Just when I had completely given up on our area's main media outlets, one steps in a gives me a glimmer of hope that we in Orange County are not the forgotten ones.
The Raleigh News & Observer, the paper of record for the Triangle, has finally noticed than an elected politician in its coverage area was recently convicted of a felony committed while in office. Of course, it took them nearly THREE WEEKS to notice.
From today's N&O website:
"Former Orange County school board member Dennis Whitling was sentenced to two years probation after pleading guilty to embezzlement and other charges earlier this month, according to court records."
"The alleged incidents occurred between December 2005 and September 2007. The law firm reported them in November."
Help me remember, what else Dennis was doing prior to September 2007?
Oh yeah, now I remember. He was looking down his nose at us unenlightened "racists," "bigots," and "elitists" as we fought to have a voice in our children's education, and to keep him and his accomplices from destroying the only school our children had ever known.
Last August, I wrote a column titled "Dennis Whitling was right" that ended with, "But, the meetings won't be for nothing - a new month means another $100 for Dennis. Cha ching!"
Since then I have been told that Dennis never accepted payment for being on the Board. In light of the current situation, I guess we know why. When you are stealing almost $5,000 a month from your employer, a $100 check from the county isn't even worth the bookkeeping hassle.
My how things can change in a year.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
Faith restored
Just when I was beginning to think that no one was paying attention, late this week my faith was restored.
When Dennis Whitling was initially accused of embezzlement from his employer of 23 years, the local media was quick to report the story. When Ted Triebel pulled out a late-meeting surprise and announced that Dennis had resigned from the Board in disgrace, it was quickly covered by the local media.
But, when it was made public last month that Dennis had surrendered his law license and agreed to be disbarred in what appeared to be a preliminary step toward a plea agreement, only the Durham Herald-Sun reported the story.
When the second shoe dropped earlier this month, and the NC Department of Corrections released information that Dennis had be convicted of felony embezzlement on August 7th, I anxiously waited to see what additional details the media would report. The silence was deafening.
Nothing in the Durham Herald-Sun; nothing in the Raleigh News and Observer; nothing on WRAL. That was until this week.
This Wednesday, The News of Orange County finally published a story on Dennis's conviction - nearly two weeks after the fact, and nine days after I first reported it here. I guess better late than never.
Now that it is finally hit the press, other sites have decided to discuss the issue.
In what is her second posting on Dennis's travails [I still love her opening comment from last January: "Does anyone know this Dennis Whitling fellow?"], Ruby Sinreich of OrangePolitics.org has taken notice of the development and is publicizing it outside the shrinking world of News of Orange County subscribers.
Ruby closes her post with, "Good thing he was only on the School Board for 3 years."
Looking back on the past year and a half, I have to say - Too bad he was ever on the School Board at all.
When Dennis Whitling was initially accused of embezzlement from his employer of 23 years, the local media was quick to report the story. When Ted Triebel pulled out a late-meeting surprise and announced that Dennis had resigned from the Board in disgrace, it was quickly covered by the local media.
But, when it was made public last month that Dennis had surrendered his law license and agreed to be disbarred in what appeared to be a preliminary step toward a plea agreement, only the Durham Herald-Sun reported the story.
When the second shoe dropped earlier this month, and the NC Department of Corrections released information that Dennis had be convicted of felony embezzlement on August 7th, I anxiously waited to see what additional details the media would report. The silence was deafening.
Nothing in the Durham Herald-Sun; nothing in the Raleigh News and Observer; nothing on WRAL. That was until this week.
This Wednesday, The News of Orange County finally published a story on Dennis's conviction - nearly two weeks after the fact, and nine days after I first reported it here. I guess better late than never.
Now that it is finally hit the press, other sites have decided to discuss the issue.
In what is her second posting on Dennis's travails [I still love her opening comment from last January: "Does anyone know this Dennis Whitling fellow?"], Ruby Sinreich of OrangePolitics.org has taken notice of the development and is publicizing it outside the shrinking world of News of Orange County subscribers.
Ruby closes her post with, "Good thing he was only on the School Board for 3 years."
Looking back on the past year and a half, I have to say - Too bad he was ever on the School Board at all.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Convicted!
DOC Offender #: 1095037Well, after nearly six months of waiting for justice to be done, the Dennis Whitling debacle appears to have finally come to a close.
As of Thursday, August 7, 2008, the former Chairman of the Orange County Board of Education is a convicted felon.
Without so much as a single word in the media (surely to Dennis's delight), the North Carolina Department of Corrections has revealed that Dennis was convicted of Embezzlement in Durham County last Thursday.
He was sentenced to 6-8 months in jail - all of which was suspended - and immediately released back into our community on probation.
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