Odds and Ends on a rainy Thursday

The continuing saga of the Karen immigrants takes stage tonight on Channel 3 News at 7. A grassroots group has formed to seek more help for these families. While the group, which has named itself the "Genesis Project," believes the International Institute isn't providing enough support for these refugees, the volunteers see the II as their first stop in helping the Karen get the food, jobs, trainings, and housing they need. Members of the group are set to meet with II leaders on Monday.

Sheriff Alexander's decision to return five suspended deputies to the payroll just stinks. Now, I don't mean that in a way that judges the deputies innocence or guilt .. and I don't mean that in a way that demeans the financial hardships each has endured since being suspended. It stinks in that this is a case that already has been criticized for special treatment. So to now use tax dollars to pay men who were indicted by the grand jury in the violent death of a handcuffed inmate invites the general public to cry "foul."

These same deputies were provided special treatment in how they were booked and arraigned. Most people indicted for murder must surrender to the county jail and typically spend at least one night in jail, in an orange jumpsuit, waiting for a hearing in which they'll post bail. The circumstances behind the crime don't usually matter. That's the way the procedure goes. But last fall, these deputies were permitted to go through a simple appearance process at the Medina County Jail and then were released to their attorneys who brought them back to Summit County for their court appearance. No orange jumpsuits and prison van for a ride like the rest of the public would get. Once they got to court, they were each released with a personal recognisance bond -- meaning they didn't have to pay a dime. Considering one of the inmates is charged with murder, and if convicted could be in jail for the rest of this life, how does any court justify no bond?

I hope that when this case is over that the deputies will be willing to share their stories .. and that as a community, we can talk openly about the issue of mentally ill patients in the county jail.

But for now, when perception is reality, many in the Akron community just see the system taking care of its own .. and it makes some of them that much more skeptical of their government.