© 2004 Michael Morris

We often are asked why we have not covered the case of Kit Laney and his Diamond Bar Ranch which is now effectively in the hands of federal agents. The answer is simple. As a matter of law Laney made fatal errors. In order to have rights one must vigorously defend them. In this case Mr. Laney accepted the obligation to pay a fee for grazing his cattle on something dubiously named “federal land” by paying it and then attempting to negotiate its terms with the agency collecting the fee. When his terms were rejected Mr. Laney retreated from his position of negotiating to one of “I do not owe it in the first place, so I will just not pay any longer.” That was the issue the US District Court was working with in the present case. What this means is that the feds are on better legal footing than Laney. That is not a good position since federal agencies can call upon virtually unlimited taxpayer dollars to enforce their policies

GLENWOOD - Local businesses say the closure of the Catwalk is devastating; while the contractor says partial opening is devastating his equipment.

RESERVE - The Catron County Commission voted 2-1 Friday to not sell 10 acre-feet of water rights to a subdivision developer.

A brother and sister died on Highway 12 on Saturday night after the SUV in which they were traveling went off the road, skidded 416 feet and flipped into a tree.

Loretta Ray, Gila National Forest, reported that, during fire season, they have had to bring in outside people from other states to help the fire departments patrol. They would like to hold workshops and train more local people to be put on a calling list for this patrol work.