Mark Twain wrote “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” in 1867. Almost 145 years later, the author decided to show up at the Calaveras County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee to actually jump a frog! Unfortunately for Mr. Twain, his historic short story was more entertaining than watching his modern-day frog jump.

Jumping Frog Jubilee Thurdsay May 16th – Sunday May 19th, 2013.

When sheriff’s deputies participate in an officer-involved shooting, they are automatically placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation into whether the shooting was within policy.

Now the Kern County Sheriff’s Office is conducting an administrative investigation into last week’s death of 33-year-old David Sal Silva.

But the seven deputies involved have not been placed on paid administrative leave.

Officials of the department wouldn’t explain why.

“We’re following the same protocol, as far as the administrative process is concerned, that we’d follow in similar-type incidents,” was all that sheriff’s spokesman Ray Pruitt would say about the issue.

The seven deputies and two California Highway Patrol officers tried to take Silva into custody early Wednesday morning after law enforcement received a report of a possibly intoxicated man outside Kern Medical Center, according to the sheriff’s department.

Silva struggled with them, deputies said. A canine was deployed, batons were used and Silva, 33, was pronounced dead at KMC less than an hour later after experiencing trouble breathing.

Witnesses have said Silva appeared to die right in front of them, minutes after officers struck him several times with batons.

The coroner’s office, which reports to Sheriff Donny Youngblood, said Friday that the cause of death hasn’t been determined and is pending toxicology and microscopic studies. Those studies could take as long as four months.

The CHP has said nothing about the role played by its officers. A spokesman said Monday their names won’t be released.

With the sheriff’s department investigating its own behavior in a high profile case, questions have been asked about an outside investigation.

But there was no indication Monday that outside agencies are involved — at least not yet.

A spokeswoman for the FBI Sacramento field office, which has jurisdiction in 34 counties, including Kern, said as a matter of policy, the bureau does not confirm nor deny its involvement in active investigations.

Typically in such cases, said Gina Swankie, investigations begin in the local agency’s internal affairs division.

Nick Pacilio, a spokesman for the California attorney general’s office, said in general terms, when an investigation by a local agency is not sufficient, the next step is usually the county district attorney’s office.

“A DA can ask the attorney general’s office to take on a case because there’s a conflict of interest or a perceived conflict of interest,” Pacilio said.

When that happens, the AG’s office will take the case if it agrees a conflict exists. It will decline when it disagrees, he said.

There’s long been disagreement in Bakersfield about whether local law enforcement agencies can effectively police themselves following officer-involved deaths.

Some, like local attorney Kathleen Faulkner, have long advocated that independent commissions conduct reviews following significant police incidents.

Faulkner and others have questioned whether officers can be objective in reviewing the actions of fellow officers when the outcome may adversely affect people they’ve worked with for years.

Opponents argue citizen-review boards or independent commissions may endanger officers by causing police to second-guess their decisions when split-second thinking is required. They also argue that untrained citizens don’t have the background needed.

Many agencies outside Kern County use an outside agency — sometimes the local prosecutor’s office, sometimes another police department — to review or even conduct the investigation.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department, for example, keeps its hands off the main investigation. The lead investigation is always conducted by the prosecutor’s office. But local police agencies have always said they are fully equipped to handle incident reviews internally.

CHP Officer Robert Rodriguez said that agency is conducting a standard administrative investigation since there was an in-custody death. There was no third party investigating the incident, he said Monday.

The Sheriff’s Office Pruitt said the deputies involved had the following years of service in the sheriff’s department:

* Sgt. Douglas Sword, 13 1/2 years;

* Deputy Ryan Greer, 4 1/2 years;

* Deputy Tanner Miller, 4 1/2 years;

* Deputy Jeffrey Kelly, four years;

* Deputy Luis Almanza, three years;

* Deputy Brian Brock, 1 1/2 years;

* and Deputy David Stephens, 5 1/2 years.

The seizure by deputies of cell phones that witnesses used to record the incident has also led to discussion regarding the witnesses’ Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure, and their First Amendment right to publish the video they collected.

Melissa Quair’s boyfriend was one witness who had taken video of the incident and at 3 a.m. Wednesday — just hours after the incident — two sheriff’s detectives arrived at her home to confiscate the boyfriend’s phone.

Quair said the detectives pushed open the door and shut it behind them and stood in front of the door, blocking the entrance to the apartment.

“They used more force than was needed and I told them that they didn’t have permission to say who could go in or out of my house,” Quair said.

Later in the morning, Maria Melendez, mother of Quair, returned to her daughter’s house in response to a request from detectives. She was immediately confronted by the same two detectives who told her she had to turn over her phone.

Quair was concerned for her mother’s health when she saw the way the detectives approached her mother’s car and demanded the phone.

“My mom is disabled and has a lot of doctor and medical numbers stored in her phone,” Quair said. “But the detectives didn’t care and they told my mom to write all her contacts down on a piece of paper and while she did they watched her like hawks.”

Sheriff Youngblood has asked the public to remain patient while the investigation is ongoing and has said videos from the phones will be released.

2007 Mother Lode Round-Up Queen Katie May Broderick opened the 2012 Mother Lode RoundUp Rodeo with the National Anthem. This gifted singer was then hugged immediately by Tuolume County Sheriff Posse Member Ty Wivell, following her performance. Ty was to quick for anyone to stop. For a complete list of this week’s Round-Up activities, log on to mymotherlode.com and type “roundup” in the keyword box.

It’s Round-Up Week in the Mother Lode!!!!

These two girls will be very excited to learn that the Mother Lode Round-Up Parade returns on Saturday May 11th!!!! Look how much they loved the parade just two years ago!

For a complete listing of Round-Up events, click over to mymotherlode.com and keyword “roundup”.

Two San Diego Unified school board members want to review the level of punishment handed down to 31 students at Scripps Ranch High School this week over a video made at school that depicts “twerking,” a suggestive manner of dancing.

School board member Scott Barnett said he wanted the twerking incident and the student punishments be discussed in closed session at Tuesday’s board meeting. District officials said it would be placed on the agenda for the May 14 meeting.

“I want to make sure I am comfortable that the facts and activity warrant the consequences,” Barnett said in a statement.

San Diego Unified board member Kevin Beiser, whose district includes the high school, voiced similar concerns Wednesday.

The students — 28 girls and 3 boys — were suspended from Scripps Ranch Tuesday less than a week after the video appeared on YouTube.

Six of the students are seniors and face the possibility of not being allowed to attend prom or walk during commencement ceremonies.

Parents and students said the students were told not to return to school until Friday.

According to a district official who asked not to be identified because of federal privacy laws, if the students follow a school appeal process known as senior review and apologize for their actions, they likely will be able to participate in graduation and attend the prom.

Board President John Lee Evans said Thursday it was placed on the next regularly scheduled board closed session on May 14.

Evans said that he trusted that “any misbehavior on the part of students in the district” would be appropriately handled by staff, including making sure consequences are fair, students are properly counseled and inappropriate behavior is addressed.

“It is the board’s expectation that these matters be handled in the most professional manner by our staff,” Evans said in a statement.

Jack Brandais, a spokesman for the San Diego Unified School District, earlier said he could not discuss student discipline matters.

The video apparently violates the school’s sexual harassment policy that prohibits verbal, visual or physical conduct of a sexual nature. Twerking involves the shaking and twisting of hips in a suggestive dance move.

The U-T newspaper confirmed that students in a broadcast journalism class used school equipment to record and add music to a video of the group of girls twerking while doing handstands.

The district official said it would have been acceptable if the students had been twerking upright but said doing it while doing a handstand was considered inappropriate in an educational setting.

The American Civil Liberties Union criticized the punishment.

“Unfortunately, the administration at Scripps Ranch High School’s hasty response to its students’ dance video is reflective of a national trend towards unreasonable, overly harsh, and counterproductive disciplinary measures,” said Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, senior policy advocate for the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties.

“We want young people in school so they can learn and become successful and productive members of the community. What is gained by removing 31 students from the classroom, their prom, and even, possibly, their own graduation? It serves no purpose for the student, the teacher, or the community to keep children from learning.”

Many students were talking about it on Twitter, with some suggesting the punishment went too far and others joking about twerking. One apparent student, whose Twitter handle is @sopjoa69, tweeted: “Suspended for twerking. What do I do? Twerk. At the beach. I twerk at the beach.”

Lyston McNear, a 17-year-old senior, said he was suspended even though he didn’t appear in the video or shoot it, but because he came up with the original idea for the project. He said it was not a class assignment. It took months to create.

He said the video was posted on YouTube on Thursday. “Nobody was offended or anything,” he said. “It was like, ‘Oh, that’s cool.’”

Lyston said he will have to go through senior review, an appeals board at school, to determine whether he will be able to attend the prom or go through graduation ceremonies.

Beiser wondered if suspension was appropriate for all the students or if the “ringleader” or person who dubbed the music should have received the harshest penalty.

He said he watched the video and said there was some “vulgar inappropriate language” in the music used but added that the girls dancing are “just moving their hips.”

“If it was a bunch of guys dancing would they have all gotten suspended?” he asked.

Lyston’s mother, Nikki McNear, said she watched the video at school when she went to pick up her son the day he was suspended. She said she knew the students should not have been making the video on campus but said “the kids are just dancing” in it.

McNear said she thought the students should have been given Saturday school or a punishment that was less severe than two days suspension.

Suggestive dances have caused consternation for parents and school officials for decades. Not long ago “freak dancing,” which appeared to simulate sex acts, was banned at some high school dances.

May is bike month, and the California DMV has launched a new webpage to help drivers and cyclists know the rules about sharing the road.

The page features a video with an overview of the rules, and best practices, to make sure everyone stays safe.

There is also information for cyclists ranging from common causes of accidents, to proper helmet use.

Find the page here: https://www.dmv.ca.gov/coi/bicycle/bicycle.htm