Coquille is spinning with the news of the arrest, ten years later, of Nicholas McGuffin for the murder of fifteen year old Leah Freeman. Emotions ran high today as McGuffin plead not guilty and requested a hearing to reduce the $2M bail and possibly be let out on his own recognizance.

Cory Courtright, having kept her daughter’s long cold murder case alive by sheer will these last ten years alternated back and forth between tears and relief and tears again.

Nicholas McGuffin, the former boyfriend charged with Leah’s murder, shook uncontrollably and his eyes were red with crying and he sniffled throughout the hearing.

Some members of both families cried during the proceeding.

All of these emotions displayed were natural and to be expected but the one display of emotion I can’t get my head around is that of McGuffin’s mother. Before entering the courtroom she spoke to Cory’s back saying, “Cry all you want, Cory. Nick is innocent”.

Honestly, what was that? Cory didn’t indict or charge her son with murder. Why confront the grieving mother of a long dead child? Why make it personal, like it was between the two of them? What was that?

Does McGuffin blame Cory for not letting the case go cold? Does she believe Cory influenced the grand jury?

Hours later I am still chilled by that act. As pitiful as Nicholas McGuffin appeared today in court, after witnessing his mother’s behavior I could almost imagine her spawn being capable of disregarding another human life enough to take it.

Having said all that I, of course, can only speculate upon how I might behave in the same situation and hope it wouldn’t be the same.

Gosh, let’s all cross our fingers and pray for justice. Leah and her family most certainly deserve it. Read this update at KCBY

Lab results expected by the end of April could help solve the decade-old murder of 15-year-old Leah Freeman, law enforcement officials said.

Coquille Police Chief Mark Dannels on Wednesday said evidence discovered during the current investigation into the murder was sent to crime labs in the Midwest and in Oregon.

As a testament to the impact this murder had on the friends and family of Jayme Austin and the community the Lone Pine Fire Hall in Fairview was packed to the gills and the doors opened to allow participation from outside.

It was a moving and emotional service and afterward, as befitting the rural farm area and Jayme’s upbringing riding horses and carousing in the neighborhood, the stories were earthy and funny. My sons traveled up from California and I rushed over from an event I was participating in in Cottage Grove and I learned a lot about Jayme’s feisty spirit and how much her family will miss her.

To her family I hope they will hold themselves for better times. To Jayme, peace be upon you.

Jayme Austin, a young Coquille woman and friend of my sons’ disappeared yesterday.

She asked to go to her mother’s place to take a shower before going to work in Coos Bay. At noon, Gisholt got a call from Austin’s employer, who said Austin never showed up for work. Gisholt went home and found her daughter’s car parked outside her residence, 59376 Fairview Road, but Austin was not there, nor at her home down the road.

Unconfirmed reports indicate there were signs of a struggle and that Jayme may have had a stalker. She was also reportedly ending an abusive relationship with an individual who is believed to be at sea on a commercial fishing boat and not likely responsible for her disappearance. Other reports state that divers are searching a pond in the vicinity of her mother’s home.

Please keep up the good thoughts for her safe return.

Here are a couple of pics from today’s tournament in Coquille. Here are David Broussard and Dane Saxton with some cool kicks.

Shanley Geddry demonstrates her winning form and her new hair color.

Been suffering from a bit of information overload, lately. Must admit, everything I am learning is of utmost interest to me and I love reading more and more on my favorite subjects, energy, economics (which I used to hate) and ecology. There is no limit to the information available and I am tasked by virtue of business demands to disseminate all of it into a comprehensive plan and series of articles.

Doing all this cuts into my personal life, however, and compounded with all the travel I find myself getting further and further behind on everything including my salvation, exercise and family and friends. Schedules are looking to get worse before they get better so I am not too sure how well I will keep up with this blog although I will be publishing the articles mentioned above here as well as elsewhere.

One thing to note, my experiment with barefoot running seems to be working though I have only logged 12 barefoot miles so far. For other runners, I suggest you give it a try as it completely takes the pressure off your hips and lets your foot perform like a foot is supposed to perform. Pretty cool!

For many years I was a runner, forty to fifty miles a week, until an old ski injury caught up with me. After a couple of years on crutches I took up biking to replace that endorphin fix and I absolutely love biking. Running, however, is such a joy and I have really missed it so I was delighted when I read Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen, by Christopher McDougall.

Evidently, we are literally designed, genetically engineered you might say, to run and to run barefoot. Running shoes alter your stride to land on your heel instead of the balls of your feet jarring the hips and causing many other injuries. However, if you run as nature intended landing on the balls of your feet the impact is absorbed much differently, efficiently so that the Tarahumara tribes people, ultramarathoners, keep running into their nineties.

So, with the help of some Vibram Five Finger shoes that allow the toes to splay and grab, the arch to bend and the calves to absorb impact and a skinny little sole to protect from stickers, I am hoping to add some running back into my endorphin fix. So far, so good.