Fresh Loaf

WELL-TO-DO: Former Loafer Alyssa Abkowitz writes in the WSJ how affluent Atlantans such as Tyler Perry and Tom Glavine are getting around watering restrictions by installing wells.

MATTER OF PRINCIPAL: Cobb County school board members say they hadn’t heard a middle school principal was under investigation for sexual harassment when they promoted him to principal of North Cobb High School last month.

TRIAL BY FIRE: Cherokee County firefighters are the latest in metro Atlanta to invest in thermal-imaging cameras that allow them to find hidden hot spots and victims through smoke.

CLAYTON: The school system hires 400 new teachers despite the looming accreditation crisis.

CHASE CLOSED: A North Carolina man leads police on a chase through several Atlanta and DeKalb County neighborhoods Wednesday morning, eventually being caught after trying to flee his car.

FIGHTING DOGFIGHTING: The Humane Society has been blitzing Georgia the last few months with ads promoting a $5,000 reward for information leading to dogfighting arrests and convictions.

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Today’s Washington Post reports on the fate of the dogs found at ex-Falcon Michael Vick’s notorious Bad Newz Kennels compound in Virgina. Apparently, animals rescued from similar – if less publicized – circumstances are typically considered poor candidates for rehabilitation and are typically put down.

But because of the intense public outcry over the treatment of the dogs in Vick’s operation, the judge provided for each of the 49 rescued pit bulls to be evaluated and considered for placement in shelters or even private homes.

Of the 47 surviving dogs, 25 were placed directly in foster homes, and a handful have been or are being adopted. Twenty-two were deemed potentially aggressive toward other dogs and were sent to an animal sanctuary in Utah. Some, after intensive retraining, are expected to move on to foster care and eventual adoption.

As editor Scott Freeman recently reported, one of those dogs, Lucky 7, had been fostered by Smyrna tattoo artist Brandon Bond, but was hit by a car and killed last week near its new home in Florida.

The Post piece concludes:

As with any celebrity case, the legacy of the Vick bust has been far-reaching. Dogfighting raids across the country have tripled in the past year. Hundreds of law enforcement officers have been trained to detect the signs of underground rings. And, in some cases, officials have asked pit bull behavior experts to evaluate seized fighting dogs rather than automatically euthanizing them. But most dogfighters don’t have the kind of money that Vick did. So even those deemed worthy of a second chance don’t always get one.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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GOING INTO LABOR: Delta flight attendants to vote on unionization.

ROAD TO HELL: Will be repaved with good intentions every weekend for the next eight months.

HOLDS WATER? Carol Couch stumps for state water plan at Ga. Tech.

DROUGHT: Downgraded from “exceptional” to “extreme,” skipping over “badass.”

DOGFIGHTING: Austell ring broken up.

MICHAEL VICK: State dogfighting trial postponed until June 27.

WIND OUT OF OUR SALES: Legislators are predicting the bill that would allow communities to vote on whether they want to allow Sunday alcohol sales won’t make it to the House floor for a vote.

SINISTER MINISTER: Habersham County reverend busted for allegedly having nine sexually explicit online chats with undercover cop posing as 14-year-old girl. (And I swear I won’t harp on this anymore, but AccessNorthGa.com has yet another insightful news graphic.)

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Quanis Phillips and Purnell Peace — who were two of Michael Vick’s closest friends and later turned on him when they agreed to plead guilty to dogfighting conspiracy charges and to testify against him — were sentenced to federal prison this morning in Richmond, Va.

Phillips was one of Vick’s childhood friends and later worked at MV7, Vick’s marketing company. He received a 21-month sentence. Peace received an 18-month sentence. As part of his plea agreement, Phillips gave a statement that said Vick joined in executing at least eight dogs that didn’t do well in test fights by various methods, including hanging and drowning.

“You may have thought this was sporting, but it was very callous and cruel,” U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson told Phillips.

The sentence handed down to Phillips and Peace give an indication of what Vick will face when he is sentenced Dec. 10.

If Vick receives an 18-month sentence in the federal case, the earliest he could return to professional football — if a team will sign him — would be 2009. However, he also faces two state charges in Virginia that have his football career in deeper limbo: Vick could be sentenced to five years in prison on each of those counts.

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ESPN’s Town Hall meeting on Michael Vick last Tuesday featured an audience that was so pro-Vick, it booed and hissed a representative of the Humane Society. It was riveting television, with panelists divided on how, and whether, race has played a role in Vick’s dogfighting conviction.

“I talked to Michael. I said, ‘Michael, I’m going on this show. What do you want the people to know?’ The first thing he said was, ‘T, if I’m guilty of anything, it’s being loyal to friends and family. I have never picked up a gun and killed anyone or anything in my life. I love animals.’”

— Terance Mathis, former Falcons wide receiver

“When you have an organization like PETA, and you’re like Michael Vick and so visible … you become the big face of what dogfighting is. From that standpoint, he gave them the ammo to load that gun.”

— Chuck Smith, former Falcons defensive end

“I guarantee you … if it was a white player, we would not be having the same discussion that we are now.”

— Selena Roberts of the New York Times

“There was the aftermath of that town-hall meeting, for instance, when a middle-aged man approached me with a pained look. He said he was upset that I kept ‘attacking’ Vick … [and that] ‘People just don’t want to give Michael Vick credit for doing so much for Atlanta.’ For instance? ‘He’s the reason we’ve been on “Monday Night Football,”” said the man, with others in the vicinity nodding after his every word. ‘We never would have been on Thanksgiving Day without Michael Vick. He’s just done so much, and y’all just won’t give the young man credit for that. Y’all just want to keep tearing him down, because he’s Michael Vick.’”

— AJC columnist Terence Moore on his experience as a panelist

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In what should be a lively discussion, ESPN will host and broadcast a town hall meeting from Atlanta next week to “examine the repercussions of the story that shocked the city and the nation.”

“The Vick Divide — An ESPN Town Meeting” will be broadcast live at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 25, from Sidney Marcus Auditorium, and hosted by “Outside the Lines” anchor Bob Ley.

ESPN says the show will address the involvement of athletes with dogfighting and the status of the investigation, as well as what lessons can be learned from Vick’s situation, and how Atlanta can move past the issue.

The network also has an online poll that shows interesting numbers.

As of this morning, 72 percent of the respondents say Vick should be allowed to play again after he is released from prison (who would have thought a year ago they’d ever read that sentence). However, 59 percent say they don’t want him to play for their team.

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The agreement signed by Vick Thursday is notable in its carefully worded passages, especially when it comes to whether he gambled and whether he killed dogs. It also goes far beyond his co-defendants in spelling out the consequences if he lies to the feds.

The wording of the plea agreement is important to Vick in one critical regard: He didn’t gamble. Of course, an NFL player who gets caught up in a gambling scandal can be banned for life from the league. However, although Vick didn’t admit to gambling, he did admit to consorting with gamblers and with bankrolling the bets made by his co-defendants.

Here are some of the key provisions of his plea agreement:

Gambling: Vick says he didn’t gamble. Vick admits that Bad Newz Kennels was involved in gambling activities during the dogfights. He says he provided money for the wagers but did not gamble himself, and that the gambling proceeds were generally split by his co-defendants.

Killing dogs: Vick admits that he helped kill dogs. There are two references to this. The first, in 2002, Vick admits that dogs were tested to determine if they were good fighters. Vick says he was aware the dogs that did not perform well would be killed, but that he “did not kill any dogs at this time.”

In April 2007, Vick admits they tested another batch of dogs and agreed to kill 6 to 8. “Vick agrees and stipulates that these dogs all died as a result of the collective efforts of Purnell Peace, Quanis Phillips and Vick.”

However, compare that to the terse and stark wording of plea agreements of Peace and Phillips: “Peace, Phillips and Vick executed approximately 8 dogs that did not perform well in ‘testing’ sessions … by various methods, including hanging and drowning. All three participated in executing the dogs. Peace [and Phillips] agrees and stipulates that these dogs all died as a result of the collective efforts of Peace, Phillips and Vick.”

Length of sentence: While prosecutors are expected to recommend a prison term of 12 to 18 months, the agreement plainly spells out that the judge is not bound by that recommendation. Many people who have appeared before the judge predict that he will give Vick additional time.

Cooperation: Vick must provide “full and truthful” cooperation to the government, and provide all information on criminal activity as asked by the government. Vick also agrees to provide to the government all information he knows about his dogfighting enterprise.

Polygraph: Vick agreed to submit to a lie detector test, if requested by prosecutors.

Penalty: If the government discovers that Vick has lied to them, either directly or by omission, Vick cannot change his plea and must face the possibility of a full prison term and perjury charges.

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News yesterday that Michael Vick’s remaining two co-defendants have decided to plead guilty and cooperate with federal prosecutors means only one thing: The beleaguered former (yes, we might as well get used to using “former”) Falcons quarterback is now on a fast track to federal prison.

ESPN.com reports that Vick’s attorneys have already met with the U.S. attorney’s office in Richmond, Va., and that Vick must now decide whether to fight against the odds, or make a deal with the prosecutors:

A source close to the investigation told [ESPN] that Vick has until Friday to make up his mind whether to accept a plea agreement. Otherwise a superseding indictment will be filed and Vick will face at least two more federal dogfighting charges.

Vick is backed into a corner. He can either cut the best deal he can at this point, or gamble on a trial. With three co-defendants and at least four other confidential informants prepared to testify against him, he faces an almost certain conviction if there is a trial. Either way, a prison term for Michael Vick now seems inescapable.

Federal sentencing guidelines are very structured and the judge has little leeway. Based on my experience covering federal courts, if Vick goes to trial and is found guilty, he will likely go to prison for the next five to six years. And even longer if a new indictment with additional charges is handed up by the grand jury. If he accepts a plea agreement, he could probably get out in two to three years.

So there’s strong incentive for Vick to deal at this point, if only because it could allow him to salvage his football career once he gets out of prison.

This much now appears all but certain: Vick will likely spend at least part of his prime athletic years behind bars. He might come back after his release, if the NFL allows him to play. But even if that happens, he will never again be the Michael Vick who made Atlanta fall in love with him. Neither as the daring athlete who seemed to be Superman personified on the football field, nor as the cultural icon we thought we knew.

The sad fact is this: In the wake of yesterday’s news, Michael Vick’s career as a NFL star is over.

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Smalley, with King, a pit bull available for adoption at www.fultonanimalservices.com

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

Fulton County Animal Control officer Robert Smalley doesn’t just catch dogs. He’s a member of law enforcement. He writes tickets, which can even lead to prison time.

How long have you been in animal control?
Twenty years.

How did you get started?
I was impressed when watching animal-control officers handle coyotes and bears in California. I lived there at the time. So, when I moved to Atlanta, I answered an ad.

Have you ever seen a dogfight?
Yes, evidence of dogfights. They disperse when they know we’re coming. I look for scarring, scratching, their demeanor and animal behavior. … [There is] a lot of dogfighting in Atlanta. In northwest and southeast Atlanta [especially], mostly [in] the city, because of the income and they can hide them.

What type of animal behavior do you see?
They cower, [do] not look at you. One’s been doing it a lot will charge — no warning.

Why do they cower?
They aren’t aggressive. [The owners] can’t use them for fighting [so] they beat them, and throw them in the street if they don’t kill them. [The dogs] live in deplorable conditions, low-income housing. They can’t pay their rent, can’t feed their families, but are taking care of the dogs. If the dogs are abused, there is abuse in the home; beating their wives or their children.

(more…)

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