HOLY CRAP!

The Albuquerque Tribune is for sale!

There have, of course been rumors about the fate of Albuquerque's afternoon daily for years. This means, if a buyer isn't found, that the Journal will be the only daily in town.

That would be wrong.

Read the official story HERE

THE TOMMY RODELLA SAGA

Last week I got my hands on correspondence from Rio Arriba County Magistrate Tommy Rodella to the state Judicial Standards Commission indicating that Rodella, husband of state Rep. Debbie Rodella, D-Espanola, is under investigation by the commission.

The only issue mentioned in the document was the July 4, 2005 incident in which Rodella drove to Tierra Amarilla to free a DWI suspect.

That incident eventually led to a spat between Rodella and Gov. Bill Richardson, (who had appointed Rodella earlier that year), and eventually to Rodella's resignation. However Rodella ran for and won the magistrate seat in 2006. (An old story about that resignation can be found HERE.)

My story on the investigation was in Sunday's New Mexican and can be found HERE.

In today's paper I have a story about allegations by Rodella's lawyer, former state Supreme Court Justice Tony Scarborough. He claims Judicial Standards actually has expanded its investigation and in fact is "“conducting a wide-ranging, illegal and secret investigation into the conduct of present and former state legislators, other public officials and candidates for public office from Rio Arriba County, as well as ordinary citizens” -- which JSC denies. That story can be found HERE.

Always lots of fun in Rio Arriba!

R.I.P. BOB JOHNSON

This man was a champ!

I was stunned this morning to learn of the death of Bob Johnson, a founder of and the driving force behind New Mexico Foundation for Open Government.

I knew Bob as a voice on the phone years before I met him. He's the one a reporter would call whenever some tin-horn bureaucrat tried to keep public information from the public.

Sometimes FOG would instigate a lawsuit if some agency wouldn't budge. Whatever the case, Bob was always good for a quote, a concise explanation why openness not only is a good idea, in most cases, it's the law.

When I began covering the Capitol in late 2000, I got to know Bob better. He was there nearly every day during a legislative session, usually on his never-ending crusade to convince lawmakers to put an end to "the last bastion of secrecy," closed conference committees -- — panels made up of members of both houses to iron out differences in bills that have passed both chambers.

Bob would always look pained when senators made their ridiculous arguments against open conference committees. ("We can't open conference committees until the governor opens all his meetings." "How come the press wants open conference committees when newspapers don't open their editorial meetings?") And it was always a kick in the teeth for Bob when the foxes in the Senate inevitably would vote against installing a new light in the hen house.

Of course Bob didn't see it that way. He would say -- quite rightfully -- that it a vote against openness was a blow to democracy, not just an affront to him.

Last week I attended a ceremony in which the state treasurer named a conference room after the late radio reporter Bob Barth. (For my column on that, CLICK HERE and scroll down). That gives me an idea.

a) Open the damned conference committees!

b) Designate a room in the Capitol "The Robert H. "Bob" Johnson Conference Committee Meeting Room."

Johnson, of course had a long career before FOG. A couple of years ago I wrote about his experiences during Watergate. (CLICK HERE and scroll down.)

Bob, you will be missed!

UPDATE: Thanks to a friendly reader who alerted me to some typos. That's always appreciated. They've been fixed.

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, August 26, 2007
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
Now Simulcasting 90.7 FM, and out new, stronger signal, 101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
We Can't Be Killed by The Floors
Down the Drain by Monkeyshines
Caveman by The Blood-Drained Cows
A-Bomb Bop by The A-Bones
Gonna Murder My Baby by Pat Hare
Loaded Heart by The Gore Gore Girls
Blindness by The Fall
Searching by The Omens

Way Down South by The Dynamites featuring Charles Walker
Hook and Sing Meets the Funky Superfly by Sharon Jones
The Flag Was Still There by George Clinton
No Regrets by King Kahn & His Shrines
Petey Wheatstraw by Nat Dove & The Devils
Cissy Strut by The Meters
Guitar by Prince

King Cobra by The Budos Band
Path of the Blazing Sarong by Ravi Harris & The Prophets
Jon E's Mood by Jon E. Edwards & The Internationals
Got to Have it by Soul President
How Do You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul? by Public Enemy
Stool Pigeon by The Soul Deacons
Steam Train by Lee Fields
Total Destruction of Your Mind by Swamp Dogg

You're Just About to Lose Your Clown by Joe Louis Walker
Lonely Just Like Me by Arthur Alexander
Ana by Los Straightjackets with Little Willie G
Poco de Todo by King Richard & The Knights
Shocking Curse Bird by The Mekons
Do You Realize by The Flaming Lips
Down Where the Valleys are Low by Judee Sill
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, August 24, 2007
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell

Now Simulcasting 90.7 FM, and our new, stronger signal, 101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos

Bye Bye Boozoo by Beausoleil
I've Always Been Crazy by Waylon Jennings with Travis Tritt
Bad News by Johnny Cash
Jason Fleming by Neko Case with the Sadies
Cocaine Blues by Holy Modal Rounders
Tequila Shiela by Bobby Bare
The Heart of California (for Lowell George) by Terry Allen
Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee, Drinking Wine by Johnny Burnette & The Rock 'n' Roll Trio

The Eggs of Your Chickens by The Flatlanders
Looking for a Job by Todd Snider
Bonapart's Retreat by Glen Campbell
I Cast a Lonesome Shadow by Hank Thompson
A Girl in a House in Felony Flats by Richmond Fontaine
She Baby by Heavy Trash
Flavor on The Tongue by The Gourds

Don't Lose My Trail by Eleni Mandrell
Empty Bed Blues by Maria Muldaur
Dancing on the Ashes by Robbie Fulks
Dancing with the Ghost of William Bonney by Bone Orchard
Molly Crow by Hundred Year Flood
Another Place, Another Time by Jerry Lee Lewis
Final Straw by John Egenes

Elijah's Church by Low Red Land
White Stone Door by The Mekons
Underneath the Stars by Peter Case with Carlos Guitarlos
No Earthly Good by Billy Joe Shaver with Kris Kristofferson
The Kiss by Judee Sill
Young Wesley by David Bromberg
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list