What Eviction Looks Like

Bob Norman interviews Scarlett Rabalais. She chained herself to a poll after she was evicted from her motel. Rabalais is the owner of Ask Me Inn on Fort Lauderdale Beach.

All of that is gone now. Rabalais this morning was sitting on the side of her property by the sidewalk, chained to a power pole support wire. She and her motel guests were being evicted by Landmark Bank after it foreclosed on her, leaving her hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.

​Rabalais -- who held a sign with the words "Landmark Bank Is a Liar" -- says the bank not only refused to work with her but also manipulated her into losing the property. I've left a message for comment from Landmark Bank Vice President Peyton LaCaria that has yet to be returned.

Out of her complicated legal battles, Rabalais owes Landmark Bank $950,000. This is depressing and happening across Florida.

Mark Foley's Emails To Former Teen Intern

Now I don't know if this is overblown or not. This has the potential to be a major controversy for Mark Foley.

In the exchange, Foley asked the boy about weathering Hurricane Katrina and wrote, “send me an email pic of you.” In another email, Foley told the boy he was on a break from Congress and was in Florida. He asked the boy “how old are you now?”

The boy forwarded excerpts from the emails to congressional staffers and said, “Maybe it is just me being paranoid, but seriously. This freaked me out.”

The boy, who is not being identified because of his age, told the St. Petersburg Times in an interview last November, when the Times first learned of the emails, that he cut off correspondence with Foley.

“I thought it was very inappropriate,” the boy told the Times. “After the one about the picture, I decided to stop emailing him back.”

Foley has had an email exchange with another teen office page. The page was surprised that the Congressman contacted him. Foley's people told ABC News that they often asked for photos of interns. That doesn't explain why Foley would need a photo of a former-intern. The St. Petersburg Times reports that thety asked Foley's office about intern hiring practices, a year ago, and photos were never mentioned.

Some excerpts from the email.

glad your home safe and sound...we dont go back into sessionuntil Sept 5,,,,si its a nice long break...I am back in Florida now...its nice here..been raining today...it sounds like you will have some fun over the next few weeks...how old are you now?...

I am in North Carolina..and its over 100 degrees in New Orleans...wow that's really hot...well do you miss DC...Its raining here but 68 degrees so you can argue..did you have fun at your conference....what do you want for your birthday coming up...what stuff do you like to do

how are you weathering the hurricane...are you safe...send me an email pic of you as well....

The teen boy is 16 years-old.

Update: Journalist Bob Norman comes out and states Mark Foley is gay. I asked Norman, in the comments of his blog, what's his sourcing. I'm also concerned that gays will be bashed for Foley's actions. We don't see attractive blonds ridiculed because of Debra Lafave. And they shouldn't be. Whatever Foley's actions are do not represent the gay community.

Update: Here are other posts on the Mark Foley story.

Mark Foley Resigns
St. Petersburg Times Sat On Mark Foley Story
St. Petersburg Times Blows It On Mark Foley
The Tom Reynolds, Dennis Hastert & Mark Foley Connection
FBI Investigating Mark Foley
White House Opposes independent investigation into Foley
Mark Foley in Rehab
More Pages Talk About Foley Emails
Matt Drudge Blames Kids For Foley Troubles
Jeb Bush Letter to Dennis Hastert
Hastert Made Same Mistakes With Foley As He Did With Delay