News

It's sad news for Michael Douglas as he battles Stage IV throat cancer.

That's as bad as it gets; my neighbor had a similar type of cancer, I believe of the larynx. She hadn't smoked in years, but she got the cancer anyway. She passed away in May.

Her death and her mother winding up in a nursing home was one of the major reasons why I had to leave Reno.
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When sociopath behavior is allowed in the workplace, it is no surprise that the more CEOs ruin the lives of people "beneath" them by firing or laying them off, the better THEY do.

And our country continues to go down the tubes.
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Dawn Gibbons doesn't think too much of Sharron Angle's views on education.

Gibbons, with Dean Heller, ran against Angle for Congress four years ago. Heller ended up with the seat.
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Ex Marks the Spot

Nevada governor Jim Gibbons and Dawn Gibbons have now been pronounced ex-husband and ex-wife.

The "ex-husband" status for Jimbo follows his "ex-governor" status after having been handily defeated in the GOP primary by ex-judge Brian Sandoval.

Details:

The divorce between Gov. Jim Gibbons and his estranged wife, Dawn, is final.

They met during a huring today to work out some details and Judge Frances Doherty signed the final divorce decree.

Gov. Gibbons said he was glad it was over, but said, "no one's happy about this.

"The only thing that makes me happy is I can stop paying attorney's fees," Gov. Gibbons said.

Dawn Gibbons said it will provide closure.

"I'm glad to start over and focus on the positive," she said after the hearing.

And they, and Nevadans, will live happily ever after.

Or at least Dawn will. She has moved to Las Vegas and has a new job.
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Jimbo Eruptions

Dawn Gibbons is said to have a radio talk show in the works.

In any case, this woman won't be destitute unlike yours truly and others.

Jimbo Eruptions

There is a hitch in the Gibbons getting unhitched to the tune of $265,000:

Gov. Jim Gibbons and his estranged wife, Dawn, signed their divorce settlement papers Dec. 28, but a $265,000 hitch has developed.

The case might be headed back to family court in Reno.

The $265,000 is half of the estimated value of property the couple owns in Elko County. Cal Dunlap, attorney for Dawn, says the agreement calls for the money to be paid to her within 60 days after Dec. 28. Dawn says she hadn't received any of the money by the end of February.

Dunlap said there will be no divorce decree until the money is paid. Gary Silverman, attorney for the governor, didn't return calls seeking comment.

Jimbo Eruptions

Dawn Gibbons accused Jimbo of trying to scuttle their divorce settlement:

In court documents filed Tuesday, Nevada first lady Dawn Gibbons accuses Gov. Jim Gibbons of trying to derail their divorce settlement by taking their home off the market and of lying on his application to refinance the house.

The governor stopped the sale of their Kinney Lane home to refinance the house and lower his mortgage payments.


But Cal Dunlap, Dawn Gibbons’ lawyer, said the governor’s actions were inconsistent with their divorce agreement and that he misrepresented himself to the loan company.
On a document dated Jan. 25, 2010, the governor checked the “no” box when answering the question “Are you a party to a lawsuit?” and checked “yes” when asked if he planned to occupy the couple’s Kinney Lane property as his primary residence.

Jimbo Eruptions

Jimbo chickenshitted out of the annual Sheep Dip event in Sparks, so the outgoing/former First Lady Dawn Gibbons decided to do the opening video herself:





Jimbo said he was "offended" by the lyrics of a song using Michael Jackson's "Beat It" hit.

I don't think he gave a flying shit about Michael Jackson; he was afraid of being laughed AT if he made an appearance either in person or on video.

Note the "beware of ferret" sign on the door and the ferret pin on Dawn's outfit. She must have them as pets. She has ferrets for pets and was married to a weasel.

Jimbo Eruptions

More fallout from the "window dressing" remarks about former Nevada First Lady Dawn Gibbons by her ex's campaign manager:

An advocacy group for autistic children and their families criticized Gov. Jim Gibbons’ campaign adviser on Tuesday for referring to first ladies as “window dressing.”

The founder of the Autism Coalition of Nevada issued a statement, calling comments made to a newspaper by campaign adviser Robert Olmer “demeaning” and “sexist.”

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Jimbo Eruptions [Updated]

Minutes before the Gibbons divorce trial is set to begin, there is still no settlement resolving the dispute.

I am too lazy to go to the few blocks to the courthouse to watch the circus.

Update: It's just as well I stayed home: A tentative settlement has been reached in the case.

Details:

Update at 9:47 a.m.: Gov. Jim Gibbons and first lady Dawn Gibbons reached an 11th hour settlement agreement Monday morning, bringing an end to their 18-month battle to end their marriage and avoiding a potentially ugly public divorce trial as the governor embarks on a difficult re-election bid.

In reaching the agreement, Jim Gibbons agreed to sell the couple’s 40-acre property in Lamoille and split the proceeds with his ex-wife.

Settlement negotiations stretched late into the night Sunday, but the couple arrived at Washoe Family Court without an agreement. After about 30 minutes of continued negotiations, the couple entered the courtroom to announce they had resolved their disputes.

About a dozen onlookers sat in the gallery, along with local and national press.

More

Although the governor's approval ratings have skyrocketed from 14 to 19 percent, it appears Nevadans will be spared the embarrassment of a circus trial.



In this picture, Jimbo appears to be quite happy with the settlement. He doesn't have to worry about Dawn screwing up his chances for re-election; he can now do that all by himself.

Here's the breakdown of the division of property.

Dawn will no longer be First Lady of Nevada, and she is moving out of the Governor's Mansion:

Dawn Gibbons said she will move out of the Governor's mansion "as soon as possible," saying when the divorce decree is signed she will be "just a private citizen."

Neither had lengthy comments after spending about 45 minutes in open court formally agreeing to the settlement.

"I wish Jim the very best," Dawn Gibbons said. "I was honored to be the first lady for three years. I did not want to do anything to dishonor my state and this agreement reflects that."

Despite Dawn's gracious comments, Jimbo's campaign manager proves he has no class at all when he characterized the First Lady job as mere "window dressing."

Jimbo Eruptions

The divorce trial of the century gets underway tomorrow, as Jimbo and soon-to-be-ex-wife Dawn haggle it out in court:

Some political observers say the proceedings will only cause more damage to a re-election bid that already is being condemned by some as a lost cause.


"This is not the publicity anybody wants," said Eric Herzik, political science professor at the University of Nevada, Reno. "Nobody looks good coming out of a bitter, public divorce."


Even in Nevada, where divorce is etched in the state's history, "he's going to be hurt by it," said Fred Lokken, another political scientist at Truckee Meadows Community College.


The public trial, set to begin Monday and run through New Year's Eve day, is expected to be featured on the television show, "Inside Edition." If the first-term Republican governor is worried about the publicity, he's not showing it.

So this circus will get national attention. I may swing by there tomorrow, provided I can get up early.

So far, negotiations this weekend have been fruitless. The trial starts tomorrow at 9 a.m., probably too early for me, and is expected to last four days.

Jimbo Eruptions

It just keeps getting better:

In her statement, Dawn Gibbons said the governor’s “secret plans to end the marriage in favor of making a life with another woman” left her publicly humiliated, financially insecure and in “extreme emotional distress,” her lawyer, Cal Dunlap, said in the document.


The first lady should be fairly compensated for supporting Jim Gibbons through his legal and political career, Dunlap said.

Read the pleading wherein Jimbo is described as being known as a "mediocre lawyer."

link

Jimbo Eruptions

I only hope this happens:

Nevada first lady Dawn Gibbons plans to use next week's divorce trial as a forum to sabotage Republican Gov. Jim Gibbons' re-election bid next year, his lawyer contended in court documents.




"Ms. Gibbons' motives are simply to use this court and legal process to inflict pain on her husband because she mistakenly says (he) jilted her for another woman," Gary Silverman said in a statement filed Friday.

He also said that if the governor is not re-elected, any alimony the court orders should end when his term expires at midnight Dec. 31, 2010.

Dawn Gibbons' lawyer, Cal Dunlap, could not be reached for comment. He has not filed a trial statement but said last week that he expects the trial to go forward because the two sides are far apart on many issues.

Jimbo Eruptions

Next week is Reno's Trial of the Century when Jim and Dawn Gibbons bring out their dirty laundry in public. But this is good:

Recently filed documents in the divorce case of Gov. Jim Gibbons and the first lady go into further detail about his contention that he shouldn't have to pay alimony past 2011 because he might not be re-elected.

As the Reno Gazette-Journal first reported Oct. 15, Gibbons' lawyer has argued that the governor should be able to stop paying Dawn Gibbons alimony after Jan. 1, 2011 because he could be unemployed after the next election.

Jimbo Eruptions

The article "everybody" has been waiting for is posted on the internet.

The "other women's" response, just for the record:

The three women reported to have been involved with Gov. Jim Gibbon — Kathy Karrasch, Leslie Sferrazza Durant, and Lizanne Stoever — all say they are just close friends with the governor.

Both Karrasch and Durant say they are “best friends” with the governor. Stoever says she cares about both Jim and Dawn Gibbons but declined to make a statement.

“I refuse to give credibility to her fantasy,” Karrasch says of first lady Dawn Gibbon’s accusations that the Reno mother of seven was involved with the governor dating back to 2000. “We have never had an affair, and we are just friends.”

Karrasch says that the more than 800 text messages between the two, uncovered by the Reno Gazette-Journal before he filed for divorce, were about work.
“He thinks I’m smart. I’m not a dummy, and he wanted advice on things like personnel issues,” Karrasch says.

She says she did not see anything inappropriate about attending an event at the mansion, even as the first lady was living in an apartment in the backyard.
“Perception is in the eye of the beholder,” she says when asked if she thought the governor’s appearance at her daughter’s school play the night after he filed for divorce was inappropriate.

“He (the governor) is like an uncle to my kids,” she says.

“I’ve been alone with him, and if he wanted to take advantage, he had opportunity. But he sees me as a friend, best friend. I’m more like a sister.”

She says she believes much of Dawn Gibbon’s attacks on her are because the first lady is jealous.

“I am an excellent wife and mother, and I was always a great friend to her.”

On the governor’s divorce she says, “I know in all honesty it has nothing to do with another woman. He is the most loyal, honest, and faithful husband.”

“I am his very best friend,” Durant says when asked about her relationship with the governor. “He was in the hospital holding my hand when I had my son.”

She says she always was with family or friends on the occasions when she has been spotted with the governor, and calls the public divorce “atrocious.”

“The fact that this is being played out in the media is sad,” she says.

She says she is not bothered by the perception that she is romantically linked to the governor.

“It’s Reno, and I don’t really care about their opinions,” she says. “No one matters to me except my family.”

Jimbo Eruptions

Nevada first lady and soon-to-be ex-wife (to the governor) Dawn Gibbons tells all or some about her divorce, her job, and her suspicions about her cheating husband in an upcoming magazine article for locals:

Speaking exclusively with writer Siobhan McAndrew in the December issue of RENO Magazine, the first lady openly talked about her shock over the divorce, why she fought to unseal divorce documents and why she doubts the governor’s “we’re just friends” defense for time he has spent with other women.


“Women are the ones required to give up so much to support their husbands, take time off to have children, and then, you end up where I am,” Gibbons said. “In politics, it’s just worse.”


The first lady said she has exchanged e-mails with other betrayed wives of governors, including South Carolina’s Jenny Sandford and New York’s Silda Wall Spitzer.
“I know how they feel, but the difference is they both have money,” Gibbons said. “At this point in my life, I had no idea I would feel this trapped.”

The magazine might be worth getting because there are comments from Jim Gibbons' friends Kathy Karrasch and Leslie Durant.

It will also be online at this site, so out-of-staters or people living all over the world will be able to read it.

Jimbo Eruptions [Updated]

Let's have a public trial--please:

Silverman said Gibbons is eager to end the marriage and has proposed a list of compromises to avoid a public trial, which Silverman said the governor would want before Jan. 1.

Silverman said the couple should split their land holdings, with the governor retaining their Lamoile ranch property, and the first lady keeping their Kenny Lane home, and they should split their pensions. Their IRA, life insurance and legal fees remain in dispute, he said.

Alimony remains the biggest sticking point, Silverman said.

Dawn Gibbons has claimed that she has not been able to secure work, but has stated that she could earn $5,000 to $8,333 per month, while the governor’s pre-tax earnings are $16,734 per month, Silverman said.

Update: Apparently there was no agreement between the two parties, so the case will go to trial. The tentative date is December 28.

Pass the popcorn.

Jimbo Eruptions

while her soon-to-be-ex-husband continues to make a fool out of himself and a mess out of Nevada, Dawn Gibbons soldiers on with her pet causes:

“A lot of women in these circumstances would fade into the background, but that's never been Dawn's style,” said Leslie. “No negative attitude at all. She's doing what she perceives to be her job as a community leader.”

Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto also praised her continuing work on causes including the methamphetamine task force, which Masto heads.

“She's so quietly effective that people don't realize how much she contributes to addressing the meth abuse in this state,” she said. “She's so effective and committed to the issues and finding solutions it's been a pleasure working with her.”

The anti-meth program developed in Nevada by that task force, Gibbons said, is now going national.

“We raised a lot of money for the Crystal Darkness anti-meth campaign,” she said. “It's being syndicated nationally now.”

Jimbo Eruptions

The Gibbons' messy divorce made the national news:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Of course Kathy Karrasch was not a "state worker," but like Leslie Durant was/is a doctor's wife.

Jimbo Eruptions III

Here is Dawn Gibbons' affidavit:

Again, to conceal his involvement with Leslie Sferrazza-Durant, a married
woman, the Plaintiff made public statements, after the filing of the divorce and after signing the stipulation that no public statements would be made
concerning the divorce ard related matters, that Leslie Sferrazza-Durant, also,
was just a longtime friend. This statement also, I am informed and believe, is false. In that regard, apparently to demonstrate his close relationship with Leslie Sferrazza-Durant, the Plaintiff made a public statement to the media, again, after signing the referenced stipulation, that he had held her hand at the time her child was born. This statement, too, was a false public statement. I know this as my own personal knowledge because I was there at the time.

Here is Jimbo's reply.

Jimbo Eruptions

Here are more juicy snippets from the Gibbons divorce case:

The records also show she was ordered to pay $796 in attorney fees by Washoe County Family Court Judge Frances Doherty in August for demanding more information from Gibbons on why he wants a divorce. Doherty said Nevada is a no-fault divorce state and Dawn Gibbons' "demand for particulars is spurious and served no purpose."

The governor cited "incompatibility" as his reason for the divorce. That was sufficient, according to the judge.

Dawn Gibbons' lawyer, Cal Dunlap, was authorized in a Feb. 23 order to depose Durant and Karrasch. Those depositions remain sealed.

In public court records, Dunlap said he wanted to know the times and places of the governor's "rendezvous with Karrasch." Among the questions Dunlap asked was whether Jim Gibbons had taken the women on trips and what gifts he had given them, dating to 1990.

Dunlap also requested phone records dating to 1990 to see how often the women spoke with Jim Gibbons.

In the unsealed records, Dawn Gibbons said her husband deliberately destroyed phone records from his Washington office in an attempt to hide long-distance calls he made to women. Jim Gibbons was a five-term congressman before running for governor in 2006.

Dawn Gibbons also refers to the governor making 867 text messages from a state cell phone to Karrasch in a six-week period shortly after becoming governor. Jim Gibbons told reporters that he was responding to Karrasch's messages, even at 2 a.m., and that she sometimes offered him advice on political matters.

Dunlap treated that comment with skepticism, asking who "can possibly believe his explanation that he was consulting with another man's wife in the wee hours of the night on matters of state?"

Who indeed?

Jimbo Eruptions

I have been waiting all day for the report of a local judge releasing quite a bit of the shenanigans surrounding the Gibbons' divorce.

Details, details, details:

Dawn Gibbons, through her lawyers, charge that the governor's claim that they needed a divorce because they were incompatible were bogus, and that the real reason he was seeking a divorce was because he was seeing another woman.

"Despite his disingenuous shallow and transparent protestations that his relationship with another man’s wife is a mere friendship, his infatuation and involvement with the other woman is the real, concealed and undisclosed reason for his voluntary departure from the marriage and from the mansion where he occasionally resided," said her lawyer Cal Dunlap in court filings.

In an affidavit, Dawn Gibbons talked about his alleged affair.

“He stated that he was not involved with another woman and claimed that his involvement with Kathy Karrasch was merely a friendship," she said in an affidavit. "Kathy Karrasch, on one or more occasions, has stated that she is the mistress of the plaintiff.”

Dawn Gibbons said that several months before the governor announced plans for a divorce, "Kathy Karrasch moved into a condominimum."

The reporter, Martha Bellisle, promises more details as they become available.