@0215 An Officer conducted a traffic stop at the intersection of W. Lawrence Street and N. Park Ave. The subsequent investigation led to a male being arrested DUI (1st).
@1046 Officers responded to the 1800 block of Peosta Avenue for a juvenile who ran away from home. In the early afternoon the juvenile was located and officers learned the juvenile had been at a friend’s house. The juvenile returned home.
@1143 An officer took a report of theft from a travel trailer on the 1700 block of 11th Avenue. There are currently no suspects.
@1516 Officers responded to the 400 block of Euclid Avenue in reference to a gas drive off. The vehicle and driver were located a short time later. Officers learned the vehicle the male was driving was reported stolen. The male was subsequently arrested for (F) Theft, (M) Theft & probation violation. The male was booked at the jail.
@1617 An Officer took a report of tools being stolen from a residence on the 1400 block of Lyndale Avenue. There are no suspects.
@1737 An officer responded to the 800 block of Colleen Street in reference to an individual with a warrant. The male was arrested on the warrant and booked at the jail.
The Helena Police Department responded to 109 calls for service. A brief summary of some of the calls the Officers responded to are as follows: 5 animal related calls, 10 Disorderly/Disturbance calls, 13 suspicious incidents, 4 thefts, 4 trespass and conducted 8 welfare checks.
The Wyoming rodeo team finished third with 7,981.36 points at the 74th annual National High School Finals Rodeo (NHSFR) which wrapped up on Saturday at the Cam-Plex Event Center in Gillette, Wyoming.
Texas (11,430 points) was the overall team winner followed by Utah (9,278.03). The NHSFR ran from July 17 to July 23.
Leading the way for Wyoming was Rayne Grant of Wheatland who won the all-around cowgirl with 1,610 points while Ashlyn Goven (650 points) of Rozet also had a strong finish with fourth. Wyoming finished second in the girls division with 4,338.03 points behind Texas, which won with 6,600 points.
Wyoming’s boys were third with 3,743.33 points in its division to finish behind second place finisher Texas (4,830) and Utah (5,565 points). Broc Schwartzkopf of Douglas had 580 points to finish seventh in the all-around cowboy to lead the boys.
This year’s NHSFR included 1,716 contestants with 44 American states, five provinces of Canada and competitors from Mexico all represented, according to a press release from the National High School Rodeo Association. There was over $718,000 in prize money.
Wyoming played host to the event for the first time since 2017, according to the Gillette News Record. Gillette has hosted the event 12 times since 1993.
Gov. Mark Gordon addressed the crowd on the opening night of the event.
“It’s great to be here tonight, and it’s great to welcome this event back to the state of Wyoming,” Gordon said. “It’s just awesome seeing these stands so full. Just being able to see these contestants get out there and compete is great to see. Rodeo is America.”
Gordon added: “This is just a fabulous rodeo and Campbell County has always been the home of the national high school rodeo. It’s just great to see it return back here.”
Grant’s all-around cowgirl win was led by a first-place finish in pole bending and second place in barrel racing. Goven was 10th in both the pole bending and barrel racing events for her top event finishes. Schwartzkopf’s top event finish was sixth in the reined cow horse event.
Wyoming had several other event Top 10 finishes. Tucker Carricato of Saratoga won the bareback riding event, Hayden Welsh of Gillette was second in bull riding, Rae Lee Caldwell of Gillette and Tavy Leno of Sheridan were fourth and fifth respectively in goat tying, Kaeley Hutchison of Rozet was fifth in breakaway roping, Jade Espenscheid of Big Piney and Cord Herring of Veteran were sixth in team roping and Jake Schlattmann of Greybull was seventh in the saddle bronc.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently used yet another collusive sue-and-settle arrangement to ask the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to order the agency to “reconsider” a 2019 regulation governing the use of atrazine, an important agricultural herbicide. The clever ploy has given EPA a pretext to propose that “detectable levels” of atrazine in US aquatic ecosystems must not exceed 3.4 parts per billion (ppb) over a 60-day period. This ridiculously low average is equivalent to 3.4 seconds in 11,500 days – nearly 32 years! Computer projections that even one affected plant or animal of a species “would likely be affected” would trigger prohibitions on using the chemicals.
The EPA proposal amounts to an effective ban on using atrazine, which is critical to controlling invasive and hard-to-kill weeds that are impervious to other herbicides. It will sharply reduce corn and other crop yields amid skyrocketing fuel prices and rising world hunger.
EPA’s action clearly looks like open defiance to a recent US Supreme Court decision sharply limiting the agency’s discretion to impose “transformative expansions” in its regulatory authority in the absence of clear statutory language directing or allowing it to do so. Of course, there’s even more going on here that people need to be aware of.
Biden EPA policies will raise prices and harm crops and the environment in the name of saving species.
In just seven decades, America’s conventional (non-organic) farmers increased per-acre corn yields by an incredible 500% – while using steadily less water, fuel, fertilizer and pesticides – feeding millions more people. Among the many reasons for this miracle is their ability to control weeds that would otherwise steal moisture and nutrients from this vital food, animal feed and fuel (ethanol) crop.
Long-lasting herbicides don’t just control weeds. They also promote no-till farming, which helps farmers save costly tractor fuel and avoid breaking up soils – thereby reducing erosion, retaining soil moisture, safeguarding soil organisms, and locking carbon dioxide in the soil (reducing risks of “dangerous manmade climate change,” some say).
In the United States, the second most widely used herbicide after glyphosate (Roundup) is atrazine, which is critical to controlling invasive and hard-to-kill weeds impervious to other herbicides. Atrazine is used on 65 million acres of corn, sorghum and sugarcane. That’s equivalent to Colorado or Oregon, on croplands scattered across a dozen Midwestern states. It’s also used on millions of acres of golf courses, lawns and highway medians nationwide.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has periodically reviewed atrazine science – which now comprises more than 7,000 studies over the past 60 years. It has found the herbicide is safe for people, animals and the environment.
But that hasn’t stopped the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), Pesticide Action Network (PAN) and other groups from campaigning to have atrazine banned outright or regulated into oblivion.
Extreme environmentalists also oppose fossil fuels, genetically engineered crops, and manmade fertilizers and insecticides. But they are silent about dangerous “natural” organic pesticides, including many that are lethal to bees and fish – and about cadmium and other toxic metals that can leach out of solar panels dumped in landfills – even though all these toxic chemicals could end up in our waterways.
Last year, I explained how activists successfully used collusive sue-and-settle lawsuits to force EPA to develop a formal process for evaluating whether endangered species were “likely” to be “adversely affected” by exposure to common pesticides. Facing court-ordered deadlines for completing the new assessments, the agency unsurprisingly found that the vast majority of species would “likely be adversely affected” by herbicides and other pesticides.
But it did so by employing the standard that even one affected plant or animal of a species would trigger prohibitions on using the chemicals. EPA also utilized hopelessly deficient satellite imagery, statewide crop and atrazine data, toxicity studies of unrelated laboratory animals, computer models, and best guesses. The garbage-in/garbage-out exercise bears little relation to real-world use, exposure or risks.
CBD, PAN and other anti-pesticide groups recently sued EPA again, in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. EPA used the lawsuit to justify asking the court to order the agency to “reconsider” a 2019 regulation. So now EPA has proposed that detectable levels of atrazine in US aquatic ecosystems must not exceed the astonishingly low average level of 3.4 parts per billion (ppb) over a 60-day period.
EPA calls this the “concentration equivalent level of concern,” or CE-LOC. But 3.4 ppb is equivalent to 3.4 seconds in 11,500 days – nearly 32 years! Atrazine isn’t plutonium. It’s been used and studied since 1958. To suggest that 3.4 ppb could devastate American ponds and rivers defies reason, and science.
These outfits aren’t even dealing with actual field or pond observations and evidence of harm. They’re talking about extrapolations, backed up mainly by secretive models, conjectures and activist pressure. However, the effects on American agriculture are likely to be profound, and widespread.
This focus on protecting aquatic life goes back two decades or more; it is so “inside baseball” in its details and complexity that eyes roll and readers fall asleep. The essence is this. Barely three years ago, EPA set the atrazine CE-LOC at 15 ppb, based on a host of government, academic, industry and activist studies and comments. Even the US Geological Survey and Agriculture Department weighed in. Prior to that, it was the still-reasonable level of 10 ppb.
In 2016, EPA proposed but ultimately rejected the 3.4 ppb LOC, after numerous farmers and scientific groups pointed out the shoddy methods and poor science the agency used to get there. But this June 30 – employing the court order that the agency itself asked for – EPA “re-evaluated” its decision. The agency dishonestly claimed it had intended all along to set that extremely low standard, and presented its decision for public comment, almost as a fait accompli.
Anticipating the uproar its proposal would cause, EPA said it would seek “external peer review” of its aquatic species risk assessment and 3.4 ppb decision. But this is a far cry from having a formal, balanced Scientific Advisory Panel do a full, impartial, scientific review, under standards actually set by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).
This 3.4 ppb LOC will result in major restrictions on atrazine use and/or necessitate extensive, expensive measures by farmers to control runoff – all based on estimated, predicted, computer-generated atrazine levels across multi-county or multi-state watersheds in which atrazine-based herbicides are used on acreage in who-knows-what proximity to those watersheds.
The near-zero LOC amounts to an effective ban on using atrazine-based herbicides – amid growing international grain shortages, widening hunger, soaring fuel and fertilizer prices, increasing mandates to turn more corn into ethanol (to replace “non-renewable” gasoline), and other important considerations.
This Biden EPA decision certainly looks like a “major federal action,” representing a “transformative expansion” in EPA’s regulatory authority, and raising “major questions” about what specific language in FIFRA gives EPA such enormous, unprecedented authority. It would certainly seem that this 3.4 ppb edict defies the legal standards just recently articulated by the US Supreme Court in West Virginia v. EPA, regarding the agency’s asserted authority to regulate power plants in the name of climate change – wherein the court used precisely those quoted terms to reject EPA’s arrogation of authority.
EPA’s proposed standard would certainly result in significant regional and national political, economic and agricultural consequences. It would certainly affect a significant segment of the US economy – and intrude into arenas that are the province of the US Departments of Agriculture and Energy. It would also undermine EPA’s own climate change mitigation and prevention initiatives.
America’s premier environmental agency seems to be telling the Supreme Court, try and stop us again.
Biden Administration policies have already made energy insanely expensive (up to $5 a gallon for regular and $9 in some California cities), created supply chain crises for baby formula and other essential consumer goods, and sent inflation soaring to 9.1% annualized, compared to 1.5% in January 2021. These policies are battering millions of American families.
The President just returned from Saudi Arabia, where he begged the king and prince to produce more oil, so that Team Biden can continue restricting production of America’s own vast petroleum resources. This is embarrassing, demeaning, hypocritical and destructive.
Amid widespread hunger in Sri Lanka, and even in Germany and the UK, due to extreme green policies, Team Biden seems to think it should cause still more damage – and kowtow more to extremists.
As the nation flirts with the possibility of recession, would Team Biden really risk another Depression Era Dust Bowl – which occurred in part because of too much plowing, amid still-record high temperatures and droughts decades before anyone conceived of manmade, fossil-fuel-driven climate crises?
This 3.4 ppb LOC is bad science, bad policy, bad agriculture, bad economics, and perverse morality. Anyone wishing to weigh in on the proposal can submit comments until September 6 at:
Paul Driessen is senior policy advisor for the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (www.CFACT.org) and author of books, reports and articles on energy, environmental, climate and human rights issues
@1009 Officers responded to the 500 N Last Chance Gulch block for an assault. The subsequent investigation led to a male being arrested for (M) Assault & (F) Intimidation. The male was booked at the jail.
@1704 Officers responded to the 3100 block of N Washington Street for a domestic disturbance. The male involved was not located on scene by officers. The male was later located and arrested for PFMA (1st offense). The male was booked at the jail.
@1728 Officers responded to the 400 block of N Last Chance Gulch for a mental health crisis. An adult male was subsequently placed in protective custody and transported to the hospital.
The Helena Police Department responded to 109 calls for service. A summary of some of the calls the Officers responded to are as follows: 10 animal-related calls, six crashes, 6 Disorderly/Disturbance calls, 11 suspicious incidents, two thefts, six trespasses, and conducted 11 welfare checks.
This week two of my bipartisan bills to increase commonsense forest management passed the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. I’m glad to see these two bills come closer to becoming law.
My first bill reverses the disastrous Cottonwood decision to prevent frivolous litigation from blocking forest management projects.
This bill ends a procedural loophole being abused by fringe groups in the courts to block important forest restoration work that is critical for what I like to call the 4 W’s: reducing wildfire, protecting wildlife, improving watersheds, and supporting workers.
My other bill that passed the committee, the “Root & Stem Act,” will increase the pace of forest management by empowering collaborative groups and leveraging private resources to complete projects more efficiently.
Dave Sheets, owner of DS Jr. Trucking in Greycliff, Montana, agrees that commonsense forest management reform will promote healthy forests and support Montana communities. Hear what Dave has to say:
As I always say, we must manage our forests before they manage us.
My “Sun River Hydropower Authorization Act” also passed the committee. This bill would authorize hydropower in the Bureau of Reclamation’s Sun River Project, including at the Gibson Dam.
The advancement of these bills is a big win for Montana and the West, and I will keep working until they become law.
It’s time we put what’s best for loggers over lawyers!
The ammonia leak inside of Centennial Ice Arena has been isolated. There is no threat to the public, however, Two Moon Park is still closed along with the bike path near the ice arena. Bench Blvd is open to regular traffic.
The Billings Fire Department’s HAZMAT team entered the building and located the source of the ammonia leak, shut off valves and pumps, and safely exited the building.
Fire Crews consulting each other regarding the Ammonia leak
The next step is to re-enter the ice arena to determine if and where there are any hazardous ammonia levels. If dangerous levels are located, they will ventilate the building toward the bike path, which is why the bike path remains closed.
Large Fans were placed in entrance to blow fresh air into the ice arena
Ammonia is a toxic industrial chemical; if exposed, a person will experience severe skin and lung irritation.
If the building does need ventilation, the level of ammonia that is pushed out of the building would be neutralized once outside and it would not be enough to harm anyone beyond the bike path.
Batallion Chief Jason Lyon said the amount of ammonia used inside of the ice arena is relatively small and is stored in a closed system.
No one was inside of the ice arena when it’s alarm system alerted dispatchers of the issue.
Billings Fire Department at the Centennial Ice Areana
@0033 Officers responded to the 1800 block of E Custer Ave for a male possibly intoxicated and lighting fireworks next to fuel pumps. Contact was made with the male. At the conclusion of the investigation the male was arrested for DUI (1st), Criminal Endangerment (F) and Obstructing a Peace Officer. The male was booked at the jail.
@1207 Officers responded to the 800 block of N. Oregon Street regarding a male with out of state warrants for his arrest. Officers located the male and he was arrested for the State of Washington warrants. The male was booked at the jail.
@1410 An officer took a report of a theft from the 600 block of N Fee Street. This is under investigation.
@1502 An officer responded to the 100 block of N Last Chance Gulch regarding a theft of money. This is under investigation.
@1749 An officer responded 600 block of Helena Avenue regarding a theft. Officers are attempting to identify the male.
@2018 Officers responded to the 900 block of N Cooke regarding a family disturbance. Officers determined nothing criminal occurred. This case is inactive.
The Helena Police Department responded to 94 calls for service. A brief summary of some of the calls the Officers responded to are as follows: 19 animal related calls, 2 crashes, 4 Disorderly/Disturbance calls, 8 suspicious incidents, 5 thefts, 3 trespass and conducted 2 welfare checks.
“Nothing is private. We teeter on the cusp of a cultural, technological and societal revolution the likes of which have never been seen before…. Nothing that was once private is protected. We have not even begun to register the fallout from the tsunami bearing down upon us in the form of AI (artificial intelligence) surveillance, and yet it is already re-orienting our world into one in which freedom is almost unrecognizable,” wrote John Whitehead for The Rutherford Institute.
Recently released documents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) show that the agency has been engaged in widespread spying on the American people.
Tech Crunch reported on the documents that were obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Over 6,000 records were obtained through the FOIA, which were widely redacted.
The documents showed that DHS has used mobile location data to track Americans via their cellphones without obtaining a warrant. DHS has about 336,000 location points from cellphones. The documents also revealed that the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) had obtained, during just a three-day period in 2018, 113,654 location points.
DHS defends its warrantless spying on Americans by calling it “100 percent opt-in” in the documents. That pesky Constitution can be overlooked because cellphone users “voluntarily” share the location data through apps.
Michael Maharrey, reporting for The Tenth Amendment Center, stated that most cellphone users are unaware that the apps being used were installed on their phones.
Maherrey detailed that the list of agencies spying on Americans range far beyond DHS and CBP. Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE), Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), Department of Defense, Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are just a few of the agencies spying on Americans, largely through a private company called Venntel.
At least $2 million has been spent by DHS with Venntel to access location data.
Maherrey reported that “Venntel allows users to search for devices in a particular area. Users can also conduct searches for particular device identifiers allowing them to track a specific device. With this information, the users can track devices to specific workplaces, businesses and homes.”
“By purchasing data from private companies, these federal agencies can sidestep any legal hurdles — however insubstantial — preventing them from collecting such information,” Maherrey added.
The fact that the federal government has been using cellphones to spy on Americans is not new, but this information provides a little insight on the scope of the spying.
But this is only the first stage of digital hell with the government advancing the ball even further in the form of Digital ID and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC).
New York University’s Center for Human Rights and Global Justice issued a report last month titled “Paving a Digital Road to Hell?” A press release on the report stated:
“Governments around the world have been investing heavily in digital identification systems, often with biometric components (digital ID). The rapid proliferation of such systems is driven by a new development consensus, packaged and promoted by key global actors like the World Bank, but also by governments, foundations, vendors and consulting firms.”
The report stated that the World Bank is “energetically promoting biometric and other digital ID systems that are increasingly linked to large-scale human rights violations, especially in the Global South,” and it’s “promoted in the name of development and inclusion” while “achieving neither.” It “may well be paving a digital road to hell.”
On July 11, the Office of Financial Research (OFR) published a paper in support of CBDCs. The OFR was created by the U.S. Department of the Treasury after the 2007-2008 financial crash.
CBDCs would allow the government, according to the OFR, to monitor all transactions which they claim is to combat bank runs. Yes, they say they want to monitor your transactions for your own good.
Matt Agorist, for The Free Thought Project, wrote:
“This is a system that Hitler, Stalin, or Mao would have relished over. Imagine a dictator having global transaction censorship across their empires and at the touch of a button, they could silence their political enemies and propel them into financial ruin. That is what’s coming.”
“Will we stand up and say no, or will we roll over and allow the state to take complete control over our lives and surrender our voices and freedoms for a false assurance of security? The choice is yours.”
By Marc Kelley As with many of the Gangsters of the 1930’s, John Dillinger was and continues today, to be portrayed as a modern day “Robin Hood” fighting for the little guy against the big money banks and corrupt politicians of the time. Books have been written, movies have been made, and stories have been told of how this charismatic Gangster lived and how he died. Dillinger loved the limelight as much as any politician alive today and he often posed for photographs working his charm and becoming a master at manipulating the media. Much like those who seek the bright lights of fame, Dillinger was constantly baiting the media into telling his story, the way he wanted it to be told. A deeper look into the life of John Dillinger reveals a man who was very much a creature of habit and a man who spared no expense to indulge his depravity. Dillinger loved women and there is little doubt he was attracted to a certain “type”. Beautiful women with dark hair, dark eyes, and a misguided sense of loyalty, would always be on his arm or at his side. Whether or not you believe he loved these women is for you to decide. What is not in question is the fact, John Dillinger drew his final breath on July 22, 1934 while enjoying the spoils gained from a life of crime.
John Herbert Dillinger was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on June 22, 1903. He was the youngest of three children born to a second generation of immigrant parents, whose family came to our country in the early 1850’s. In an interview given by Dillinger himself, he described his childhood as “harsh”, going so far as to explain his Father believed in the concept, “spare the rod and spoil the child”. Whether this was in fact the truth or simply part of the story John Dillinger wanted the public to believe, it seems clear his Father was unable to convey his message to his son. Dillinger’s Mother died just before his fourth birthday and he was raised by his sister for several years, until his Father remarried in 1912. Most accounts of this time tell of a difficult relationship between Dillinger and his Stepmother. Dillinger’s teen years were especially tough for himself as well as his family. The young Dillinger was constantly in trouble for petty theft and bullying younger, smaller children. Unable to get along with the other students, Dillinger left school and began working in a machine shop; however, his criminal behavior continued. Constantly in trouble and running with the wrong crowd, Dillinger’s Father intervened and moved his family to the rural town of Mooresville, Indiana. Once again, a change of venue would not change the young man’s behavior and within a year after the move, he was arrested for auto theft. Given the choice between going to prison and enlisting in the military, Dillinger chose the latter, and entered the Navy, where he served as a Fireman, 3rd Class aboard the USS Utah. Dillinger fared no better with the discipline that comes with serving in the military and within a few months he deserted and was ultimately dishonorably discharged.
After returning home to Mooresville, Dillinger met a sixteen year old girl by the name of Beryl Ethel Hovious. Beryl was a beautiful young woman with dark hair and dark eyes, just exactly what John Dillinger liked in his women. In 1924 the two were married and once again Dillinger attempted to settle down and live an honest life with his beautiful, young wife. However, much like his previous attempts to abide by the rules of a civilized society, Dillinger was again drawn into a life of crime. Dillinger joined his friend Ed Singleton and the two planned and carried out a robbery of a local grocery store. In the process of the robbery, Dillinger pulled a gun and attempted to force the owner into giving up the cash he had on hand. It is unclear exactly what transpired next; however, the firearm was discharged and even though the bullet struck no one, the use of the weapon increased the charges Dillinger would ultimately face for his participation in the robbery. As the pair attempted to get away from the scene, they were spotted by a local minister who recognized the pair and reported what he had seen to the local police. The two men were arrested the next day. Singleton immediately pled not guilty to the crime and requested a jury trial. Dillinger however, was convinced by his Father to “do the right thing” and pled guilty to the crime without first consulting an attorney. Because he used a weapon, and ultimately struck the shop owner in the head with a machine bolt he had wrapped in a cloth, the charges against Dillinger included: assault, battery with intent to rob and conspiracy to commit a felony. For his crimes, Dillinger was sentenced to 10-20 years in the Indiana State Prison. Dillinger was clearly angry and felt he had been “sold a bill of goods” after admitting to his crime and being sentenced to what he saw as an overly harsh sentence. Upon being processed into the State Prison, Dillinger exhibited his self-absorbed, bigger than life ego, stating “I will be the meanest bastard you ever saw when I get out of here”, and so began what would be his education, into a life of crime.
In Prison Dillinger would meet and begin a longtime friendship with Harry “Pete” Pierpoint, Homer Van Meter, Charles Makley, and Russell Clark. These men were seasoned criminals and bank robbers who would teach the young Dillinger how to be successful in the world of crime. Through stories and accounts of their exploits, the three older men introduced Dillinger to the bank robbing system which had been developed by Herman Lamm, the man who would become known as “The Father of modern bank robbery”. The four men formed a close knit unit and planned a series of bank robberies they would commit as soon as they were released from prison. For Dillinger that time would be nine years, and in May 1933, Dillinger was paroled and released from prison. 1933 was the height of the Great Depression, jobs were scarce, times were tough, and true to his word, Dillinger had no intentions of attempting to abide by the law or make an honest living.
June 21, 1933 Dillinger robbed the New Carlisle National Bank in New Carlisle, Ohio and made off with $ 10,000.00. Twenty three days later he robbed a bank in Bluffton, Ohio and was captured by police who had been following his movements. Upon his arrest and search, a document was discovered which appeared to lay out a plan for a prison escape. Dillinger refused to answer any question about the document and the police never realized what they had in their possession. The document in question was in fact Dillinger’s personal notes covering a plan to break his friends out of prison. The plan called for firearms to be smuggled into the laundry facility of the Indiana State Prison where his friends held prison jobs. Four days after Dillinger’s capture, Pete Pierpoint, Russell Clark, Charles Makley, Ed Shouse, Harry Copeland and John Hamilton, escaped from the Indiana State Prison, following Dillinger’s plan. Returning the favor, on October 12, 1933, Pierpoint, Clark and Makley posed as Indiana State Police Officers, and claimed to be part of the extradition order to return Dillinger to Indiana to face charges in that state. When asked for their credentials, Pierpoint pulled his firearm and shot Sheriff Jess Sarber in the head at point blank range. The four men escaped to Indiana and formed what would be called the “Terror Gang”, with John Dillinger leading the crew and planning their robberies. Over the next twelve months The Terror Gang would commit a string of twelve bank robberies. It is also during this time period, John Dillinger would meet his second dark haired, dark eyed stunningly beautiful, female companion…her name was Billie Frechette.
Billie Frechette, by most accounts was a “party girl” who liked the cabaret atmosphere, enjoyed alcohol, and the free wheeling life of the 1930’s. At age 26, she met John Dillinger, fell in love and began traveling with him. Frechette was the perfect companion for Dillinger’s persona. Her role was more that of “eye candy” than that of an accomplice or partner in crime. Whether or not you believe Dillinger loved Billie Frechette, it was very clear, she loved him. Dillinger would spend just under six months with Billie Frechette, and in that time the couple traveled extensively and were often in the company of Lester “Baby Face” Nelson. On one trip in particular, Frechette accompanied Dillinger as well as “Baby Face” Nelson and his wife Helen, to San Antonio, Texas. The two Gangsters were looking to add to their arsenal and had heard of a young gunsmith named Hyman Lehman. Lehman had a particular way with firearms and would modify several Colt 1911 pistols which were chambered in the new 38 Super cartridge . In addition to several pistols and ammunition, Lehman sold the gangsters Thompson sub machine-guns. When law enforcement recovered some of these weapons, they would be traced back to the San Antonio gunsmith and when the newly formed FBI came to talk to Hyman Lehman, it would be his description of Billie Frechette and her good looks, which allowed them to tie her to the Gangsters. Dillinger and “Baby Face” Nelson had posed as wealthy Texas oilmen looking to add unique weapons to their personal collections. When the weapons were shipped, it would be to the address of the apartment, Billie Frechette shared with Dillinger in St Paul, Minnesota. It would not take long before law enforcement began surveillance on Billie Frechette and on April 9, 1934 she would be arrested, charged with harboring a fugitive and subsequently convicted and sentenced to two years incarceration at the Federal Correctional Farm in Milan, Michigan. The story goes that Dillinger and an unknown associate watched from less than a block way as FBI Agents arrested Frechette. While Dillinger was visibly upset with her incarceration, no plans were made to break her out of prison as he had done for several other members of his gang. The couple would never see each other again, as John Dillinger would be killed by FBI Agents while Billie was serving time.
Dillinger had always enjoyed the “party life” and the un-ending supply of young women on whom he would ply with his charm and flattery. The subject of the many women Dillinger was involved with, caused friction between the other members of the gang, but none more so, then with Helen Gillis, the wife of “Baby Face” Nelson. Yet no amount of warning or council would get through to John Dillinger. In what would turn out to be a very accurate description, Lester “Baby Face” Nelson warned Dillinger about his penchant for pretty women. After narrowly escaping the shoot-out at The Little Bohemia Lodge, “Baby Face” Nelson told Dillinger, ” mark my words, it will be a woman that will be your death”. Unfazed by the warning, Dillinger is said to have laughed and told his friend he was going to the cabaret to find a “friend” who would appreciate his company.
It was not long thereafter, John Dillinger would take up company with yet another beautiful woman with dark features. Polly Hamilton, was a runaway from Fargo, North Dakota who upon reaching the city met and befriended another young woman named Anna Sage. Anna Sage was a part-time prostitute who would travel to Chicago to work. Sage introduced Hamilton to the lifestyle and in the summer of 1934 the pair were sharing an apartment in the city. Hamilton and Dillinger would meet in June of 1934 at the Barrel of Fun Night Club. The couple began dating and spending time together at the apartment Anna and Polly shared. By this time the FBI had named John Dillinger as “Public Enemy # 1” and placed at $ 10,000.00 reward on his head. The large reward resulted in a steady flow of tips concerning Dillingers on his whereabouts and soon allowed the FBI to tie Dillinger to Polly and Anna. In what would be seen as immoral and bigoted by the Chicago politics of today, FBI Agent Melvin Purvis along with the help of the Chicago Police, picked Anna Sage up for questioning. Upon learning she was an immigrant from Romania, the Feds threatened her with deportation on the grounds of “low moral character”, unless she gave them information about Dillinger. Scared and without options, Anna Sage agreed to provide information as to the time and place Dillinger could be found. Upon learning that Polly and Dillinger were planning to attend a movie at the Biograph Theater, Anna contacted Melvin Purvis and agreed to join the couple and to wear a bright orange dress so that she could be easily identified by the FBI Agents, as the three walked to the theater. On July 22, 1934, it would be the warning given to John Dillinger by his friend “Baby Face” Nelson, which would prove prophetic. Dillinger died in a hail of gunfire from FBI Agents after being sold out by Anna Sage. If Dillinger could have avoided the temptation of the beautiful, young, dark haired Polly, he almost certainly would not have met his end, on that hot Chicago day.
While many may say Dillinger got exactly what he deserve, and equal number will argue to the contrary. For many years rumors persisted, John Dillinger had never murdered anyone. The only accusation of violence noted in history, stems from the 1934 of killing Patrolman Patrick O’Malley, following a bank robbery in East Chicago. However Dillinger was never arrested or convicted of this or any other murder. On the night of Dillinger’s death, an unknown individual chalked a pavement near the Biograph Theater with the epitaph: “Stranger, stop and wish me well, just a prayer for my soul in Hell. I was a good fellow, most people said,betrayed by a woman all dressed in red.
After returning home to Mooresville, Dillinger met a sixteen year old girl by the name of Beryl Ethel Hovious. Beryl was a beautiful young woman with dark hair and dark eyes, just exactly what John Dillinger liked in his women. In 1924 the two were married and once again Dillinger attempted to settle down and live an honest life with his beautiful, young wife. However, much like his previous attempts to abide by the rules of a civilized society, Dillinger was again drawn into a life of crime. Dillinger joined his friend Ed Singleton and the two planned and carried out a robbery of a local grocery store. In the process of the robbery, Dillinger pulled a gun and attempted to force the owner into giving up the cash he had on hand. It is unclear exactly what transpired next; however, the firearm was discharged and even though the bullet struck no one, the use of the weapon increased the charges Dillinger would ultimately face for his participation in the robbery. As the pair attempted to get away from the scene, they were spotted by a local minister who recognized the pair and reported what he had seen to the local police. The two men were arrested the next day. Singleton immediately pled not guilty to the crime and requested a jury trial. Dillinger however, was convinced by his Father to “do the right thing” and pled guilty to the crime without first consulting an attorney. Because he used a weapon, and ultimately struck the shop owner in the head with a machine bolt he had wrapped in a cloth, the charges against Dillinger included: assault, battery with intent to rob and conspiracy to commit a felony. For his crimes, Dillinger was sentenced to 10-20 years in the Indiana State Prison. Dillinger was clearly angry and felt he had been “sold a bill of goods” after admitting to his crime and being sentenced to what he saw as an overly harsh sentence. Upon being processed into the State Prison, Dillinger exhibited his self-absorbed, bigger than life ego, stating “I will be the meanest bastard you ever saw when I get out of here”, and so began what would be his education, into a life of crime.