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Welcome to Desert Journal Online, established in May 2001 in New Mexico. Our website
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Desert Journal Online
Contact Information
Bill Johnson
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Copyright ©
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Last modified:
April 14, 2008
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Headline
News From Our
May 2, 2003 Issue
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Meeting
with state still on, says EB mayor
Although
Governor Bill Richardson reportedly canceled a meeting between his
representatives from the state’s Tourism and Economic Development
Departments, the State Parks Division and the Elephant Butte Economic
Council in response to what he called a militant protest, Elephant Butte
Mayor Bob Barnes on Thursday said that as far as he knows, the meeting is
still on.
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CLICK
ON PHOTO FOR SERIES
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...Teen
Court
in session
for Law Day
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NM
shoots for the stars to be
No. 1
in space commercialization
Secretary of
Economic Development Rick Homans opened the state’s Space Entrepreneurs
and Enterprise Developers 2003 gathering by announcing the state’s goal
to be the nation’s first licensed inland spaceport.
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Gang
leader Padilla
sentenced to 25 years
CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE
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Los
Padillas gang leader Jeffery Larry Padilla last week was sentenced in
district court in Albuquerque to 25 years in prison for convictions on two
murder charges.
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Goodbye
Weekly, Hello Daily?!
Daily, maybe.
Out of business - sorry, wrong answer. Some
rumors got the Desert Journal pegged as kicking the bucket.
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BLM
plans prescribed burn on Iron Mountain
Crews from
the U.S. Bureau of Land Management will start fires this weekend (May 3-4)
in extreme northwestern Sierra County to improve grassland, according to
Amy Lueders, BLM-Las Cruces field office manager.
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Can
You Get Published?
The Desert
Journal has expanded its challenge “Can You Get Published?” as a
result of its offer to and acceptance by Scott LaFon’s eighth grade
Language I Arts class at the Truth or Consequences Middle School.
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CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE
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The
Shadow Advisory
By
Bill Johnson, Editor
…Both
thumbs up
for Dixie Chicks
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OBITUARIES
No
death notices received for the week.
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Mardi
Gras on the Rio Grande
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2003
Truth or Consequences Fiesta this weekend - May 2-4. Click on either of
these thumbnail photos to visit the Fiesta Page for schedule and more
details.
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…Flurry
of preparation
Carnival
hands swarm around the portable entertainment they bring to Truth or
Consequences this weekend for the 2003 Fiesta. Click on photo to see more
work and the complete Fiesta Page.
DJ photo by Bill Johnson
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Meeting
with state still on, says EB mayor
By
Fred Mramor
of
the Desert Journal
Although New
Mexico Governor Bill Richardson reportedly canceled a meeting between his
representatives from the state’s Tourism and Economic Development
Departments, the State Parks Division and the Elephant Butte Economic
Council in response to what he called a militant protest, Elephant Butte
Mayor Bob Barnes on Thursday said that as far as he knows, the meeting is
still on.
Elephant Butte boaters and business
owners descended on the state capital Monday to protest the governor’s
“win-win compromise” in releasing 122,500 acre feet - rather than
217,000 acre feet - of water from Elephant Butte Lake during this summer.
Richardson’s spokesman Billy Sparks
said the protest caused Richardson to cancel a plan to send members of his
cabinet to the southern New Mexico area, according to an Associated Press
and other news reports.
Mayor Barnes, however, said that he has
not been officially advised of any cancellation and that Tourism Secretary
Fred Peralta told City Councilor John Van Gundy at a meeting in Acoma
Wednesday that he is still planning to attend the Elephant Butte meeting.
The mayor said he and other members of
the Elephant Butte Economic Council will expect the state representatives
at their meeting on Thursday, May 8, to discuss promotional ideas for
Elephant Butte Lake’s upcoming recreational season and the availability
of state funding to implement the promotional ideas.
Though still expecting the state
officials to show, Barnes said, “We’ve been surprised before.”
Barnes said after hearing the news
reports of the cancellation, he wrote a letter to the governor in which he
said the community will be the loser, that its interests will be
sacrificed, if Richardson follows through with his emotional decision.
The mayor said the protestors were not
militant at all and had no militant intent but felt that they hadn’t
been afforded a voice in the decision to release water from their lake.
The mayor said the community has calmed
downed since Monday’s demonstration and is now in a damage assessment
mode and moving forward.
“We can’t change the situation, we
have to look to the future and get going,” the mayor said.
Asked what he thought of Richardson’s
so-called win-win compromise, the mayor said the governor was under a lot
of pressure from farmers and from Texas but did leave some water in the
lake for this summer.
Barnes said he thinks it was a
reasonable decision.
<<< >>> |
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Teen
Court in session with a mock trial during Law Day on Thursday, May 1, 2003,
in Magistrate Tom Pestak's courtroom |
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At
top, Truth or Consequences
Municipal Judge Tom Hawkins sits in the hot seat as a witness – not as a
judge or retired state cop, but as an “accident reconstructionist” –
giving expert testimony. Hawkins was among several witnesses to testify
before the Sierra County Teen Court in a mock trial during Law Day on
Thursday, May 1, with Magistrate Tom Pestak presiding.
In
middle, these young jurors of the
Sierra County Teen Court listen closely to testimony as they must reach a
verdict. At bottom, the prosecution and defense question a witness.
DJ
photos by Bill Johnson |
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NM
shoots for the stars to be
#1
in space commercialization
Richardson
& Homans announce
plans
for inland spaceport in NM
LAS CRUCES – Secretary of Economic
Development Rick Homans opened the state’s Space Entrepreneurs and
Enterprise Developers 2003 gathering by announcing the state’s goal to
be the nation’s first licensed inland spaceport.
“New Mexico, and Las Cruces, is the
birthplace of space travel from its infancy many years ago,” Homans
said. “And today we are now giving birth to the next generation of
vehicles and travel through the New Mexico Southwest Regional Spaceport.
New Mexico will have the first inland spaceport in the U.S. to launch,
land and re-launch a reusable launch vehicle,” he said.
From Santa Fe, Governor Bill Richardson
said, “Our potential for space commercialization in Las Cruces – and
in New Mexico – is tremendous.”
“New Mexico has the expertise,
experience and willingness to continue our proud heritage as a leader in
space for the nation,” the governor said.
“We will champion a viable, active
and full operational commercial inland spaceport,” Richardson said.
New Mexico already submitted its draft
licensing application for review by the Federal Aviation Administration
for initial, static testing of a re-launch vehicle and it is estimated
that testing at the new spaceport will begin within the next 36 months.
Secretary Homans dedicated the work of
the gathering to those who died on the Columbia. “It is in their memory
that we now rethink, reevaluate and reinvent how we approach the next
generation of space vehicles – developing equipment that can land from
space, be examined by a crew over a work day and then be back up in orbit
and useful again immediately,” he said.
Gov. Richardson and Sec. Homans also
announced the Governor’s new Space Commission members.
“Men and women who will help get the
word out about the opportunities in New Mexico; about our state’s
commitment to continue its leadership position in the commercial space
industry; about our multitude of assets to help entrepreneurs with their
activities; and about our new ability to directly invest in companies
coming to New Mexico or expanding that will bring with them new, higher
paying jobs and help build a healthier economy,” Secretary Homans said.
The new members include: Lane Pack,
director of the Sierra County Economic Development Organization in Truth
or Consequences; Harrison Jack Schmitt, retired astronaut and former U.S.
Senator, now of Albuquerque; Dwight Harp, Alamogordo; Van Romero, Socorro;
John Hail, Los Alamos; Casey Luna, Belen; and Rodger Biemer, Albuquerque.
One vacancy exists.
Advantages of the Las Cruces-White
Sands location for an inland spaceport are numerous, including the
site’s elevation (4,500 feet) which reduces the cost of launching over a
sea level location; the weather, which alleviates scheduling concerns
caused by fog and rain; the remote location and restricted air space due
to White Sands Missile Range; and the incentives and commitment of the
state, which includes the newly-passed legislation sponsored by Senator
Papen and Representative Nunoz to permanently exempt commercial space
testing from gross receipts tax.
<<< >>> |
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Gang
leader sentenced to 25 years
Jeff
ery Padilla
By
Bill Johnson
of
the Desert Journal
Los Padillas
gang leader Jeffery Larry Padilla last week was sentenced in district
court in Albuquerque to 25 years in prison for convictions on two murder
charges.
The court had
ordered a 41-year prison sentence after Padilla’s no contest pleas last
December to the slaying of an alleged rival drug lord at Elephant Butte
Lake nearly five years ago and for ordering the execution of a gang member
in Albuquerque who was a witness of the lake campsite shooting. The court
however suspended 16 years of the prison term during the sentencing
hearing on April 21.
As part of
the terms of the plea and disposition agreement worked out in state
district court in Albuquerque on Dec. 20, the prosecution agreed to
dismiss its case against Padilla’s brother, Johnny Lee, who was a
co-defendant in the murder case.
Padilla, 31,
of Albuquerque’s South Valley, plead no contest to both the
second-degree murder of Fernando Velasquez of Albuquerque on May 24, 1998,
at the state park in Sierra County, and to conspiracy to commit first
degree murder of Julius “Slick” Sanchez on July 28, 1998, in
Bernalillo County. The conspiracy charge in this case is also a
second-degree felony.
Jacob Chavez,
26, already is serving a 25-year prison sentence for killing his best
friend, Sanchez, who was a witness in the Elephant Butte murder case.
Lastly,
Padilla also plead no contest to the second degree felony of accessory to
trafficking (by distribution) occurring in Bernalillo County on April 22,
2000.
According to
the terms of the plea and disposition agreement, Padilla was exposed to a
prison term from two to 41 years with a 25-year incarceration cap at the
initial sentencing.
Seventh
Judicial District Attorney Clint Wellborn said he believes that drug
dealings in Albuquerque were the primary motive for the Elephant Butte
murder and not the fact that his victim, Velasquez, was dating and living
with Johnny Padilla’s ex-girlfriend, Angela Sedillo.
According to
the October 2001 testimony of Jeff Padilla’s estranged wife, Monica
Padilla, Jeff and Johnny Padilla were going to collect some $20,000 to
$30,000 in monthly “taxes” they thought Velasquez should be paying for
being allowed to do drug business on the gang’s home turf.
Also at the
preliminary hearing in the Sierra County Magistrate Court in October 2001,
testimony revealed that Johnny Padilla allegedly handed over his 9-m.m.
semi-automatic gun to brother Jeff for the purpose of gunning down
Velasquez.
The execution
occurred in the campsite of Velasquez and Sedillo, among others, and in
the presence of Sedillo, hers and Johnny Padilla’s son, Johnny Jr., now
11 years old, and a neighboring camper from El Paso, TX, Frank Cordova who
identified both Padilla brothers in a photo array with Jeff Padilla being
the shooter. At the time of the shooting, Johnny was playing with his son
nearby.
The murder
occurred shortly after both Padilla brothers, Chavez and Sanchez arrived
at Velasquez’s campsite at Cow Camp at about 8:30 p.m. Sunday.
“I heard
one pop, then went to the door (of the RV) and I saw Jeffery standing by
the tree with a gun in his hand. I saw the gun flash. Jeffery was firing
the gun,” Angela Sedillo testified at the preliminary exam before
Magistrate Thomas Pestak.
“When
Jeffery fired the gun, he shot at Fernando. He was running and fell. He
was shot. I saw all this blood. I was at the door where I could see it.
The door was open and the screen (door) was open. I saw the second
gunshot,” Sedillo said.
“I was at
the door when I saw Fernando fall to his knees and he was trying to
crawl,” she said.
Sedillo said
she had told a state police agent she didn’t know why the two Padilla
brothers would shoot her boyfriend.
Sedillo
testified she was Velasquez’s girlfriend for three years prior to his
slaying in 1998. She said she and Johnny Padilla, 26, are parents of their
son, Johnny Jr. She said she lived with Johnny Padilla three years.
Sedillo said
forgery and fraud charges, in which she and her brother attempted to forge
a $11,000 check on Velasquez’s account a few days after his homicide,
was dropped for her testimony before a federal grand jury.
“I was
arrested at Fernando’s bank. I had thought I was on the signature card
and that I could withdraw money on his account. I was there with my
brother,” Angela Sedillo said.
Defense
attorney Roger Bargas of Tucumcari said Sedillo had said she “did it for
funeral expenses.”
See detailed
story of Padilla's preliminary hearing by clicking
HERE!
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…End
of an era
The
century plant blooms – every hundred years, according to legend – then
dies, leaving seed to spread its bounty, as is the case with the start of
a hefty stalk on the one pictured this week in Truth or Consequences. Thus
it is with the Desert Journal weekly newspaper, the end of a
near-eight-year track record that brought numerous journalism honors to
the community, but the beginning of new things.
DJ
photo by Bill Johnson |
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Goodbye
Weekly, Hello Daily?!
Daily, maybe. Out
of business - sorry, wrong answer.
Some rumors got the Desert Journal
pegged as kicking the bucket.
“Even if re-organization is painful,
more painful was the course we were headed if we were to do nothing,”
said Desert Journal publisher Bill Johnson, who promises to keep the
Desert Journal alive on the internet and try to convert the weekly rag
into a monthly tabloid.
The facts are these:
The Desert Journal officially closed
its office at 111 N. Date St. on April 21.
The Desert Journal will publish its
last weekly newspaper on May 9, 2003.
The Desert Journal will pursue a
monthly 5,000-circulation tabloid that is free at the newsstand. Should
the project progress to reality, current weekly newspaper subscribers will
continue to receive the monthly until their subscriptions expire, after
which they can get the paper free at the newsstand, or pay $3 per issue to
have them sent via USPS first class mail.
The Desert Journal will continue to
operate its website regardless of
the outcome of the proposed monthly tabloid. Website activity should
increase and become more frequent.
This re-organization of the Desert
Journal’s media assets is due primarily to health reasons; it is not the
result of any legal action such as bankruptcy, which there is none,
although financial considerations also weigh in heavy, tipping the scales.
“We could do most or all of our
advertisers a big favor by doing the monthly, increasing the circulation
four or five fold to 5,000 copies, and giving the paper away free to
readers. And yet advertisers will get a lesser rate and a lot more value
for their dollars with the monthly than the weekly Desert Journal could
possibly offer them under very restrictive conditions. Plus we’ll post
the monthly on our ‘daily’ or frequently updated website, which is
also an entirely free site,” Johnson said.
“The fact that Desert Journal Online
now averages about 400 visitors daily, climbing to a record high of 3,001
visitors in a recent week in April, makes it our best asset,” said
Johnson.
“We’re just beginning to break
ground in the real business world and I am determined to continue
operating profitable, or potentially profitable enterprises as long as
they absorb very little expense, or their operations are at least covered
by business generated revenues,” he said.
“Depending on the sales of advertising, which will justify
whether we have a monthly tabloid, we hope to go to press by mid June or
sooner. If there is to be no monthly, it will free up a lot more of our
time that could thus be invested in our award winning website - for which
we have some great ideas - to insure its financial success down the
road,” Johnson said.
“We know we have a winner; we just
need to develop the market for it,” he said.
“Don’t get me wrong, I don’t
consider the weekly Desert Journal a failure because it has been nothing
but a success in terms of giving our readers the best of the best. Just
look at our professional record.
“We established the Desert Journal on
Sept. 15, 1995, in Truth or Consequences and kept it operating more than
seven and a half years. During the six years of the Desert Journal’s
membership in the New Mexico Press Association, the Desert Journal won 30
awards from the NMPA’s Better Newspaper Contests, all judged by press
associations outside of New Mexico.
“Judges from Oklahoma, Texas, Utah,
Nevada, Montana and Kentucky, all of whom are our peers in the journalism
world, have said our work is among the best in the state of New Mexico.
Apparently we did a poor job conveying just how important all of these
press honors could mean to a small community like Truth or
Consequences,” Johnson said.
“When we give up the weekly, we give
up a lot more, including the NMPA family of newspapers, because as a
monthly tabloid or even as a daily website, we no longer will meet the
NMPA’s membership requirements that say you must be either a daily or
weekly and in print, and this will end when we say goodbye to the last
Desert Journal weekly newspaper on May 9,” Johnson said.
“We will have published nearly 400
weekly newspapers and it has been truly a labor of love,” he said.
“What else could it be?”
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Beautiful
hollyhock flowers brighten up the downtown Fiesta parade route, like these
ones along Main Street near Sierra Funeral Home. The Fiesta Parade will be
underway at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 2, featuring Grand Marshal Chris
Trujillo and miles of entries.
DJ
photo by Bill Johnson
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BLM
plans prescribed burn on Iron Mnt.
to
eliminate growth of pinon-juniper
TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES - Crews from the
U.S. Bureau of Land Management will start fires this weekend (May 3-4) in
extreme northwestern Sierra County to improve grassland, according to Amy
Lueders, BLM-Las Cruces field office manager.
A 12-member crew plans to burn about
400 acres to reduce pinyon-juniper encroachment on Iron Mountain about six
miles north of Winston.
The crew will use handheld drip torches
to ignite the fire, and two fire engines will be on site, according to BLM
Fire Technician Ryan Whiteaker.
The ignition phase will take about a
day. The BLM fire crew will remain on site for at least one more day to
ensure that fires are burnt out, Whiteaker said.
Smoke from the fire may be visible from
Winston and along Highways 59 and 52.
The BLM manages about 13 million acres
in New Mexico. The Las Cruces field office is responsible for about 5.4
million of those acres in six southwestern New Mexico counties.
Additional information is available by
calling Whiteaker at 505-525-4300.
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This
little corner of the earth at Foch and Main streets in T or C has been
greatly improved in recent times, with the addition of a bench, nice shade
tree and a wall that former Mayor Everett Banister (still a city
commissioner) painted with some of his Southwestern art. It is
improvements like this that will make the Fiesta parade route more
attractive than ever this Saturday morning.
DJ
photo by Bill Johnson
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Can
You Get Published?
…Desert
Journal expands challenge
The
Desert Journal has expanded its challenge “Can You Get Published?” as
a result of its offer to and acceptance by Scott LaFon’s eighth grade
Language I Arts class at the Truth or Consequences Middle School.
All
youths of the community – Truth or Consequences, Sierra County and New
Mexico – are invited to write on any subject of their interest, whether
it be the war with Iraq, home or school life, pets, friends, or whatever
they so desire as long as they don’t slander or defame anyone. Articles
must be typed, double-spaced and use proper language with a 250-word
limit.
This
youth literacy publishing project is the brainchild of local writer Chris
Wortman, LaFon and Desert Journal editor Bill Johnson. The following is
the fourth installment of articles found publish worthy among Mr.
LaFon’s students.
Every
Now and Then
By
Cotton Sandoval
I
walked down the park last night
Warm
breeze stirring up a soft moonlight
And
my mind started drifting to the class just then
Yes
I do think about you every now and then
The
other day I saw a little girl that looked just like you
I
got a funny feeling down deep inside
And
for the briefest moment I felt a smile begin
Yes
I do think about you every now and then
I
love my life and I’d never trade
Between
what I wish we could have and the life I’ve made
You’re
here and your real, how I love you
And
every once in a while I think about you
I
heard there was a dance just the other day
I
wanted to ask you to dance that day
But
then I walked away
How
I wish I wasn’t such a chicken
Yes
I do think about you every now and then
I’ve
been layin’ here all night listenin’ to the rain
Talkin’
to my heart trying to explain
Why
sometimes I catch myself
Wandering
what could be
Yes
I do think about you every now and then
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…Spring
cleaning
Tis
the season for spring cleaning, Fiesta is here, but the town’s only
movie theater despite rhetoric is still closed.
DJ photo by Bill Johnson |
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The
Shadow Advisory |
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By
Bill Johnson
Editor
of the Desert Journal
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…Both
thumbs up for Dixie Chicks
Both
of my thumbs are up for the Dixie Chicks for heroism and patriotism for
their stance against the war with Iraq and for standing up against
President Bush.
We
understood clearly what the Dixie Chicks stood for and it wasn’t what
the spin doctors in power say it was. Indeed, the Dixie Chicks stood up
for American principles and shine like beacons of bright light for
freedom.
Both of
my thumbs are down for the unpatriotic Un-American people who have trashed
the Dixie Chicks for sharing their beliefs and opinions, denouncing them
as traitors to the country music industry.
Folks,
this is America and even in Iraq American soldiers seem to understand what
they’re fighting for and it isn’t for the new fascism creeping around
the inner circles of Un-America.
No!
Soldiers, new or old, active or retired, indeed understand the tenets of
fighting for freedom, and activities exercising such liberties aren’t
restricted to waving Old Glory from the antennae of an automobile, or
singing the Star Spangled Banner at baseball games.
Soldiers
fought for Americans’ right to burn their flags when they’re
disenchanted with the acts of government and to speak their minds, which
is exactly what the Dixie Chicks did (they spoke their minds but never
burnt a flag – maybe they should!) and hopefully still do despite the
groves of anti-American Nazis and Storm Troopers who have come to light
since the war with Iraq began.
I heard
one of the local noisemakers say recently that Americans “love” to
fight – that they want to go to war because war is healthy and good for
children too. Okay then, meet me by the old oak tree at the park just
before sundown and let’s duke it out, chicken heart! I say you’re a
chicken because you won’t love fighting me, not one bit.
Better
yet, we could be civil and debate the issues, and then if you’re not
satisfied or still are not ashamed of your stupidity, well, we could put
on the gloves and go at it. We’ll see just how much you love to fight
after a round or two with me in the ring.
Now, if
you tell this veteran that he doesn’t have the right to free speech I
think I’ll just box you up and send you to Iraq to explain that to my
comrades in arms who understand what it means to fight for freedom.
And
remember this, the Constitution calls for Patriots to act against the
enemies of the tenets of our freedom, both foreign and domestic.
Is it
no wonder why Congress is afraid to declare war against the enemies of our
liberties since more than a fair share of them live at home amongst the
rest of us and elect Congress? Some of these enemies even include
newspaper publishers and radio station owners who persist in their
propaganda that police should use tear gas or pepper spray, clubs, and
rubber or bean bag bullets – even real bullets - against anti-war
demonstrators or Americans exercising their right to peaceably assemble.
Long
live the Dixie Chicks! Down with tyrants!
The
real American Revolution and War for Independence has begun…
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