'CCO's budget horn sounds again: A weeping Trompeter is gone

The mood around the WCCO-TV newsroom Monday was somber as staffers were shell-shocked that budget cuts had claimed anchor Jeanette Trompeter.

A crying Trompeter told me she felt "like a wimp," for being emotional, just minutes after getting the bad news. "In this economy, you're stupid if you're on TV and you don't know it's a possibility," she said. "All I've ever asked for was give me a head start to go look for something else. I didn't think I'd have to leave 10 minutes after. I thought I'd be doing the 5 o'clock news tonight, even [after being told she was being terminated]. They said, No, you're no longer an employee. They said it was absolutely not [performance-related]. They said, You're a great employee and this has nothing to do with that. It's a purely financial decision. I just got a great [job] review about three weeks ago."

Trompeter's bosses told her they knew this was coming on Friday but didn't want to ruin her weekend. A more detailed account of Trompeter's reaction to being laid off was posted Monday on StarTribune.com.

Private concert A little bull terrier told me that "American Idol" alum Kelly Clarkson will be in town today to do a private concert for Target employees.

More on ... herpes With the help of an affidavit from a Minnesota man, hair-care products company founder Thomas Redmond is trying to get off the hook for $7 million that a California jury awarded to a woman who claims he gave her herpes.

Redmond's attorney, Robert Frisbee, of Arizona has filed documents in Riverside County seeking a new trial and sanctions against Patricia Behr, based on an affidavit from Ronald Ramsdell of Minneapolis. Ramsdell, who operates a company called College Aid Consulting Services, states in his affidavit that Behr gave him herpes at least 14 years before her romantic relationship began with Redmond. Behr's lawyer said Ramsdell is hardly reliable.

According to Ramsdell's affidavit, he got a phone call in February from a friend, Bruce Cedarholm, about Behr's $7 million verdict. "The story astonished both me and Bruce because ... Patricia Behr gave me herpes in 1989. I believe that Behr 'set up' [Redmond] by falsely claiming that he gave her herpes."

The couple continued to date, and their relationship ended after about three years.

Ramsdell's affidavit ends with an even bigger bang:

"After Behr and I broke up ... I received threats on my life attributed to her, one directly from a large, vicious looking man and another one from friends who had been told by Patricia that she wanted me dead. I am concerned about my safety because of coming forward like this, as I know Patricia Behr to be a vicious and vengeful woman. Therefore, I am taking steps to make sure that the authorities have a copy of this affidavit in case something violent happens to me."

Behr's attorney, Shaun M. Murphy, said Ramsdell's "affidavit is completely false. There is an arrest report still in the Richfield Police Department files documenting that he was arrested in May of 1992 for assaulting her." Murphy said the assault ended when Ramsdell was "shot with a BB gun by her 12-year-old son to get him off her. Later [there was] a restraining order because he was stalking her. This is a vengeful man who sees an opportunity to get back at her." Murphy said his client's opposition to the affidavit and new trial motion are due to be filed Thursday, and "obviously we'll have a much more detailed response at that time."

A Richfield police spokeswoman confirmed to me Monday that police were called to the home, but there was not a full report on the incident. "There are no details on it," she said. "I'll tell you what it says: 'Victims were assaulted by the suspect, 5th degree assault.'"