In June of 1899, Drayton Medlin murdered William G. Brown at the Gastonia Cotton Mills, in Gastonia, NC.  He was tried, convicted, and sentenced to hang in Gaston County.  Medlin then appealed to the NC Supreme Court, which affirmed the lower court's decision.  Eventually, Medlin was pardoned by Gov. Charles B. Aycock.  Medlin continued to commit crimes after having left prison.  He died in Charlotte in the 1930s.  Brown's widow was left with a small insurance policy.  She never remarried.

State v. Medlin, Supreme Court of North CarolinaJun 1, 1900 36 S.E. 344 (N.C. 1900)

Paquimé, Casas Grandes, is an important archaeological site in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico.  At one point, the site’s compound contained nearly 2,000 connected rooms and reached a height of seven floors, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).  It is located in a fertile valley near the Casas Grandes River approximately 125 miles southwest of the southern border at El Paso, Texas.

Paquimé, Casas Grandes: An archaeological treasure

I would like to take a moment to tell you about something that happened in my life recently and how a government program helped my family in the months since.

In December my mother suffered an aneurysm at the pre-school where she worked in North Carolina. She was rushed to the nearest hospital and then airlifted to a top-tier hospital in Charlotte. The medical professionals there performed surgeries and procedures in order to decrease the amount of blood on the brain and decrease the swelling. They provided the highest level of care to her for the next 7 days until my father made the difficult decision to allow her to move on from this world.

I was able to be there when she passed away and had the opportunity to speak about her life at her memorial. So many people who knew her showed their love to me. My mother’s passing left a void in our family and in the community. I’m taking it one day at a time and holding on to the many good memories that I have of her.

As you can imagine, the costs of the medical care my mother received were very high. She didn’t have health insurance through the church that ran the pre-school where she worked. My father is a self-employed tile installer and never had health insurance through his business.

My father is a conservative Republican and my mother voted the same way he did even though she was a registered Democrat. Neither one of them wanted to get health insurance through the government program created by the Affordable Care Act, which is often referred to as Obamacare.

However, they signed up in late 2017 in order to avoid the penalty. They paid a total of about $2.50 per month for coverage. Their decision to get coverage through the government saved my family from financial ruin. The costs of my mother’s hospitalization would’ve been around $150,000 without insurance. Instead, my father has been billed around $2,900. Donations from family and friends will be able to cover most of that.

Our family is all too familiar with how medical bills can burden a family. In 1996, my mother had thyroid cancer, which she overcame. My father is still paying off the bills that came while my mother was in the hospital back then. Those bills made it difficult for my parents to pay the mortgage, buy vehicles, put gas in the car, pay for food, and cover the many expenses that families have. Sending me and siblings to college was out of the question because the money just wasn’t there. Those bills made all of our lives much more difficult and put a lot of stress on my parents.

Without the health insurance that my parents got because of the Affordable Care Act the rest of my father’s life would’ve been much more difficult. He could’ve lost everything or spent the rest of his life deeply in debt because of the medical bills. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act my father will be able to move into the next phase of his life without the crushing debt he would’ve had without insurance.

For that reason and many more I will continue to support progressive candidates and causes. The policies that we as Democrats fight to advance are important and worth fighting for because of how they help improve this country and the lives of Americans from coast to coast.

J. Brown

Green Bay, WI

One story of why we need the Affordable Care Act

Article written about my brother's woodworking projects which honor veterans.

S.C. vet's trucks help honor others

By Jarrett E. Brown

Brandon Brown, a U.S. Army veteran from Sumter, S.C., has combined his passion for woodworking and his experience in the service to craft replica military vehicles that evoke a sense of nostalgia for those who come to own them.

More importantly, the wooden trucks that Brown creates have helped him readjust to civilian life and create lasting connections with other veterans.

During his time in the Army, Brown spent a tour in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom and attained the rank of Specialist while serving as a mechanic and Shop Foreman at the motorpool of a base in Kuwait.

The time that Brown spent working on military vehicles gave him a deep base of knowledge about the Humvees and trucks that transport our troops during training and battle.

"I got to know the vehicles like the back of my hand," Brown said. "When I do a build, I Google a photo of the truck and use what I remember to fill in the finer details."

His first creations elicited positive responses from his military friends. That gave him the confidence to share the trucks with his former commanders and a wider range of veterans.

"One of my buddies from Afghanistan asked me for some Humvees for presents for the sponsors of the veterans association at his college in Arizona," Brown said. "They were so happy about with them and showed the trucks off to everybody."

Later, one of the sponsors commissioned a vehicle to be built as a gift for a World War II veteran's birthday.

"It was great to be able to do that because there is nothing that I enjoy more than honoring vets," Brown said.

Brown's work of creating pieces of nostalgia for other veterans has helped him in his own transition back to civilian life. As a result of an accident with a vehicle being driven by a Kuwati civilian, Brown suffers from severe back pain and an inabilty to perform tasks that he once considered routine. On top of that, he has had to deal with a persistent skin rash that forces him to stay away from certain irritants that exacerrabate the problem.

"This thing has been good for me," Brown said. "It's therapeutic for me because it helps me get my mind off things and gives me something good to focus on. And, it keeps me inside and keeps me with income."

For more information, please contact Brandon Brown or visit his Facebook or Instagram pages.
Email: Bbrownbrick1@hotmail.com
Cell Phone: (803)305-3702
Facebook: www.facebook.com/trucks4vetsoldiers
Instagram: www.instagram.com/trucks_for_vets_and_soldiers

S.C. vet's trucks help honor others

Debt crisis takes toll on Puerto Rican university students

By Jarrett E. Brown

June 6, 2017

San Juan, P.R. - Puerto Rico’s debt crisis, which resulted in a legal claim similar to bankruptcy by the U.S. territory, has caused reverberations throughout the island.  Due to its economic difficulties, cuts have had to be made to government programs and services.  Students at several of the University of Puerto Rico’s 11 campuses responded to major budget cuts for the system by calling strikes and shutting down their schools.

At the University of Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras campus in metropolitan San Juan, students shut down the school in late March and have shown no willingness to allow the school to reopen unless all budget cuts are taken off the table.  They fear that the cuts will make their education much less affordable and that the student experience will not be as pleasant if fewer programs are offered or if student services are cut.

The students have made the grassy lawns of the campus their temporary homes by parking their vehicles and setting up tents on school grounds.  Entry to the university is limited to students who are supportive of the cause and others as deemed appropriate by the students.  Most of the gates have been barricaded using a variety of materials including metal rods, lumber, ropes, and chains.  The lone entry point is manned around the clock by students who have set up a system by which each member of the cause takes a guard duty shift.

 The striking students have made their feelings clear about the current situation by vandalizing school property with graffiti, attaching a long red banner from the school’s highest building, and by hanging signs of protest on the school’s gates.  A majority of the graffiti and signs are critical of the school’s governing board, local and territorial officials, as well as the government of the United States.  The remainder of the signs voice the students’ concerns about a wide range of issues including racism, economic inequality, capitalism, the plight of the Palestinians, and genetically modified food.

The group has also consistently participated in public protests throughout San Juan in order to raise awareness of their concerns.  They have been actively seeking media attention in order to keep their views in the public eye.

Although the students are trespassing on government property and have committed innumerable acts of vandalism, local government officials have not made any effort to physically take back the property and apprehend any of the participants in the student movement.

Due to the rigidity of the students’ position that no budget cuts are acceptable and their apparent cohesiveness and strength as a group, it appears that the strike could linger on at least throughout the summer. 

According to the New York Times, the island owes approximately $74 billion in bond debt and is on the hook for $49 billion in unfunded obligations to government pensioners.  U.S. politicians, most notably President Donald Trump, have shown little inclination to help relieve Puerto Rico’s economic burdens by forgiving debt or offering monetary assistance such as a bailout.

Debt crisis takes toll on Puerto Rican university students

Opinion: Diversity enriches two distant towns

Jarrett E. Brown

March 1, 2017

 Dodge City, KS and Dutch Harbor, AK are 4,730 miles apart, but they have much more in common than it might seem.  Sure, one sits on the High Plains in southwest Kansas while the other is a fishing town located at the far end of Alaska’s mountainous Aleutian island chain.  But, both towns are important in that they are important producers of food products that end up on dinner plates around the world.  Both are also enriched by the diversity of the people who call each town home.



 I lived in Dodge City from January 2009 until July 2014.  While there I was employed as a saw operator at Cargill Meat Solutions and was a union steward for UFCW Local 2 for a majority of that time.  In addition, I spent a better part of a year moonlighting for the Dodge City Daily Globe and wrote articles for the Dodge City Law professional indoor football team.



 Though I have been gone from Dodge City for nearly three years, I often think about the people I met there.  Many of my coworkers and friends at Cargill were immigrants.  Some came to the United States by choice.  Others came as refugees who were forced to leave their homelands due to life threatening situations.  



 Those friends of mine who immigrated to Dodge City and the many who came before them have breathed life into the town.  They fill job vacancies at local companies like the beef packing plants,, start businesses of their own, contribute to public discourse, and share their experiences and customs with those who already call Dodge City home.  



 Dutch Harbor’s remote location and cold, windy winters deter all but the most hearty venturers.  It has a very miniscule year-round population but its ranks swell during the peaks of the commercial fishing seasons.  Most, if not all, of Dutch’s economy is in some way linked to the fishing industry.  Most of its jobs are filled by seasonal workers, many of whom are immigrants.



 In January, I came to Dutch to work at a seafood processing plant where I now lead a department of mostly immigrants who work on a seasonal basis.  As I have gotten to know the people that I am working with over the last few weeks I have often been reminded of my former coworkers at Cargill.  Just like the people I befriended in Dodge City, those I am getting to know here all have come in search of the opportunity to make better lives for themselves and their families.  



 One of the the things that makes Dodge City great is that anyone who is willing to work hard can go there and start out on the path to a brighter future.  From what I have seen in Dutch Harbor so far, the same principle holds true.  Both towns continue to benefit from the efforts of immigrants. The townspeople in both locales have come to realize the importance of welcoming anyone who sincerely wishes to contribute to the community and better themselves.



 Though I never envisioned living in Dodge City or Dutch Harbor when I was daydreaming in class as school kid, I am glad that my path has taken me to these two places among the many that I have been.  My life has been enriched by having been able to come into contact with such a variety of good and decent people who aspire to new heights.

Opinion: Diversity enriches two distant towns

Opinion: Nicaragua Rises Up Against Ortega

By Jarrett E. Brown

April 23, 2018

On Wednesday, April 18, non-violent  protesters took to the streets of Managua, Nicaragua to speak out against changes to the country’s social security system by President Daniel Ortega.  Some of the protesters, most of whom were the elderly, students, and adults with small children, were attacked by the Nicaraguan National Police and Juventud Sandinista, a government sponsored youth organization.

By Thursday, April 19, word about the protests and the actions of the national police had reached all corners of Nicaragua. Citizens began to make their voices heard not only about the changes to social security benefits, but also about corruption, oppression, censorship of the media and individuals, police brutality, fraudulent elections, and the lack of jobs, among other things.  As of this writing the protests and violence are ongoing.

During the first five days of protests the level of violence rose each day.  The government attacked non-violent and unarmed civilians, looted stores, burned buildings, kidnapped protesters, and arrested numerous people.  Opponents of the government protested peacefully,  threw balloons filled with paint at the police, threw molotov cocktails, threw rocks, set up roadblocks, set bonfires in the street, knocked down symbolic metal trees erected by the government, and  threatened government officials

President Daniel Ortega has held a tight grip over the government and the private sector since returning to power in 2007.  He single handedly controls all four branches of Nicaragua’s national government and has used his position of power to enrich himself at the expense of the Nicaraguan people, according to several media outlets.  Ortega has also used his power to stifle dissent and punish those who oppose him.

I care about what is happening in Nicaragua because I recently spent two months there and gained insight about the economic, social, and political problems it has.  I came to know many people from different walks of life and I came to appreciate the many wonderful things that Nicaragua has to offer its citizens and those of us who travel from far and wide to visit.  

The protests became personal for me when three young women I know contacted me through Facebook to tell me about the protests and what their experiences were.  

One of the young women, who asked to be identified as Michele, was a non-violent protester who was attacked by the national police on Friday night.  She was assaulted with a gun, punched in the ribs, kicked in the back, and beaten all over her arms.  “I went into the street because I love my country,’’ she said.  “And, because there is too much injustice and they have killed my friends.”

Another non-violent protester, Grethell Maradiaga, who works in the tourism sector, was hit in the face with rifle by a member of the national police.  “They hit me with a gun in my face.  They are killing my people.  I just want to cry,’’ she said.  “This is bad.  This hurts my heart.  Please pray for my country.’’

Photo caption: Grethell Maradiaga, a tour guide from Leon, Nicaragua, was hit in the face with a rifle by a member of the Nicaraguan national police on Friday, April 20, 2018.   She was peacefully protesting along with many others.

The third woman, who happens to be my girlfriend, has kept out of the streets in order to avoid dangerous situations and to protect her three-year-old son.  She has heard gunshots and seen acts of violence from her house.  She fears that the government will limit access to water, food, electricity, and cable in order to get the protesters to stop.  “I am scared.  They are trying to kill us,” she said.

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Jarrett Brown

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