Journal mcgrew's Journal: "Honest Abe" director arrested for stealing movies 1
The real Springfield, home of alderman Gail Simpson, has beat the two dimentional Springfield in cartoonishness once again.
The State Journal-Register (also known as the State Journal Wrapafish) reports:
The executive director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum was placed on paid administrative leave Thursday, pending his trial in November on allegations he shoplifted a DVD box set from the Springfield Target store in August.
Court records also show that Richard E. Beard, 61, was arrested for shoplifting neckties at Macy's in White Oaks Mall in February 2007.
Beard has been director of the museum and library since November 2006, when he replaced the first director, Richard Norton Smith.
<snip>
Before coming to Springfield, Beard was chief operating officer of the New-York Historical Society and executive director of the Atlanta History Center. He also sits on the Illinois Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.
Beard earns $150,000 as the library and museum director. He receives an additional salary for running the library's foundation, which also has placed Beard on administrative leave, Blanchette said. The spokesman didn't know whether Beard will still be paid. He said the foundation has staff to take care of its day-to-day operations.
The guy makes over a quarter of a million dollars in two years, but he's stealing $35 DVD sets? Can't he afford a shrink to treat his kleptomania?
Beard wears a beard, according to the picture in the SJ-R. For some reason I thought that was funny, maybe it's because I have a hangover. Charlie paid some rent last night and I went drinking at Felber's, first time in a week. I've been sober, which is perhaps why I got so many comments modded "troll" and "flamebait" yesterday (or maybe it was because there were Microsoft stories).
I met her boss yesterday, he's not what I expected for a slumlord. I haven't actually seen his properties, maybe he's actually a good landlord. He's a black fellow who speaks like an educated man, goes to church regularly (of course, that doesn't mean much; lots of rich mammon worshipers pretend to be Christians and go to church for the business dealings, like golf), but he also volunteers at the soup kitchens and homeless shelters. I gave him a ride, he made a good impression on me.
In other Springfield news, a fourteen year old boy was arrested for prostitution. The story didn't say whether he was a hooker or a john.
I'll have more on hookers in the news next week, the Illinois Times is running a piece on PORA, and gets a lot of stuff laughingly wrong and stupidly wrong and ignorantly wrong and frustratingly wrong.
Note that the links to SJ-R stories evaporate after a while; the journal Dork Side of the Moon from February's links are broken. I hear Google's going to take care of this...
Update 10/28/8
Today's paper says this one, prosecutors are trying to pin felony charges on him, and two, he makes not one, but two hundred fifty thousand a year. A quarter of a million dollar salary and the guy has to steal DVDs!
Another Update 10/28/8
They finally got around to firing him.
It's the thrill... (Score:2)
For some thieves it's not the money or obtaining the product, but rather the thrill of stealing something and not getting caught.
It becomes an addiction. Adrenaline junkies, basically.