YOU READ IT HERE FIRST

U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, one of four remaining New Mexico superdelegates not to endorse a presidential candidate, is expected to endorse Sen. Barack Obama today.

That's all I can say right not. Awaiting official word. Watch this space!

R.I.P. ART SANCHEZ

I was very saddened this morning to learn of the death of former Santa Fe City Councilor Art Sanchez. See Doug Mattson's obituary HERE.

I first met Art back in 1984 when he first ran for council and I was working for the Santa Fe Reporter. On the surface he seemed like a fairly typical Santa Fe politican -- a retired bureaucrat with time on his hands. But after talking to Art for more than 30 seconds you realized he was a man with specific plans. The main plank of the Sanchez platform was that the city should buy the local water company from Public Service Company of New Mexico.

Shortly after his election, I got hired to cover City Hall for The Journal North, my first job in daily journalism. Sanchez was very helpful to me during the next few years. Not only was he friendly and helpful, always letting me know what really was going on, but the straight-talking Sanchez frequently provided colorful, off-the-cuff quotes. This made my job more fun and helped establish his image as a gruff-but loveable curmudgeon.

Once elected, Sanchez worked hard to keep that promise about buying the water company. He pushed a special election for buying the water company in 1985. But the referendum went down in flames, partly because of the unpopularity of the city administration at the time. That defeat didn't stop Sanchez. Nearly 10 years later, Sanchez led another charge to buy the utility and this time he was successful.

Sanchez got mad at me after the water election of '85. As the votes from the city's east-side were coming in, heavily against the referendum, Sanchez grumbled that the "fat cats" on the east side didn't care about people's water bills. I quoted him in the paper and Sanchez said I got him in trouble. But that never stopped him from talking openly with me.

During the mid-80s -- a time of intense development activity in Santa Fe and an era in which the real estate industry seemed to dominate the City Council -- Sanchez allied himself with his old friend Councilor Carlos Gallegos. Together, they did something many at the time considered radical and anti-business: They asked tough questions, they demanded real answers and if they weren't satisfied, they weren't afraid to vote "no." Most the time back then Sanchez and Gallegos were in the minority on these votes, earning them the nickname "The Gang of Two."

Shortly after Sanchez's election, the city, which used to elect all councilors at large, went to a district system. As it turned out, Sanchez and Gallegos, who both were up for re-election in 1988, lived in the west-side District 3. The two old friends and political allies had to run against each other.

It was an extremely civil election. (By this time I was working for The New Mexican.) I remember after one candidate forum going out for drinks with Sanchez, Gallegos (who drank coffee) and a third District 3 candidate Felipe Cabeza de Vaca. (Neither Art nor Carlos seemed to mind that Felipe had referred to them as "Artless" Sanchez and "Careless" Gallegos during the forum.)

Gallegos won that election. Sanchez sat out the next four years, but won another term in 1992 when Galelgos retired. During this next term, he achieved his goal of leading the city to purchase the water company. Sanchez served until 2000, when he was defeated by Miguel Chavez.

Rest in peace, Art. Your courage, your stubborness, your knowledge and your humor will be missed.

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, April 27, 2008
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
Webcasting!
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
No One's Goin' Nowhere by Simon Stokes
Not My World by Vicious Beatniks
Sunrise (Turn On) by The Chesterfield Kings
Transmissions from Venus by Man or Astroman?
Perverts in the Sun by Iggy Pop
Your Ass is Next in Line by The Mummies
Baby Stardust by Thee Michelle Gun Elephant
Girl Be Steadfast by Steadfasts
Fire in the Western World by The Dirtbombs
Phom Rak Khoon Tching Thing (I Really Do Love You) by The Viking Band

Current Events by Joe "King' Carrasco y Los Coronas
Don't Tease Me by ? & The Mysterians
El Microscopo Bikini (Dizzy Miss Lizzie) by Los Straitjackets with Cesar Rosas
Grasshopper by The Original Ben Vaughn Combo
Any Way the Wind Blows by The Mothers of Invention
Red Hot by Sam the Sham & The Pharoahs
Life of the Party by The Slickee Boys
I Saw a Ghost (Lean) by The Black Lips
Soul Kitchen by X
Andres by L7

Come to the Water by Possessed by Paul James
She Said by Hasil Adkins
Factory Dog by John Schooley
Drunk Stripper by Bob Log III
Wreck My Car by Scott H. Biram
Work Me Baby by Richard Johnston
The Gallows by Possessed by Paul James

Rules of Bobby by Bobby Brodsky
Ain't No Justice by The Temptations
Experiment in Terror by The Blue Hawaiians
Up in Flames by Julee Cruise
I Wake Up Crying by Andre Williams
I Know I've Got Religion by The Staple Singers
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

GOP SENATE DEBATE

I'm late posting this, but my coverage on the Heather Wilson/Steve Pearce debate in Los Alamos Friday night is HERE.

While a lot of Democrats are getting depressed over the neverending Obama Clinton battle, at least in New Mexico Dems can take heart that in this state two major Republicans are happily ripping into each other.

But will this heated debate fester into an animosity that will hurt the GOP through the general election?

As Brian Sanderoff told me a couple of weeks ago, once the primary is over, so much national party money on both sides is going to pour into the state for the Senate race alone, it'll even things out somewhat.

ONE-MAN HILLBILLY/BLUES-BAND JAM

In conjunction with with today's Terrell's Tune-uo column about Possessed by Paul James, here's a collection of YouTube videos of PBPJ and other one-man hillbilly/blues bands.

If you like this sort of thing, be sure to tune into Terrell's Sound World Sunday night. I'll do a whole set of these artists. The show starts at 10 p.m. nd I'll do this set shortly after the Eleventh Hour. That's on KSFR, 101. FM (Click that link if you want to hear it live on the Web.)

(And speaking of KSFR, I've got to cover a political debate tonight, so Tom Adler will substitute for me on The Santa Fe Opry.)

Here's some videos: