Hansen reserves many of his choicest barbs for Strickland, whose name appeared on the aforementioned diversion contract even though he'd informally recused himself from the case because he'd represented Vail as a private attorney. U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Jeff Dorschner defends Strickland, calling the mention a "pro forma" matter that in no way contradicted a recusal done out of "an abundance of caution" and concern for Hansen's rights. Dorschner also refutes Hansen's suggestion that new Forest Service policies relating to the possible arrest of media members covering news on public land were written in response to his arrest; he acknowledges some parallels but says the regulations have been in the works for several years and are "consistent with the previously existing policies of other federal law-enforcement agencies." Finally, Dorschner pours cold water on the implication that higher-ups in Washington ordered Wallace to cut Hansen loose before more bad publicity was generated; he calls it "a local decision."
Be that as it may, the motion to dismiss is certainly written as narrowly as possible. It states: "While the fact alone that Defendant was acting in his journalistic capacity is not a defense to the original charge, upon a further assessment of all facts and circumstances, the Government has determined as a matter of policy that it is not in the best interests of justice to proceed."
The Colorado Daily is feeling a little buffaloed.
Related Content
More About
That's far from the admission of error Hansen would like to have gotten -- but he hasn't given up hope of ultimately receiving one. After acknowledging the support he garnered from the Society of Professional Journalists, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting and other journalism groups, he says, "I think I'll have no shortage of attorneys knocking on my door eager to take this on."
Boulder, take four: Following a column that touched upon the dizzying turnover rate at Boulder's KWAB-AM ("Radio for [Lots of] Change," May 25), Los Angeles-based personality Bob Harris, the station's morning man, came out swinging: He wrote a letter to the editor longer than many of the articles we publish -- and as regular readers know, that's mighty tough to do. But he had radically less to say about his own resignation, which took effect after his August 25 show: "I have no comment on the situation other than the folks at KWAB and I remain good friends, and I still have a lot of respect for what the station is trying to accomplish and the people who are trying to accomplish it," he says. KWAB general manager Chuck Lontine's take on his departure is similar: "Bob is a tremendous, tremendous talent, and we'll miss him very much."
Boulder muckraker Jann Scott ("Access Denied," February 10) sure as hell didn't receive valentines like this one for his stint at Longmont's KLMO-AM, at 1060 on the dial. His plug was pulled on August 30 after a grand total of one hour on the air; afterward, general manager Ron Crider laughingly described those sixty minutes as "the low point of my entire career as a broadcaster."
Predictably, there's plenty of dispute about what led up to this catastrophe. Whereas Scott says Crider, who'd hired him to work at his former outlet, KNUS, back in 1993, made a verbal contract with him to helm the 7-9 a.m. weekday shift for $50,000 per annum, Crider swears he was simply conducting an "experiment" by pairing Scott with host/Second Amendment zealot Robbie Noel, previously heard on KHNC, Johnstown's notorious "patriot" station.
Noel, who debuted on August 28, is ideologically in tune with KLMO, part of a five-station mini-network owned by Indianapolis's Pilgrim Communications (its ultra-right-wing programming includes Ken Hamblin). But he crumpled under attack from Scott, who did the August 30 broadcast from his Boulder home; Crider estimates that Noel stormed out after around two minutes. That left Scott free to splash conservatives with ridicule, calling right-wingers "gun nuts" and "jack-booted Nazis" and celebrating the liberal virtues of his hometown. "You hate Boulder?" he asked at one point. "Well, Boulder, Boulder, Boulder, Boulder, Boulder!" Then, after announcing that he was communing with nature "bare-ass naked," he said he would prove his devotion to "the most famous small town in America" by walking into his backyard and hugging a pine tree. "Mmmmm," he moaned. "That feels good! Pine-tree love makes me feel horny in the morning."
A couple of dozen hysterical listeners phoned the station to voice their hatred of Scott, which by KLMO standards qualifies as a deluge. So Crider put on a half-hour infomercial and went looking for Noel, who was coaxed back to the station just before it concluded. "After all these years, I thought maybe Jann had mellowed a little bit," Crider says, "but he's crazier and more radical than he's ever been."
To a thoroughly remorseless Scott, that's a fabulous compliment. "No Timothy McVeigh-loving dirtball is going to start a right-wing debate with me and win," he says. "Never. Because I'm from Boulder."
