Them on us: Bloggers dis judge

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

By Jake Nichols

Extraordinary Harrison Ford
The Hole’s Hollywood titan, Harrison Ford, has been making the late night talk show rounds hawking his latest film, Extraordinary Measures. The picture is the first project produced by CBS Films, CBS’s new movie division. Judging from early reviews, it will take extraordinary measures to get anyone out to see the 67-year-old ‘Indy’ in his 60th acting role.

Them On Us stayed tuned to his Letterman interview only to see if Ford would mention his hometown. Finally, and out of the blue, Letterman asked Ford about “his friends in Gillette, Wyoming” and their coal-mining efforts.
Ford looked at the gap-toothed host, stunned by the non sequitur and replied, “They’re not my friends, Dave.”

NY Post wears out adjectives
The New York Post’s animated take on Edward Fitzgerald’s death in Wyoming bordered on sensationalized. Fitzgerald died of exposure after skiing out-of-bounds at Grand Targhee last week. The Post, known for its ‘yellow journalism,’ used phrases like “froze to death,” “treacherous canyon,” and “desperate calls for help.”

We did actually learn one piece of information that had previously gone unreported. Fitzgerald was a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Postal Service and suffered from a mild autism known as Asperger’s syndrome, but still enjoyed sports like skiing and skydiving.

Judge Judy she ain’t
Judge Nancy Guthrie’s sentencing of Ty Watson is drawing harsh criticism from bloggers around the region. We found news of Watson’s 10th DUI charge in numerous publications including western Colorado’s NBC News 11 and the Rapid City Journal.

Disbelief and disgust permeated most post-story blogs: “Time to think about impeaching a judge in Wyoming,” “Ten DUIs and this man is not in prison?” and “Good luck, Wyoming drivers; hopefully his 11th won’t kill your son or daughter.”
Maybe Troy Willoughby is breathing easier knowing Guthrie is hearing his murder trial, now underway in Pinedale, Wyo. Willoughby is accused of killing onetime Bunnery owner Lisa Ehlers on June 21, 1984. We’re following the story in the Pinedale Roundup.

Victor nurse helps in Haiti
Haiti coverage continues to dominate news outlets. The Teton Valley News reported that one Victor resident has headed to the disaster-struck island to provide medical assistance. Jane Boggini has served for the past 11 years as a nurse, administrator and logistician for Doctors Without Borders. She is performing nurse duties in Haiti after arriving there less than 24 hours after the earthquake.

Boggini’s daughter Jill owns Jacks and Jill’s consignment shop in Victor. Jill said her 68-year old mother goes on similar relief efforts two or three times each year for Doctors Without Borders.

“We do worry about her,” Jill said. “There have been times when we didn’t hear from her for weeks, but she always comes back to us.”

Sibley’s celebrate Valentine’s in Sun Belt
Jackson’s award-winning singing duo, Anne and Pete Sibley, are scheduled to headline Flagstaff Cultural Partners’ third annual Valentine’s Day Concert at the Coconino Center for the Arts.

Last April, the Sibleys took top honors in the “Great American Duet Sing-Off” on NPR’s “A Prairie Home Companion.” Over the past nine months, the couple has performed nationwide at music festivals including MerleFest and RockyGrass, as well as at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

“Pete and I are thrilled that our first ‘official’ performance in Arizona will take place in Flagstaff, which strikes us as a small city with a big heart and a love for music,” Anne told the Arizona Daily Sun. JHW

Courtesy photo
Harrison Ford

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Reader Comments
Thanks for letting us know you're "following" the Willoughby trial, Jake. Why isn't the Planet/JHW covering it? There is a local angle, after all. BTW. Ehers and her husband owned the Sweetwater Restaurant, not the Bunnery. Anonyholic II
Absolutely a local angle there. I would like to give props to fellow scribe Gil Brady who "broke" this story years ago while with the Planet and later for New West. He was relentless following up leads and may have even motivated re-investigation to some extent. I enjoyed covering the Grady murder trial in Jackson a few years back. Pinedale is just too far of a drive, for me, personally. I cannot commit to covering this trial fulltime. You're right about Sweetwater. Lisa only worked at Bunnery. My mistake. One thought: Willoughby's court-appointed attorney Kerri Johnson surprised many when she exercised her option to toss one judge without reason. Newly-minted Judge Marvin Tyler was replaced with Judge Nancy Guthrie. Hmmm. Someone turn on the Bat Light for Gil Brady. jake
i enjoyed extraordinary measures. ford and frazier both gave good performances. the movie had a message we could appreciate although maybe a bit predictable. it did highlight a disease, pompe syndrome, i had not heard of. it just goes to show never trust a movie critic. they dont like feel good movies. as an added bonus the movie had no vampires or walkabout zombies. dave
Right on, Dave. Walkabout zombies. i love that. You're right- the American masses will plunk down $8 to see walkabout zombies anyday, all day. jake
One more thought, Jake (and more fodder for Brady, maybe). Talk is starting to circulate that Willoughby is going to walk on this one. He hasa an alibi. Basye was a terrible witness for the prosecution. Sublette courthouse wags are lamenting a certain lack of skill of the part of the attorneys. Example: Ferrin was listed as a witness as a responding EMT only. Prosecutor starts eliciting testimony on his work investigating the crime as a TCSO detective, not revealed in discovery. Ferrin provides damning info while still denying he was "working the case". Missed opportunity for a mistrial? Opinions vary, but no motion from defense who kept questioning him anyway. All the judge can say is "no". Nice shout-out to Brady; agree on his previous reporting on this case. While I appreciate your situation re: time and money (which you and the Planet may not have) in covering the trial, Brady would be doing it for nothing. So, what ever happened to Gil? His old news blog is still up, but he just disappeared. Anonyholic II
What do you expect from a prosecuting attorney named "Lucky?" Junk show, eh? I would imagine, when prosecuting a revived cold case of 25 years where the witnesses are an ex-wife (with a grudge?) and an ex-friend (with a grudge and a plea deal to lighten his own current jail sentence?), one would have to build an especially bullet-proof case. I wish I was down there. Brady, indeed, would not have missed it. Last I saw him he was headed to boot camp. Honest. He enlisted. He was seriously wondering if he could do pushups with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. I dont know if he has been deployed anywhere or whether he flunked out. He aint the best with authority, ya know? jake
Jake -- GUILTY! It took two hours. Wow. Anonyholic II
I'll be a monkey's uncle. And Willoughby's counsel didnt do much for him. They rested on WHAT? We'll see if Judge Guthrie brings the gavel down hard or he gets a wrist slap. jake
The sentencing will be interesting. This case has very wierd aspects. Based on his record, I vote that Judge Guthrie will have no choice but to throw away the key. Being such a relatively ancient case, it should have been hard (though not impossible) to get a conviction, what with so many deceased witnesses, addled memories, frequently flipped eyewitness accounts from Hosking and Basye. Yet his defense attorneys didn't seem to scratch the surface of reasonable doubt; they just folded. A capital crime, this old? And the jury only took two hours (including lunch) to return a guilty verdict? I mean, I think he's guilty, too, but, yeah, his counsel must have agreed. Anonyholic II
Thanks for the shout out and props, Jake and Anonyholic. And you're right: I would have sold my best shirt to sit ringside at the Ehlers's trial. FYI: Despite my confessed anti-authoritarian ways, an indispensable flaw for any investigative reporter worthy of a byline in my book, I did manage to not only make it through g*damn "bootcamp" but also managed to get my ass shipped off to Iraq. Hopefully, that will be ending soon and I can dust off my gumshoes and get back to unraveling the C, R and E's mystery. Regarding the Ehlers's trial, does anyone out there find the verdict, while final, somewhat lacking as far as overwhelming evidence? For example, did they ever tie Willoughby to the crime, forensically? And was the murder weapon ever presented at trial? Just asking, as always. Hang loose, Jake and AII --Brady out! Gil

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Them on us: Bloggers dis judge

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

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