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Welcome to Desert Journal Online, established in May 2001 in New Mexico. Our website
offers our true crime book,
Satan's Den Exposed - The David
Parker Ray Story, and poetry and photo collections,
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Liberation and
Interference, and provides free access to
our featured columns, photos and news archives.
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2012 began in 1999
by Peter Appleseed
of the Kyyboa Tribe
Book about true revolution, civilogy and creating positive alternatives. |
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Satan's Den Exposed
The David Parker Ray Story
True crime book about a
criminal sexual sadist and cohorts busted in kidnap, rape and sexual
torture cases in New Mexico
By the Desert Journal's award winning investigative reporting team of Bill
Johnson, Fred Mramor & David Pierre
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Desert Journal Online
Contact Information
Bill Johnson
Editor, Publisher & Webmaster
Vic Arvizu
Honorary Web Guru
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Electronic mail
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desertjournal@hotmail.com
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Location
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We are an electronic
submissions only website located in Albuquerque, NM, and have no
physical business address.
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Copyright ©
2001-2008 Desert Journal Online
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Last modified:
October 1, 2008
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Old
Sam Skeleton found himself in a real jam Halloween night when his old
Jalopy crashed into the T or C Youth Center in time for the Fall Festival.
"Don't drink and drive!" old Sam said as his old arthritic bones
got fused on the steering wheel. Click on photo to see full view of the
spook jalopy.
Photo by Bill Johnson |
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Concerned citizens to circulate
petition to rid town of propane
Desert
Journal Staff Report
Lorrie Bierner said she doesn’t want to go
through an ordeal again like she did 10 months ago during the Cortez Gas
Co. fires and explosions that rocked Truth or Consequence.
Bierner said she and other concerned citizens intend
to make it difficult for Cortez Gas Co. and any other supplier of liquid
propane gas, butane or other highly combustible liquids or gas to do
business within city limits or near residential and commercial areas.
“We’ll do a petition to get butane and LP gas out
of town,” Bierner said. “We’ll go door to door. We’ll hit people
everywhere in town for their signature.”
Bierner said she doesn’t intend to circulate the
petitions inside stores, restaurants, or other business fronts. “It will
be us, the little flunky people who do not want that tank there. I’m not
going to go through another hell.”
Bierner said she was inside working at the Fast Stop
store on East Third Avenue when the tanks exploded across the street in
Cortez Gas Company’s yard the night of Jan. 7.
“I was in the store when the tanks exploded. I
didn’t know what happened until this Spanish boy came in and said,
‘You better get out of here.’ I asked, ‘Why?’ And he said,
‘Because you’re going to die’,” Bierner said.
“We went out the door and heard the boom and it
blew up - a big ball of fire came out, the little tank exploded. We went
out the side and heard people screaming. It was awful,” she said.
The ensuing fire destroyed 13 mobile homes and
trailers and 10 vehicles, but no one died or was seriously injured from
the inferno that engaged numerous fire departments from within a 75-mile
radius of T or C.
An employee of Cortez Gas Co. in a recent interview
with the Desert Journal said Cortez plans to install an 800-gallon LP tank
and a small office on the same property in the 400 block of East Third
Avenue. There, they will sell lesser volumes of LP gas, such as for gas
grills, etc.
The Cortez Gas employee also said some added
protections, such as barriers, are being installed to protect the facility
from runaway vehicles – such as the one that crossed the street from
Domino’s Pizza the night of Jan. 7 and rammed through the chain-link
fence at Cortez before striking a valve to the big 18,000-gallon tank
there, causing LP gas to leak out and then ignite and explode a couple of
smaller tanks.
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A Gypsy fortune teller
says, “Look into my crystal ball,” before Halloween visitors continue
their tour through the very scary Haunted House at the old Adobe Moon
building on Austin Avenue in T or C.
Photo by
Bill Johnson
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City may have to pay IRS
nearly $150K in penalties
By Fred Mramor
of the Desert Journal
The City of Truth or Consequences may be
liable to the Internal Revenue Service for nearly $150,000 in penalties
having failed to pay $935,403.91 in payroll taxes from July 2000 to
October 2001, a city accountant said this week.
City Finance Director Ray Ortiz forgot
to make the electronic transfers for city employees’ federal income tax
withholdings and employees’ and employer’s contributions to Social
Security and Medicare, said George Marshall, an accountant with the
city’s Finance Department, on Thursday.
Ortiz, who was out sick and unavailable
for comment Thursday, was supposed to make the payments by electronic
transfer after each pay period, which is every two weeks, Marshall said.
He said the responsibility has recently been turned over to city payroll
tech Danny Bonner.
Though not paid to the IRS until last
month, the payroll taxes had been set aside in a separate account since
July 2000; the city therefore did not have to scramble for the money or
dip into the city’s general fund or other accounts to pay the delinquent
taxes, Marshall said.
But the city, in what Marshall called a
worst-case scenario, may be liable to the IRS for deposit penalties of
$93,540.39 and reporting penalties of $55,399.91.
Marshall said he and Ortiz have been
working with IRS representatives in Las Cruces and Albuquerque to reduce
the penalties.
Marshall said also the city’s
insurance, as provided by the State Risk Management Pool, may pay the
penalties with a $5,000 deductible. As of Thursday morning, Marshall
wasn’t certain that the IRS will reduce the penalties or that insurance
will pay them.
Marshall said it will be up to the city
manager to decide how the city will pay any penalties it will be liable
for.
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A witch brews up a
concoction for visitors to the Haunted House on Austin Avenue Halloween
night.
Photo by Bill Johnson
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City finance
director
quits
By Fred Mramor
of the Desert Journal
City of Truth or Consequences Finance Director
Ray Ortiz on Monday announced his resignation for health reasons as of
Nov. 9, Acting City Manager Mark Huntzinger said this week.
Ortiz, formerly an accountant with the
New Mexico Veterans Center, has been T or C’s finance manager since June
1999 when then-city manager Sam Isom transferred Sharon Roberts from the
post into a newly-created position of city grant writer.
Isom later fired Roberts for
“insubordination and disloyalty.”
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Jack O’Lantern in
witch’s hat lights the way for trick or treaters Halloween night at SEIS
Radio Shack at Foch Street and Broadway in downtown T or C.
Photo
by Bill Johnson
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Court administrator runs
over 90-year-old pedestrian
By Fred Mramor
of the Desert Journal
Thursday, Nov. 1, was a bad day for Municipal Court Administrator Bobbi
Sanders and an even worse day for James Newkirk, 90, of Truth or
Consequences.
Sanders said she heard a thump after barely turning
her Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck from Foch Street onto Broadway just
before noon Thursday.
Sanders said she had first looked both ways before
turning but that Newkirk seemed to come out of nowhere.
Three witnesses said Newkirk walked into Sanders’
truck, TCPD Sgt. Jessie Harzewski said to Sanders at the scene.
Sanders commented that Main and Foch is a bad corner
where a motorist must creep into the intersection to see if any cars are
coming.
Sanders said Newkirk tried to get up after being
knocked down on the pavement but that she made him stay down until an
ambulance arrived.
Witness Cynthia Cohen said she also helped keep the
victim on the ground. She said Newkirk was on all fours and trying to
get up after being struck.
Cohen said Newkirk was very upset with Sanders.
Newkirk was treated at Sierra Vista
Hospital for “lumps, bumps and scratches,” a physician in SVH’s
emergency room said. The physician said Newkirk sustained no broken
bones or other serious injury and that he’ll be okay.
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Who’d want to
get stuck in a dark alley with this scary figure, who was seen amongst the
ghouls Halloween night in downtown T or C?
Photo by Bill Johnson
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Man arrested for raping boy
Desert
Journal Staff Report
A 31-year-old man was arrested after sexually molesting a 12-year-old boy
Oct. 25 while the boy was looking for his father.
A charge criminal sexual penetration in the first
degree was filed Tuesday in the Sierra County Magistrate Court against
Augustine Cobos, whose last known address is listed as Arrey, NM. If
convicted of the crime, Cobos faces up to 18 years in prison. Magistrate
Tom Pestak set bond at $100,000 cash only.
Sheriff’s Deputy Lawrence Gaston said in the
affidavit for arrest warrant he met the victim and his mother at the Ben
Archer Clinic in Truth or Consequences last Friday morning, Oct. 26. The
victim told police that during the early evening of Oct. 25, he went next
door looking for his father.
A neighbor, known to the boy only as “Augustine,”
told the boy his father wasn’t there.
“The defendant then pulled down his own pants and
sat down in a chair. He then told [the victim] to come and sit on his lap.
[The victim] said that he was very frightened of the defendant and said
that he was afraid the defendant would hit him. He sat on the
defendant’s lap for about 20 seconds, during which time he stated he
felt something moving inside him. At that point [the victim] became even
more frightened and ran back home,” according to the deputy’s
affidavit.
The boy then waited more than two hours before he
could tell a parent, his mother, who came home from work at about 8:15
p.m., about what happened.
The mother told the deputy she didn’t allow her son
to wash up or change his underwear that night. A rape kit was then
performed on the victim, Gaston said in the affidavit.
The deputy said he went to the residence of the
victim, which is next door to that of the defendant. The deputy didn’t
reveal in the report which part of the county it was that the crime
occurred.
Cobos entered no plea during his first appearance.
Judge Pestak appointed the public defender’s office to represent Cobos.
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Lady Bug Kaylen Pedro, 2,
is a real charmer at the Fall Festival held Halloween at the T or C Youth
Center.
Photo by Bill Johnson
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Allish featured
in Swim Magazine
Norman
Allish, Truth or Consequences’ 86-year-old
national swimming champion, was featured in the November/December 2001
issue of Swim Magazine, the official magazine of U.S. Masters
Swimming and “The World’s Foremost Authority on Adult Swimming.”
The magazine is distributed throughout the United
States and Canada.
Allish is featured in the article “Cavalcade of
Championships – National Senior Games” by Bill Holman and is quoted in
the lead paragraph, “Swim till you die, and you will live longer.”
Allish was among 512 participants in the National
Senior Games held in Baton Rouge, LA, July 14-28. The article notes that
Allish is an arthritic cancer survivor who has had a pacemaker for seven
years and despite the medical adversity, Allish managed to nab a gold
medal, one silver medal, three bronze medals and a fourth place ribbon.
“With his extraordinary accomplishments, Allish was
certainly representative of the many athletes who participated in this
year’s National Senior Games – the eighth anniversary of the biennial
event – which is the largest ongoing multi-sport event in the U.S.,”
according to Swim Magazine.
Allish said he was honored when he saw the article in
the magazine that was delivered in his mail Tuesday.
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The Bio-Hazard Kid,
Aidan Bradley, three and a half months old, is “fallen out” Halloween
night on his favorite spot on the floor at dad’s photography studio on
Broadway.
Photo by Bill Johnson |
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Kimberly Mill of Mesilla, NM, displays the
children’s book, Los Amiguitos’ FIESTA, illustrated by her mother,
artist Judith Donoho Shade (deceased).
Photo by
Bill Johnson
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Los
Amiguitos’ Fiesta
about
a kids’ pet parade
Book signing Nov. 10
Pam Mill, daughter of the illustrator, will
sign books from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10, at Hastings Books,
2350 E. Lohman in Las Cruces.
Los Amiguitos FIESTA (The Little
Friends’ FIESTA): A Southwestern Storybook was written by Jean Thor
Cook and illustrated by Judith Donoho Shade of Columbus, NM (now
deceased).
The colorful children’s book is about
10 little friends who decorate their pets for a pet parade. The book
includes a few simple words in Spanish, complete with help on
pronunciation, designed to expose children to the Spanish language.
The book contains over 20 colored
pencil drawings of Judy’s “Amiguitos” little friends.
Judy Donoho Shade was an accomplished
artist in many mediums. From the small New Mexico border town of Columbus,
Judy’s heart led her to the creation of the whimsical kids “Los
Amiguitos.” She died in the spring of 1999.
Her husband, Dave H. Shade, and her
husband’s mother, Leona, were longtime residents of Truth or
Consequences until about 14 to 15 years ago, said Shade’s daughter,
Kimberly Mill of Mesilla who was in T or C Tuesday promoting the book.
Jean Thor Cook, author, lives in
Colorado. She earned a bachelor’s in elementary education, and a
master’s in adult education. She has written several children’s books
including Hugs For Our New Baby and Room For a Stepdaddy.
The book ($17 hardcover, published by
Gently Worded Books, P.O. Box 1326, Santa Fe, NM 87504-1326; and printed
by Starline Printing in Albuquerque) is suggested for children ages 3 to
8. It is available at Hastings or the local bookstore.
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A witch treats the kitty cat as part of the
downtown T or C merchants’ trick or treat event on Broadway Halloween
night.
Photo by Bill Johnson
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The
Nine Lives of Cheo
By Cheo via Carol Main
Part I
I am a red-black cat, bigger than most. Red?
That’s the wool on my skin. Black is the hair on
top of my wool… kind of like a sheep… and big…
I heard my person say that I weigh 16 pounds in the
summer and about 20 in the winter… I don’t shrink in hot weather. I am
always two feet long and ten inches tall, those extra four pounds are just
that red wool I get rid of in April.
I was born in January 1973 in Coburg, Oregon. I was
killed on the bank of the Rio Grande in New Mexico on July 19, 1996.
What? You want my genealogy? Okay, my first owners,
Ken and Ida, raised purebred Russian Chestnuts and pure Black Havanas, so
when my siblings and I were born half and half they threw us out into the
Coburg Hills to live, die, or whatever… LIFE #1.
Some skunks found me and raised me up and taught me
to talk real squeaky, and a lot of other things, like following squirrels
to find food when it gets cold. They kept me until I got too big, then a
bunch of them chased me out. LIFE #2.
Then I had to find all of my own food by smell and
one day I was eating from Ken’s dog food dish when I was six months old
and he caught me in a trap, (that fish he put in that box smelled so good)
and he was going to kill me, but a friend of theirs made them give me to
her instead. LIFE #3.
I lived with my new person, just her and me, for a
long time. We moved into the Blue Mountains and a friend of hers gave us
deer meat so I found out that food is okay even if it has been dead for a
long time.
Before that I thought that it was only
good if I just killed it, because the only time I ever ate other stuff was
when Ken caught me.
(LIFE #4 To Be Continued…)
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A
Spooky Halloween in Truth or Consequences
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These youngsters are
appropriately “smoked out” for Halloween in the wake of the Sept. 11
terrorist attack on America.
Photo by Bill Johnson
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With hands out, these kids are treated Halloween
night to the merchants’ goodies on Broadway in downtown T or C.
Photo by Bill Johnson
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Pirate Sebastian Cobos, 1-1/2 years old, gets to
ride in the fire truck with Tim Johnson during the Fall Festival held
Halloween night at the T or C Youth Center.
Photo by Bill Johnson
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The little goblins and
monsters net for prizes at the Fall Festival held in the T or C Youth
Center Halloween night.
Photo by Bill Johnson
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Mr. Statue of Liberty,
Ralph at Radio Shack, must give up some of his hard earned candy to the
young trick or treaters who entered his store Halloween night.
Photo by Bill Johnson
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This kitty cat gets
instruction before tossing the rings for a prize during the Fall Festival
at the T or C Youth Center Halloween night.
Photo by Bill Johnson
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The Crazy Clown Lady
checks the net for prizes at the Fall Festival Halloween night at the
Youth Center.
Photo by Bill
Johnson
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Paris
Ebberts, 3,
nets a prize at the Fall Festival Halloween night at the Youth Center.
Photo by Bill Johnson
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