Hilarious TV News Website

I stumbled upon this site called tvtrainwrecks.com that has a collection of what else...TV train wrecks.

Some of the videos are hilarious.....others are downright hard to watch.

Check it out.
-----------------------------
jeremyjojola.com

APD's Lawsuit Response

Today the Albuquerque Journal (subscription) reports that eight of the nine Albuquerque Police Officers mentioned in this lawsuit were off duty the night they appeared at the Tera Chavez crime scene.

I'm surprised at the City of Albuquerque's continued lethargic reaction to this suit.

For example:

I remember on the night I first broke the news of this suit I called APD and the City asking for a comment on the suit hours before my first report. I was given a "no comment."

I then air the story with the attributed details during three back-to-back newscasts, mentioning the city's "no comments" during each broadcast.

Finally, at the end of the night, I get an irate phone call from a city official (I won't say who) blaming me for negative press and blaming me for putting the city in an awkward position to comment. After a sour conversation with this person, the city then finally gave me a written response to the suit after the PR damage was done.

And now....A WEEK AND A HALF after the lawsuit was filed, APD's chief comments about the case again, saying most of the sued officers were "off duty."

Wow.

I don't like to give my opinions on how people should play PR, but it seems to me the city should be more proactive to negative headlines IMMEDIATELY, rather than days later.

The information in this article is something that could have been revealed the day after, or even possibly the night the lawsuit was filed.

It's inevitable the press will dig up more information on a story days or weeks later. But if government agencies want to avoid the story from dragging out they should provide as much information as possible upfront and immediately.

Essentially, the more facts you provide early, the less facts you'll have to reveal later...and later....and later.

Now that the police department is revealing more details about the circumstances surrounding the Tera Chavez case many days later after the suit was filed, I'm wondering what else APD hasn't revealed about the story.....

That's just my two-cents.......but then again....I may be wrong.
-----------------------------
jeremyjojola.com

ABC Reporter Gets Arrested

It happened again, this time in Denver. An ABC investigative producer was arrested on public property while covering a story about lobbyists and their big cash flow in Denver during the DNC.

Carlos Miller talks about it on his blog.

Here's the main story on ABC news.

It's infuriating when police arrest reporters and photographers who are on public property, who are not posing a public threat.

The City of Denver should be ashamed of these officers. Thank goodness the camera was rolling and thank goodness for people like Brian Ross for his work.
-----------------------------
jeremyjojola.com

The Jaw-Dropping Lawsuit

Lawsuits must always be taken with a grain of salt. But this lawsuit is quite newsworthy considering it reveals more information relating to the mysterious death of Tera Chavez who was the wife of an APD officer.

First, lets take a little look at the background:

Tera Chavez was found dead in her Los Lunas home, with a bullet wound to the head, in October of 2007. Her husband's police-issued gun (a Glock 9mm) was found next to her body.



At first sight, it was believed Tera Chavez killed herself with the gun. Initially Valencia County Sheriff's Investigators labeled the death as a suicide.

Weeks later Valencia County Investigators changed the scope of their investigation, labeling it a homicide, and named her husband, APD Officer Levi Chavez as a "person of interest."

Since the day her body was found, Officer Chavez has been on paid leave with APD. No charges have been filed. The investigation into Tera Chavez's death remains "open and active" according to the lead VCSO detective on the case.

The case hasn't gone anywhere since then, or at least those of us in the media haven't heard of anything new.


And then today a big bombshell: An attorney representing the estate of Tera Chavez (Brad Hall) files a 40 page lawsuit that is thick with shocking allegations against Officer Chavez. Nine other APD officers are also named as defendants. The officers are accused of meddling with evidence at the Tera Chavez crime scene the night her body was found (which was in Los Lunas, out of APD's jurisdiction).

Here are the big allegations ACCORDING to the lawsuit:

*Officer Chavez's changed his wife's life insurance policy to include a suicide pay-out clause months before her death. The policy became active, according to the suit, 17 days before her death. Chavez filed a claim on the policy for 100-thousand dollars just last month according to the suit. The suit claims Chavez also bought a Cadillac at Car Max in Albuquerque nine days after Tera Chavez's death. The lawsuit doesn't make it clear of Chavez received the 100-thousand dollar payment.

*The suit claims Officer Chavez wanted to get rid of his new truck, in which he was "upside down" on the payments. He, according to the lawsuit, wanted to make the truck "disappear" so he could file a false insurance claim. The lawsuit alleges Tera Chavez didn't want any part of this, and actually may have tried contacting State Insurance Fraud investigators about this through a state tip-line. If this is true, Tera Chavez, was in the process of getting her husband into a lot of trouble with authorities.

*The suit says aside from the truck payments, Officer Chavez's finances were a mess. He was sued by the Rio Rancho Police department for not fulfilling his contractual obligations to the department. He was sued for about 14-thousand dollars, according to the suit.

*The suit claims Officer Chavez was never trained as an officer to properly store his department issued weapon. The suit claims APD is liable for not training Chavez properly on the storage of his weapon and that APD doesn't have a written policy up to national standards when it comes to the storage of weapons at officers' homes. Chavez was an officer for only five months at the time of his wife's death, according to the suit.

*The suit claims Chavez had numerous affairs with several other APD officers. The suit claims this unchecked "sexual fraternization" within APD lead to Tera Chavez's stress.

*The suit also claims Tera Chavez engaged in an affair herself with another APD officer.

*The suit also claims nine Albuquerque Police officers, including a lieutenant and two sergeants entered the crime scene and contaminated it by removing evidence. The suit claims they demanded "professional courtesy" from VCSO investigators and entered the crime despite VCSO objections. The suit alleges one of the APD officers "flushed a blood sample down the toilet" and took "bloody bedding" from the home. The suit claims this accusation is supported by VCSO reports and crime scene logs. It's unclear if the officers were on duty or off duty during this alleged breach of the crime scene.

There is so much more to the lawsuit, I don't have time to lay out all the allegations. Again you can read it here in its entirety.

As soon as I received a copy of the filed lawsuit this afternoon, I called APD's spokesperson for comment. I told him the exact nature of the suit, and mentioned the accusations against the nine officers.

I was referred by APD's spokesperson to Deputy City Attorney Kathy Levy who gave me a "no comment" because of "pending litigation." She confirmed she had a copy of the suit.

After I aired my reports at 5pm, 6pm, and 6:30pm, the City decided to provide me with a written statement.

Here is that statement in its entirety:

This case involves the on-going criminal investigation into the death of Tera Chavez. The allegations made against APD are serious and will be fully responded to in a court of law. APD has been in regular contact with the Valencia County Sheriff’s Office regarding the criminal investigation – APD has not, and will not, do anything to adversely impact that investigation. A plaintiff can allege anything in a civil complaint – that does not make the statements true – the plaintiff has to prove her case. The claims made in this case are without merit, are not supported by the facts or the law, and APD is confident a court will agree.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Kathryn Levy
Deputy City Attorney

Attorney Brad Hall, who filed the suit, claims his accusations are all backed up with police records, VCSO reports, crime scene logs, documentation and witness statements.

I have also learned that the State's Insurance Fraud Bureau was about to file a search warrant against APD regarding all of this, but APD decided to provide Bureau investigators with documents/records at the last minute before it was executed.

I suspect given the nature of this lawsuit and it's eyebrow-raising allegations, there may be some fall out.

Also, you can expect this lawsuit will go to trail. The City of Albuquerque no longer settles APD lawsuits out of court anymore and fights them until the end, even at the risk of a huge jury award for a plantiff.

Now on to something else I've gotta mention. Levi Chavez is also the nephew of Sheriff Robert Chavez of Santa Rosa. You'll remember this report I did on Sheriff Chavez last month.

Keep watching.....
-----------------------------
jeremyjojola.com

Black Stained Fingers

One of my favorite activities, almost every day, is to sit down with a cup of coffee and a fresh newspaper. I'm talking about a real newspaper and not a newspaper's website.

Since I purchased my Iphone, I've been in heaven, keeping up with the news while on the go. But there is something missing from the process of digesting news from a digital machine. Something artificial and not, I should say, for lack of a better word...intimate.

There is something special about holding a newspaper versus reading news online. The smell of the paper. The black ink. The sound of paper as you flip from the local news section to the international articles. It's right there in front of you. The paper, a physical product of hard work by local journalists is like tangible proof the news is real.

After a heavy reading session, especially on Sunday's, I like how my fingers become black after turning so many pages. It's as if I really got my fingers into the news.

I was thinking about this on Sunday when I was having breakfast with my future wife. I had my Iphone on the breakfast table right next to the newspaper. I could have read the articles on line on my little screen. But I opted for tradition.
-----------------------------
jeremyjojola.com

Public Official: You Can't See this Letter

Update Part Two!: I finally received a copy of the letter I talked about below. Talk about moving at the speed of government. I asked for the letter on Thursday of last week over the phone. After my records request, it's taken almost a week to get this letter. If I get time, I'll try to post some image scans of the document.

Update: I received a call from the Game & Fish spokesperson today saying I would be given this letter soon. I'm not sure if they caught wind of the post below, but I'm assuming they're reacting to the written request I filed (see details of trying to get a document below).

In the television news business, there are many things that are far worse than dealing with long hours and stressful deadlines.

One of the worst things a reporter can encounter is when a public official refuses to turn over public documents because they feel they can without giving a legitimate reason.

One of those people is this man:



His name is Tom Arvas, the chairman of the New Mexico Fish and Game Commission.

You see, the Commission was sent a letter by the New Mexico Conservation Officers Association.

From what I understand, the letter criticizes Game and Fish Director Bruce Thompson and raises concerns over his poaching conviction.

Because this letter is now in the hands of a state commission, and the letter contains elements relating to government operations and concerns among state employees, it is most certainly public record. Any reasonable person would agree with me.

But for some reason Tom Arvas doesn't think you should see this letter and he won't explain why. Is he protecting Director Thompson? I don't know. But like any reporter, I grow suspicious when a public official doesn't want to turn over documents.

I asked for a copy of the letter on Thursday. Arvas refused. I cited state public records laws; he simply said he didn't feel the letter is public record, and that was it.

Hmmmm.....

So I did what any other reporter would do in this situation--file a written public records request. I faxed it to Mr. Arvas's office. By state law, Mr. Arvas or someone representing the Commission, must reply to me *in writing* acknowledging my request.

In the letter, I also asked Mr. Arvas to explain what state statue would support an exemption to my request.

You never know....there could be a legitimate reason, but so far I haven't been given one by a public official who has a duty and a responsibility to be open with the public, especially with documents in his or her possession.

This may sound like a petty disagreement, but when it comes down to it, we reporters, I believe, have a duty to knock down the Government's closed doors even if there may be nothing behind them.
-----------------------------
jeremyjojola.com

Manny Aragon Is Reading Something Interesting....

On Tuesday I aired a report about the upcoming Manny Aragon trial. I didn't expect any of the defendants to show up in court today. After all, today's hearing was a discussion about possibly pushing back the trial date.

But Aragon did show up. And there was something interesting he carried with him. It was a book by former New Mexico US Attorney David Iglesias, In Justice

Hmmmm.....interesting considering Iglesias was the sitting US Attorney when Aragon was indicted.

This past May, the New Mexico Independent covered how Aragon's attorney, Ray Twohig (who was annoyed with me questioning his client outside the courthouse today)had an encounter with Iglesias about his book too.
----------------------------
jeremyjojola.com

A Tribute to the Domestique

In the TV News business there are so many tough jobs in which hard work often goes unnoticed. One of these jobs is commonly known as "The Desk" or the "Assignment Manager."

Simply put The Desk (it deserves capitalization) is like air traffic control for an airport, the nucleus of a cell, or the nerve center of a busy transit station. One of The Desk managers, aka assignment managers is my co-worker Mike Anderson who compares his role to that of a Cycling Domestique. (See Above picture of Mike.)

According to Wikipedia, a domestique is "a cycler who works solely for the benefit of his or her team and leader" during a race. The domistique serves as the windbreaker for the main racer, pumping out energy and reducing drag so the racer can burst into the front at the last minute.

Mike is one of those people who can listen to three police/fire/county scanners at once and make out exactly what's going on in the streets. He knows ten code like a regular officer, if not better. I've seen Mike distinguish complex scanner chatter into a comprehensible event. For example, I'll hear an officer squawk over the scanners, "yeah, we got a 10-31, going on with a 10-21, involving a 10-6." (I made up these numbers, so please don't scrutinize the ten code translation).

Mike will then translate for all of us, quickly: "We've got a woman on fire, wearing a red wig, running around a McDonald's with a stolen bottle of booze."



I don't know how he does it. I think he has a scanner in his head to be honest. He also knows every street corner in the city, how long it takes to drive there, and what landmarks are in the area, and what past news events happened there. Mike is the perfect desk, or should I say, newsroom domestique--a walking, talking Albuquerque map. Mr. Garmin (if he exists) would be impressed.

The Desk is a tough place to be, and most certainly the loudest. The constant chatter of the scanners, the never ending phone calls from reporters, viewers and somtimes lunatics can dull the ear drums and drive any switchboard operator insane.

That's not the only racket going on. There's also the never ending badgering from producers wondering what photographer is where and if a live unit can hit from a certain part of town.

This never ending noise gets worse during breaking news and about an hour before the first newscast hits. God help us when breaking news hits at this time.

If we could look into the brain of a Desk person, I think the brainwaves would baffle modern science. They have to handle so many things at once. Multitasking is an understatement. Try having a conversation with three people at once. One guy in the newsroom is yelling at you for not getting a photographer to a certain place, another guy on the phone (reporter) is asking you where the heck a photographer is, and the other guy on the other phone is actually the photographer wondering where he or she needs to go next.

So here's to you Desk folks and Mike (cue Bud Light commercial music). You guys do a good job reducing all the drag for the newsroom. You guys are all 10-4 in my book. Now where's my photographer?
-----------------------------
jeremyjojola.com