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It happened sometime around Christmas — I think. I must have left my FacBook page open and some smart-a$$ deleted over 400 people from my friends list as well as much of my personal information.

I can only assume the folks at FB designed the system to take note of these kind of actions and shut my page down, requiring my password to continue.

In a way, this has been a blessing as I’ve discovered that I can read jus’ about everything my current 70 or so friends have posted to the site. I’ve decided to not add anymore people to this list unless they contact me and request my friendship first.

It’s also been a curse — as I’ve lost contact with a number of people I enjoyed conversing with. This includes a good many people I went to school with at both Margaret Keating School and Del Norte High.

Note to self: Don’t leave the browser open ever again.

As promised, I’m following up on the news a 19-year-old friend of mine is accused of murdering a woman in the Las Vegas area. While I’m trying to remain unbiased, I do use his first name rather than last.

Many teens are into fast cars, girls and easy money. I jus’ didn’t know how hard those three things were pulling on my young friend.

Finally, I must admit, I’m terribly shaken by what I’ve learned. And I can’t help but form an opinion that this is a case of murder for the sake of greed.

Authorities say the woman whose charred remains were found in Arizona last month near Hoover Dam was a Las Vegas escort service owner killed over a $9,000 debt. The Mohave County Coroner’s Office identify the woman as Yung Park, saying she had been struck in the head at least five times with an object and killed before being burned.

Las Vegas Metro Police arrested two of her employees in her slaying. A preliminary hearing of January 24th has been set for Min Chang and Keon Park, who have been charged with murder using a deadly weapon, first-degree kidnapping with use of a deadly weapon and conspiracy in the woman’s death.

Both of the defendants are using an interpreter to communicate with the judge and their attorneys.  Also, Keon Park is not related to Yung Park and is a resident of Reno.

Keon tells police Yung Park owed him $3,000 and Chang between $5,000 and $6,000. He says Park kept putting off payments and Chang suggested they kill her.

Keon drove Yung Park to the desert December 20 to look at an eclipse. The plan was for him to hit her with a rock but he told police he lost his nerve and couldn’t do it.

The next day Keon asked Yung Park for the money and she again refused. He says he followed her onto a patio, where he kneed her in the face and choked her.

Keon called Chang for help and together, they carried Yung Park into Chang’s car, put her in the backseat and while Chang drove, Keon tried choking her again. Keon then struck her several times in the head with a wrench and says she soon stopped breathing after he placed her in a choke hold.

Keon also says he and Chang bought items from a Boulder City 7-Eleven to burn her body because she was an illegal alien and no one would be able to identify her. Surveillance video backs up Keon’s statement, showing the two buying motor oil, lighter fluid, two gallons of gas, two plastic gas cans, gloves, a lighter, a bottle of Gatorade and water at the store.

After driving to a remote area, they used a book of matches and the lighter fluid to try to burn her body, but had trouble getting the fire started because it had been raining. The following day, Keon and Chang went back to the same store, bought more gasoline and another pair of gloves before burning the body where they left it the day before.

Keon says he took over Yung Park’s escort business, splitting the profits with Chang. However the majority of the money they made, went to the dead woman’s unpaid bills.

Metro Police say Chang has confirmed he and Keon did plan to kill Yung Park. Both Chang and Keon are being held without bail in the Clark County Detention Center.

It was New Year Day and Mary and I had jus’ had an argument about spending money. Little did we know our spat was going to be outdone by our next door neighbors.

They had jus’ come up the steps when the two erupted into a fist fight. He was beating her up in their open doorway as she battled back, trapped under his weight, bouncing her head off the floor.

My immediate reaction was to grab my pistol and head for our front door to put an end to the abuse. However Mary grabbed tight to my arm and pleaded with me not to “do anything stupid.”

Instead of going outside and placing my pistol in his ear as I had intended, she decided to call the Reno police. No sooner did the call get placed, than their front door slammed shut.

Meanwhile, all we could do was listen to her head continue to thud against the floor. It would take officers half an hour to arrive and by that time things on the other side of the door had grown quiet.

Before the cops rolled up and while I was still holding my pistol, I ventured out on the shared patio and retrieved her white high-heel shoes and matching purse. It was obvious from the position of the shoes; she had been knocked out of them.

The purse on the other hand was a different story. It was small and compact, but extremely heavy. Looking inside it, I discovered she was packing a .357 Magnum revolver around.

Further examination showed the ammo was nothing less than hollow-points. I realized then that he was lucky she dropped the purse as there is only one thing that caliber and bullets are good for: target practice and killing.

After the police arrived and had them cuffed up for domestic battery, I gave the shoes and purse to the lead officer, a sergeant. He too was surprised by the find and the woman found herself charged with carrying a concealed weapon.

Later that afternoon, it dawned on me – had I shot him for pounding on her as I had first intended – I could have ended up on the medical examiner’s table alongside him. I had forgotten how volatile domestic disputes can be.

I am glad I listened to my wife.

One of my many duties as the overnight news guy at the radio station is to do what we call, “beat checks.” This involves looking through our email files as well as checking all the regional and local online newspapers for any information involving a possible link to Nevada.

Last week I aired a news story about a body authorities located on the Arizona side, near the Hoover Dam. Many news outlets were speculating it was the body of missing Las Vegas showgirl Debbie Flores-Narvaez, who went missing December 14.

However it wasn’t her and law enforcement officials have yet to release the identity of the body. It is known that the body is that of a female and that she had been lit on fire.

So in doing my job, I followed up on the story only to have it suddenly turn extremely personal. Las Vegas police made two arrests in connection with the body found in Arizona and one of them attended school with my son and was on the cross-country team I coached for their school.

Keon Park has been booked into the Clark County Detention Center, charged with murder using a deadly weapon and first degree kidnapping with a deadly weapon. Also arrested was a man by the name of Min Chang.

Authorities are not saying whether any more arrests are likely in this case. And so far they haven’t indicated a possible motive or a cause of death.

The Keon, I know, has always been a good and decent young man. He was gifted student and a good athlete.

In fact he, Kyle and I went to the Department of Motor Vehicles in Reno a number of times in order for him to pass his driving test. Keon is originally from South Korea and had a hard time with the written portion because of his poor English.

And as much as it hurts my heart — I’ll follow this story to its final conclusion.

Generally I mourn the passing of a year; however 2010 is not a year I will miss. It was a year fraught with much pain and passing.

The year started with the death of my brother Adam. I find I’m still feeling the hurt of my only brother’s death.

Then there was the loss of our oldest dog and my favorite pet, Chubbs. He had to be put down, but it doesn’t make the sorrow at his death any easier to take.

And as if that weren’t hard enough, word came that a school mate of mine had been murdered. Cheryl Sanders did not deserve to be choked, beaten and raped.

At the opposite end, a man I had hired at another job went to prison for life after he murdered a Reno mother of two. Kirk Wingo is right where he should be for the remainder of his time on earth.

This was followed by an error in judgment on my part, which led to the death of my son’s five-year-old iguana. I now know I should have taken Gromitt to the veterinarian earlier than I did.

Also affecting life was the death of Kyle’s grandpa on his mother’s side. Jerry Lane was 83-years-old went terminal cancer took his life.

The last event that made 2010 a miserable year was learning that, Keon Park, a young man I coached and who went to school with Kyle is accused of murder. I am still struggling to wrap my brain around this tragic event.

Welcome 2011 — let’s pray you’re an improvement.

The year 2010 was all about the ground under our feet: from the devastating earthquakes in Haiti, Chile, and China to the Deepwater Horizon explosion that spewed millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, and the dramatic rescue of 33 miners trapped underground for 69 days.

Then there was the political groundswell that forced incumbents out of office and gave rise to the Tea Party. There was also a lack of high ground in Pakistan where more than 15-hundred people died and a million were left homeless due to unprecedented flooding.

January’s quake in Haiti was centered in the capital of Port-au-Prince where 230-thousand people in the poverty-stricken nation were killed. The rebuilding effort has been slow and communicable diseases like cholera now threaten to claim even more lives. Celebrities rallied to help earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

A George Clooney-led telethon helped Wyclef Jean’s charity. “Hope For Haiti Now” posted a multi-million-dollar intake. Participants included Bono and Justin Timberlake.

Speaking of Jean, Haiti’s search for a new president inspired him to make a bid for the top post. Even though the rap star announced his campaign plan in his homeland, he soon found out he was not eligible.

An explosion on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico was instantly seen as a tragedy when eleven workers lost their lives.  However, it would take weeks and even months before the full scope of the disaster was realized.  The Deepwater Horizon oil spill tested the limits of American technology and exposed the dangers of deepwater drilling as crews rushed to cap a leaking well that spewed oil into the Gulf for 86 days.

Live images of BP’s broken pipeline were shown on cable news as the seafood and tourism industries watched their businesses collapse.  An estimated five-million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf and the government says most of it evaporated while controversial chemical dispersants helped limit the devastation.  Environmental experts say the true impact of the disaster could take years to evaluate.

Continued high unemployment also headlined business news this year, hovering in the nine to ten percent range.  Jobless benefits were extended by Congress as the Obama administration and the Federal Reserve kept trying to jump-start the economy by pumping money into the public and private sectors.

A lingering effect of the high jobless rate is the continued crisis in housing, with foreclosures still dogging the market.  Three-million foreclosures during 2009 paled in comparison to the more than four-million this year.  A government program aimed at helping those millions stay in their homes became an admitted failure, with only about 170-thousand people helped with mortgage modifications.

While Main Street didn’t bounce back this year, Wall Street did.  The Dow Jones Industrials climbed from a low 96-hundred in July to above eleven-thousand this month. Early in December, both the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 Index hit two-year highs.

The backbone of American manufacturing, the auto industry, also staged a slow recovery this year.  While Chrysler’s sales figures remained depressed, vehicle sales by Ford and General Motors registered well above those of 2009 as consumers returned to showrooms.

In West Virginia, 29 men were killed in a coal mine explosion, making it the worst disaster in decades.  Other deadly accidents were reported in New Zealand and China but the most inspirational story came out of Chile where 33 men survived underground for 69 days.

President Obama’s agenda got off to a rough start early in 2010 when Republican Scott Brown was elected to succeed the late Ted Kennedy in the U.S. Senate.  Obama’s administration would take more political punches as the president made health care reform a top priority.

Opponents labeled it a “government takeover,” giving rise to the Tea Party movement.  Health care reform legislation was signed but later the GOP would win back 63 seats and control of the House of Representatives and take six seats in the Senate.

The president was able to reach a new nuclear arms treaty with Russia and he declared an end to combat operations in Iraq, however thousands of troops still remain there while the war in Afghanistan has gotten even more dangerous.  In fact, 2010 was the deadliest year for U.S. forces in Afghanistan with more than 475 confirmed fatalities.

And last spring, Stanley McChrystal, the Commander in Afghanistan, was fired after giving an interview to “Rolling Stone” critical of how the war was handled. He was replaced by Gen. David Petraeus, head of U.S. Central Command and architect of the Iraq surge.

The year was also marked by government efforts to halt future financial disasters.  President Obama signed into law the Financial Reform Act on July 22nd.  The legislation was aimed at more transparent regulation of banks and brokerages as well as the products they sell, such as derivatives.  The law also set up a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, whose funding  was still a political football in Washington at year’s end.

Around the world law enforcement agencies worked closer than ever to try and stop terrorism.  A plot using toner cartridges to hide bombs in cargo planes bound for the U.S. was foiled with hours to spare and a street vendor was credited for alerting police to a poorly-designed car bomb that nearly detonated in New York’s Times Square.

Sometimes, however, terrorists hit their mark.  Like the suicide bombers in Russia who targeted subways or in Iraq where an Army recruiting office was destroyed.  Dozens of people died in each attack.

Even the man who flew his plane into an IRS building in Austin, Texas was accused of committing an act of terror.  Fear of terrorism sparked a protest by a Florida preacher who threatened to burn copies of the Koran on 9/11 until he was convinced it would put American troops at risk.

Late this year, the founder of WikiLeaks was called a terrorist by some for releasing classified military and state department communications. So far all Julian Assange has been arrested for is suspicion of rape.

Other events making 2010 memorable include the volcanoes in Iceland that disrupted European air travel, the controversial immigration bill singed by Arizona’s governor, and a decision overturning California’s ban on gay marriage.  Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was convicted on one of the 24 corruption charges he faced and a SeaWorld trainer was killed by a killer whale.

Then there were the passings, including soul singer Teddy Pendergrass as well as J.D. Salinger, author of “Catcher In the Rye.”   And it was farewell for “Easy Rider” Dennis Hopper as the cancer-stricken actor wore a brave face at his Hollywood Walk of Fame honor.

Rocker Ronnie James Dio and Slipknot’s Paul Gray were among those we lost.  There was also Lynn Redgrave, Art Linkletter and former child star Gary Coleman, who passed away at 42.

A third “Golden Girl,” passed away withthe death of Rue McClanahan. The world also lost county music star and sausage king, Jimmy Dean. This was followed by the passing of two former teen-idols: Eddie Fisher at  82; Tony Curtis, who was 85.

The Beaver’s mom, Barbara Billingsley died, as did the Tom Bosley, the father in “Happy Days.” Also pass was Bob Guccione, the founder of “Penthouse” magazine.

Finally, there was the death of actor and funny-man Leslie Neilson. Surely he’ll be remebered for such spoofs as “Airplane,” but don’t call him Shirley.

Lately though, tensions have been mounting between North and South Korea and in Europe austerity measures have triggered demonstrations in France and England while the E-U has put together bailouts for several member nations. Unemployment, however, remains the biggest obstacle her and abroad, to achieving growth for 2011.

A winter storm had blown in and Dave Barber and I were on our way back to the base after being downtown. Somehow I managed to miss the turn for the main gate and we ended up on I-80, which runs in front of the base.

There is an overpass that is situated in front of the main gate and I knew that there was also an exit jus’ beyond the overpass. The exit circles back to the main gate and we’d be on base in no time.

The vehicle I was driving was a ratty old 1971 Datsun B-210. I had purchased it a few months before as way of getting around Cheyenne and not having to depend on others for transportation.

As I drove up onto the overpass, I could see the snow blowing sideways partially blocking my view of the road. However, what roadway I could see had started to freeze over with a thick layer of ice.

The wind slammed into the car and due to the icy conditions, we found ourselves sliding out of control. In an instant we were heading backwards and to the right as we slid along the overpass.

Since I had no control and couldn’t see where we were going, I released the steering-wheel and let gravity do its thing. In seconds our wild ride was over with and we found ourselves stuck in a snow drift off the side of the road.

It was struggle to get out of the car, since the doors were jammed by the snow. But we had help as a Wyoming State Trooper had been right behind us when we started to slide out of control.

But before he started digging Dave and me out, he was standing in front of my Datsun, arms raised over his head like a referee during football game. That’s when I realized my car had passed between the upright posts of the city limit sign without touching them.

It was my first day off in nearly two-weeks.  I was going to Lander’s down the street and have a big bowl of chili and scrambled eggs.

“Finally I can do something fun”, I said as I got out of my truck.

But in order to get there, I had to walk past the Antique Mall and this was hazardous for me.  I have an eye like a raven, meaning shiny things catch my attention.

I walked past the window looking at the antiques in it.

“I’ll jus’ go in and have a quick look,” I said, “Then I’ll go get something to eat.”

Slowly, I wandered up and down the isles.  There was this thing to pick up and that one to touch.

An old rocking chair in the corner looked inviting so I sat in it. And as I did, I wondered, “How many babies have been rocked asleep in this chair?”

As I rocked back and forth, I scanned the room. Across from me was an aging portrait of a Calvary officer with a sign reading, “Portrait of Barry.”

I got up and walked over to the portrait.

The uniform was that of an officer — a Lieutenant Colonel in the light Calvary.  It was also a post Civil War uniform.

The man’s face was familiar to me, but I couldn’t recall where I had seen him before. So I walked away to continue my browsing, hoping to allow my brain to relax enough to remember who the man in the picture was.

It suddenly dawned on me and quickly walking back to the portrait, I removed it from the wall.

“How much is this?” I asked of the woman behind the counter.

“A hundred and fifty bucks,” she answered.  Then she added, “But I’ll knock ten percent off it if you buy it right now.”

I nodded my head and reached for my back pocket.

The cash register was an antique as well, and it rang loud and hard as she pulled the lever back.  The gears ground against one another and banged as they came to a stop.

“You do know who this is, don’t you?” I asked the lady at the register.

She squinted through her bifocals, “It says ‘Portrait of Barry,’ whoever Barry is.”

Chuckling, I replied, “No, Barry’s the photographer.”

The lady looked at me skeptically.

“I knew I had seen the face before,” I stated, “In real life this man had deep blue eyes.”

The lady walked over to where I was standing.  She looked at the picture, then up at me.

“How can you tell that from an old sepia tone?” she asked.

“Because I know my history — and I seldom forget a face,” I answered, “This man died in 1876 at the Battle of Greasy Grass.”

“What?”  The antique lady countered.

“Greasy Grass,” I answered, “But we know it better as the Battle of the Little Big Horn.”

“I’m not following,” she replied, sounding a bit frustrated with me.

“This is Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, Regiment Commander, C Company, 7^th Calvary, United States Army,” I stated.

The lady stood there with her mouth agape unable to say anything. She knew she had jus’ unwittingly sold a little piece of history.

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve had an interest in my family’s history. While researching Mom’s branch of the family tree, I tripped over a bit of history I had no idea existed.

My mother’s family is directly linked to the most famous abolitionist in U.S. history. It came in the form of a marriage between Thomas M. Burns and Minnie E. Brown, granddaughter of John Brown, January 14, 1883.

One of their two sons, Edwin M. Burns married Mary Elizabeth Hufford, my Grandma Leola’s sister.  Edwin’s uncle, Salmon Brown was the last of John Brown’s sons to die.

The widow of John Brown, Mary, brought her three daughters and son Salmon to Rohnerville in 1870. Salmon went into the sheep business with a 128-acre ranch at Bridgeville and by 1890 he had 3,000-acres and 14,000 sheep.

Salmon left Humboldt County around 1895 after he lost 8,000 sheep during the winter of 1890-91. He committed suicide May 10, 1919, in Portland, Oregon after being an invalid for five years following a fall from a horse.

The Portland Journal reports: “The last chapter of the old border days, when strife was stirring for the break of the Civil War, came to a close yesterday with the funeral service for Salmon Brown of 2024 East Couch Street, son of John Brown of Harper’s Ferry, crusading abolitionist and sworn foe of slavery.”

One early morning as I was enjoying breakfast with my sister Deirdre’s family, when I received a phone call from my bride. She was literally crying into the phone saying something about an accident.

It took her a couple of tries to finally explain what was happening. She had slammed her brand new vehicle into another car at nearly 70 miles an hour while heading to Susanville from Reno on U.S. 395.

She told me that the car had simply pulled out in front of her and though she tried to stop, she struck the car broadside. Furthermore she had broken her glasses (which for all intent and purpose left her unable to see very well,) bloodied her nose, received burns from the airbag during deployment and had strap bruises across her chest from the seatbelt.

Fortunately she didn’t suffer any broken bones or other major injuries despite the engine being shoved up under the fire-wall and into the passenger compartment. Furthermore, the two people in the car that pulled across the highway in front of her, walked away without a scratch.

Since the bride wasn’t at fault, the California Highway Patrol didn’t cite her. Plus our insurance covered the loss of the car and her examination at the hospital after the accident.

Good thing she wasn’t driving any faster than her guardian angel could fly.