The picture won’t win any awards, but here is Blackie in his new home – Mike Kozak’s sister’s backyard. The dog was very nervous and timid, but eventually did come up to Mike McHugh. I had trouble getting the lens to focus on the dog instead of the fence and when I moved, the dog [...]

jdnews.com has been updated with information about Mike Kozak’s death and what happened to his dog. The article is here. This is a photo I took today of the JPD out at USA Discounters where Kozak’s body was discovered. An article Online later and in print tomorrow will have more information from Kozak’s family, more [...]

An article about the current crunch on the JPD was in the newspaper today. You can read it here. The Department has lost seven good cops to the new Camp Lejeune Police Department since April. The city paid for a study from Springsted, Inc., that was supposed to help iron out pay issues. But one [...]

Mindy has opened a collection point for Mike Kosak’s burial and to help his dog. Here is her MySpace page. The state will take care of Mike’s body. Maybe the money would be better served donated to a local soup kitchen or something. But either way, I think it is honorable. I will try find [...]

  * The police released the name of the man found dead behind USA Discounters earlier this week. Michael Kozak was 41 years old. Update here.    I spoke to the state medical examiner’s office earlier today and they said the cause and manner of death has not been determined yet.   I am told by [...]

The Jacksonville police are investigating the death of a homeless man who lived in a wooded area behind Piney Green Shopping Center. The story will be Online later and in print tomorrow. The first story we ran today is here. Here are some photos of the crime scene: The dead man’s living space: His dog’s food and water [...]

I spoke to Dick McNeil today. He told me that Cesar Laurean surprised him with a phone call on Thursday morning. McNeil wouldn’t go into detail about the conversation. He said it was short – less than five minutes. He said he doesn’t know how Laurean got his number, whether it was through family or [...]

Daily News photographer John A. took this picture of Judge Douglas McCullough speaking at a local civic group meeting last week. What is so cool about McCullough? His book “Sea of Greed,” which details the Beaufort Inlet drug bust that led to the U.S. invasion of Panama will drop July 27. Amanda wrote a story [...]

Daily News photographer Don Bryan took this picture Sunday at the scene where a bicyclist was killed Saturday night. In my year plus as the crime reporter here at The Daily News, I have literally written about more homicides and road fatalities than I can remember. But I had a new experience today. For the first [...]

Police and rescue crews spent the night searching for a bicyclist knocked from a bridge into North East Creek by a motorist. A rescue crew found the body of the bicyclist in the creek around 9 a.m., said Jacksonville Police Department Capt. David Teeter. Around 11:30 p.m., a vehicle traveling west on Lejeune Boulevard hit [...]

Right now there are at least 25 unsolved homicides in Onslow County, Jacksonville and aboard Camp Lejeune. The Daily News has featured nine cases so far in a special cold case series. The following is a recap of those cases. I have included blog-exclusive updates (because they come from confidential sources – something my editors [...]

Surf City and Holly Ridge police made a huge drug bust last month. They told me about it this week. I wrote an article about it that will be Online later and in the newspaper tomorrow. They busted a guy that worked at a pharmaceutical company in Kinston they say had stolen and sold 55 thousand [...]

I just finished writing the article on Steve Boehm’s memorial service. It was more than 60 inches. For those of you that don’t know, that is a lot. It will have to be cut down to around 35. I was unable to attend Gene Thomas’ funeral service because of scheduling issues and the need to finally [...]

Capt. Sutherland commented on a different post, but I moved it here to hopefully move the ball down field. He said: SA S Taylor and I were out of town today giving a lecture on the ML/CL case to a law enforcement crowd. Because it was LEO only, we were able to share some info that has [...]

What is the difference between Thomas Brock and “Bob Jones?” While both have been recently critical of me, Brock uses his real name and often makes valid points. “Bob Jones” hides behind an alias devised from a previous ax-grinding session and spouts nonsense about how I have a long way to go before I master the [...]

Gene Thomas and Steve Boehm: A photo provided by the Sheriff’s Department that shows how bad visibility was at the time of the accident this morning. The Daily News article about the accident is here. WNCT has a story about the accident here. WITN has a story here. I did not know the firefighter, Gene [...]

Officers with 10 law-enforcement agencies were looking for 164 suspects with 738 felony charges in Onslow, Carteret and Craven counties during a pre-dawn raid this morning. Detectives with the Jacksonville Police Department have drawn warrants for the arrest of 30 suspects with approximately 125 felony charges, Police Chief Mike Yaniero said Saturday morning. Yaniero confirmed [...]

An Onslow County Sheriff’s deputy and a firefighter died during in an accident on U.S. 17 this morning. They were on the highway directing traffic because smoke from a controlled burn aboard Camp Lejeune made driving conditions hazardous. I don’t have all the details yet, but a 18-wheeler crashed into them. Another deputy is in New Hanover Regional Medical [...]

I know it has been three days since I have posted. Sorry. I have been tying up loose ends on several stories and have been busy in general. I wanted to get around to this earlier in the week, but here it is now for what it’s worth. The newspaper ran two articles about an [...]

Just to let y’all know… I have been inundated with requests to post Christina Laurean’s photo here on the blog. I really don’t understand people. I messed up and accidentally ran the last name of a sexual assault victim and got slammed for it (rightly so). But then another crowd (and actually some of the [...]

No, I wasn’t shut down for jive talking the Freedom suits or any recent errors. We had some sort of technical trouble. Personally, I think Thomas Brock had something to do with it. No, not that Thomas Brock, this one. Seriously, the rare downtime coincided with another rarity – I called in sick today. I [...]

Someone posted this link on my blog Monday: Don’t vote Obama! I am not a very political person, but I do think this upcoming presidential election is crucial. To be honest, I would have rather had to chose between McCain and Clinton than McCain and Obama. Liberals think I am too conservative and conservatives think [...]

  That’s something I never thought I would type, but it is what it is.   You can read his blog entry about it here.   Thomas first popped up on my radar when he blogged that I needed a public speaking class after appearing on Fox News. Wow, what a mean spirited thing for [...]

I thought it would be better publicized by NBC, but tonight is the “Inside the FBI” episode where Dateline shows the innerworkings of the manhunt for Cesar Laurean. I don’t expect much earth-shaking new information, but it will be cool to see how the FBI tracked Laurean while he was on the run. I hear [...]

The Associated Press finally sent me my paycheck for election night and I am out spending the loot. One note - I miss all the funny, yet thoughtful, comments posted on articles on jdnews.com. Ever since the suits came up with the new registration thing people are just not posting like they used to. So, please, go [...]

- A city councilman who was supposed to be in civil court today didn’t show. – A witness gave some really disturbing testimony in the court case I am watching. – I am making headway in Sunday’s cold case story. – The guy who police say held up Walgreens with a shoplifted hammer has been charged with trafficking opiates because the pills [...]

I have had an interesting day. I spoke to an elected official who did not want to talk without his lawyer and a lawyer who did not want to talk who is an elected official. Whew! And that was before noon. My day: 9 a.m. – Shower. Brush teeth. Skip breakfast because the kids drank all the milk. [...]

- Thomas Willoughby, Sr. was convicted Friday of indecent liberties with a minor and sex offenses and will be spending the next 16 to 20 years in prison. The jury was out for an hour and 45 minutes. I am told the prosecutor in the case broke down during sentencing arguments. These types of cases [...]