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100 WFC: For The Hearing Despaired

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100 word fiction contest continues…. #100WFC For The Hearing Despaired by Wayfarer The speed limit signboard hid behind overgrown flora on public land. The no parking signboard, worn-out junk rested in the weeds. The district magistrate crept behind schedule. My lawyer, rusty on traffic violations, ducked. Me? I was screwed…tighter than the bolts on my motorcycle, which was impounded for being on the road!? I took the stand, hand raised, and swore; cussing instead of the solemn oath. No comic relief. The Sheriff banged on the cuffs as soon as the judge’s gavel hit. Contempt of court, wasting court’s invaluable time, while possession of ‘some balls.’ * * * * * * * * Yup, its a weekly contest open to all. Just sign up for the free weekly newsletter by clicking here. Then email us your 100 word limit fiction to the editor wayfarer@bikernet.com

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Ethanol in the Courts and in Congress

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In the last few weeks, the ethanol industry has suffered two major court case defeats. Earlier this month, the D.C. Court of Appeals struck down the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule allowing for year-round sales of E15. In May 2019 the EPA issued a rule change ending a summer ban on the sale of E15 blend. Provisions of the Clean Air Act have prohibited the sale of certain fuels with a higher volatility from June 1 through Sept. 15, including E15. The court ruled that Congress did not intend to allow ethanol blends higher than 10% to be sold year-round and that the EPA overstepped its authority by implementing the change. Not surprisingly, in response to the court ruling, a bipartisan group of lawmakers from major corn producing states introduced a bill Wednesday that aims to allow the year-round sale of gasoline containing 15 percent ethanol. U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Deb Fischer (R-NE) and U.S. Representatives Angie Craig (D-MN) and Adrian Smith (R-NE) introduced bipartisan bills to permit the year-round sale of E15. The bill was cosponsored in the Senate by Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Tina Smith (D-MN) and John Thune (R-SD). In the House Representatives, Cindy Axne (D-IA), Rodney Davis (R-IL), Dusty Johnson (R- SD) and Mark Pocan (D-WI) were all original cosponsors of the bill. This legislation faces a tough road ahead in Congress with a diverse set of stakeholders and lawmakers opposed to increased ethanol mandates. The Motorcycle Riders Foundation applauds the court for striking down the year-round mandate and will work with like-minded groups to oppose legislation that would reopen the door to the year-round sale of E15. To read what pro ethanol Senators

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E-bikes that look like motorcycles take another hit in Canada

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by Maryse Zeidler from https://www.cbc.ca Appellant’s lawyer says his client relied on Motorino XMr for affordable transportation The British Columbia Court of Appeal has upheld a B.C. Supreme Court ruling that e-bikes designed to look and function more like mopeds or scooters do not meet the province’s definition of a motor-assisted cycle and therefore require a driver’s licence, registration and insurance. The case was brought forward by Ali Ghadban, who was issued a ticket in Surrey, B.C., in 2018 for riding his Motorino XMr without a driver’s licence and insurance. He said he wasn’t able to obtain them from the provincial insurer, ICBC. Two of the three Appeal Court justices assigned to the case agreed with the B.C. Supreme Court judge’s decision from May 2020 that found although the Motorino XMr is outfitted with pedals, limited power and a maximum speed of 32 km/h, it doesn’t qualify as a motor-assisted cycle because it’s not designed to be operated primarily by human power. At the heart of the issue are the XMr’s small pedals, which Court of Appeal Justice Harvey M. Groberman agreed would do little to propel the nearly 115-kilogram bike. Groberman said the XMr is designed to almost exclusively operate as a low-powered electric motorcycle, or as “a very heavy, impractical bicycle.” Although the XMr meets many of the technical requirements of a motor-assisted cycle as defined in B.C.’s Motor Vehicle Act, Groberman wrote, it doesn’t do so in practice. “If a piece of legislation defines ‘cat’ as ‘a small four-legged furry mammal that purrs,’ we would not expect that definition to include a dog fitted with a loudspeaker that plays a purring sound,” he said. Affordable, environmentally friendly Lawyer Dan Griffiths, who represented Ghadban in the case, said his client is a man of modest financial means who

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U.S. judge approves revised EPA Harley-Davidson emissions settlement

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by David Shepardson from https://www.reuters.com WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. judge late on Monday approved a revised settlement with Harley-Davidson Inc over excess emissions that dropped a requirement that it spend $3 million to reduce air pollution. In August 2016, the Milwaukee-based motorcycle manufacturer agreed to pay a $12 million civil fine and stop selling illegal after-market devices that caused its vehicles to emit too much pollution. It also agreed to spend about $3 million to retrofit or replace wood-burning appliances with cleaner stoves to offset excess emissions. The Justice Department in July 2017 cited a new policy by then-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and an ongoing review of the penalty by a government auditor in proposing to drop the $3 million mitigation project. More than four years after the settlement was announced, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan approved the settlement over the objections of environmental groups and a group of 10 states, including New York, Illinois, Maryland, Vermont, Washington and Massachusetts. While the earlier agreement “containing the mitigation project might have been the ‘best’ resolution of Harley-Davidson’s alleged violations, the court cannot say that the decree lodged before the Court is not within ‘the reaches of the public interest,’” Sullivan wrote in approving the consent decree. Harley-Davidson and the EPA did not immediately comment Tuesday. The settlement resolved allegations that Harley sold about 340,000 “super tuners” enabling motorcycles since 2008 to pollute the air at levels greater than what the company certified. Harley-Davidson did not admit liability and has said it disagreed with the government, arguing that the tuners were designed and sold to be used in “competition only.” Even though the settlement had not yet taken effect, Harley-Davidson has said that since August 2016, it sold only tuners certified by the California Air Resources Board and halted sale

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A Citizen’s Guide to Recording the Police

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First Amendment Protections for Journalists and Bystanders By the team at First Amendment Watch Sixty-one percent of the U.S. population lives in states where federal appeals courts have recognized a First Amendment right to record police officers performing their official duties in public. The U.S. Supreme Court has not ruled on the issue. As a result, legal protections are fully secure only in those jurisdictions where federal circuits have issued a ruling. However, given the resounding support so far for this First Amendment protection, it seems highly likely that the remaining federal appeal courts would reach the same conclusion if the issue appears on their docket. CLICK HERE TO READ THIS IMPORTANT ARTICLE ON BIKERNET Quick, Join the Cantina – Subscribe Today https://www.bikernet.com/pages/custom/subscription.aspx

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Ex-Vagos Motorcycle Club leader: ‘Romeo saved my life that night’

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by Rio Lacanlale from https://www.reviewjournal.com Vagos Motorcycle Club leader Robert Wiggins lay on the casino floor staring down the barrel of a gun as two rival Hells Angels members stomped on his body. Wiggins thought he was going to die. So did Ernesto “Romeo” Gonzalez. Moments later, Gonzalez opened fire, killing Jeffrey Pettigrew, the man aiming a gun at Wiggins. “Romeo saved my life that night. There hasn’t been a day that goes by I haven’t thought about him,” Wiggins, now 66, recalled in a phone interview Tuesday, one day after Gonzalez and seven other Vagos members were acquitted of all charges in a federal racketeering trial centered around that shooting. That September 2011 night changed everything, Wiggins told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and eventually, he left the club. The rival motorcycle clubs crossed paths that night inside the Nugget hotel-casino in Sparks during Street Vibrations, an annual motorcycle festival. Around 11:30 p.m., a brawl broke out on the casino floor after Pettigrew picked a fight with Vagos members. Video captured by casino security cameras shown during the lengthy Las Vegas trial showed Pettigrew drawing his weapon first and shooting alongside Cesar Villagrana, another Hells Angels member. Two people already had been shot by the time Pettigrew and Villagrana zeroed in on Wiggins, who had lost his balance and fallen during the chaos of the fight. “If Romeo was a police officer, there would have been a parade for him,” Wiggins said. Instead, seven years later, Gonzalez would be among nearly two dozen reputed Vagos members indicted in connection with a laundry list of violent crimes characterized as a broad criminal conspiracy dating to 2005 and spanning more than a decade. At the time of his death, Pettigrew was president of the Hells Angels chapter in San Jose, California. “Pettigrew

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Vagos Motorcycle Club trial to resume later in this month

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by Rio Lacanlale from https://www.reviewjournal.com A lengthy federal racketeering trial against eight Vagos Motorcycle Club members will take a weeklong break after four days of closing arguments, which initially were expected to wrap up this week. Arguments will continue Feb. 18 due to a conflict in U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro’s schedule. The Las Vegas trial began in July. Between Monday and Thursday, jurors heard from federal prosecutor Daniel Schiess and five of the eight men’s defense attorneys. On trial are Vagos members Pastor Fausto Palafox, Albert Lopez, Albert Benjamin Perez, James Patrick Gillespie, Ernesto Manuel Gonzalez, Bradley Michael Campos, Cesar Vaquera Morales and Diego Chavez Garcia. The men previously pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise, murder, and using a firearm to commit murder during and in retaliation to a crime. Each faces up to life in prison if convicted. The charges stem from a 2017 indictment accusing Vagos members of a slew of crimes dating to 2005 and spanning more than a decade, including the 2011 fatal shooting of a Jeffrey Pettigrew, a rival Hells Angels gang member in Sparks. Under the racketeering charge, in addition to the 2011 killing, the defendants are accused of robbery, extortion, kidnapping and possession of narcotics with the intent to sell. Arguments this week from both sides reiterated two different versions of the 2011 shooting previously told to the jury. Schiess spent nearly three days carefully laying out the most significant evidence presented during the trial, arguing that the killing was both an authorized hit by Palafox, the international president of Vagos at the time, and part of a broader criminal conspiracy. But according to the defense, Gonzalez, accused of being the shooter, was “acting in the defense of others” when he fired the fatal shots.

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Prescott man gets 4 years in prison after high-speed chase on stolen motorcycle in Ohio

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from https://www.dcourier.com ZANESVILLE, Ohio — A 20-year-old Prescott man was sentenced to four years in prison after leading officers on a high-speed chase through two counties in Ohio last week. Andrew Johansen was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty to three felony counts. According to prosecutors, some time before Dec. 11 Johansen answered an ad for a motorcycle for sale in Canton, Ohio. He asked to test drive the motorcycle and drove away with the bike. On Dec. 11, an officer tried to stop a silver Honda motorcycle on I-70 in Cambridge, Ohio. The driver, later identified as Johansen, refused to comply and sped away, reaching speeds of up to 130 miles per hour. After leading officers and state troopers on a high-speed chase that continued on and off the interstate and through heavy traffic, Johansen eventually lost control of the motorcycle and was taken into custody, police said. In a statement to media, Ohio State Patrol said they suspected the cold weather affected Johansen’s ability to control the bike. According to the statement, Johansen’s first words to law enforcement were, “I’m cold.” Officers on the scene noted that Johansen was shivering and displayed symptoms of hypothermia at the time of his arrest. According to Arizona court records, Johansen has a criminal history in Arizona. Since 2017, he has been charged with unlawful flight from pursuing law enforcement, fraudulent schemes and artifices, shoplifting, trafficking in stolen property, failure to appear in court and possession or use of drug paraphernalia. The past charges were filed in Prescott Valley and Yavapai County. Due to a recent conviction and probation status in Arizona, Johansen agreed to waive his investigation and move to sentencing. He was sentenced to four years for failure to comply, receiving stolen property and obstructing official business. According to a report

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Extra staff hired, jail space prepared for Sturgis motorcycle rally

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STURGIS, S.D. — Law enforcement agencies in Meade and Pennington counties are hiring more officers, temporarily opening a second jail and keeping a courthouse open seven days a week for the Sturgis motorcycle rally and the hundreds of thousands of free-wheeling visitors it will attract over the next several days. “We’re already busy,” Sturgis Police Chief Geody VanDewater said before the rally officially began Friday, Aug. 2. VanDewater wouldn’t say how many temporary officers he hires but said they come from South Dakota, North Dakota, Colorado, Minnesota and other neighboring states. Some are working the rally for the first time while others, like one officer who is returning for his 41st rally, are repeat visitors. Permanent officers will continue to work 12-hour shifts with no days off during the 10-day event, VanDewater said. Meade County Sheriff Ron Merwin also hires temporary deputies, mostly relying on the office’s own reserve deputies and officers with Game, Fish & Parks. The Pennington County Sheriff’s Office hired eight deputies from South Dakota and neighboring states and will also have about 10 of its reserve deputies working full-time, said Chief Deputy Willie Whelchel. The eight temporary deputies are assigned to two-person foot patrols in the office’s contract communities of Wall, New Underwood, Keystone and Hill City, Whelchel said. The Rapid City Police Department didn’t hire extra staff and isn’t requiring its officers to work overtime as they have in past years, said Captain James Johns. During the rally, the Meade County court remains open during the weekends and the old jail — located in the basement of the courthouse across the parking lot from the new jail — is reopened, Merwin said. Extra staff from the area is hired to help the corrections officers, but they don’t carry handcuffs or weapons. The old jail has

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Hells Angels bikers banned by Netherlands court

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A court in the Netherlands has banned the Hells Angels biker club because of its culture of violence. The court in the city of Utrecht ruled that the group was a danger to public order and the rule of law. It referred to several violent clashes over the years with rival motor gangs, like the Bandidos. It is unclear whether the Hells Angels will appeal against the verdict. The group was founded in 1948, and now has thousands of members around the globe. In Wednesday’s ruling, the Utrecht court stated that “the violence is often so serious and causes so much social unrest that it can be considered in contravention of social order”. The court specifically referred to Hells Angels Holland and the global organisation to which it belonged. The verdict makes the Netherlands the first country to outlaw the entire club – and not just some of its local branches, known as chapters. The Hells Angels club was founded in California. Its members around the world are known for favouring Harley-Davidson bikes and wearing denim and leather.

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