Not Going to Be Afraid

Tuesday

• November 10, 2015

www.magicvalley.com •

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Family Speaks Out on Rancher Killed by Deputies • A3

Twin Falls Development Chief to Leave for Oregon Job NATHAN BROWN nbrown@magicvalley.com‌

STEPHEN REISS, TIMES-NEWS‌

Savahna Goodman, left, and her mother Maya on Friday, Nov. 6, 2015, at Moxie Java Tuscany in Twin Falls. Savahna says she has been victimized by a stalker, but unable to get an order of protection.

‘Not Going To Be Afraid’ Stalking Victims Left Without Legal Protection Look to Change Law NATHAN BROWN nbrown@magicvalley.com‌

‌ WIN FALLS • It started out simply — T Savahna Goodman had to inspect an apartment for a property management company she worked for.‌ Goodman, 25, of Twin Falls, sent a text to the tenant from her cellphone to set up the appointment. So he had her number and sent her a text. And later he kept texting her. And texting her. And texting her.

At first, she was polite, thinking that would help. It didn’t. His texts became inappropriate and she asked him to stop.

Which he did, for a while. Then he showed up at one of her classes at the College of Southern Idaho, where she is studying law.

“He just became very aggressive and kind of violent again,” she said.

When she asked him, again, to stop contacting her, he became more threatening.

“He worded it in a way that’s very subtle, but very direct at the same time,” she said.

“We found out that stalkers are very good at the language, how they word things,” said Savahna’s mother, Mya Lee Goodman.

The two looked into the man’s background and found a lot to be worried

STEPHEN REISS, TIMES-NEWS‌

Text messages on Savahna Goodman’s iPhone from an individual she says has stalked, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015, at Moxie Java Tuscany in Twin Falls. about, including previous cases where he was charged with making threats, and two cases where he was charged with assaulting an ex-girlfriend, The charges were dropped when the victim recanted. Savahna found Please see STALKING, A5

‌ WIN FALLS • The city of Twin T Falls’ economic development director is leaving for a job in Oregon.‌ Melinda Anderson, who is also executive director of the city’s Urban Renewal Agency, announced Monday that she is leaving to become economic development director in Tualatin, south of Portland. Her last day is Dec. 15.

Anderson, who is from Coos Bay, Ore., has worked for the city since 2006. Anderson said Monday that it is “bittersweet” to leave Anderson and she will miss everyone in Twin Falls. She said she became aware of the opening in Tualatin in September.

“I will sincerely miss this community and the many people who have helped make economic development a success,” Anderson said in a statement. “However, I am excited for the next chapter in my career and to return home and be closer to family.”

The city does not expect to fill her job immediately, but will review the functions of both of her positions, city officials said in statement. Until the position is filled, City Manager Travis Rothweiler will do both jobs with the help of other city staff, said city spokesman Joshua Palmer.

Anderson told the Times-News the URA and city jobs go hand in hand, noting that the city many economic development projects are funded by the URA via the use of tax-increment financing. She said Rothweiler, who will be reviewing the way the two jobs are structured, has been heavily involved in economic development along with her.

“Everything that I’ve been working on, he’s been a part of, so he knows how everything has been working,” she said.

Before Anderson, David McAlindin had both jobs, Palmer said. The

Stalking Case Filed in Twin Falls County Man charged with first-degree stalking after violating protection order.

See page A3.

‘A Thousand More Thank Yous’ for Vets at CSI Event JULIE WOOTTON

jwootton@magicvalley.com‌

‌ WIN FALLS • T The College of Southern Idaho’s “Over 60 and Getting Fit” class honored its veterans Monday.‌ More than 20 veterans participate in the Twin Falls class. One of them, Frank Ellis — a retired CSI professor — served in the U.S. Army from 1968-69.

“I don’t think I’d want to do it again,” he said, “but I’m glad to do it once.”

On Wednesday, Ellis plans to go to a free pancake breakfast on Veteran’s Day. About five years ago, CSI physical education professor Shelly Wright decided to honor veterans in her Over 60 class. It turned into a yearly tradition.

“We want to do something special in house,” she said.

Class members wore red, white and blue clothing Monday, and accessories such as patriotic-themed earrings and American flag pins.

After reciting the Pledge

DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS‌

Instructor Shelly Wright sings the National Anthem with Miss Idaho Kalie Wright and her CSI’s Over 60 and Getting Fit class Monday at the CSI gym in Twin Falls. of Allegiance, seniors joined to ge t h e r i n s i g n i n g t h e National Anthem.

“Without you guys, we would not be here today,” Wright told the veterans in her class. “May you have a thousand more thank yous.”

Ve t e r a n s i n t r o d u c e d

If You Do One Thing: Hunger Games Mockingjay Party will be held at 7 p.m. with games, food and prizes at Buhl Public Library, 215 Broadway Ave. N. Free.

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themselves. They each held up a cardboard cutout of their seal when a recording of the “Armed Forces Medley” played their branch’s song.

Wright introduced her daughter, Miss Idaho 2015 Kalie Wright, whose platform is advocating for veterans, current service

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Partly cloudy. B3

Please see CHIEF, A5

DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS‌

Veteran Matt Tombre gets his exercise during CSI’s Over 60 and Getting Fit class Monday at CSI in Twin Falls.

members and their families.

The 22-year-old has raised more than $50,000 for veteran-related organizations and projects.

Wright played guitar and sang, “God Bless the USA.” She told Please see VETERANS, A5

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Opinion A8 Jumble B10

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Today’s Live Chat Features ‘El Nuevo Jerome’ Reporters ‌Join the conversation about “El Nuevo Jerome,” the special reporting project that appeared Sunday in the Times-News.

POST COMMENTS: Find all the stories and photos at Magicvalley.com/ jerome, where you can log on to post comments on the stories. The webpage also features the series’ first two installments, which published Aug. 30 and Oct. 4.

TODAY’S LIVE CHAT: From 11:30 a.m. to noon today, Magicvalley.com will host a live chat, where you can ask questions for reporters Nathan Brown and Julie Wootton, give feedback and chat with other readers about the project. Participate in the chat for free at the top of the Magicvalley.com homepage.

SOCIAL MEDIA: Connect with the TimesNews and its readers at Facebook.com/ thetimesnews, or follow @ twinfallstn on Twitter.

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Tuesday, November 10, 2015 • A5

Untested Rape Kits in Idaho Raise Concerns ‌NAMPA (AP) • Dozens of rape kits in southwestern Idaho have not been sent to labs for testing, but officials remain torn if anything should be done to change that.‌ Backlogs of rape kits sitting in labs have been a nationwide concern in recent years. But in Idaho, the issue begins even earlier. Current law states that the fate of a rape kit lies with individual enforcement agencies who

determine if the case merits testing.

The Idaho Press-Tribune reported that the Nampa Police Department has collected more than a 100 rape kits since 2010, but only 12 have been sent to a lab. Meanwhile, the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office collected 79 kits and sent 24 to be tested during the same timeframe.

In smaller districts in Canyon County, like the Parma Police Department,

the two kits collected during an approximately five-year period were both sent to a lab. Other agencies across the state have sent a small percentage of their rape kits to labs.

The Twin Falls Police Department sent 19 out of their 84 kits to a lab. In eastern Idaho, the Idaho Falls Police Department sent 65 of their 150 kits to a lab.

Rape kits contain samples of semen, saliva or blood

Chief Continued from A1

city and the URA need to discuss and decide how to structure the two jobs moving forward, and are still in the early stages of deciding what to do, Palmer said. Balancing the city and URA duties has been an issue at times, he said, when the director has had to work on a major project for either one entity or the other that ends up taking up much of their time.

Anderson has presided over a busy time in the city’s economy development history, and she listed among her highlights her work to recruit companies like Chobani, Clif Bar and C3 Connect, helping to land Glanbia’s headquarters and cheese innovation

Stalking Continued from A1

another young woman who knew him who had similar stories of being stalked and harassed.

Savahna went to the police, but an order of protection wasn’t an option. In Idaho, she learned, a person can get an order of protection only against someone with whom she was married or had a relationship or child with, or a relative. None of those apply if you’re being stalked by a stranger.

“She would have had to perjure herself on the form,” Mya Goodman said.

Savahna Goodman isn’t the only person to run into the problem. Lori Stewart, victims’ advocate and spokeswoman for the Twin Falls County Sheriff ’s Office, said she sees several people a month seeking protection orders who don’t qualify because of a lack of a relationship with the alleged stalker.

“That is how it works,” Stewart said. “We call them protection orders, but they are truly protection orders under the domestic violence act,” she said.

Cautious Optimism‌ State Sen. Grant Burgoyne, D-Boise, plans to sponsor a bill during the next session that would expand Idaho’s protection order law so it includes against anyone who is harassing or stalking a person, regardless of the relationship to the perpetrator.

“We tried to make it narrow enough not to open the floodgates, but to give people an avenue … who need protection,” Burgoyne said.

In late September, when Burgoyne announced his plans, he told the story of a Boise woman who was stalked by a business client earlier that month. She was unable to get a protection order and survived being shot by her stalker in her own yard on Sept. 12. Burgoyne decided to write the legislation two weeks later.

Burgoyne said he knows the law won’t deter all stalkers, but that allowing someone to get a protection order at least puts the problem on the radar of law enforcement. Prosecutors, he said, are often overburdened with other cases and don’t have time to pursue stalking or harassment charges or gather the evidence to prove the charges in court.

STEPHEN REISS, TIMES-NEWS

Melinda Anderson, executive director of the Urban Renewal Agency in Twin Falls, gazes out a second-story window of the Rogerson building on Main Avenue, during a July 16 tour. center downtown. The last, she said, not only brought G l a n b i a ’s e m p l o ye e s downtown but helped to kick off the revitalization of Old Towne.

“It was really exciting,” she said.

“I’m cautiously optimistic we might be able to get this legislation passed,” he said.

Rather than live in fear and stay quiet, the Goodmans have reached out to local law enforcement, lawmakers and others to raise awareness of the issue.

They want to form an advocacy group and push for changes to the law during the 2016 session.

“There are many women in this community who can testify to things they’ve been through,” Savahna Goodman said.

A Big Gap‌

Mya Goodman said the police tried to help her daughter, but there wasn’t much they could do under the law.

“It happens so often, they’re kind of jaded to it,” Savahna said. Police started to take her case more seriously when she showed them some of the threatening messages she had gotten.

Investigators look at cases individually and try to find other ways to help the victims, Stewart said. For example, she might help them devise a safety plan, or recommend they charge the person with trespassing the next time the stalker comes onto their property.

Sometimes, Stewart said, she forwards the case to a sheriff’s deputy if there is enough there to warrant harassment charges. In other cases, having an officer talk to someone and tell them to back off works.

“Really, each of those cases are individual,” Stewart said. “And that’s how they’re dealt with.”

State Rep. Lance Clow, R-Twin Falls, who has started talking to some constituents who are affected by the issue, including the Goodmans, said he was surprised to learn about how limited protection orders are in Idaho, and that he supports changing the law.

Most county prosecutors do too, Clow added.

“It seems like there’s a big gap in there,” Clow said.

The Idaho Prosecuting Attorneys Association doesn’t have its own bill it plans to bring next year, Twin Falls County Prosecuting Attorney Grant Loebs said, but the group has talked with Burgoyne about developing some of the language of his measure.

The IPAA hasn’t voted yet whether to support the bill Loebs said.

This year, the IPAA

Anderson also helped to lead the Main Avenue redesign and the development of a Downtown Commons plaza at the site of the Rogerson building.

Groundbreaking on these is expected in 2016.

brought a bill to change the word “contact” in nocontact orders to “conduct,” in response to a 2014 court ruling that held a man under a no-contact order did not violate it when he attended a homeowner’s association meeting where a victim was present. The bill failed in the House Judiciary Committee and Loebs said he doesn’t think the IPAA would try to bring the same bill back in 2016.

Not Going to be Afraid‌ Sometimes victims have a hard time proving verbal or emotional abuse is happening to the extent that it rises to the level to get a protection order, said Biridiana Gonzales, legal advocate for the Crisis Center of Magic Valley.

“They request a lot of

taken from a victim during a lengthy and invasive examination. Specimens containing DNA evidence are uploaded to a national database to check for a match.

Those who support sexual assault victims argue that every kit should be tested.

However, some officers and lawmakers counter that law enforcement agencies should be able to use their own judgment.

“I believe there should be

A n d e rs o n h a s a l s o been involved in regional economic development efforts, through her service in groups like the Southern Idaho Economic Development Organization, the Idaho Economy Development Association and as president of the Redevelopment Association of Idaho, which she founded.

“Melinda has played a pivotal role in economic development in our community and in the State of Idaho, and her contributions is evident in our economic development successes despite a significant and prolonged downturn in the national economy during her tenure,” Rothweiler said in a statement.

“We will miss Melinda as a member of our team and the expertise the she has brought to our community and region.”

proof these victims can’t always provide,” she said.

T h e C r i s i s C e n te r advises its clients to keep a “stalker journal” of what’s happening to make it easier to prove what they’re going through and get legal help, Gonzales said. Changing the law to make it easier to get protection orders would help many of the clients of the women’s shelter, she said.

Savahna said she would like to do more to educate and empower other women who are being stalked, and that there are other laws that should be fixed, too.

But changing the law to allow people in her situation to get protection orders is her first goal.

The pair will continue to lobby until something is changed, Mya Goodman said: “We’re not going to be afraid.”

some discretion,” Caldwell Police Chief Chris Allgood said. “Some cases turn out to not be a true rape or it turns out there was inconsistencies that turn out to be true.”

Every rape case is treated like the claim is truthful, Allgood said, but he doesn’t want to put someone’s DNA into a database if a crime wasn’t committed.

On the other hand, victims may not feel validated or supported if their rape kit

goes unchecked on the shelf, said Ilse Knecht, director of policy and advocacy for the Joyful Heart Foundation, a national advocate for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence.

“If we’re not testing kits, we’re sending a message that they don’t matter,” Knecht said. “We are going to test every kit because we want you to know that (suspects) are going to be held accountable.”

DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS‌

Veteran Judy Weatherbie holds up a sign with her branch of service in CSI’s Over 60 and Getting Fit class Monday at CSI in Twin Falls.

Veterans Continued from A1

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the veterans in her class.

“May you have a thousand more thank yous.”

Veterans introduced themselves. They each held up a cardboard cutout of their seal when a recording of the “Armed Forces Medley” played their branch’s song.

Wright introduced her daughter, Miss Idaho 2015 Kalie Wright, whose platform is advocating for veterans, current service members and their families. The 22-year-old has raised more than $50,000 for veteran-related organizations and projects.

Wright played guitar and sang, “God Bless the USA.” She told the seniors she has known them since she was young.

“This is always so special to me,” she said, adding she owes the veterans a huge thank you. She said they inspired her to pursue a veteran’s project as Miss Idaho.

See a photo gallery at Magicvalley.com.

Several Over 60 participants expressed their thanks to their classmates who have served. Camille Forster got teary-eyed as she spoke.

She thanked veterans for their strength and courage.

“You make this country what it is today,” she said.

Maureen Williams, a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, said the group nationwide is honoring Vietnam War veterans on the 50th anniversary of the war.

Americans skipped over honoring Vietnam veterans when they returned home, she said. “We are late in our thank yous.”

Twin Falls Mayor Don Hall — a U.S. Marine Corps veteran — also thanked the group of Over 60 veterans.

“You paved the path for all of us to live in a free society and enjoy all we have.”

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