Enough Already!

My Inbox is flooded. Check out a screen shot that I took this morning:



Most of the stuff in my Inbox is junk. Here's what's in there:

1) Campaign Press Releases: These are releases I don't really care about because I am not a political reporter. Many of these releases are sent by lazy PR people who don't bother to actually call up a reporter to find out if anyone would be interested in what they're writing about. So they just send every reporter in the newsroom these things. They're more of a nuisance.


2) SPAM: Because my work email is on the KOB.com website, I get all sorts of SPAM. The typical VIAGRA HALF OFF!!!! emails come in everyday. I also get loads of emails from rich Nigerians who want me to help them get millions out of their country.

3) Chain Mails: Some viewers have actually put my email on their email list. So anytime they find a nice picture of kittens or some sort of life changing quote or story (that is most likely fabricated), I get it. Some of these emails contain animated graphics involving digital glitter. These cause memory problems.

Honestly...there are times where I just have to select a large amount of emails and just delete them. And get this...I already have about 30 people on my list whose emails are automatically deleted when they send me something. So maintaining my Inbox is quite challenging.

I'm tempted to select all emails....and just start over. Fresh, clean slate. It's almost tempting....but I know I would get even more email from people who would write me another email asking why I didn't respond to their email......help.
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jeremyjojola.com

I'm Going Cross-Eyed

Sorry I've been away from the blog. For the past several days I've been pouring over electronic records on my computer. This entails hours of mouse clicking, note taking, and gallons of coffee. One electronic document that I'm looking at contains 62-thousand names. I'm essentially looking for a needle(s) in a haystack. Fun.
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jeremyjojola.com

Busting Your Boss

The word ironic easily comes to mind when writing about Bruce Thompson. For the first time I saw him today at a place where he likely didn't want to be (see video below).


Thompson stepped into a the small office where I was already waiting in with the other reporters and photographers.

He was wearing an unassuming black suit that looked like it was pressed and freshly dry cleaned just for this occasion. I know he has a PhD in Wildlife Science. His glasses, and beard and parted pepper hair no doubt add to the image of what you would expect a wildlife scientist would have. He looks more like a Sunday television pastor rather than an illegal hunter.

What's more amazing about this is that Thompson is the director of the New Mexico Game & Fish.

Thompson shot a deer in Lincoln County in southern New Mexico on private property without the property owner's consent last November.

A Game & Fish officer named Michael Perry was called by the property owner after other hunters saw him in the area. Perry found Thompson's gutted deer carcass on private property and cited Thompson for the illegal shoot.

Eventually Thompson was convicted of illegally shooting the deer in court earlier this year and was forced to pay a fine and placed on six months probation.

I find it amazing this man has manged to keep his job as director despite his conviction. It would be like the director of MADD getting busted for DWI, but not getting fired.

What I find more amazing is the will of Game and Fish Officer Michael Perry. He cited his own boss and had to sit next to him during today's hearing. Talk about awkward.

Someone once told me that Game & Fish officers in New Mexico would cite their own mother. (For some reason I picture a woman in an apron with a gun in the desert hunting deer.) I find that easily to believe.

Thompson has long maintained it was a navigational mistake (he misread his GPS device he claims).

After today's hearing, it was recommended by the hearing officer that Bruce Thompson should have his hunting privileges revoked for two years.

A final decision on that recommendation is expected later this year.
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jeremyjojola.com

Rio Rancho Schools Taking it Seriously?

On Wednesday evening, I aired a report about a five-year-old boy's claims he was molested at Rio Rancho's Sandia Vista Elementary school, in the bathroom by a stranger.

Eric Kahnert followed up with another report with the boy's parents at 10pm.

The boy told his father about the case LAST FRIDAY. It was also on that day Rio Rancho Police took a report and launched an investigation. It was also on that Friday the school sent a letter home to parents about a stranger asking a student to climb into his truck near the school that same week. At this point the school district doesn't believe the incidents are related and neither do police.

For some reason, the school didn't send out another letter about the molestation claim. Parents of students at Sandia Vista Elementary had to hear about it from the media after we found an open investigation by Rio Rancho Police.

After my reports about the boy's claim, the school district tells me this morning (Thursday) they will FINALLY be sending out a letter to parents today because there are some in accuracies about what was reported. The district originally told me they didn't send out a notice to parents because the haven't substantiated the boy's story.

Well...it seems to me if you're willing to send out a letter about a stranger in a truck, you should send out a letter about a molestation claim, which is far more serious.

I asked the school district spokesperson what those inaccuracies are. She didn't get specific (because there are no inaccuracies), but mentioned she felt the school district was portrayed as not taking the molestation claim seriously.

Considering the fact parents had to learn about this police investigation from us rather than the school district FIVE DAYS LATER, I'm not convinced the school district is taking it seriously. As a reporter, I have to speak for parents and I doubt, since they didn't know about this, they would come to the conclusion the school district is handling it seriously.

Sometimes public relations folks will expect us reporters to take everything they say at their word and expect us to regurgitate everything they say. But actions speak louder than words. There's no proof the district is taking this case seriously...at least not until now that there is press coverage on it.

If the school district took this case seriously, they would have sent out a letter on Monday afternoon to parents alerting them about the police investigation and the boy's claims.

By not communicating to parents about this alleged bathroom incident and by not swiftly being open with the public about the case, it seems to me Rio Rancho Schools didn't want this story out there. Perhaps the district doesn't want to alarm parents. Perhaps it's protecting its own interest. The interest of the parents and the children should be put first, even if that means giving them bad news instead of waiting for it to go away.

Parents deserve to know what's going on at their child's school and they deserve to know as soon as possible. Now the district has some catching up to do.
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jeremyjojola.com

Metro Court on the Defense

Looks like Metro Court wasn't happy with a story I ran a couple of weeks ago (big surprise). It was about Bernalillo County Deputy Kyle Hartsock being forced to appear for 23 court cases in one day at the courthouse.

I thought, given my time-limit, I presented both sides of the story as accurately and fairly as possible.

But not according to Metro Court's new Media Column in which the court explains its side of the story. (Personally, I think the the column reads like a verbose VCR manual, with typical government bureaucratic tone). Insomniacs, you're cure has been found. Just read this.

The New Mexico Independent ran an article about column.

Given the fact the court handles 126-thousand cases a year (which I reported), you would think the Court Administrator would be too busy to focus on writing a media column.

But on the other hand, given the digital age, I applaud the court for explaining itself in this medium. The more info you can provide the public, the better.
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jeremyjojola.com