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LOUISIANA APPARENTLY HIDES DEATH RECORDS

Posted by Bill Cherry on Monday, August 18, 2008 11:21:37 PM
In most states when someone dies, the date of their death and their death certificate are recorded as a public record. It's a good thing, especially for people like me who are historians.

Oddly Louisiana keeps this information a secret, and apparently it's a secret that is hard if not impossible to breech.

In the late 1950s while I was a student at Tulane, I had a major crush on a girl my age (18) who was a waitress at Dan's Pier 600 on the corner of Bourbon and St. Louis streets in the French Quarter. Dan's Pier 600 was an up-scale night club where Al Hirt and his combo were the permanent entertainers.

Her name was Evelyn Hughey, and her sister, Rachel Cooper worked there also. Rachel was the wife of Al's clarinet player, Harold Cooper.

When I left New Orleans, I lost track of Evelyn, but a year or so thereafter, someone told me that she had married either a New Orleans policeman or fireman.

A couple of years ago, through a rather involved story, I learned from Bob Havens, Al's trombone player back then, that he thought that Evelyn had died in child birth. He didn't know anything more than that.

I was shocked and I wanted to know for sure.

First,I tried to find her sister Rachel with no luck. Then I asked Dan Levy, who had owned the club if he knew. He didn't.

I paid one of the Internet record-search services to see if they could find out. They couldn't.

Then I asked the New Orleans Times-Picayune librarian to search the obituaries to see if there was anything there. He said there wasn't.

Finally, my family had used a New Orleans law firm, Buchler & Buchler for years for business they conducted in Louisiana. Mr. Buchler tried but couldn't get the information nor could his brother-in-law who owns a New Orleans funeral home.

So while I pray that Evelyn did not die in child birth and that she has lived a happy life, I cannot understand why a person's death is kept a secret in Louisiana. And in this case, I'll never be allowed to know the answer.
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DALLAS ELECTRICIAN - Here's a Good One

Posted by Bill Cherry on Sunday, August 17, 2008 6:46:52 AM

MIKE -- DALLAS' TEXAS ELECRICAL MAN

Those of you who have read my pieces over the years know that my real estate career started by accident.  For those of you who don't, here are the Bill's Cliff Notes:

I was a young banker and my wife was an accountant.  Adding our salaries together, we were barely getting by.  I found a book in the library by William Nickerson, "How I Made $1,000,000 In Real Estate," read it and then we decided the advice there would be our meal ticket to a better financial life.

We began by buying, renovating and selling or renting the large 19th Century homes of Galveston. That required us to not only learn about construction, but to also learn which electricians, plumbers, carpenters, air conditioning mechanics and trim men were competent and fair with their charges, and which ones weren't.

That's a huge learning curve and not getting it right can quickly put a remodeler in the poor house.

Recently, we've had to have some significant repair and updating work done to our home in Dallas, and it has required us to begin looking for and testing a whole new set of companies and their employees.  Over the next few days, I'm going to give you some that we have found to be real winners.

TEXAS ELECTRICAL

214 289-0639

Many handymen and do-it-yourselfers feel they, themselves, are competent to do home electrical work.  And that's what one of the previous owners of our home thought, too.  Unfortunately his knowledge and ability in this area was slightly on the positive side of zip.  Most of what he did was far from meeting code and some was dangerous.

Mike, the one man owner-employee of Texas Electrical came to us from a random search of the classified ads of a neighborhood magazine.  He spent two days here.  He came on time, worked quickly, was very neat and proud of his work, and his charges when it came time to collect were very fair.

Dallas area residents who need residential or commercial electrical work would be wise to check out Texas Electrical.  Mike is a real winner!

Tomorrow, I'm going to help you to know and be able to depend on a fine air conditioning company.  You're sure to be surprised...there is a REAL winner among those in Dallas.

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS

                                   1 800-314-7110

*It is unfortunate that tort cases being what they are today, it is necessary for me to add a disclaimer.  Obviously I can't guarantee anyone else's experience with Mike and Texas Electrical will be as good as ours was.  But I can suggest that you interview Mike, check his references and decide for yourself when you are considering hiring an electrician.
Tags: Electrician  
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Laura Schlessinger

Posted by Bill Cherry on Saturday, August 16, 2008 2:20:46 PM

While I don't know how it all hooks up, at least some of the radio stations that are affiliated with Townhall.com are owned by a large corporation that primarily owns and operates Christian stations.  The company's name is Salem Communications.  The Dallas station I listen to is KSKY-AM, and it is one of the company's affiliates.

It is a mystery to me why any of their stations would broadcast Laura Schlessinger's advice program.  Here are some of my reasons:
 
There are any number of nude photographs of her, in her younger days, posted on the Internet.  At least a couple sitting and with her legs spread.  We used to call that "spread eagle."  They were apparently taken by her lover, an older man, who was cheating on his wife at the time.  She apparently has had at least one other affair with a married man.
 
Calling her program and referring to herself as Dr. Laura infers that she has a Ph.D. in one of the psychology disciplines. 
 
Laura Schlessinger's is in physiology, although to be completely fair, she does have several certifications, one in marriage counseling.  These certifications are also available to those with master's degrees in counseling. 
 
It seems to me she should only be using the "doctor" handle when opining on subjects having to do with physiology.
 
Finally, there is a long biographical piece about Ms. Schlessinger on Wikipedia.  Apparently Salem didn't read it.  The woman has exhibited a lifetime of strange and dysfuctional behavior.  If you read it, I think you will agree that it is inappropriate for her program to be carried on Salem stations, stations that carry serious and informative shows.

 

 
 
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PLAYBOY MAGAZINE VS DENNIS PRAGER

Posted by Bill Cherry on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 10:35:19 AM

Radio social philosopher, Dennis Prager, frequently discounts the positive contributions Playboy inventor Hugh Hefner has made to American society.  Prager’s opinion rather annoys me.

 

I was twelve years old when Playboy Magazine hit the newsstands for the first time.  It was a dramatic contrast to the format and content of the other men’s magazines with which it shared the rack.

 

At fourteen I had my first job as a drugstore soda jerk. 
 
The magazine rack was to the side of the soda fountain, so I frequently thumbed through the various publications to pass the time waiting for my shift to begin.

 

Over and above the photographs of what Hefner called Playmates, some of the most knowledgeable authors wrote and taught readers about jazz, how to dress, manners, cooking, art, architecture, apartment decorating, and gave social commentary.  Cartoons were drawn by the best.  The photographs were taken by award winners. 

 

In his lengthy editorials, Hefner questioned and talked about subjects that few were broaching from an academic side.

 

So as I was trying to grow from adolescence to responsible manhood, Hefner and his Playboy Magazine contributed a great deal to the directions I took.  And that was a good thing.
 
Dennis Prager apparently can't get past the Playmates.
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Forgeries - No Big Deal?

Posted by Bill Cherry on Monday, August 11, 2008 10:51:51 PM

Why Isn't Forgery A Serious Offense?

Several years ago, I learned that a real estate lien had been placed against a piece of property for a loan, and that the loan documents had not only been forged, but the forged signature had been notarized.

I brought the matter to the attention of the District Attorney.  After some calls and investigation, he concluded that filing a criminal suit would not produce a conviction; and further, that it should be filed as a tort suit.  "This is a family matter, not a criminal matter," he said.

He went on, and I somewhat paraphrase, "People forge signatures all of the time.  Courts just don't get too upset about it.  I suppose they may relate it to a kid signing his mom's name on his report card."  So what's that mean?  That a mischievous kid and a thief are one and the same?

And as time passed, this occurrence needed to be the basis of a law suit whereby the forger had used part or all of the proceeds of the nearly quarter of a million dollar loan for their own benefit.  The lawyer representing the plaintiff also opined that to file for recovery, based on the forgery, wouldn't produce a strong case.

The money was never accounted for or recovered, and there was never a tort suit filed. The notary was not disciplined for attesting to a signature for a person she not only didn't know, but obviously did not witness signing the document.  The property owner paid off the loan.

Recently, one of my clients wondered what had happened to a significant amount of earnest money he had put up on behalf of him and his business partner to buy a Dallas property.  The deal had not been consummated, and his earnest money was never returned to him.

On his behalf, I began pressing for him to get copies of the file from the title company.  I volunteered to look them over to see if I could figure out that had happened.

Lo and behold, there was the Texas Board of Real Estate's promulgated form that gives the escrow company directions as to how the earnest money will be disbursed.

Of course not only had my client never personally been in the offices of the escrow company, but they apparently had made no effort to determine whether or not he had signed the document that was being presented to them.  Instead they had disbursed the large sum of earnest money in accordance with the instructions on the form.

My client's signature was a forgery.  It will be interesting to see how the escrow company chooses to handle this very obvious failure.

But my real question are these: 

  1. Why don't people who forge others' signatures stand trial for a criminal offense? 
  2. Why aren't notary publics properly disciplined when it is determined they violated their office?

Has this happened to you?

Tags: forgery  
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TELLING THE TRUTH -- NOT IN THIS PERSON'S VOCABULARY

Posted by Bill Cherry on Sunday, August 03, 2008 7:50:53 AM
I'm a Dallas Realtor.

 
A while back, I co-oped with a listing agent whose license hangs with a well-known Dallas real estate firm.  It was obvious from the beginning that the agent not only knew the ropes, but practiced them.  Practiced them so well that I can say here and now that person has to be within the top five in competency of all of the agents I've worked with since 1964.

There couldn't be a Realtor on this planet who, if they worked with this agent once, wouldn't say it was technically an incredible experience.  And believe me, that's a rare bird these days.

There was one problem:  The agent lied to me over and over again.  I mean big lies.  One after another; all told to me straight-faced.  Lies that didn't gain the agent any ground; just lies for the sake of telling a lie.

If that agent worked for me, I'd fire the agent, and then I'd morn the loss forever. 

What is it about the real estate business that somehow encourages this kind of behavior?  Whatever it is, I abhor it, don't you?

What about the Realtor you used when you bought your home?  How about those you come in contact with in the business you're in?

 

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS

1 800-314-7110 - 24 hours

Our 43rd Year Selling Texas

 
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