Wedgebuster]

And getting a morning parking spot downtown in front of Rosie's Cafe just got harder...

the only difference between this pic and everyday in Hardin is skin tone...

AND, it is a Toyota pickup, not a Dodge Ram 50

[hank scorpio]

Heading down there tomorrow to see granny. I will let you know if I see any suspicious brown people hating on America.

[hank scorpio]

Heading down there tomorrow to see granny. I will let you know if I see any suspicious brown people hating on America.

Heading out, I will have a full report for you this afternoon.

[hank scorpio]

Okay I am back. I did see some suspicious brown people, but they were of the indigenous kind. The pictures below are from the empty jail in question. It looks more like a warehouse with razor wire around it than a maximum security prison one would expect. I t is about 200 yards from main street and the IGA grocery store.





BTW, I had some kick ass fried chicken from the 4 Aces bar while I was in town. It is a very close second to the Double Front in Missoula for the state's best fried chicken.

[Grizalltheway]

Mmm, Double Front...

[hank scorpio]

Mmm, Double Front...

It tastes even better when eating in the basement bar!

[travelinman67]

Okay I am back. I did see some suspicious brown people, but they were of the indigenous kind. The pictures below are from the empty jail in question. It looks more like a warehouse with razor wire around it than a maximum security prison one would expect. I t is about 200 yards from main street and the IGA grocery store.





BTW, I had some kick ass fried chicken from the 4 Aces bar while I was in town. It is a very close second to the Double Front in Missoula for the state's best fried chicken.

Actually, the location close to town might be a great idea.

Rather than the inmates living in isolation from the western world where their imaginations can run wild with Christian-hating dogma...

...being allowed to seee Madeline Gallagher and her three children doing their weekly grocery shopping, or Frankin Armistad, the town's machine shop owner stop in every day for his sandwich and carton of milk, or watch the ranchers and farmers drive their pickups into town every morning at 4:30 for their morning coffee...

...puts a face to those "evil" westerners.

Not saying that'll change a psychopath's vision of the world...but for the non-psychopaths...it's better than isolation.

[hank scorpio]

Okay I am back. I did see some suspicious brown people, but they were of the indigenous kind. The pictures below are from the empty jail in question. It looks more like a warehouse with razor wire around it than a maximum security prison one would expect. I t is about 200 yards from main street and the IGA grocery store.





BTW, I had some kick ass fried chicken from the 4 Aces bar while I was in town. It is a very close second to the Double Front in Missoula for the state's best fried chicken.

Actually, the location close to town might be a great idea.

Rather than the inmates living in isolation from the western world where their imaginations can run wild with Christian-hating dogma...

...being allowed to seee Madeline Gallagher and her three children doing their weekly grocery shopping, or Frankin Armistad, the town's machine shop owner stop in every day for his sandwich and carton of milk, or watch the ranchers and farmers drive their pickups into town every morning at 4:30 for their morning coffee...

...puts a face to those "evil" westerners.

Not saying that'll change a psychopath's vision of the world...but for the non-psychopaths...it's better than isolation.

Hadin is no Mayberry or even anything close to an All American town. Severe poverty, alcoholism, and crime are easy to find. It would probably be one of the worst places to promote a positive image of America.

[Wedgebuster]

Crow Indian Reservation.

[hank scorpio]

Crow Indian Reservation.

On the outside edge of it, which is worse, as it is the first place to buy firewater.

[travelinman67]

Actually, the location close to town might be a great idea.

Rather than the inmates living in isolation from the western world where their imaginations can run wild with Christian-hating dogma...

...being allowed to seee Madeline Gallagher and her three children doing their weekly grocery shopping, or Frankin Armistad, the town's machine shop owner stop in every day for his sandwich and carton of milk, or watch the ranchers and farmers drive their pickups into town every morning at 4:30 for their morning coffee...

...puts a face to those "evil" westerners.

Not saying that'll change a psychopath's vision of the world...but for the non-psychopaths...it's better than isolation.

Hadin is no Mayberry or even anything close to an All American town. Severe poverty, alcoholism, and crime are easy to find. It would probably be one of the worst places to promote a positive image of America.

Yet, it seems to be a nice enough place for people like you grandmother to live...

Hmmm...let's see what the REAL world looks like through the eyes of the imprisoned Al Qaeda fighters (what the inmates would actually be seeing/have seen, not what the "hate America" loonies SAY they'll see...)...

Downtown Hardin...


Picturesque Swat Valley under Taliban control...


Clearly, it appears the Taliban are ahead of Hardin in implementing rapid transit modernization...

[hank scorpio]

Gazette Opinion: Say no to Montana Gitmo
By The Gazette Staff

If the Hardin economic development agency wanted to generate coast-to-coast publicity for the availability of prison space in its new, unused detention facility, it succeeded.

If the Hardin City Council and Two Rivers Authority actually want to house Guantanamo Bay detainees at the facility, they have seriously underestimated the risk and the enormous community impact that would result from bringing longtime war prisoners - suspected international terrorists - to our area.

An Associated Press account of Hardin's interest in housing Gitmo detainees in its empty $27 million jail was posted on dozens of news Web sites, including The Washington Post, Fox News, CBS and MSNBC. Newspapers all across America reported it under "oddities" and "weird news" with headlines such as "Montana town wants its empty jail to be the new Gitmo."

The idea of moving suspected international terrorists to Montana united the state's entire congressional delegation in opposition.

Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., said the detainees are terrorists and added: "We should be doing everything possible to keep them out of our country, let alone our state."

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. is "against any proposal to bring Guantanamo detainees to Montana."

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., wrote a letter to Two Rivers, that declared, "housing potential terrorists in Montana is not good for our state."

Both Baucus and Montana U.S. Marshal Dwight MacKay, a Bush administration appointee, listed significant security concerns about bringing Gitmo detainees to Montana:

• These detainees are considered some of the most dangerous people in the world.

• Security considerations would be monumental and would require far more than a regular detention facility could provide.

• Those accused but not yet charged of war crimes that are housed in a Montana facility would then fall within the jurisdiction of our Montana Federal District Courts, where judges already have the fifth-busiest trial docket in the nation.

• Ferrying those prisoners between the Hardin jail and U.S. District Court in Billings for hearings raises security concerns.

• The federal courthouse in Billings doesn't allow for prisoners to be completely separated from the public.

• President Barack Obama has ordered that the detainees be returned to their home countries or moved somewhere besides Gitmo by January 2010. That timeframe is much shorter than the time it will take to build a new federal courthouse in Billings.

In his letter, Baucus pledged to "work in every way to help support your efforts to find occupants for the Hardin detention facility that will also be compatible with the needs and safety of our Montana communities."

Marketing a detention center built for 460 low- to medium-security inmates has proven more difficult than any of the local promoters or private investors anticipated. Almost any other prisoners would bring lower security risks than the Gitmo crowd, and there are other needs for detention.

One need in Montana is for expanded addiction treatment of DUI offenders so that they all will complete treatment before they could be back on the roads. When the state decides to make this investment in treatment, the Hardin jail would be an ideal location. Way too many felony DUIs occur in our area. The state's two DUI programs are in Glendive and Warm Springs. A Hardin-based program would cut travel costs and help ensure that every convict gets the treatment proven effective in preventing most from reoffending.

That's just one idea. As Two Rivers continues to seek business, it needs other ideas and should drop the idea of becoming the Montana Gitmo.

http://billingsgazette.net/articles/200 ... pinion.txt

[hank scorpio]

This weird story just keeps on entertaining us locals.


10/1/09

HELENA - Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock launched an investigation Thursday into American Police Force, the California company founded by a Serbian immigrant with a lengthy criminal history that is seeking to run an empty, 464-bed jail in Hardin.

Bullock sent a nine-page demand letter late Thursday afternoon to Becky Shay, the spokeswoman for APF and the company's only Montana employee.

Shay did not immediately respond to phone calls Thursday.

According to the document, Bullock is launching the civil investigation into APF over concerns that the company might be violating the Montana Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act.

Among other things, Bullock demanded that the company provide proof for many statements about the company included on APF's Web site. The site says that the company frequently has contracts with the U.S. government and has operations in all 50 states.

Research into the company has turned up no record of APF contracting with the federal government. Bullock has requested that the company provide proof of its federal contracts and operations in other states.

Bullock also requested a copy of the contract between APF and Two Rivers Authority, the economic development arm of the city of Hardin, which built the jail two years ago.

The contract is reportedly a 10-year, multimillion-dollar deal with APF to run the jail.

Although Michael Hilton, the man behind APF, and local officials say the deal is as good as done, US Bank, the trustee for the bonds sold to build the jail, has never signed off on it.

Bullock further requested that the company disclose any lawsuits filed against the company or Hilton and provide the state with any correspondence between APF and any government agency that has accused the company of being deceptive.

Bullock also sent a letter Thursday to Gary Arneson and Al Peterson, leaders of Two Rivers Authority. Peterson could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Both letters were sent the day after The Billings Gazette and Associated Press reported that Hilton has an extensive criminal past with $1.1 million in outstanding civil judgments against him. Hilton, who has a long list of aliases, left his native Serbia in the 1970s and has served time in U.S. prisons.

Hilton uses the military title "captain," but said this week it does not refer to an actual military rank. Hilton has claimed he has military experience, but no record of such experience has been found.

Also on Thursday, Montana's three-man congressional delegation all said they have questions about APF, even as they support Hardin's efforts to drum up jobs for its people.

"Like many Montanans, Max is keeping an eye on the situation in Hardin," said Ty Matsdorf, a spokesman for Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont.

Aaron Murphy, a spokesman for Sen. Jon Tester, also a Democrat, said Tester has "a lot of questions" about APF. "Hardin and all of Montana need to benefit from whatever's in store for the Two Rivers jail."

A spokesman for Rep. Denny Rehberg, a Republican, said "important questions need to be answered," and added "any deal that creates jobs and economic prosperity without putting Montanans at risk is something Denny would support in any way he can."

Rehberg in May wrote a letter to state officials urging Montana to consider placing its own inmates at the jail if the state needed more prison cells.

[hank scorpio]

10/5/09

BILLINGS - A California judge has ordered American Police Force figure Michael Hilton - a felon with a history of fraud seeking to operate an empty Montana jail - to appear in court on Oct. 27 over an outstanding judgment in a fraud lawsuit.

The Oct. 2 order follows a proposal by American Police Force, Hilton's newly minted California company, to take over and run a 464-bed jail in Hardin, Mont.

The judgment in the case is among several against Hilton totaling more than $1.1 million. In that case, Hilton lured investors to sink money into an assisted living complex in Southern California that was never built.

Hilton also spent several years in state prison in California in the 1990s.

Hardin built its jail in 2007 as an economic development project, but has been unable to fill it.

[hank scorpio]

Among the valueable services provided by this fine company:

"Check Your Mate" (Cheating Spouse)

The issue of being unfaithful is an important subject matter for married couples. Non-marital relationships also face this moral dilemma on a daily basis. Its not against the law to cheat on your significant other but it's a violation of their trust and could have irreversible damaging effects.

APPF can get you results with our "Check Your Mate" program. We can offer you a free private surveillance consultation in an attempt to gather more information about the infidelity occurring within your relationship.

These are the methods that APPF uses to determine any wrongdoing on your behalf:

basic surveillance
polygraph examination
bodily fluid testing
DNA testing
covert pregnancy testing
surface drug testing
photographic evidence
communication activity logs
personal computer usage
internet usage
e-mail tracking
identity verification
covert assignments

http://www.americanpolicegroup.com/check.html

[Ivytalk]

And getting a morning parking spot downtown in front of Rosie's Cafe just got harder...

[AZGrizFan]

Hadin is no Mayberry or even anything close to an All American town. Severe poverty, alcoholism, and crime are easy to find. It would probably be one of the worst places to promote a positive image of America.

Hardin would probably beconsidered Utopia for most of these guys.