I was wrong about Tribune editor Phill Casaus

There was a time that I thought that Phill was on APS School Board Member Marty Esquivel's side.

I guess I was wrong about that. If he were on Marty's side he would have his back now. He would be standing behind Mr. Esquivel on an accountability audit of the entire leadership of the APS. He would be standing behind Mr. Esquivel in his effort to bring honest reform to the leadership of the APS.

I was right about everything else in that post, though. Casaus knows about the public corruption and criminal conspiracy in the leadership of the APS. I know that because I told him about it.

I was poking around the Trib website and came across a history of the paper. Some very courageous editors have preceded Phill.

(editor) "Magee's continuing attacks on political corruption helped result in Democrats replacing most Republicans for state office in the 1922 fall elections. This drew the ire of powerful, old-guard Republican leaders in San Miguel County, including District Judge David J. Leahy and Secundino Romero of Las Vegas, N.M.

They devised a scheme in an effort to silence him. In June 1923, Magee was ordered to stand jury trial in Judge Leahy's court in Las Vegas on a trumped up charge that he had printed a libelous statement about a New Mexico Supreme Court justice. Although the justice testified for the defense that he did not believe he had been libeled, and had made no complaint, Judge Leahy instructed the jury to return a guilty verdict, and then sentenced Magee to serve from 12 to 18 months in the New Mexico Penitentiary.

Immediately, New Mexico Gov. James F. Hinkle, a Democrat, pardoned Magee and set aside his conviction and sentence, calling the proceedings "a blot on the state and a disgrace to the good people thereof."

An angry Judge Leahy then found Magee in contempt of court for disregarding his orders not to write about the trial, and for calling the judge "corrupt" in public print. He ordered Magee to serve a one-year prison sentence and pay a $4,050 fine, but once again Gov. Hinkle pardoned him immediately and set aside the sentence and fine.

Magee continued to voice his strong opinions in his front page newspaper columns entitled "Turning on the Light" - shedding light on many questionable activities that some wanted kept in the dark."

Apparently, in terms of public corruption, nothing much has changed.

Sadly though, apparently the courage of Tribune editors has.