Friday, August 22, 2008

Has Robert Felner got your Number?

WHAS TV's Adam Walser continues to pound away at the treasure trove of documented misdeeds surrounding Robert Felner's tenure at U of L - and it seems like everybody from Felner's old department continues to comment from the trenches at Page One. These folks even write poetry.

Last night's news was all about Felner's U of L cell phone records, and citizen investigators are sinking their teeth into them. Who was he calling and why? Is your number (502) 648-7012?

Was it university business when Felner called a dating hot line? Had Just Solutions advised Felner that seeing another someone might make him a happier person and better boss? We may never know, since U of L says there's no final report from Just Solutions.

And as one might expect, those laughing last, like Page One commenter "ed," seem to be really enjoying it:
Hey, Robbie, does huggie bear know about these hot line calls? Just can’t figure out which side of the closet door to be on, huh? Well….no worries….Bubba will help you sort all that out soon enough.

As this story continues to devolve, and despite the fact that Felner has not been charged with any wrongdoing, it's becoming harder to imagine anything short of jail time for at least one of the players in this scandal - and job changes for some others.

This from WHAS:

Felner's U of L cell phone records reveal
questionable calls and lengthy data transmissions
WHAS11 News has uncovered more insight into the professional and private dealings of a former U of L dean. WHAS11 News discovered lengthy data transmissions and questionable phone calls made by Robert Felner.

At one point, Felner made over 100 data transmissions on his cell-phone within a 24-hour period.

Felner is part of an ongoing federal investigation...

...WHAS11 News went through nearly 75 pages of bills; breaking them down and trying to identify who Felner was calling and how often. Plenty of calls dealt with university matters, like calls to the University Counsel Office and University Police.

Felner contacted colleague Jennifer Taylor 58 times. She administers grants for the college of education and human development. Records show Felner called her office, cell phone and home phone, often at night and on weekends.

Felner also apparently took care of personal business, calling Comcast Cable in Naples, Florida which is the cable provider in Lee County, where Felner’s owns two vacation homes, one valued at $1.4 million dollars.

Felner called his estranged wife Marilyn Felner 38 times in the records we found. At one point, just minutes before calling Tom Schroeder, the President of the National Center on Public Education and Prevention in Rock Island, Illinois.

The center has not been operational in years, but Felner allegedly sent hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal grants there, even though no work was performed.

There are mysteries in the bill too. WHAS11 News tried to determine who owns an unlisted Louisville number Felner called 50 times, but after leaving messages, our phone was eventually blocked by the caller.

Felner used his university owned-phone for entertainment one night last August, when he called a local dating hotline twice.

Felner’s phone could work as a computer too. He was sending and receiving dozens of megabytes of data transmissions most months. During a 23-hour period right around the time Felner learned that he had been named the new University of Wisconsin-Parkside Chancellor, his statement showed he transferred data in 100 different transactions for 23 straight hours. Computer experts we talked to said he could have been transferring files from the phone, sending or receiving e-mails or surfing the internet.

That was the last recorded activity on the university issued phone.

An important reminder, Felner has not been charged with any crime.

WHAS11’s Adam Walser spoke with David Huber earlier this week and he expects the investigation to take until at least early October.

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