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Thomas Etheredge's 2006 business losses ultimately broke a logjam and led to Wednesday's closing on the sale of the Prairie Rose Chuckwagon Supper. New owners Greg and JW Johnson assumed ownership Wednesday and will hit the ground running: R.W. Hampton, the 2006 Academy of Western Artists male vocalist of the year, will headline opening weekend Nov. 16 and 17. The deal had been stalled for more than two months by $325,000 in state and federal income tax liens filed against former owners Thomas and Cheryl Etheredge, specifically for unpaid 2005 income taxes. Greg Johnson said Wednesday that he revitalized the talks by paying for the completion of Etheredge's 2005 and 2006 income taxes. And other sources close to the case confirmed that Etheredge's 2006 business losses -- despite annual profits in excess of $1 million at the Prairie Rose, according to bankruptcy court documents -- were substantial enough to, as Johnson put it, "get the IRS off our backs."

The Supreme Court reconvenes Monday for its annual term, but the justices could be upstaged by Clarence Thomas's long-anticipated autobiography. In the courtroom, the author and his colleagues will deal with less-sensational matters.