cant let this one go by

without a comment

http://www.post-trib.com/news/lake/1613054,slcops0609.article

MUNSTER: Columnist arrested for public intoxication
Mark Kiesling, metro columnist for The Times newspaper, was arrested Saturday for public intoxication after he allegedly backed his car into another vehicle in the parking lot of a Hohman Avenue Papa John's.

Police arrived at 11:30 p.m. in response to a report of an accident in the lot, a report states. The report states neither vehicle appeared damaged. Kiesling told police he had been driving, and that he had "a few beers" after work at Munster Liquors, where he has a part-time job.

The report states Kiesling was slurring and smelled of alcohol, and appeared unsteady on his feet. He agreed to take a portable breath test, and recorded a 0.20 percent reading, more than twice the legal limit.


first of all i am glad nobody was hurt. and i am resisting the natural temptation to even the score, for all of the columns this guy has written against myself or friends. so i wont make any jokes about this or take any cheap shots.

however. this is not the first time a supposed potential dwi or owi has been reduced for kiesling. it happenned several years ago as well...and at the time tom philpot aleged that it was all a deal with carter and the then sheriff buncich to get good press in exchange for going easy on kiesling and a fellow reporter he was arrested with. ive heard stories of another incident as well, but havent independantly verified if there is any truth to it at all.

as for the old incident i do know about...philpot actually discussed it openly on the air with me...and brought in the old police report as well. basically it stated there was an altercation with the duo both who appeared intoxicated, that involved pepper spray and both were arrested. however it was never determined who was driving the car...and it eventually got plead down to an extremly minor charge (cant remember exactly which)

kiesling did one time bring the philpot discussion up with me...and his side was basically that he wasnt driving, niether were really drunk and that he wasnt the one sprayed. he also flat out denied that any deal for positive coverage was attached to his plea.

the point is...there is a history of the same sort of aledged problem throughout mark's background. and with the obvious generosity of the munster pd giving him just a p i for the latest incident, it has the obvious taint of a pattern.

now understand, i do think mark is a decent guy, and a great writer. the problem i have always had with him is purely professional. in that that he is rarely a fair writer. subjective in the topics he chooses, and very selective in the facts he chooses to use. but everything i know about the guy as a person, through direct communication and others that know him indicates he is a genuinely good person and an asset to the general community.

but lets be clear here. peter katic didnt deserve the treatment he recieved in kiesling's column for a similar incident that didnt involve his job. others in the public eye have been slashed and burned by mark for all kinds of non political incidents as well. oh...and lets not forget that dedelow was scandalized by an investigation into an alleged dui cover up involving his police department...lead by in his columns none other than mark kiesling.

sorry to say. but kiesling's column in the the times no longer has any credibility. with multiple arrests and favorable charges both times (and possibly a third) being assessed. someone has to ask...how can this guy also write truthfully about the people obviously giving him favorable treatment. nobody was hurt this time. thats great. but what if someone was? come on folks, here is a guy who was drunk and went out for pizza. he got lucky that his accident occurred in a privately owned parking lot and not on the street, but still all he might get for it is a few hundred dollar fine? imagine it was some guy named jamal who was stopped three times under the same circumstances? how many years would he be facing for being involved in an accident under his third drunk driving charge?

its something i hope mark thinks about very much.

we have a friend we both know who has turned his life around after being in similar circumstances (minus the arrests anyway). he decided it was time to change and did. not for anyone else but himself.

i hope mark recognizes how truly lucky he is....and will do the same for himself. but for the time being. i hope the times realizes. it cant keep printing his columns...and still call itself a newspaper with a straight face any more.

the next time mark gets behind the wheel after a few beers...one of the times readers and the leniant officials constituents could be in severe danger. heck it could even be one of there loved ones that wind up in the next fender bender with him. and i seriously doubt either the times or the officials are prepared to answer for that.

I was wondering if this would end up "out in the open." Didn't find it in The Times (Hammond); surprise.

But Oracle, saying he's a great writer - come on now...that's really stretching the truth there! LOL

The Oracle wrote:

but lets be clear here. peter katic didnt deserve the treatment he recieved in kiesling's column for a similar incident that didnt involve his job.

You have got to be kidding me. Peter Katic showed up in court to defend his client, three sheets to the wind,with a half empty bottle of whiskey in his pocket. When the police arrested him, his blood alcohol level was 0.20.A month later, he is responsible for a three car accident in which he is arrested again for a DUI. There is no way Peter Katic should still be holding public office or practicing law,period. Mark Kiesling was just doing his job as a reporter when he wrote this column.
http://nwi.com/articles/2007/10/10/columnists/mark_kiesling/doc68b837a903be4b4686257370000d794a.txt

Quote :

I did not write about Katic last month when he was arrested in Tippecanoe County when he allegedly showed up drunk in court at 11 a.m., a bottle of whiskey in his pocket, to represent a client in juvenile court.

My first thought was I was not going to kick him when he was down. It's one thing to write about political boneheads who connive to separate Lake County taxpayers from their money, but it's different when a man is sliding toward rock bottom.

Last Friday, Katic was involved in a three-car wreck on Calumet Avenue and allegedly left the scene. When arrested, his blood alcohol content was 0.34, Munster police said. That amount would leave most people comatose.

In court downstate last month, he registered a .20, more than twice Indiana's .08 legal threshold for intoxication. And he had apparently driven to Lafayette, some 100 miles, with his client.

heres the the thing sparks. katic issues had absolutely nothing to do with his job as a public official. i may personally agree with what mark said in that column. still as it had nothing to do with his office. i dont think mark had any right to basically publically denounce him as an alcoholic. remember this is the same guy the paper once slammed in an expose on the day before an election. this is the same guy who once had trumped up harassment charges levied on him...and ballyhooed in the paper while he was a hammond city judge...that never recieved any retraction or apology, or even coverage in the same paper when the charges were later dismissed without merit by the state.

katic may indeed have a problem. but if he does... there is no reason to connect it to his work as a public official...than he is no different than any other person out there with the same problem.....say a person like mark...who the times doesnt happen to mention today after his incident.

but reading that column...i find this line particularly ironic and interesting

In court downstate last month, he registered a .20, more than twice Indiana's .08 legal threshold for intoxication.

read the p-t blurb above. that is exactly the amount that mark blew as well.

more from the column I'm not going to be a hypocrite.......Peter needs to get some help, real help
i think the same can obviously be said of mark now, also

and im using marks own supposed threshold for needing help to point it out.



[i]

oh and let me add

straight from marks column on katic...only the names and word thread (instead of column) have been altered

mark needs to get some help, real help. This thread is not meant to ridicule Kiesling or hurt him. It is written in the hope that it might get kiesling and those who love him and care about him to intervene before he kills himself or someone else.

and chief. i do believe he really is good with the pen. unfortunately hes a little to quick with the sword though as well.

I personally emailed Mark Keisling about an issue, a year ago. I also spoke of his style of writing. He emailed back that he was under so much stress, having to churn out a column seven days a week.

I was surprised that he was working a second job. Keisling's columns basically is the only one the Times could count on to generate responses.

I don't use this as an excuse but, with the demise of the newspapers nation-wide, having to hold a second job as a columnist, I can only imagine the anxiety and stress he has been experiencing.

It's not an excuse for what happened to him - I'm simply saying he must be under some real stress, having to work two jobs, churn out columns for a newspaper that lacks local news to begin with. PT printed the article yesterday. Today, the Times reported it.

I'm sure Mark K will have had his wake-up call over this. It's a public embarrassment for himself, his company, etc. His future may be in jeopardy...non-the-less, I think he'll be writing about it himself in a future column. Whether he's fired or not.

[b]Mark puts out 4 columns a week. I always assumed it was a part-time job. A lot of us work 2 jobs. I hope Mark gets the help he needs. There is no embarrassment to asking for help. Sounds like a liquor store may not be the right second job for him but thats up to him to decide. Good luck Mark. I'll pray for him to find the peace and serenity available to him.

dont know if he still does. but mark used to work full time at the paper with news writing and some layout stuff as well. all of those briefs, community notes, and such...someone has to prepare them. but cutbacks may have changed that in recent times and they may be using less costly help for those purposes now.