Michael Morris

...a grand jury shall be ordered to convene by such judge upon the filing of a petition therefor signed by not less than the greater of two hundred registered voters or two percent of the registered voters of the county... - Article II Section 14 New Mexico Constitution According to the Otero County Clerk the number of registered voters in Otero County stands at 30,152 on this date. 2% of that is 604 though it would be favorable to have many more. Now you may be asking who will be the subject of the petition and the crimes alleged. The simple explanation of this follows.

Michael Morris

UPDATED – Frank Cavazos’ sentence was finally filed. Apparently he is only going to have to serve an 18 month sentence which really translates to about 9 months. Merry Christmas. Of course Cavazos’ crimes cannot really be considered all that serious under New Mexico law. It is not as if he had sold a couple of joints to a friend or blew a little high on a breathalyzer. Frank merely planned, conspired and executed a protracted scheme to steal tax dollars. But wait! Mr. Cavazos cannot take this little bit of consequences without complaint. Concurrently with the filing of the J&S Frank Cavazos filed a motion asking the Court to grant him a furlough. The wheels of justice may just have whitewalls for embezzlers.

Frank Cavazos, formerly 12th District Attorney Scot Key's finance manager, is headed to prison. As you may remember Cavazos was indicted on more than 2 dozen counts of stealing from the accounts of the DA's office while Mr. Key was out playing the odds. On Friday District Judge Frank Wilson revoked Cavazos' bond sending him to OCDC to await transport to state prison. The details of the plea agreement that resulted in many of the charges being dropped has not yet been made public.

Michael Morris

Michael Becker and his clowns over at the Alamogordo Daily News have done it once again. The ADN report Thursday about a couple of teenagers arrested at Yucca Elementary School with a pistol was a pointed example of true lies. A true lie is essentially a statement that in absence of context is true. At the same time context renders the true lie a lie in the overall circumstances. In this case Becker's slipshod operation caused panic in the community leading many to believe that the incident occurred during school hours and posed a threat to elementary school students. This lack of attention to detail may not be accidental. It does sell that rag of a paper.

Michael Morris

Consider this report as preliminary as the quoted results are unofficial, but a bit over 60% of somewhat above 800 votes cast in the special election on the single issue of removing the 2010 sunset provision from the Local Option Gross Receipts Tax for Economic Development in the City of Alamogordo went against the removal. This means that the tax will expire in 2010 unless the measure is approved by voters in the meantime. Most people understood that this election was more of a referendum on the performance of Ed Carr and OCEDC in the wake of the Sunbaked Biscuits fiasco. Carr's failure to admit the wrongdoing and senseless mistakes can be credited with many of the "No" votes. Early reports indicate Mr. Carr did not take the results well. Personally I hope Ed Carr will take this opportunity to resign and allow for some sensible economic development in the future.

Michael Morris

Around 4:15am this morning the same trailer that burned on the night of Aug 27 this year erupted in flames once again. The hull of the burned out trailer had been left on the property surrounded by high grass. Since the utilities had been disconnected after the last blaze it does not take a rocket scientist to conclude this was arson. The question is now will Alamogordo City Manager Pat McCourt pull his thumb out of his rear and have what still remains removed or will the neighbors be threatened once again by this public nuisance?