Tales from the Morgue

Photo of Diamond Dick's tombstone

Hamilton Underwood sent me a photo of Ernest "Diamond Dick" St. Leon's new tombstone to post here. If you missed his post on the Diamond Dick is Dead blog here is what he wrote:

Trish Long:
My wife Dr.Deen Underwood was responsible for getting the stone made from Zambrano Monument Co.The Concordia Heritage Association paid for the labor and materials to produce the finished product.
It is cut out of the same granite block that Hardin's and Selman's stones are cut out of, I can send you a picture of St Leon stone that was placed July 22 08 if I have a E-mail address to contact. I built the first cross that is still at the grave sight set in concrete. 

       

Posted by:Hamilton Underwood | July 25, 2008 at 05:19 PM             

Jimmy Chagra

Jamiel "Jimmy" Chagra died early this morning. Here is an article from 2003 followed by a link to a photo gallery of Chagra.

December 31, 2003

Jimmy Chagra paroled

By Robert Moore and Diana Washington Valdez

Jamiel "Jimmy" Chagra, the alleged mastermind of the 1979 assassination of U.S. District Judge John Wood Jr., has been freed on parole, ending a chapter in the long-running saga of an El Paso family implicated in the federal judge's death.

"He served his time and has been paroled," Patsy Chagra, his sister in El Paso, said Tuesday. She said she has spoken to him frequently since his Dec. 9 release and said "he's fine, real happy."

Patsy Chagra said she hasn't seen her brother since his release and doesn't know where he's living. Federal officials have previously said that Jimmy Chagra wouldn't be eligible for parole until 2009.

Chagra's release couldn't be confirmed with the U.S. Bureau of Prisons because the agency has no record of his ever being in the prison system, a spokeswoman said. Officials had previously reported that Chagra had entered the witness protection program after assisting prosecutors in other cases.

Freddie Bonilla, a retired El Paso Police Department homicide investigation chief who helped crack the case, said Tuesday he heard "rumors a while back that Jimmy was out of prison, maybe in Florida, and that he was in the witness protection program ... in the program, he'll get housing and everything else he needs."

Bonilla developed the information given to the FBI that led to the conviction of the man who was hired to kill Wood and that helped find the weapon used in the murder.

Chagra, 59, was accused of leading a 1979 conspiracy to assassinate Wood, who was scheduled to preside over Chagra's trial on drug charges. Wood was gunned down outside his home in San Antonio.

Chagra was acquitted of most charges in Wood's death but was found guilty of obstructing the investigation into the slaying and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He also pleaded guilty in a failed 1978 assassination attempt on Assistant U.S. Attorney James Kerr of San Antonio and was sentenced to life in prison.

El Paso FBI spokesman Art Werge said the Chagra investigation "involved FBI agents from all the offices that were in the region working nonstop, in what was the largest manhunt ever that focused on El Paso."

Werge said it was the FBI's largest manhunt before the 1995 Oklahoma terrorist bombing.

"When this happened, the Chagras were jet-setting to Vegas," Werge said. "One of their lawyers is the (current) mayor of Las Vegas. They were high rollers."

El Paso lawyer Steve Peters, a former El Paso Times reporter who covered a 1980 federal grand jury inquiry into the judge's death in San Antonio, said, "It's ironic that the one who really caused the most trouble, who did the most harm, and was the most culpable, is the one who has been released. He's been in jail a long time. ... One can only hope that he's come to terms with what happened."

Two other members of the Chagra family went to prison in connection with the Wood slaying.

Jimmy's third wife, Elizabeth, was found guilty of delivering $250,000 to a hit man to kill Wood. She was sentenced to 30 years and died in prison in 1997 of ovarian cancer.

Her family waged an unsuccessful fight to have her released on compassionate grounds after the cancer diagnosis.

Jimmy's brother, Joe Chagra, pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges and served more than six years of a 10-year sentence. Joe Chagra died in a 1996 auto accident in El Paso.

The accused triggerman in the Wood killing, Charles Harrelson, was found guilty and is serving a life sentence.

Shana Jones, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in San Antonio, which prosecuted Jimmy Chagra, said the office had no information on his status.

"If he was in witness protection, we probably wouldn't even have his alias," Jones said.

Wood was the first federal judge assassinated in the 20th century, and his killing triggered the biggest FBI investigation since the assassination of President Kennedy.

The Chagras were a prominent legal family in El Paso. But several family members were also involved in high-stakes gambling in Las Vegas and, prosecutors alleged, drug smuggling.

Lee Chagra, a lawyer and the oldest of the brothers, was shot to death in his law office in December 1978. He had been one of El Paso's best-known criminal defense lawyers and was suspected by federal agents of being involved in drug trafficking. He was never convicted on drug-related charges.

Bonilla, who is now a private investigator, arrested two Fort Bliss soldiers who were found guilty in Lee Chagra's murder. "Lou Esper, Lee's uncle, masterminded the entry into his office (on North Mesa), which was like a fortress back then, so the two soldiers could get inside," Bonilla said.

In 1994, Lee Chagra Jr., nephew of Jimmy Chagra, was convicted by a federal jury in Pittsburgh on charges of drug trafficking and money laundering.

Jimmy Chagra, a professional gambler who split time between El Paso and Las Vegas, was indicted in February 1979 -- two months after his brother's death -- on federal drug-trafficking charges. His brother, Joe, served as one of his lawyers.

Wood, who was presiding over Jimmy Chagra's case, was shot to death on May 29, 1979. Suspicion quickly fell on Jimmy Chagra, but no one would be charged in the killing for almost three years.

Jimmy Chagra was convicted of the drug-related charges in August 1979 but failed to show up at a bond hearing that month and was listed as a fugitive. He was arrested six months later and sentenced to 30 years on the drug charges and five years for jumping bail.

Jimmy Chagra was indicted on murder charges April 15, 1982. Also charged with murder was Harrelson, an admitted hit man and father of actor Woody Harrelson.

Joe and Elizabeth Chagra were charged with conspiracy to commit murder and obstruction of justice.

In the end, a jury acquitted Jimmy Chagra, the alleged mastermind of the conspiracy to kill Wood, of the murder charge. In separate trials, juries convicted Harrelson, Joe Chagra and Elizabeth Chagra on charges related to the killing.

Jimmy Chagra later pleaded guilty to the 1978 attempted killing of Kerr, the San Antonio-based prosecutor, and received a life sentence.

Chagra photos

Hometown stars - Mara Holguin

October 7, 2001

El Paso native finds success on stage, screen

By Maribel Villalva
El Paso Times

In the short film "Questions and Answers," Mara Holguin's character is tormented by a single question: "Are you having fun yet?"

She spends the rest of the eight-minute film thinking of a witty response to the question posed to her by a pesky co-worker.

But in real life, Holguin doesn't even have to think about the answer. She's definitely having fun.

"All I really want to do is act," Holguin said.

For the past 10 years, the 35-year-old El Paso native has been making a living as an actress, doing everything from live theater and commercials to sitcoms and films. Two years ago, she started her own production company, Rancho Grande Productions in Las Vegas, where she lives with her husband of five years.

But it wasn't always apparent to everyone else that she even wanted to pursue acting, Holguin said. That was a desire she always kept to herself, even when it pained her to sit in the audience while her high-school buddies were up on the stage -- the place where she wanted to be.

"Even as a kid, I always knew I wanted to be an actress, but I just didn't know how to pursue it, especially in El Paso. I never had the courage to do it."

But her mother, Rosario Holguin, remembers when Mara was about 8 years old and the family took a trip to San Diego.

"She pulled her uncle to some offices so he could investigate where they had acting classes. He thought it was very cute," her mother said.

Holguin also danced ballet for years under the direction of instructor Ingeborg Heuser. She was in several productions of "The Nutcracker" in El Paso.

After graduating from El Paso High School in 1984, she attended Southern Methodist University in Dallas, where, still playing it safe, she received a degree in communications. She immediately began working in the public-relations field, but she couldn't fight the acting bug anymore. She enrolled in several acting classes.

In 1992, Holguin joined her boyfriend (now husband) in San Diego, still working in public relations. But once there, she took her desire a step further and began doing community theater and taking more acting classes. It was during one of her stage performances that a casting director from Hollywood noticed her and invited her to be a stand-in for Valerie Bertinelli in the TV-movie-of-the-week, "Murder of Innocence."

Even though Holguin didn't think she looked anything like Bertinelli, she "was lucky to be her same height."

When shooting wrapped four weeks later, Bertinelli invited Holguin to continue as her stand-in in the sitcom "Cafe Americain," which lasted only one season in 1993.

Meanwhile, back in San Diego, Holguin had taken a leave of absence to shoot the TV movie. But once the offer for the series came about, she decided she had to quit her job for good.

"I had a really good job, too, complete with a 401(k), but I decided to leave it even though I knew that a career in acting was uncertain. My parents thought I was crazy for giving up that steady paycheck."

Rosario Holguin said the family was surprised she was leaving a well-paying job, but by that point, everyone knew Holguin had found the one thing she wanted to do.

"I've seen her so dedicated to this," Rosario Holguin said. "I know it's just a matter of time before she becomes a star."

At that point, however, Holguin still wasn't considered by many as a true actress. After spending months on both movie and TV series sets, she had yet to land a speaking role on camera. That chance would come in 1994 when she had a one-word role on "Ellen."

"I think that's when I became legitimate in people's eyes, even though I had done a ton of work on stage. It didn't matter that I was busting my butt," she said.

Since then, Holguin has continued to do live theater (she's especially proud of her work with the East L.A. Classic Theatre) and has had guest spots on TV shows like "Chicago Hope," "Law & Order" and "The Single Guy."

She also can be seen in the independent movies "Questions and Answers" and "Dogpatch" (both produced by her production company), and in "American Slices" and "Dropping Out."

Surprisingly enough, Holguin has never been cast in the role of a Latina, even though she's auditioned for her fair share of roles.

"I always get cast as the generic 'Katy' or 'Suzie,' " Holguin said. "It's tough because I'm very proud of being bicultural and bilingual, but for some reason, casting directors don't see me as a Latina. They see me more as Italian, Greek or Lebanese."

Taking chances

In 1999, Holguin's husband, who works with the Treasury Department, was transferred to Las Vegas. Initially, Holguin thought the move would take her away from her career, but instead it has allowed her to focus on other things.

"At first it felt like my career was over because I wouldn't be able to audition, but the move pushed me more into independent filmmaking, which has also been a dream of mine."

That's when Holguin teamed up with friends who were writers and directors and began work on the films "Dogpatch" and "Questions and Answers," both of which are touring film festivals. Most recently, "Questions and Answers" (which she produced) was screened at the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, and at the South by Southwest Music & Media Conference in Austin.

Producing also allows Holguin to act in the roles she wants. And if they're not available, she can create them.

Cynthia Farah, assistant professor of film studies at the University of Texas at El Paso, met Holguin last year and helped her organize a screening of "Questions and Answers" on the UTEP campus in March.

"I really admire her for taking a bold step like this," Farah said. "There's a whole new niche for short films and she came along at the right time. She has proven herself and now she can use this as a calling card. She can go to producers and directors with this and say, 'Look what I've done, now give me a chance.' "

Holguin's younger sister, Annaelisa Holguin, an El Paso attorney, said her sister is thriving in the independent film industry.

"She has a knack for these smaller films and she likes to be in charge," she said.

Holguin still makes regular trips to Los Angeles (a four-hour drive) for meetings and auditions. She'll be there this week seeking work since many producers will be casting actors for the fall television season.

Annaelisa Holguin said her sister's success can be attributed to her personality.

"She's just so positive about everything and failure is not part of her vocabulary," she said. "She's got such an energy and an attraction about her. If you look at other celebrities, they have that, too. She bounces back faster than anyone I know."

About Mara Holguin

Age: 35.

Parents: Rosario and Hector Holguin. Her father was recently named a "Legend of Texas" by Sun City Texas by Del Webb in Georgetown, Texas (one of Phoenix-based Del Webb Corp.'s many Sun City retirement communities).

College: Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

On dealing with rejection: "With all of the rejection an actor has, it almost seems like an impossible dream. But, each year you get further along. I'm not a big name yet. I'm not a regular on a series, but I will get to that point."

On doing comedy: "I never saw myself as a comedienne, but it turns out that a lot of the work I've done is in comedy. Comedy is harder to do. It almost has to be like a sixth-sense."

On doing a film in El Paso: "I would love to do a series of shorts in El Paso, also for the film festival circuit."

On admitting she's 35: "I don't have a problem with it, but that's like a curse in the movie business. You never say your age. You always say you're the age they need for the role. I hope that changes."

Holguin stars in the eight-minute short film "Questions and Answers," about a woman obsessed with finding the perfect comeback to the question "Are you having fun yet?"

DIAMOND DICK DEAD

I heard that Ernest "Diamond Dick" St. Leon got a new tombstone at Concordia Cemetery yesterday. I found his date of death and then the following articles on microfilm. The first article is on the shooting that led to his death and then a link to the article that ran after his death.

August 31, 1898

DIAMOND DICK WOUNDED

__

New Orleans Physician Instantly Killed by a Bullet

__

FIGHT WITH COWBOYS

__

The Famous Ranger Attempted to Make an Arrest in Socorro Township and the Encounter May Result in His Death – Three Men In Jail Charged With Murder – Cowboys Claim They Were Waylaid.

__

As the result of a bloody fight, which occurred in the suburbs of Socorro, Monday night, Dr. Oscar J. Breaux, of New Orleans, is dead, Diamond Dick, of the Rangers, is lying seriously wounded at Ysleta, and Bob Finley, John Collier and John Ray are in the El Paso county jail, charged with murder. One of them John Ray, is suffering with an ugly bullet hole through his right thigh.

Monday afternoon, E. St. Leon, better known as “Diamond Dick,” a ranger belonging to Capt. Hughes’ company, went to Socorro, in the valley sixteen miles below El Paso, in search of an old offender of the law. The justice of the peace of Socorro called on the ranger to arrest John Collier and Bob Finley whom the justice said were forcibly taking two stray horses out of the town pound. Diamond Dick arrested the men, as requested, and when they informed him that they were only getting their own horses, which a Mexican had turned loose so they would be impounded the good natured young ranger persuaded the justice to discharge the men and to dismiss the charges against them.

PARTED AS FRIENDS

Collier and Finley thanked Diamond Dick for his good offices and, as it was getting dark the men shook hands and parted, the ranger to return to camp near Lemaire’s ranch in the outskirts of the Socorro township.

Shortly after the men parted Diamond Dick heard a fusillade of shots in the direction taken by Finley and Collier so he turned his horse and galloped after them. The justice of the peace called to the ranger and warned him not to follow the men; but Diamond Dick called on Dr. Oscar J. Breaux to aid him in arresting the men for the discharging of their fire arms in such a dangerous and reckless manner, and pushed on in pursuit accompanied by the doctor.

After riding to within a short distance of Lemaire’s house the ranger realized that the men he was after had given him the slip and were coming up behind him, so he and Dr. Breaux dismounted to await the approach of the horsemen who were heard coming. In a few minutes two or three horseman rode up in the dark and Diamond Dick called on them to surrender. The men replied to the command with a volley from their pistols or rifles, owing to the darkness the officer could not tell which.

Diamond Dick was quick to realize that he had a hot fight on his hands and in an instant his 45 Colt was barking a lively response to the foe.

BULLETS WHISTLED

For a few seconds the road was alive with whistling bullets. Dr. Breaux, who had taken no part in the fight, fell dead with a bullet through his head, it having entered through the right ear. Then Diamond Dick staggered across the road wounded unto death, and the horsemen galloped away in the darkness.

The bullet which wounded Diamond Dick went through his left arm just below the shoulder and entering the ranger’s side pierced the left lung. Men at Lemaire’s ranch went to the assistance of Diamond Dick and his dead comrade. The ranger went to Ysleta and placed himself in the care of Dr. Knoblaugh, and when last heard from his condition was critical.

John Collier, Bob Finley and John Ray, who, it appears, joined the first two after they parted with the ranger, in Socorro, went to Clint and surrendered themselves to Justice R. J. Carr. Ray was suffering from an ugly wound in the right thigh and Finley’s horse was wounded in the neck. The plunging of the horses prevented the ranger from doing more effective shooting.

Yesterday morning Capt. Jno. R. Hughes of the rangers, brought Collier, Finley and Ray to this city and placed them in jail on warrants issued by Justice Darwood of this city, charging the men with the murder of Dr. Breaux and with assault to kill E. St. Leon.

Dr. Oscar J. Breaux, the murdered man, came to El Paso from New Orleans, where he has a family, about three months ago. He said he was out here for his health. He was about 30 years old and was practicing medicine at Socorro to make his expenses.

THE PRISONERS

At the county jail yesterday, Collier and Finley were confined in a cell on the first floor and were permitted to receive visitors.

Ray was on the second floor in the large cell used as a hospital for sick or wounded prisoners. He limped to the small opening in the cell door, when called upon by a Times reporter. When asked about the shooting, he said he did not care to discuss it, but referred the reporter to his lawyer, Mesrs. Falvey and Davis.

Before leaving the bars he remarked, however, that he and his companions were waylaid by the ranger and the deputy and given no opportunity to surrender.

The two men down stairs positively declined to say a word for publication, and when questioned, said Major Falvey might tell their side of the story, but they wouldn’t.

From other persons who had talked with the prisoners, it was learned that they claimed to have been fired upon before surrender was demanded. They said Collier and Ray were riding the same horse. The first shot fired broke the animal’s neck and they were thrown to the ground, but got up and commenced to shoot at their assailants, with the results as already told. Finley, they said, was not near the spot when the shooting occurred, and took no part in it.

Belen is the name of the railway station nearest where the encounter took place. The fight was about one mile from Belen, which is situated in Socorro township.

John Collier, one of the prisoners, was for a long time employed as a cowboy by Capt. Chas. Davis of this city.

Last winter he dealt faro at the Monte Carlo.

Bob Finley is a cattleman of Alpine. When the Holland case was on trial he was one of the witnesses for the state. For about six months past he has spent his time in El Paso, spending money freely.

About midnight a couple of friends of the wounded ranger left Ysleta and reported that the doctor stated St. Leon was dying.

DIAMOND DICK IS DEAD

Hometown stars - Lupe Ontiveros

January 11, 2005

Make way for Mama

Ex-El Pasoan basks in 'Desperate' role

By Leonard Martinez
El Paso Times

As the TV show "Desperate Housewives" began to hit its stride, one woman stole the show from the younger cast.

Lupe Ontiveros, a former El Pasoan, guest-starred as Mama Solis, the mother-in-law of Gabrielle Solis, played by Eva Longoria.

It was an experience that Ontiveros enjoyed immensely.

"The producer called me and said they were writing this character for me," Ontiveros said in a phone interview. "That woman is written incredibly delicious. She's a middle-aged Latina who completely blows these women away because she doesn't fit stereotypes."

In the story line, Mama Solis visits her son and daughter-in-law and soon finds out Gabrielle is having an affair. Along the way, she reveals herself as an experienced gambler.

Northeast resident Pam Cook has been a fan of the show because of its realistic stories.

She said she can relate to some of the issues Felicity Huffman's character, Lynette Scavo, has to deal with as the mother of four children.

Cook said Ontiveros' character was right on the money.

"She is so typical of a mother-in-law, especially one who has a son and she thinks he can do no wrong," Cook said.

The future of Mama Solis is up in the air because she is in a coma. She was hit by a car soon after catching her daughter-in-law in the midst of her affair.

Cook expects to see Mama Solis again.

"She's too good of a character," Cook said. "She has to come back. Maybe we'll see her come back protecting her son. I don't think we've seen the end of her."

Ontiveros compared and contrasted her character to some of the younger housewives.

"She's a lot like Marcia Cross' character (Bree Van De Kamp) in that she will fight to the end to protect her family," Ontiveros said. "She's quite the opposite of Susan (Mayer, played by Teri Hatcher). Susan is passive and kind of missing the boat until it hits her right in the face."

Ontiveros said the writing makes the show stand out.

"Every scene was so well-written, so on the money, so precise and so well- conceived," Ontiveros said.

The show's fans have told her which of her scenes they liked the best.

"It's funny how people react to different scenes," Ontiveros said. "They'll tell me, 'You're a no-nonsense woman, I love when you beat them at their game of gambling. There's nothing they can do to you because you've done it all.' "

Ontiveros said she is hopeful that her portrayal of this strong Hispanic woman will open the door for other actresses.

"Hopefully, we, who some might call us pioneers, that are still struggling in doing these kinds of roles will make it safe for them to write more characters like this," Ontiveros said.

One of the show's strengths is that it is built around an ensemble cast and not one central character, Ontiveros said.

"That formula has worked so well before," Ontiveros said. "It comes from the shows like 'Dynasty' and 'Melrose' and it lends itself to a diversity of writing."

Cook said she likes the multiple story lines because they are indicative of soap operas, which she also enjoys.

Westsider Courtney Butterworth tunes into the show because of the fashion, especially what Susan wears. She also enjoys the stories.

"It stands out because it's risky, especially for older women. It's an escape from reality," Butterworth said. "It's like an adult 'O.C.' I don't think the stories are that believable. Like I don't think my mom's sleeping with one of my friends, but I guess you never know. It's just fun to watch those things on the show."

The popularity of the show and her character has amazed Ontiveros.

"It seems like I've crossed all barriers with this," Ontiveros said. "The mayor of Houston, city council people, they've all come up to me to talk about the show. They'll say 'My wife loves the show' and I tell them, 'You love it too, admit it.' Males are watching the show too, which is great."

Westsider Javier Guerra isn't ashamed to say he likes watching the show.

"It's hilarious and very interesting," Guerra said.

"It's one of the best shows I've seen in a while. With TV shows, it's always been what the male thought, and here it's being told from the female point of view. You ask yourself, 'Is that really what they're thinking?' "

In classic soap opera style, the show's writers leave it up to the imagination if Ontiveros' character will wake up from her coma.

"People see me in a coma, and they ask me what will happen," Ontiveros said.

"I would certainly love to come out of it and kick some more butt. They should bring her back at the most inopportune time for Gabrielle.

"One of your deepest fears is what is going on in the mind of your mother-in-law."

Ontiveros then thought what must be going through Gabrielle's mind, which could turn the heat up on the scorching show even more:

" 'Does this old broad remember what I did and if she does, what is she going to do with me?' "

All about Lupe

• Ontiveros is a graduate of El Paso High School and lives outside Los Angeles.

• She portrayed Doña Carmen in the movie "Real Women Have Curves" for which the Sundance Film Festival rewarded her with a Special Jury prize for acting.

• She voices the character of Abuela Elena on the animated TV show "Maya & Miguel" on PBS. "She's a really sweet and energetic kind of abuelita, very realistic," Ontiveros said. "She's very sharing and giving. She goes to baseball games; she teaches them about our culture."

Hometown stars - Gene Roddenberry

October 5, 2002

Planetarium named for 'Star Trek' creator Roddenberry

By Louie Gilot
El Paso Times

The El Paso Independent School District planetarium on Friday went where no American planetarium had gone before. In a special ceremony, the planetarium was formally renamed for the late "Star Trek" television series creator, Gene Roddenberry, an El Paso native.

About 120 EPISD officials, El Paso Astronomy Club members, actors from various sequels to the original TV show and an astronaut, Richard Gordon, who walked in space on Gemini 11 and orbited the moon on Apollo 7, gathered for a private dinner at the planetarium in the 6500 block of Boeing Drive for a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Michael Dorn, "Worf" on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," was in El Paso for the "Star Trek" convention this weekend, and went to the dinner Friday night.

"It's particularly meaningful because Gene hired us. ('Next Generation') was the last show in which he had an active hand," Dorn said.

Another honored guest had even more personal reasons to be in El Paso. Eugene Roddenberry Jr., Roddenberry's son, had never seen his father's birthplace. Friday afternoon, planetarium administrator John Peterson took the junior Roddenberry to 1907 E. Yandell, where his father was born in 1921.

"Now it's a flower shop. I wondered what it was like before. I kept looking around, wondering, 'Did he play in the back yard?' " the son said.

The elder Roddenberry grew up in Los Angeles, where he raised his family. He died in 1991.

Last November, the EPISD Board of Trustees approved renaming the planetarium, built in 1969, the Gene Roddenberry Planetarium. Its administrator, Peterson, uses parts of "Star Trek" shows to teach children about their universe.

" 'Star Trek' is popular with the big kids and the little kids alike. I'm 54 and I'm a fan," he said.

Dan Oppliger, past president of the El Paso Astronomy Club, was volunteering at the dinner's entrance, away from the excitement. The only stars he is a fan of are millions of light-years away, but even he acknowledged that "Star Trek" had an influence in his life.

"In college, there were a couple of physics majors in the dorm, so we'd have to watch 'Star Trek.' I guess it piqued my interest in physics," Oppliger said.

Hometown stars - Sam Donaldson

November 4, 1997

Donaldson shows city candid persona Ramon Renteria El Paso Times Sam Donaldson didn't need to shout "Primetime Live!" to grab anybody's attention. The real character behind the mask of the abrasive ABC newsman simply leaked out. There he was on live television, not in Washington, D.C., or New York City but in his hometown of El Paso. Donaldson unplugged, you might say. He was on Channel 7-KVIA's late night News Xtra program, talking candid, really candid. If you missed the show, you'll have to ask anchors John Purvis and Stephanie Townsend Allala what he said about the virtues of attending New Mexico Military Institute. Well, it's safe to say that Donaldson learned a lot of discipline as a military school cadet but he blames the institute for not teaching him to walk as "liquid" as co-anchor Diane Sawyer. The Sam on News Xtra hardly seemed like the same guy arguing every Sunday morning with George Will on the ABC public affairs program "This Week" or the same guy who makes politicians sweat with his incisive questions. This was Donaldson, the homeboy who grew up on the family farm near Anthony, N.M., the deejay who once played records on the radio from a tiny room at the El Paso stockyards. This was Donaldson, whose neighbors in Hondo, N.M., described him as more down-to-earth than anyone could imagine, Mr. Nice Guy taking time to bake a birthday cake for his wife, Jan. It was a candid glimpse of Donaldson, a celebrity willing to confess that individual initiative and other values associated with growing up in the Southwest strongly influenced his success. Here was Donaldson telling a caller he knows exactly where to find lethargic but quaint places like Chamberino, San Miguel and Canutillo. "I once said that if I had a nom de plume writing a book, it would be Anthony Chamberino," he said. Donaldson came home to address the Texas Association of Broadcasters and revealed a little of his true self. Donaldson's most influential mentors: Virgil Hicks, a journalism professor at Texas Western College and Howard K. Smith, a CBS correspondent and later an ABC anchor. On covering Washington: "It's our obligation to tell you what's going on over there. Because the more you turn over rocks, the more that lizards scramble from under them." Is George Will a dork? "George is a conservative but he's not a knee-jerk conservative." Donaldson, a sheep rancher, is just as comfortable driving into town for snacks or jousting verbally with ranching neighbor Ted Turner who wants to introduce sheep-eating timber wolves into the area. "He served me bison meat," Donaldson said. "Very tasty." Here on live TV in El Paso was Donaldson, who can escape to the country once in a while but cannot escape the thrill of the kill, the thrill of being a top-notch journalist and one of the most recognized faces in the United States. "I try to be equally vicious to all the politicians," he said.

Hometown stars - Jerry Bailey

Photo: Jockey Jerry Bailey gives a thumbs up as he rides Red Bullet to the winner's circle after winning the 125th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Saturday, May 20, 2000. (AP Photo/Roberto Borea)

May 7, 1995

Derby runner-up jockey from El Paso knows about winning big races

Bill Knight
El Paso Times

Jerry Bailey made an amazing run Saturday afternoon, whipping Tejano Run down the homestretch to a second-place finish in the Kentucky Derby.

It would have been a dramatic victory, but it would have been nothing unusual for the Coronado High graduate. He has won the Kentucky Derby before, along with the Preakness, the Belmont, the Breeder’s Classic and every major stakes race worth winning.

Since riding a horse called Fetch into the Sunland Park Race Track winner’s circle back in 1974, while still a high school student. Bailey has won more than 3,000 races.

He will return briefly to El Paso this week. He is to be inducted into the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame Tuesday night. Later, this summer, on Aug. 7 in Saratoga, N.Y., Bailey will be inducted into the Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

It will be a special summer – especially if he can steer Tejano Run into the winner’s circle at the Preakness later this month or the Belmont in early June.

Sunland Park start

But Bailey will always remember that first victory. In fact, he has a blow-up picture from the winner’s circle in his New York home.

Longtime Sunland Park trainer Ike Danley gave him his first mounts.

“He galloped horses for me for a while,” Danley said.

“I finally put him up on one and he rode fourth. I had him on two others that day and he won both. In the next two weeks, he won me seven races. He was just a natural.”

Bailey’s father, James, is an El Paso dentist. He believes if he had stayed in Dallas, where Jerry was born, his son might never have become a famous jockey.

“If I’d stayed in Dallas instead of bringing my practice out here, it probably would never have happened,” James Bailey said. “He wouldn’t have had Sunland Park right there.

“It didn’t really surprise me that he became a jockey,” he added. “It was never that he loved horses … at least, not so much as you would think. I think he just saw it as a good way to make a living. He enjoyed the competition more than anything.

“No, I’m not surprised he made a career of it. But did I ever foresee him reaching this level? Never.”

Feel for horses

Bailey began galloping horses for a stable at Sunland Park. He went with the group to Denver for the summer, still galloping. But they would never give him the real ride, never let him climb aboard for a race.

But Danley said it was merely a matter of time.

“He worked horses perfectly,” Danley said. “He knew exactly how to take ‘em, exactly how fast they were going. After a workout, say five-eights of a mile, he’d tell you how fast the horse ran it and he’d be right there, not more than a second or two off either way; just a natural.”

Bailey rode at Sunland until he finished high school, then it was off the Hot Springs in Arkansas. And, from there, it was just up and up and up.

Big-time rider

In Florida one day last year, Bailey rode an amazing seven winners at Gulfstream Park, breaking a 21-year-old record.

In 1991, Bailey rode Hansel to victories in both the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, capturing two of the three legs of horse racing’s Triple Crown.

In 1993, Bailey rode Sea Hero to victory in the Kentucky Derby, saying at the time “it fulfilled my career.”

Now, at age 37, Bailey is still challenging for the biggest of titles. And he is a natural in more ways than one.

“He doesn’t have a single problem with his weight,” James Bailey said. “I know a lot of guys get driven out of the business or have to go to Europe. He eats a lot of pasta, but he doesn’t starve himself.”

Bailey also stays active in supporting his profession. He is serving his third term as president of the Jockeys Guild.

“You know, Jerry’s won a lot of cars over the years,” Danley said. “But he never keeps ‘em. He always gives ‘em to the guild, gets them to crippled jockeys.

“He’s not only one of the top riders, he’s also a very, very fine man.”

Trainer Shug McGaughey said, “He’s a good representative for the sport. He gets along with everybody, which is rare in this business.”

And he just keeps on riding, keeps on winning. He came up on a little short Saturday afternoon at Churchill Downs, but he could easily be right there at the Preakness in Baltimore or at the Belmont in New York.

It is just what he does, what he loves to do.

“There was nothing I wanted to do more,” he once said.

Hometown stars - Ronn Lucas

Ventriloquist comes home to El Paso, where his act started

October 25, 2005

By Leonard Martinez
El Paso Times

Manny Diaz knows exactly what he would do if he had the ability to throw his voice.

“I’d go to comedy shows (to heckle), but I’d also throw my voice at parties, gatherings or even at church just o freak people out,” said Diaz, a Las Cruces resident.

Professional ventriloquist Ronn Lucas not only has the ability to throw his voice and make anything talk, he’s been pretty successful at it, too.

Over the years, the former El Pasoan has performed for President Reagan, Great Britain’s royal family, President Clinton, and he even starred in a July 4, 2004, TV special at the historic Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. for President Bush.

And having grown up in El Paso – he graduated from Eastwood High School in 1972 – he’s thrilled to come back home to celebrate 25 years in show business.

He will perform Saturday at the Abraham Chavez Theatre.

“Sometimes you don’t know where you are going until you know where you’ve been,” Lucas said in a telephone interview from Las Vegas. “I get nostalgic for El Paso all the time. Once in a while, you just yearn for home. I love the view from scenic Drive. The biggest thing I miss is the sky. It just seems bigger in El Paso.”

Lucas, 51, became enraptured with ventriloquism when he was 7 year old and saw ventriloquist Edgar Bergen on TV. Bergen appeared to make a baby talk before he brought out a wooden puppet.

“I just thought ‘Wow, this is really cool,’ and I went to the library to find a book on ventriloquism,” Lucas said. “We lived in Socorro, New Mexico, at the time so they didn’t have a book on it. So they got one from Santa Fe.”

For his eighth birthday, his parents bought him a plastic dummy from a Montgomery ward catalog, compete with a how-to record on ventriloquism.

But Lucas didn’t think it was discipline that led him to practice every day.

“It really isn’t discipline when it’s fun,” Lucas said. “I would get bored and start playing with it. That just kept me occupied all the time.”

Watching “Sesame Street” inspired Lucas to use puppets instead of the traditional wood or plastic dummies ventriloquist commonly used.

“These puppets moved with fluidity instead of a head on a stick,” Lucas said.

Lucas kept his unique talent a secret.

“I didn’t tell friends about it because I thought they would make fun of me,” Lucas aid. “During my junior year (at Eastwood), I entered a talent contest and won it. The act was so good I was sent to the principal’s office because some people thought it was too risqué.”

He really was called to the principal’s office that time, but other times it was just a trick to get himself out of class.

“I used t call myself out of class by throwing my voice to the P.A. speaker in class and say I had to go to the principal’s office,” Lucas aid. “I was a closet class clown. Sometimes I’d walk by a friend and shout ‘Hey, Larry!’ from behind him just to tease him.”

At 21, he began touring the country.

“I was hired by the Billy the Kid Clothing Company, which was big in El Paso at the time,” Lucas said. “They hired me to tour the country with a Billy the Kid puppet. It was a blast.”

Though that contract was only for a year, it reinforced Lucas’ dream of being in show business, an arena where he has excelled.

In September 2004, he received a standing ovation on the Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethon and host Jerry Lewis said, “It doesn’t get any better than that.”

Earlier this year, the Smothers Brothers presented Lucas with the Askins Achievement Award at the ninth annual Vegas Ventriloquist Festival.

His successful television appearances in England in the early 1990s led to hosting his own top-rated comedy/variety series, “The Ronn Lucas Show,” in London for four years. This led to other European appearances that made him an international star.

He’s also made several TV appearances in the United States, including a guest spot on “LA Law,” which earned him an Emmy nomination.

“It was a hard acting job,” Lucas said. “The difficulty was that on my face I had to play a character that was withdrawn and sullen, almost destroyed, and the puppet was lashing out at the world. I had to have tow emotions at the same time.”

Even though it aired years ago, people still mention the performance when they talk to Lucas.

These days, Lucas performs six days a week at the Rio Hotel Casino in Las Vegas. His contract runs through December 2006.

The show consists of seven puppets and 15 to 20 voices.

“It is family entertainment,” Lucas said.

One of the characters, Buffalo Billy, is based on the Billy the Kid puppet with which he once toured. It reminds him of El Paso.

“All my great first happened there,” Lucas said. “I won the parks and recreation citywide talent show when I was 12. That was my first big trophy. I got work there for the firs time. Success is based on a series of positive steps, and El Paso was my first step. That is why I never forget El Paso, and I love to go back.”

Ronn Lucas photos

Jack Rye, Prodction Supervisor, Took First Radio Job In Carlsbad

Roy Ortega reports on his blog today that Jack Rye , one of El Paso’s pioneering broadcasters, died over the weekend.

Here is an article about Jack Rye from January 4, 1953.

Jack (I Wanna Be A Friend of Yours) Rye, left a promising position with a transportation company at the age of 19 to enter the field of radio. Rye, who has been appointed production supervisor for KTSM-TV, recalls he was in the money – as he puts it – when he suddenly realized radio was his long lost ambition.

That was during the early dark days of World War II, when the radio was constantly flashing news of our war efforts against the Japanese in the Pacific. Little did he know that soon he would be broadcasting that news himself over the air.

His first contact with a microphone was when he went to work as an announcer for Radio station KAVE in Carlsbad, N.M., in January of 1942. Here, for the first time he found himself reading 5 –10 -15-minute news broadcasts – something that had always fascinated him. Five months later we find Rye amidst an “all-women” announcing staff at KTSM – something which he found very interesting too, because of the male announcers’ shortage at that time.

This “harem-like” situation, Rye sadly recalls, didn’t last very long. Within a few months following his introduction to KTSM, Rye had followed the foot-steps of other KTSM announcers and joined Uncle Sam’s armed forces and assigned to do publicity and public relations for the United states army recruiting service. Before being shipped overseas, Rye participated in the Army Hour broadcast by NBC from Ft. Bliss on the occasion of the last public appearance of the Horse Cavalry.

Rye did not lose his radio contact while in the service. Instead he gained vast knowledge of the radio business when he joined the American Forces Network overseas as an announcer. Later he became chief announcer and traffic manager for the entire network in London whose duties was to channel radio programs to fighting men in the front lines. During that period, Rye worked on the Allied Expeditionary Forces Services of the British Broadcasting Co. at Broadcasting House in London. When the AFN headquarters moved to Frankfurt, he was transferred to Berlin as program director of the AFN station there. During all of his Army radio service, Rye came in contact with some of the nation’s outstanding radio announcers such as Dick Dudley, Robert Warren, Wayne Howell and Ed King, all top NBC announcers and many other radio producers and writers who had answered the call to the service.

MARRIED HERE

When hostilities ended in Europe, Rye returned to El Paso and married pretty Miss Ann Ares in August of 1947, and resumed his duties with KTSM except for short periods of absence when he went to Ft. Worth for his first TV job with WBAP and later to Salt Lake City where he worked with station KUTA.

Among the most popular disc jockeys in El Paso, Rye is well known for his “Rye’s Record Room” broadcast of popular music.

As production supervisor of KTSM-TV, Rye will act as coordinator to see that all the many facets of a TV program are combined to make a smooth finished product.

A program can consist of contributions from the continuity department, art department, photographic department, announcer, engineering and other material.

“My function,” Rye said, “is to see that all this material is combined in the right place at the right time.”

“I’m proud of the confidence KTSM has shown in me as production supervisor. We plan to furnish the people of El Paso with the same high quilaty program material and production on KTSM-TV as they have come to expect from KTSM radio,” Rye said.