Media Mythbusters Blog

To give everyone perspective on the River Park Square Scandal in Spokane - re: the Cowles family and the subsequent axing of Mark Furhman yesterday from his radio show in Spokane, I am posting a timeline of events and articles.

From Larry Shook of Camas Magazine:

The following articles pretty well cover the scandal’s arc. When you read them I think you’ll see that the fraud really isn’t as complicated as it seems. It’s just a lot more encompassing than any reasonable person could believe without weighing the evidence. Because the evidence is so overwhelming and lurid, I don’t think there was ever any chance that this case would go to civil trial. It simply indicts the community’s political and civic leadership, as well as the Cowles’ publishing dynasty. In a way, it also indicts American media itself because of the way AP and The New York Times have looked the other way. The perps were never going to allow that indictment to be presented to a jury. Now, the question is whether criminal investigators will do their jobs. The spotlight is on them, and your efforts are helping to turn up the wattage. In the next few weeks I’ll post a story describing former Sheriff Tony Bamonte’s efforts to have the 4/8/06 River Park Square garage death of Jo Ellen Savage investigated as First Degree Manslaughter, a crime that could implicate Cowles’ family members and Spokane city officials.

Timeline:

• 1. “RPS 101,” www.camasmagazine.com. Overview of the story up to 2003.
• 2. “Busted,” www.camasmagazine.com. The collapse of the legal strategy of the Cowles-backed Mayor to bury the fraud.
• 3. “Death by Parking,” www.girlfromhotsprings.com. Spokane’s corruption by the Cowles family turns deadly.
• 4. “Epilogue: A Fight for the Light,” www.camasmagazine.com. Team Camas wins an historic public records lawsuit.
• 5. “A New RPS Fraud?” www.camasmagazine.com. The high cost of Spokane’s chronic corruption.
• 6. “Betsy’s Choice,” www.camasmagazine.com. Nitty gritty of the RPS corruption.
• 7. “Under the Influence,” www.camasmagazine.com. Stunning evidence of just how dirty the RPS deal was.
• 8. “Inside Job,” www.camasmagazine.com. City officials caught in the act of making the heist on video tape. This is the equivalent of security tape of a convenience store robbery–except the take was probably in excess of $70 million.
• 9. “McDevitt’s Fingerprints,” www.camasmagazine.com. The evidence of the involvement of the U.S. Attorney for Eastern Washington in the RPS fraud. It triggered the launch of a criminal investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.

When you go to Camas Magazine, if you are looking for an article, just click on the ‘Archives’ link and type in the article title. You will be taken then to the article you wish to read. After reviewing all this, there is no way I believe that Mark Fuhrman was fired just to clean house because of a merger. The powers that be in Spokane wanted to shut up a dissident. One can only hope that Mark Fuhrman will continue with this fight from a different forum. I know we’ll keep at it here.

One more note from Larry Shook:

In addition, the Camas articles “Fraudville, USA” and “The Casino was Rigged” deliver more hard evidence of what the plaintiff bondholders and IRS discovered. Taken altogether, I think this is a pretty compelling portrait of the criminal nature of the Cowles enterprise and a textbook example of the dangers of corrupt media.

Read it all and let us know your thoughts… Inquiring, free minds, want to know and won’t be silenced here.