Burning Man Organizers Reach Settlement with Pershing County

[oly14]

http://entertainment.time.com/2013/11/1 ... ity-costs/
There was a brief mention of this in The Bar but not much discussion. Why would BMorg settle a lawsuit in which Pershing County was looking for $1.50/head by agreeing to pay approximately $10/head? Am I missing something?

[FossaFerox]

They settled at less than $1 a head. It's 600k over the next 10 years.

[lucky420]

i believe that was 1.50 per head per day

[lucky420]

and then again I could be wrong

[BBadger]

They settled at less than $1 a head. It's 600k over the next 10 years.

No, it's $605k per year over the next 10 years for less than 90k people, increasing to $640k for 60-70k, and about $975k for more than 90k. The amount is also adjusted for inflation.

From this year old Huffington Post article, the amount is the same as the original proposed fee structure. Perhaps what BMOrg negotiated is that the amount will not scale linearly as a function of population, but have thresholds instead. Maybe it's also to define what the thresholds are so they're not arbitrarily increased or pegged.

[trilobyte]

I've also been told that the AP article that all those sites are referencing their stories on (because nobody does their own reporting anymore) is incorrect. A settlement is in the works, but as of this morning has not been finalized. Burning Man has a draft press release all ready to go, and will post it once the agreement (and details) are finalized.

[Sham]

http://blog.burningman.com/2013/11/news ... ounty-nev/
The number appears to be $240k per year. There is no mention of paying for any prosecutions.

[trilobyte]

Awesome, thanks for posting that link Sham.

[fernley1]

So, is the "million dollar bond" part of the deal or not. The Reno newspaper had it in there, but the story on this site does not.

[Roberto Dobbisano]

the vigorish.

[H.G.Crosby]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigorish

[trilobyte]

This is a great example of just how shitty that news reporting has gotten these days. All the blogs and newspapers largely just parroted a story from the Associated Press which contained a number of factual errors and premature details. Burning Man contacted the AP, who apologized and agreed to print/post a retraction. Of course, today's "journalists" are largely a fire and forget bunch, so the retraction doesn't appear to have gone anywhere.

[theCryptofishist]

Newspapers have been doing reports on the basis of press releases with no actual research/reporting for a long, long time...

[trilobyte]

Yes, it's commonplace in the blogosphere (dude with a blog doesn't have the time or interest in being right), and I've seen actual news outlets doing it here and there for years, but it still seems odds to see so many different outlets all sourcing from the same place, with zero in the way of really simple fact or source checking. Where it used to be that accuracy was important, but people would cut corners here and there, now it seems cutting corners is all that matters.

[trilobyte]

In the 'credit where it's due' department, cheers to ABC News for publishing a correction to their story - you can read that here.

[GreyCoyote]

For anyone who wants to view the actual settlement, the complete settlement agreement is here:

http://brcvpc.com/wp-content/uploads/20 ... ecuted.pdf

For those who have been led to believe this is the end of this matter, think again. Please look carefully at Paragraph 5.3, specifically the last three lines. GO BMORG! YEAH BABY!!!

[BBadger]

They still have beef with that Dick.

[Eric]

They still have beef with that Dick.

With good reason - he's about as fair and unpartial as Fox "News".

[TT120]

It also says that Wagner cannot preside over any future litigations between BRC and the county.

Sec. 6.1

[GreyCoyote]

As settlements go, this one is very unusual in that regard. It's rare for someone to be so brave as to stick their fingers in the eye of a sitting judge. VERY rare. Counsel for BM definitely has a set of balls and the scent of blood in his nostrils.

Assuming it works, it's brilliant.
Assuming it doesn't, it's suicide.

So I guess we shall see! (insert sound of munching popcorn here)

[Eric]

AIt's rare for someone to be so brave as to stick their fingers in the eye of a sitting judge. VERY rare. Counsel for BM definitely has a set of balls and the scent of blood in his nostrils.

Assuming it works, it's brilliant.
Assuming it doesn't, it's suicide.

Read this. I think Wagner has more to be worried about than the LLC.

[trilobyte]

Bonus points to Eric... proper pundits and/or armchair ________ would have done a bit more reading up on the internet before making the knowitall comments

[BBadger]

Bonus points to Eric... proper pundits and/or armchair BBadgers would have done a bit more reading up on the internet before making the knowitall comments

[1durphul]

Latest and greatest, apparently the Federal Judge got pissy with both sides.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Cour ... 021972.php

[Elderberry]

Bonus points to Eric... proper pundits and/or armchair BBadgers would have done a bit more reading up on the internet before making the knowitall comments

OMG I'm totally shocked. That is the shortest post I think you have ever made! Yet it said all it needed to say.

(maybe it started a trend?)

[BBadger]

I think it would be more constructive to end the trend/practice of boilerplate welcomes.

[Canoe]

"Both sides believe the deal will stay intact but await a final ruling from Jones this week."
"Jones refused to approve the deal and said a formal written ruling would follow."

Has a written ruling surfaced yet?

Is this the same Judge Jones?

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/nevadans-to ... ot-option/

re: Nevada's none-of-the-above Voting Option

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco blocked the injunction Tuesday and had strong words for U.S. District Judge Robert Jones, who last month declared the voting option unconstitutional and struck it from the ballot.

Reinhardt (9th Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt) said if the 9th Circuit didn't intervene it "would allow the district court to erroneously invalidate Nevada's long-standing election process" and deprive Nevadans the right to participate in presidential elections "in the manner that the law prescribes."

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco blocked the injunction Tuesday and had strong words for U.S. District Judge Robert Jones, who last month declared the voting option unconstitutional and struck it from the ballot.

One appellate judge accused Jones, chief judge in Nevada, of deliberate foot-dragging by delaying hearings in the case and not issuing a written order in time for state lawyers to appeal before ballots must be printed.

"His dilatory tactics appear to serve no purpose other than to seek to prevent the state from taking an appeal of his decision before it print the ballots," 9th Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote.

He concluded: "Such arrogance and assumption of power by one individual is not acceptable in our judicial system."

[BBadger]

Yup, that's the same judge (Robert Clive Jones). I doubt his antics would even be appreciated or tolerated in places like Utah.

[GreyCoyote]

I find it funny as hell that of the 19 brothels recognized by the Internal Revenue Service, all 19 are located in Nevada... the same state where Burning Man is being accused of "affecting the mores of the public and the young".

So a 24/7 whorehouse is cool, but a week-long gathering of artists is verboten.

Amazing logic. Just says to me BM refused to grease all the right palms.

[BBadger]

I'm just hoping for another one of those politician-who-protests-too-loudly/get-caught-in-the-act moments with this guy.