Michael Morris
Photos by Racquel Morris – Click any image to enlarge in new window

Friday I had the honor of attending the Inauguration of the new Tribal President, Vice President and Council of the Mescalero Apache Tribe. I left a little stunned. Not because of anything unusual, but rather by my awakening to the universality of my concept of usual. President Mark Chino spent a significant part of his address discussing the destructive effect of faceless rumor on both the morale of citizens and the dousing of the desire of the young to aspire to service. How is that any different than the dramas playing out in the newspapers and their forums concerning Capitan and the Alamogordo School Board? I walked in expecting some typically typical political this and that and left thinking that if Mark Chino put his entire life force into achieving the goals he set he could take his people beyond far. Good fortune be with you sir.

Michael Morris – In Focus

This is where I usually do my version of a sarcasm monolog. I don’t have one today aside from the title that is not misspelled. You’ll get it later. Alamogordo Times contacted PED after reports surfaced that persons were having difficulty obtaining public records. In response we were treated to an angry and defensive man. I suppose I would be defensive as well if I conducted investigations in the way Paul Calderon, Program Director, Educator Ethics Bureau, NM PED does. In fact they would throw you out of the Don Adams fan club for doing investigations the way he does, but I digress.

Michael Morris – In the Courts

I recently attended the trial of Jade Hicks (CR 09-1976 JH US District NM) for 2 felony assault counts, one of which alleges with a deadly weapon, to wit: beer stein, held in the US District Court in Albuquerque. This case gained some publicity as the beer stein incident during Oktoberfest 2007 at Holloman AFB. This case caught my attention when a relative of the Defendant informed me that the trial had been moved to Albuquerque from Las Cruces and not at the request of the Defendant. Thinking this odd I decided to attend the trial at the last minute. What jumped out at me during the trial and my initial review of other case documents was that the Government was lying to the judge about the words in its own evidentiary proffers brought by Assistant US Attorneys Shana Pennington and Jennifer Rozzoni in front of US District Judge Judith Herrera. The effect of these misrepresentations, when coupled with defense attorneys who appeared to merely to be in attendance at the trial, was a redefining of “No” into “Yes” trampling most existing law in most areas the tribunal trod. This is by no means my last word on this case – duh. What I urge the reader to focus on is not the guilt or innocence of the Defendant, but rather the means by which the prosecution secured the conviction in this case. If these tactics are ratified those of you concerned with your rights have one less concern in your lives.

Michael Morris – In Focus

No, you did not read that wrong. After years of opposition to the Alamogordo Gross Receipts Tax for Economic Development in its present form I have realized the error of my ways and now urge you to vote YES to make the tax permanent next spring. It turns out that the tax may, in fact, be one of the greatest values going out there when compared to other alternatives.

Michael Morris – In Focus

Just a good ole boys. Never meanin’ no harm… Seems Roscoe (Royse City Police Chief Tom Shelton) and Cletus (Royse City Police Sgt. Jim Baker) have cooked themselves a plan to get that low down rotten Mike Harris. Seems some of their associates aren’t quite willing to accept that raise and contract extension the Board of Trustees down at the schools done gave the varmint. In fact they got em some pictures cousin Clem says proves the Superintendent stole gas. Let’s see how them fellas did.

Michael Morris – In Focus

Throughout the last year there has been considerable speculation regarding the administrative hearings and charges currently pending before the NM Public Education Department (PED) against Alamogordo Public Schools (APS) Superintendent Mike Harris. The problem is that most of the information circulating is the result of a rather prolonged campaign to hype this into something it is not. In several parts I will endeavor to place a little reality into the mix.

Michael Morris – In Focus

To get my bias out of the way right at the start I will say that after what I have seen in the last couple of days concerning the conduct of APS teacher Kathleen Wallis I not only would not believe a word from her mouth, I would not trust her with a hamster. At every turn it is one lie after another, whether on official documents or in person Wallis has no use for the truth, no respect for it and a propensity to exploit those who assume they are being told the truth. Kathy Wallis should never be sanctioned to enter a classroom – ever. At the same time we see the local NEA establishment implicated as accomplices.

Michael Morris – In Focus

For years now I have explained over and over again why I see Judge Frank Wilson and local attorney Robert Doughty are cancers on the community. Today I think I can make this so entirely clear that anyone with a pulse will understand what sort of enemies of the people these two are. Recently I became aware of a case traversing the courts that is being run so far from the law that it needs to take precedence over even my actual business. For the moment I will not name the victim of this conspiracy to subvert justice as it would serve no purpose. The issues here, while tangentially related to this attempt to deny any semblance of due process, are not the matters that actually make this case farce and kangaroo.

Michael Morris – In Focus

I have to tell you that I was so entirely underwhelmed by the list of applicants for the job of placeholder District Judge to fill the remaining term of the retiring Frank Wilson that the prospect of tying a tie and walking up a flight of stairs to watch an uninspiring local commission component do exactly as I expected, the easy thing, proved too great. The news of the predictable came in a text message from a friend. In sending Bill Brogan, Mario Torrez and our perennial favorite Sandra Grisham to our even better friend Bill Richardson the commission gave the Governor a wide range of options ranging from the right thing to something hopeful of the use of petroleum products first. Let’s have a look, shall we?

The applications for consideration and nomination for the District Judge position being vacated by Judge Frank Wilson at the end of the year.

The meeting of the District Judicial Nominating Commission will be held on October 3, 2008 at 9 am at the Otero County Courthouse in Alamogordo. The meeting is open to the public.

Candidate names and Commission members are listed in the full story.