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Headline
News From Our
March 21, 2003 Issue
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T
or C’s first child porn
possession case unfolds
Agent Norman Rhoades of the New
Mexico State Police Criminal Investigation Section has cracked Sierra
County’s first child pornography possession case.
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Blackhawk
offers $2.1M
for Sierra Vista Hospital
Blackhawk Healthcare President and
CEO Matt Hainline said he is about 85 percent sure that the sale of Sierra
Vista Hospital to his Austin, TX based company will be a done deal...
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War
against Iraq begins
Support
The Troops Committee forms. Click
on photo for details.
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Congressman Steve Pearce, R-2nd
Congressional District of New Mexico, said he supports U.S. troops and
President Bush after Wednesday night’s military action in Iraq.
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BLM
seeks public comments
about
off-highway vehicle use
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management
has scheduled a series of meetings to begin next week to discuss Off
Highway Vehicle (OHV) use on publicly managed land.
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CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE
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The
Shadow Advisory
...Support
our troops but
down with the 'Bushman'
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OBITUARIES
Death notices for Jack L. Fairless,
Gayland James Ross & Julia Helena Carpenter Green Cowen
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…Gadzooks!
Gazanias – It’s springtime!
Spring
finally has arrived in Truth or Consequences as this Gazania proclaims
with its outstretched petals kissing the warm southern New Mexico sun.
Today marks the official start of spring. Click on photo to see what else
is blooming.
DJ photo by Jennifer Wark
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T
or C’s first child porn
possession
case unfolds
A
few books and other
explicit
materials involving
mostly
young boys gets
gay
man into trouble
By
Bill Johnson
of
the Desert Journal
Agent Norman
Rhoades of the New Mexico State Police Criminal Investigation Section has
cracked Sierra County’s first child pornography possession case.
Rhoades leveled a criminal complaint
against a professed homosexual whose “closet” in Truth or Consequences
got exposed in court Thursday.
The storage unit that the gay man
rented in Truth or Consequences allegedly contained several books
depicting sexual acts between men and boys and other unlawful materials
that portray the sexual exploitation of children.
Anthony Rodriquez, 36, of Las Cruces
and a former resident of Truth or Consequences, now faces a fourth degree
felony charge of sexual exploitation of children.
Agent Rhoades filed the charge against
Rodriguez in magistrate court on March 20. According to the criminal
complaint, Rodriquez “willfully, deliberately possessed material that
contained sexual exploitation of children, contrary to NMSA 1978, Section
30-6A-3.”
The charge pails in comparison to the
events that led up to Agent Rhoades’ arrest of Rodriquez on Monday,
including allegations that Rodriquez’s deceased homosexual lover James
Bryant had maintained books and videotapes containing child pornography
and snuff-films inside his residence and that Bryant delved in sexual
fantasies involving babies, playing the role with his lover Rodriquez.
Magistrate Thomas Pestak set bond for
Rodriquez at $50,000 cash surety during the defendant’s first appearance
in court Thursday.
For Rhoades, the case goes all of the
way back to April 19, 1999, about a month after the infamous Elephant
Butte trail of sexual torture case involving David Parker Ray broke.
Rhoades, an agent of the CIS for 22
years, said he was assigned to the case involving sexual torture,
abduction and rape that involved several victims. He said during the
course of the David Ray investigation, an activist against child
exploitation, D.J. Welch, told him that James Bryant, a resident of Truth
or Consequences at the time, was an active member of the North American
Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA).
Welch also told the agent that Bryant
was involved with abduction and sexual penetration and contact of
children. Welch further informed Rhoades that two homosexual males
reported Bryant maintained the child porno and snuff films inside his East
Riverside Drive residence on the east, or rural, side of the Rio Grande by
what is also known as the second footbridge.
“This information was related to the
Truth or Consequences City Police Department,” Agent Rhoades said in the
statement of facts in support of the criminal complaint.
Not long after the unrelated David Ray
case came to light, Bryant moved to San Miguel, Mexico, near Mexico City.
It wouldn’t be until nearly four
years later when another egg would crack revealing lots more about
Bryant’s character. Rhoades said T or C resident James Pendle told him
on March 3 this year that Bryant had committed suicide while living in Las
Cruces at 1421 Wyoming St.
Las Cruces police detective Greg Garcia
told Rhoades that Bryant shot and killed himself inside his home on Feb.
2, now about six weeks ago. The death occurred while Bryant was living
with Anthony Rodriquez.
The next day after the Pendle
interview, or March 4, Agent Rhoades and Det. Garcia paid a visit to
Rodriquez at his home where Rodriquez told them that Bryant indeed had
been a member of the NAMBLA organization and that Bryant had tried to
recruit him as a member.
Rodriquez said he knew Bryant for about
five years and lived with him for a short time in T or C. Rhoades also
learned that Bryant had returned from Mexico and relocated to Las Cruces
about a year before his death.
“[I] learned from Anthony Rodriquez
that he and James Bryant were homosexual partners and enjoyed sexual
encounters using leather and chain devices but he (Rodriquez) soon learned
that Bryant’s sexual preference [was] with young boys and infants,”
Rhoades said in the statement of facts.
Rodriquez told Rhoades that he and
Bryant many times role-played fantasies where they would pretend to engage
in sexual intercourse with young boys and male infants, although Rodriquez
said he neither engaged in nor actually observed such acts between Bryant
and children, according to the agent’s statement.
During their sexual encounters, the
role playing involved Rodriquez acting the part of the infant or young boy
and they both would engage in sexual penetration of a teddy bear while
fantasizing it was an infant, according to the agent’s statement.
Rodriquez said he and Bryant both had
discussed purchasing a toy doll to replace the teddy bear, according to
Rhoades’ statement.
But that’s not all, Rodriquez told
the agent that he and Bryant would drive to Burn Lake in Las Cruces and
while seated in their vehicle they would masturbate while watching
children at play. Also while in other public places, Bryant would ask
Rodriquez whether he noticed a certain young boy.
“[I] learned from Rodriquez that he
and Bryant planned to adopt a young boy and had no concerns for the
child’s safety from abuse from Bryant,” Agent Rhoades said in his
statement of facts.
Rodriquez said he and Bryant approached
Rodriquez’s sister with a request that she become pregnant from a donor,
which would be her brother Rodriquez, and after the child of incest was
born, to relinquish the child to the custody of Rodriquez and Bryant.
Rhoades said Rodriquez also reported
that he and Bryant traveled to Juarez, Mexico, where Bryant would give a
young boy a dollar bill to see if the boy would follow them. Bryant spoke
of renting a motel room to engage in sexual acts with the young boy,
Rodriquez told Rhoades.
Bryant also spoke of purchasing a farm
in Mexico where they could keep young boys for sexual acts after abducting
them, Rodriquez said during his interview with Rhoades earlier this month.
Rodriquez said he was still conditioned
from his sexual relationship with Bryant and that he still had tendencies
toward fantasizing sexual encounters with children “and alluded to what
he referred to as his favorite book titled Fathers, which depicts several
photographic images of nude men holding nude infants and young
children,” according to the agent’s statement.
Rhoades also learned from Rodriquez
that his former pastor, Reverend Felix Gonzalez, destroyed all of the
child pornography that Bryant had possessed the day after Bryant died and
that none was left in the home.
However, Rodriquez disclosed that
Bryant was renting a storage unit at National Self Storage facility in
Truth or Consequences but that he didn’t know what was inside of it.
Rodriquez eventually told the agent
that he did have some items inside his home that belonged to Bryant that
“may contain child pornography and subsequently relinquished those items
to the two lawmen, Rhoades and Garcia.
The items allegedly belonging to Bryant
included: photographic images of nude young boys; printed stories and
books containing stories of incidents of sexual acts with young boys;
documentation relating to Diaper Pail Friends, an organization where
adults role play being an infant to include wearing diapers and acting
like an infant; several books and documentation relating to the NAMBLA
organization that condones sexual interaction between adults and children;
a catalog of items related to Diaper Pail Friends; correspondence from
Diaper Pail Friends which indicated that Bryant had joined the
organization, and a CD-R disc that Rodriquez said contained stories of
sexual acts involving children, according to Rhoades’ statement.
On March 5, National Self Storage
employee Karen Donaldson told Agent Rhoades and Det. Garcia during their
visit to the T or C storage unit facility that not only Bryant, but
Rodriquez too, currently rent separate storage units there.
On March 10, Rhoades executed a
district court approved search warrant for storage units 333, belonging to
Rodriquez, and 354, which was Bryant’s.
Several publications depicting child
pornography were seized from Bryant’s unit 354.
During the search on Rodriquez’s
storage unit 333, the agent found and seized the following books:
Handjobs, Barbarian Chronicles I - the
Legacy of Slava that contained about 100 sexually implicit illustrations
of adult males engaged in sexual acts with male adolescents;
Mom, Dad, and Bobby that illustrated on
the cover an adult female and male and adolescent male in a sexual pose.
The book graphically described incestuous sexual acts between a mother,
father and their adolescent son named Bobby.
Slave Boys in Bondage depicting
graphically described stories of sexual acts between adult males and
adolescent males;
Sister Showed Him How depicting
explicit stories of adult males engaged in sexual acts with females ages
seven to 11 and of an act of bestiality between a seven-year-old girl and
a German shepherd dog; and
Handjobs, Daddy Boy Stories depicting
about 13 sexually explicit illustrations of adult males engaged in sexual
acts with boys, including one account of a father and juvenile son.
The agent also seized from Rodriquez
storage unit in T or C amateur type written stories including stories of a
brother and sister touching each others genitalia, an act of bestiality
between an adolescent male and Labrador dog, sex acts between two
brothers, ages 12 and 14; sex acts between two adolescent brothers and
their father, and lastly of incestuous sexual acts between mothers,
fathers and adolescent sons, according to Rhoades’ statement of facts.
The setting of a preliminary
examination in state magistrate court, which will determine whether there
is probable cause to bind over the defendant to district court for trial
on the felony charge, was pending as of press time Thursday.
FOR FOLLOW UP STORY, CLICK
HERE!
CLICK
HERE FOR MORE LINKS TO RELATED STORIES
<<< >>> |
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This
Yellow Rose of Texas is about to spring forth a full bloom with the dawn
of the spring season upon Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.
DJ photo by Jennifer Wark |
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Blackhawk
offers $2.1M
for
Sierra Vista Hospital
And
will give it back
to
the community after
building
a new hospital
By
Fred Mramor
of
the Desert Journal
Blackhawk
Healthcare President and CEO Matt Hainline said he is about 85 percent
sure that the sale of Sierra Vista Hospital to his Austin, TX based
company will be a done deal after he met with the Joint Powers Commission
in their executive session Tuesday evening.
JPC members seemed very receptive to
Blackhawk’s offer to buy SVH and build a new hospital in Truth or
Consequences within five years, Hainline said.
Hainline and David Bryant, president
and CEO of Kendra Health Services - a rural hospital management company,
also of Austin, TX - presented themselves to the public and press and
answered numerous questions in a forum following the JPC meeting and in a
press conference Wednesday morning.
Blackhawk’s process of acquiring
rural, Critical Access hospitals began two years ago, Hainline said. He
and Bryant have been seeking opportunities in small but growing
communities with old hospitals that are beyond their useful lives,
Hainline said.
As Hainline sees it, Blackhawk will
acquire a hospital in Sierra County for $14.1 million - $2.1 million of
which will be the purchase price for SVH. Blackhawk will donate the old
hospital to the community after building a new hospital for $12 million.
Hainline said Blackhawk will have no
use for the old hospital after building its new facility. SVH Governing
Board member Gary Whitehead said he estimated that the empty building and
land would be worth $500,000.
The JPC is considering using the old
hospital as a mental health care facility; SVH Administrator Domenica Rush
added that it could be used to provide rehabilitation services.
The JPC, comprised of elected officials
from Sierra County, the City of Truth or Consequences and the Village of
Williamsburg, purchased SVH from Adventist Health System/Sunbelt for $1.5
million in 1997.
The JPC borrowed $2 million from the
New Mexico Finance Authority - $1.5 million to meet the purchase price and
$500,000 to finance hospital operations. The balance of the JPC’s
mortgage is now about $1.5 million.
SVH Governing Board Chairman Ted Pape
said $600,000 will be set aside after the sale to Blackhawk for a
community health care fund if it becomes necessary for the community to
buy back the hospital from Blackhawk.
Blackhawk has requested from the Sierra
County Commission the continuation of a current two-mil levy for community
health care until it sunsets in 2005, with the levy’s proceeds
continuing to support hospital operations under Blackhawk’s ownership.
County commissioners are investigating
the legality of continuing the mil levy to benefit what will be a
privately owned hospital.
Blackhawk further requested that a new
property levy be put before voters when the current levy expires.
Asked what will happen if voters turn
down a new levy in 2005, Hainline said the failure of that measure would
have a dramatic effect on Blackhawk’s ability to run the hospital.
Hainline said the denial of a new levy
would make for a very undesirable situation, but that he would be prepared
to go forward and thinks he can sustain hospital operations without it.
Blackhawk must demonstrate that the
hospital needs and deserves the community’s support, Hainline said.
Whether a property tax abatement will
be granted to Blackhawk’s Sierra Vista Hospital, and for the new
hospital Blackhawk will build, will be decided during the ongoing due
diligence process.
SVH, under various owners, has never
paid property taxes, according to Gary Whitehead.
The City of T or C has notified
Blackhawk that the city’s contribution from gross receipts taxes to SVH
will cease once Blackhawk has purchased the hospital.
City officials have not said if they
will eliminate the one-quarter percent GRT or continue the tax and use its
revenues for other purposes.
Having completed a preliminary due
diligence process, Kendra Healthcare Services will begin managing Sierra
Vista Hospital on April 1, and begin an on-site due diligence process that
is expected to take 60 days.
The purposes for installing Kendra as
the hospital’s manager are to phase in new management as D. Rush
approaches retirement and to give Blackhawk the opportunity to see that
they are buying what has been represented to them, David Bryant said.
Bryant added that the hospital will be
left with Kendra’s “management tools” even if Kendra and Blackhawk
leave without buying the hospital.
Kendra will charge $50,000 for 60 days
of management services. Medicare will pay Kendra’s fee, Bryant said.
Hainline said if Medicare doesn’t
pay, he will.
Sierra County Sentinel publisher Myrna
Kohs asked provocatively if Blackhawk and Kendra “can walk out after 60
days with your nose in our business?”
Matt Hainline answered Kohs, tersely,
“Yes.”
Though Kendra will assume hospital
management in April, SVH Administrator Dee Rush will remain “in
charge” until she retires. She also has accepted Blackhawk’s offer to
serve on their board while they pursue the acquisition of other hospitals,
Bryant said.
Rush said she will retire when the sale
is completed sometime this summer, possibly July.
Local individuals will serve on
Blackhawk’s SVH Board of Directors and JPC members will be invited to
serve on an advisory board.
As owner and manager of SVH, Blackhawk
and Kendra will go through a phase of studying the community’s needs and
determining what medical services the hospital can offer or expand,
Hainline said, adding that obstetrics and gynecology will be among the
first services to be considered.
All current SVH employees will have the
same jobs they now have, and with the same pay, and more people probably
will be hired as hospital services are expanded. One person will have a
community relation’s job, Bryant said.
Hainline said Blackhawk will maintain
SVH’s current contracts with local vendors and service providers.
The hospital must continue to care for
indigent patients in accordance with the sales contract and New Mexico
law, Hainline said.
Hainline said that within the next six
months he will choose from one of four sites in T or C that he has
considered for Blackhawk’s new facility.
Blackhawk’s new hospital will be a
35,000- to 45,000-square-foot facility able to care for as many as 25
patients per day. Blackhawk will operate a clinic along with the hospital,
Hainline said.
Hainline said a new hospital will help
attract doctors and other medical professionals. A name for the hospital
has not been decided, but it will not be called Blackhawk, he added.
Hainline said he and Bryant are very
pleased with the community’s response to their plans to buy Sierra Vista
Hospital and build a new hospital after Wednesday’s public forum.
“We heard lots of things and were
vary wary. The deal could have been unraveled,” Hainline said.
Instead, Hainline said he feels the
momentum needed to build a hospital can be created. “We will succeed
only with your patronage and support,” he said.
More
about Blackhawk,
Kendra,
Hainline and Bryant
Matt Hainline’s
background is in real estate development and construction with 10 years
experience building medical facilities including emergency rooms and
outpatient facilities for HMOs and doctors’ groups, the Blackhawk
president and CEO said.
Kendra President and CEO David Bryant
has operated hospitals for 10 years and has acquired hospitals for the
third largest hospital company in the United States the last five years.
Forming their relationship two years
ago, Hainline said he and Bryant identified a segment of the hospital
world - rural facilities and Critical Access hospitals – that has been
overlooked by larger companies.
Critical Access is a federal program
established the last few years, which provides for quicker and more
complete reimbursements to rural hospitals.
Bryant said Blackhawk and Kendra have
been looking for communities with high percentages of Medicare recipients.
Sierra Vista Hospital is set to be the
first of 15 to 25 hospitals Blackhawk expects to acquire within five
years.
Blackhawk has signed letters of intent
to purchase two hospitals in other communities, which cannot be revealed
due to confidentiality agreements with those communities, Bryant said.
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…Support
the troops in war
Community
leaders Thursday formed the Support The Troops Committee that encourages
everyone in Sierra County to “Show Our Colors” every Friday by
displaying the flag, Old Glory, and wearing red, white and blue as a show
of support for the troops engaged in war in Iraq. The committee has
established a bank account at Bank of the Southwest to raise money for
promotions and to buy flags to give to citizens who can’t afford to buy
one to put on their homes or vehicles. Money left over in the fund will
benefit the local Vietnam Memorial Traveling Wall that the community is
purchasing for permanent display at the new Veterans Memorial Park. The
committee and all concerned citizens also meet every Thursday at 10 a.m.
in the Century 21 building, 374 S. Foch St., for prayer and to express
support for the troops. Those attending Thursday’s meeting were Julia
Cooper of the Elephant Butte Chamber of Commerce, Bobby and Maggie Allen
of the T or C/Sierra County Chamber of Commerce, Jim Bersch of Loretta’s
gift shop, Mario Maez of The Money Man, and Thomas James, Andrea Freeman
and Bill & Mercy Howell, all four of Howell Associates Century 21.
DJ
photo by Jennifer Wark
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War
against Iraq begins
Rep.
Pearce supports
troops
& President Bush
WASHINGTON,
D.C. – U.S. Congressman Steve Pearce, R-2nd Congressional
District of New Mexico, said he supports U.S. troops and President Bush
after Wednesday night’s military action in Iraq.
“The United
States is rising to the challenge and meeting great defiance with great
action to disarm Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. America has a responsibility
to address the gravest threat of our time: the connection between rogue
regimes, weapons of mass destruction and the forces of global
terrorism,” Congressman Pearce said.
“The Iraqi
people live under a dictator who has brought them decades of war, misery
and torture. Their lives and their freedom matter little to Saddam
Hussein, an international criminal who threatens the welfare of his
country and that of his neighbors,” Pearce said.
“Getting
rid of Saddam would be an act of humanity for the Iraqi people. American
troops will liberate their country,” he said.
“I am
keeping our military's brave men and women in my prayers, and I hope that
you will lift them up in yours,” he said in his statement to his
constituents of southern New Mexico as 300,000 U.S. and ally troops from
England and Australia march towards Baghdad.
“May God
Bless our men and women who wear the uniforms that represent freedom,
choice and democracy. And, may God Bless America,” Pearce said.
Meanwhile,
after Stealth bombers began their raid Wednesday evening (MST) on Baghdad
in an attempt to take out the Iraqi leadership, Hussein in a televised
statement called upon the Iraqi people to take up their swords in their
homeland battle against “infidels” and the “forces of evil.”
President
Bush said Wednesday America can expect casualties and a lengthier war than
had been originally anticipated.
Several Iraqi
troops surrendered with white flags before the war was made official.
The Bush
administration expects that many of Iraq’s 400,000 troops will flee, but
that greater resistance is expected from at least 15,000 Republic
Guardsmen as U.S. and ally troops advance onto Baghdad.
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This
lavender rose found in Truth or Consequences is for Queen Elizabeth.
DJ photo by Jennifer Wark |
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BLM
seeks public comments
about
off-highway vehicle use
Schedules
meetings
in
Datil, Albuquerque
and
Socorro
SOCORRO
-The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has scheduled a series of meetings to
begin next week to discuss Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) use on publicly
managed land.
The
meetings are related to work by the BLM-Socorro field office to write a
land-use plan for Socorro and Catron Counties.
“Because
OHV issues were mentioned often during earlier public meetings about the
revised land use plan, we believe these meetings will help us focus on
current and future public interest,” said Kate Padilla, BLM-Socorro
field office manager.
Meeting
dates and locations are:
Wednesday,
March 26, at the Datil Fire Station/Training Center in Datil;
Thursday,
March 27, at the BLM-Albuquerque Field Office, 435 Montano Road NE in
Albuquerque;
Wednesday,
April 2, at the Macey Center (Gallena Room) at New Mexico Tech in Socorro.
The
meetings will begin at 5 p.m. with an open house, followed at 6:30 p.m.
with a brief presentation about BLM's OHV program and issues the public
has identified. The meetings will conclude with additional public comments
and questions.
“Motorized
OHV use has increased substantially in recent years because of
technological advances, greater public interest in outdoor recreation and
the rapid growth of the West's cities and suburbs," according to
Environmental Planner Charles Carroll of the BLM-Socorro field office.
The number of OHVs registered in New
Mexico has grown by about 240 percent since 1990, according to the New
Mexico Department of Motor Vehicles.
As
the public increasingly relies on public lands for motorized recreation,
the impacts associated with this use continue to grow.
"Balancing
public use and enjoyment with the protection of important resources
requires more effective management of the vast network of roads and
trails," Carroll said.
The
BLM received more than 200 letters and comment forms and input from about
50 people who attended "scoping meetings" that the BLM held from
May through September 2002. The meetings were an integral part of the
BLM's approach to writing the revised land-use plan, called a Resource
Management Plan Revision/Environmental Impact Statement (RMPR/EIS).
The
summary of comments and letters is available in the Scoping Report at the
BLM-Socorro field office, 198 Neel Ave. NW in Socorro, or online at www.nm.blm.gov.
'"The
Socorro Field Office wants to ensure a positive, inclusive approach to OHV
decision making and better OHV management. Good planning outcomes require
the help of local communities and residents and lots of cooperation; we
hope that as many people as possible can join us at one or all of these
meetings," Padilla said.
The
BLM, an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior, manages about 13
million acres in New Mexico. The BLM's Socorro field office is responsible
for about 1.5 million acres of that total in Socorro and Catron Counties.
Additional
information about the RMPR/EIS process and the OHV meetings is available
by calling Carroll, 505-838-1278, or BLM Outdoor Recreation Specialist Rob
Jaggers, 505-835-0412.
<<<
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The
Shadow Advisory
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By
Bill Johnson
Editor
of the Desert Journal
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…Support
our troops but
down
with the ‘Bushman’
I
remember a book called Sanctions for Evil that was about the Johnson
Administration’s ugly handling of the Vietnam Conflict. What I most
remember about this book is how top-level officials used demeaning nouns
to describe their enemy. Vietnamese were no longer people – they were
“gooks.”
Basically,
the book is about how the dehumanization process is used by authorities
before they order those under their command to kill the enemy. It’s far
easier to kill a miscreant or infidel than it is to kill a regular human
being.
But
I’m the kind of guy who while a child dreamt about making friends with
wild bears after they chased me up the tree fearing for my life (not
realizing in my sleep that bears are good tree climbers – good thing or
I might have been mauled).
The
desensitization process allows us to get rid of our fears by getting
closer to the object we fear. We continue to get closer and closer until
the phobia entirely disappears and we can now touch the object that used
to make our skin crawl, like the proverbial slimy snake.
Dehumanization
on the other hand creates fear – it makes monsters of normal people who
have the misfortune of becoming an unworthy opponent. It makes it easier
to kill.
So,
what are the buzzwords Bush has been using to carry out his sanctions for
evil against the Iraqi leadership, or more specifically Saddam Hussein?
Tyrant,
dictator, sponsor for rape and torture, carrier of weapons of mass
destruction, mass murderer of his own people – all of which paint the
Iraqi leader as a target for war.
Likewise,
Saddam has painted the American people as the Great White Satan, infidels
and pro-Zionist, which make us targets for his sanctions for evil.
I
believe war, however, should be more personal. Put leaders in the ring
with boxing gloves on their hands and let ’em come out swinging. I bet
Bush and Hussein would end up holding hands rather than try to cut off
each other’s arms and legs or torsos or what have you.
Get
them close enough to each other and maybe, just maybe they’ll shake
their fear of each other and get even closer to find they are two of a
kind.
But
don’t expect our soldiers to do the same while they are under Bush’s
orders to shoot and kill. They have a job they’ve been ordered to do. If
they don’t, they could be deemed traitors. They didn’t invent the fear
mongering it took to make for enemies.
It’s
a damned shame that President Bush didn’t confront his fears when his
daddy George Sr. was leader and got to have a first swing at Saddam 12
years ago but missed the mark.
So, on
that note I will say that I support our troops while they face the dangers
of war; but I abhor how our leaders sitting on the sidelines can make six
digit figures while watching our youth die or suffer in battle.
I
say give these guys a little push onto the playing field and maybe
they’ll succumb to a higher order – an authority whose foundation is
based on love and peace and not on hate and war. Amen!
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OBITUARIES
Jack
L. Fairless, 70, of Elephant Butte, died Wednesday, March 19, 2003, at his
home. He was born Jan. 3, 1933, in Oklahoma City, OK, to Joe and Estelle
Akins Fairless. He was a retired agriculture chemical sales branch manager
and was retired from the U.S. Air Force. He was active at the Church at
the Butte and was a member of the choir. He was an avid sportsman and a
pilot. He was a past member of the Optimist Club, Masonic Lodge and
Shrine. He married Bobbye J. Lea in San Antonio, TX, on Dec. 5, 1952, and
they recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.
Survivors include his wife, Bobbye Fairless of Elephant Butte; two
daughters, Cour’De Fairless of Colorado Springs, CO, and Therese
Hutchinson and husband Tom of California; his grandson, Thomas Hutchinson;
a sister, Juerida Villasana of Dallas, TX; his brothers, Wade Fairless and
Bill Fairless of Dallas; and his son-in-law, Leroy Tenneson of Dallas. He
was preceded in death by his daughter, Sherrill Tenneson.
Visitation will be from 3 to 6 p.m. today (Friday, March 21) in the
Chapel of French Mortuary of Truth or Consequences. Services will be held
at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 22, at the Church at the Butte with Rev. Robert
Rachuig officiating. Casket bearers will be Gale Carr, Lonnie Fairless,
Tom Hutchinson, Bill Poe, A.V. McFarland and Dwayne Bauer. Honorary casket
bearer is Bob Webb. Interment will be in Vista Memory Gardens Cemetery in
T or C. In lieu of flowers the family requests memorial contributions in
Jack’s memory be sent to the Church at the Butte Building Fund, P.O. Box
1346, Elephant Butte, NM 87935. Arrangements are by French Mortuary of T
or C Inc.
Gayland
James Ross, 53, died Saturday, March 15, 2003, at his parent’s home in
Caballo. He was born Nov. 27, 1949, in Roswell, NM, to Willard James and
Betty R. (Strong) Ross. He was an oilfield worker more than 20 years who
spent the last few years in apartment maintenance and self-employment. He
returned to Sierra County, where he spent a great deal of time fishing
with his grandfather as a child, to spend the last of his days.
Survivors include his two sons, Christopher C. Ross of Texas and Ty
Ross of Roswell; four daughters, Christie Ross, Tammy Morales and husband
Sam, Jamie Ross and Erica Ross, all of Hobbs; six grandchildren; his
father, Willard James Ross and wife Colleen of Caballo; his sister, Glenda
Toraya and husband Manny of Hawaii; two uncles, Dalton W. Ross of Roswell
and Jimmie Ross of Oklahoma; and his aunt, Anita Chavez and husband John
of Caballo. He was preceded in death by his mother, Betty R. Strong; his
brother, Mike Ross; and his grandparents.
A time of remembering and reflecting will be held in his honor on
Tuesday, April 1, at the family home in Caballo. Family and friends are
welcome to attend. Arrangements are by Sierra Funeral Home and Sierra
Crematory, 507 W. McAdoo St. in Truth or Consequences.
Julia Helena Carpenter Green
Cowen,
79, of Dayton, TX, died Thursday, March 13, 2003, in a Houston, TX
hospital. She was born April 29, 1932, in Hannibal, MO, to Marshall Burle
Green and Lilly Blanche Ogle. She had lived most of her life in Truth or
Consequences, NM, and had moved to the Dayton area a few years ago to be
near her family.
Very active and creative, she enjoyed making all kinds of
ceramics and southwestern pottery. She also sewed, making all of her
children’s clothes when they were young as well as refurbishing and
making new clothes for old dolls. A very giving person, she was known for
giving away many of her creations to friends, family and those less
fortunate. She loved to dance and would go at least once or twice a week.
She also enjoyed classic country music and had a vast collection of
records and eight-track tapes.
Survivors include her sons, George Henry Green of T or C, and
Marshall Wayne Green and Charles Dale Green, both of Dayton, Texas, her
daughters, Cathy Fay Strickland of Dayton, TX, Linda Jean Fuqua of Deming,
NM, and Etta Lynn Worley of T or C; her sister, Virginia Woolery of
California; 29 grandchildren; 47 great-grandchildren; and
numerous nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. She was
preceded in death by her parents, husband of 44 years George Braxton
Green; second husband of seven years, Willard "Curly" Cowen; her
sisters, Betty Bassinger, Mildred Langdon and Janie Bassinger; her
half-brother, Chester Carpenter; and her half-sisters, Irene and Lillian
Carpenter.
Funeral
services were held Thursday, March 20, in the chapel of Sterling Funeral
Home in Dayton, TX. Floral tributes will be gratefully accepted, however
donations in lieu of flowers may be made to the American Heart
Association.
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