I have finally found some
digital copies of my earliest newscasts on KRIT in
Clarion, Iowa. These newscasts were recorded on January
first of 1986. (Man, I was green!) While these are taken
from video, only the audio portion is available here.
Okay, the video was still running in the studio after my
newscast and we were chit-chatting (It was New Year's
Day and we had to work. Ha).
This is a
standard "arson"
story. Standard, except, for the age of the little
firebugs.
Brad and
Misty Bernall, the parents of
Cassie Bernall who was killed during Columbine, spoke to
a Church in New Mexico about the lessons learned from
the tragedy.
A branch of
the NEA (the Stalinist-like Teacher's Union) really got
up-in-arms about a proposed
voucher system in
New Mexico.
Then-Governor Gary Johnson started a firestorm when he
suggested that the War on Drugs was a failure and
something else should be done (like
legalization).
The death
penalty is the law in New Mexico, but only on paper.
Many, like this
District Attorney, want to change that.
The
daughter of
David Parker Ray, charged in the Truth or Consequences
sex and torture case, was also an accomplice in the
case.
A kissing
bank robber (or
Robin-The-Hood).
I spoke with
the
relative of one of the victim's of the Railroad
killer after the man turned himself in.
A burned-out
airplane was found at a semi-private airport in
Albuquerque...but no pilot.
Small town
political games ensnarl all cities and suburbs.
Statutory rape
is the charge.
Bob Dole ran for president several times. I caught
up with him during one stop.
I spoke with a witness of a
bus crash in New
Mexico.
KRNT in Des Moines was an
affiliate of the CBS Radio network and I contributed to
the national newscast frequently. I filed
this report just before
Gulf War I.
Then-vice president Dan Quayle
was in Iowa on a campaign trip for then-Congressman
Jim
Ross Lightfoot in 1995.
Just more
than 10-years ago (in 1994) Dan Quayle
talked about running for the top job in the country.
The Public Safety Director, Darren White, talked about
Jail
escapees in New Mexico. White later was elected
Sheriff of Bernalillo County.
This story hit close to home because
Dr. Georges Redding
was charged with helping a woman who suffered from
multiple sclerosis take her own life.
Gay curriculum in
the Des Moines school system didn't go over well,
and the Superintendent nixed the plan.
This is the type of response that was generated when
officials tried to implement
Gay
curriculum in the Des Moines schools.
When
Elizabeth Dole led the Red Cross
she stopped frequently in Des Moines.
I lived and worked the
Flood of '93 in Des
Moines. Here are two reports back-to-back, including an
appearance by President Clinton.
One of the various idiotic stories that state officials
pushed in the aftermath of the flood was that
drug abuse
would spike. Nope. Didn't happen. It was one of
those Chicken Little stories.
A promo aired on station Q-102 after the flood of 93 and
I recognized my voice as the lead-off news clip. (It's
in Real Media format).
As is his mantra,
Jesse
Jackson claimed flood relief in Des Moines was racist
The arrest of the Los Padillas
Gang in Albuquerque
Lawyer Gerry Spence
successfully defended Randy Weaver in the Ruby Ridge
case. I talked with Spence at a hotel room in Des
Moines.
Randy Weaver talks
about his
experience at
Ruby Ridge.
I also
covered some sports while I was in Des Moines;
Grand Prix
in Des Moines. Besides, my free press pass was
better than any ticket I could buy.
A
Gambler's
Assistance Hotline is NOT designed to help you pick
the best numbers to play.
Fred Grandy
(Gopher on Love Boat) was a longtime Congressman in
Iowa and once ran for Governor (he lost).
United
Flight 232 crashed in Sioux City, Iowa on July 19, 1989.
I talked with Captain Al Haynes
five years later at a reunion of survivors in Des
Moines.
I thought
this idea was pretty stupid and amounted to just
pandering.
Hillary Clinton
was in Iowa and talked about "Momma grams."
The
conventional wisdom is that all politicians lie, Iowa
Democrat Tom Harkin is
one of the worst.
Supreme Court Justice
Sandra Day O'Connor spoke at Drake University in Des
Moines (my wife's alma mater).
Jim Baca was
the mayor of Albuquerque who ran on a platform of fiscal
responsibility (don't they all?). Yet, he decided to
spend a bunch of money to remodel his office. He didn't
get re-elected. A friend of mine, a radio talk show
host, nicknamed him "Jim Caca."
Juvenile criminals got a
warning in Iowa.
This is one of my
live reports while I was at KOB Radio in Albuquerque.
Iowa has
a lottery and after a dozen or so stories about winners
I decided to rhyme one
(I was bored I guess).
I met
Martin Sheen
when he protested in front of the
Los Alamos National
Laboratory. This was right after he signed on to
star in The West Wing. He said he acted to keep living
and protested to keep alive.
If you
look up the word "arrogance" in the dictionary, you
would read about
investors who wanted to run a gambling boat in Iowa.
Remember
the guy known as the
Railroad
Killer?
He turned himself in after his sister in
Albuquerque turned him in.
Most cold
weather/car stories are boring. Add some sound to catch
the listeners attention. I talked with
Mechanic Ray Schiltz of
Des Moines to discuss below-zero conditions for your
car.
Ross Perot had some
good ideas when he was running for president. At least
until he went wacko.
Topless in Santa
Fe.
A
prominent businessman in New Mexico, who was also a
former mover and shaker in the state Democratic Party,
owned a bus company that
skirted inspections until a mountain accident killed a
kid.
I covered
an explosion at a
Sioux City
chemical plant. Reporters CAN cover stories from 400
miles away.
A
newscast while
I worked at Radio Iowa in Des Moines. Here is another
newscast.
Iowa
Senator Al Sturgeon talks
about forfeiture laws.
A
cold case in Iowa, a
VERY COLD CASE.
This case
was referred to as the
Truth or Consequences Sex
and Torture case.
Des
Moines lawyer David
Belen (now deceased) was a member of the
Warren Commission and he didn't like filmmaker
Oliver Stone.
A
casting call for the movie The Bridges of Madison
County was held in Des Moines.
The day
after an election, in my mind, is when TV gets watchable
again (no political
ads).
I have reported
thousands upon thousands of stories over the years
and specialized in the beats of politics, crime and
courts and feature. 
