| After the storm Slower pace returns week after media invasion | |
| The Eldorado Success | |
What passes for normal in Eldorado these days, would be considered bizarre in most Texas towns. That’s how much things have changed since the YFZ Ranch story broke last year. While the sight of satellite trucks and TV news crew doing sidewalk interviews might appear strange in other West Texas communities, here it has become commonplace. Nowadays locals ask as many questions as the news crews. Things like, “When did you say this going to air? ... Oh, in May? ... So it we’ll see it during sweeps?” That’s not to suggest that Eldoradoans have become jaded, only that many of them have become media savvy. It has been a steep learning curve and last week it got steeper as reporters and news crews from four countries and two continents converged on Eldorado, each of them wanting a front-row seat at Warren Jeff’s end-of-the world extravaganza. But, when the promised apocalypse failed to materialize, most of the reporters found themselves trying to gauge local reaction and asking thoughtful questions like, “How do you feel this will affect your town?” Or...“Are you frightened by the newcomers and are you worried that they will try to steal your children?” One mans comment as he watched two camera-toting news crews pursuing a local woman (who clearly did not want to be interviewed) down the side walk in front of the newspaper office was, “It reminds me of a bunch of ducks chasing a tick.” An audio recording of Warren Jeffs addressing a Saturday work meeting in Colorado City, Arizona, provided much of the impetus for the media storm. In the meeting Jeffs can be heard telling workers that April 6 will be the day God returns to Earth to claim the FLDS church as his holy people and unleash “the destructions” upon the rest of the planet. What is unclear in the audio, is exactly which April 6 Jeffs is talking about. The recent construction of the FLDS temple on the YFZ Ranch, coinciding so closely with the April 6 date, had many believing that last week would be the big week. Then there were the persistent rumors emanating from Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah, saying much the same thing. Cops go back in On Thursday, April 7, 2005, one day after the predicted destructions, a caravan of vehicles, led by Sheriff David Doran and Texas Ranger Sergeant Brooks Long, returned to the YFZ Ranch. The lawmen entered the ranch briefly the day before, to dispel rumors that Jeffs’ followers would commit mass suicide if the end-of-the-world did not occur. But Thursday’s trip to the ranch had a more practical purpose. The lawmen escorted Tax Appraiser Scott Sutton onto the property. They also accompanied Cindy Cawley and Sam Henderson, who were there on behalf of the Plateau Underground Water Conservation and Control District. Cawley and Henderson went to the ranch to inspect water wells and to verify compliance with district rules. Later Cawley told the Success that her inspection found everything to be in order and that she was glad to have finally been able to carry out the inspection. For his part, Scott Sutton said his visit to the ranch was intended to confirm measurements he had taken on his first trip in December of last year. He explains that he was not allowed to visit the temple site on either trip because the area is considered holy. It should be noted that the YFZ Land L.L.C. is still listed as the owner of the YFZ Ranch property and that there is no mention of the FLDS church on land documents in the Schleicher County Courthouse. I'm my own Grandpa The Success learned this week that Merrill Jessop, the man who is reportedly overseeing work at the YFZ Ranch, has very close ties to FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs. According to sources in Colorado City, Arizona, Jessop is Jeffs’ father-in-law and son-in-law. The two men reportedly married each other’s daughter in a double-ring ceremony held in Caliente, Nevada in 2002 or 2003. Interestingly, Merrill Jessop once owned and operated Caliente Hot Springs Resort, the place where Warren Jeffs began performing plural marriages after the states of Utah and Arizona increased their scrutiny of the FLDS. Jessop is also the father of Ernie Jessop, the young man who oversaw some of the early construction at the YFZ Ranch and who was reportedly excommunicated from the FLDS church by Warren Jeffs. As with all aspects of the YFZ Ranch story, The Success invites Prophet Warren Jeffs or other leaders in his FLDS church to respond to questions or to offer their comments. | |
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MyEldorado.net Originally published April 14, 2005 | |
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