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 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

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

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 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.