Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 122, No. 259 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
October 29, 2013
NMMI, Association conclude first arguments www.rdrnews.com
caused confusion with alumni and permanent harm to the school, during the two-day hearing that started Oct. 15 and resumed Monday. “We’ve been using the marks continuously for over 100 years,” said NMMI attorney Parker Folse, with the law firm Hinkle, Hensley, Shanor and Martin. “Whether it’s registered or not, is a red herring.” NMMI attorneys stuck to the facts throughout the hearing that pointed to the Association’s Memorandum of Agreement, signed March 30, 2012. In this contract, the Association agreed to discontinue using the names, marks and logos if ties were severed. NMMI’s Board of Regents cut ties with the Association, voiding the agreement, in April, following a failed negotiation over financial
JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
New Mexico Military Institute finished arguments Monday asking a judge to immediately order its former Alumni Association to stop using the school’s name and logos. Eddy County District Court Judge Jane Shuler -Grey will decide in the next week or two whether to place a restraining order against the Association for continuing to use “NMMI” logos, crests, name and images. NMMI asked the judge to hear this part of its lawsuit immediately as the Association’s continued use of the school’s name and logos was causing “irreparable harm.” The Institute was tasked with providing testimony that the Association’s use of its name and logos
issues. Per the agreement and after the Association voted to stop working things out with the school, the group was kicked off campus in April. But, the Association regrouped and continued fundraising and using NMMI’s insignias. Shuler-Grey asked whether the Association could rename itself and continue to raise money to give to students. “No,” Folse said. “The Institute will no longer do business with them. In order for a state agency to receive those funds, there has to be a written agreement. That agreement has been terminated.” The non-profit is now located at a hotel nearby and maintains more than $5 million in funds that are also in dispute.
TUESDAY
NMMI has asked the judge to seize the $5 million in earmarked funds, meant for cadet scholarships, and an additional account the Association uses to operate. That issue will need to be heard at a later time, said NMMI attorney Richard Olson. A fracture began within the Association following its banishment from school property and decision to fight the Institute. Some alumni continue to side with new Association President John Phinizy and its board, and others have pledged to remain loyal to NMMI. Phinizy has spearheaded the defense in what he has called a “fight” against NMMI, in the Institute’s lawsuit. The Association’s attorney, Jeffrey Dahl, argued that NMMI’s case
was not warranted, and “harsh.”
“There really is no evidence here or irreparable injury,” Dahl told the court. “They are basing their case on the premise that they own this name, they own their trademarks and logos. They make the claim, they’ve been using it longer.”
Dahl said the judge needed to find a balance of equities and move forward to hear the entire case.
Shuler -Grey said it was her understanding that every university’s alumni group raises money to flow into the school, not to give back to its alumni organization. “Frankly, with alumni relationships, the money really only flows one way,” Shuler-Grey told Dahl. “Really everything is going to hinge on that Memorandum of Agreement.”
History haunts Lantern Tours at Fort Stanton City opts for in-house attorney JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
Josh Judy does woodworking at the barracks at Fort Stanton during the Lantern Tours, Saturday evening.
TESS TOWNSEND RECORD STAFF WRITER
“Halt, who comes there?” asks a guard with a rifle resting on his shoulder. Tony Davis, a volunteer guide at Fort Stanton, explains to the guard that he is bringing a tour
group through the premises. Though the year is 2013 in the rest of the world, at Fort Stanton’s Lantern Tours on Saturday evening it was still the 19th century. The tours have been an annual tradition for the past half-decade. Fort manager Larry Pope said this
was the first year when visitors could enter buildings as part of the tour. The tour included six vignettes spanning the beginning of the Civil War and progressing into the American Indian Wars of the 1880s. Skits change every year, but always convey a piece of fort
Mark Wilson Photo
history. The fort was built in 1855. It was first used as a base of operations against the Mescalero Apache Indians. Since then, it has functioned as a tuberculosis See TOURS, Page A3
The city will start searching to hire a city attorney, possibly this week, following a council decision last week to stop paying for outside legal counsel, Mayor Del Jurney said Monday. City councilors held a special meeting Thursday to decide if the city should continue contracting with attorney Barbara Patterson or hire an in-house lawyer. “There was a very positive discussion about the pros and cons of each philosophical direction,” Jur ney said. “There are certainly advantages and disadvantages on each.” Councilors Steve Henderson, Art Sandoval and Jason Perry voted to continue operating with outside legal services. The council decided in September to temporarily extend outside attor ney Barbara Patterson’s contract for legal services until Dec. 31. The contract calls for paying her firm $12,784.92
Europe mulls sanctions against US over spying Person of interest in
AP Photo
In this Jan. 17 file photo, a man speaks on a cell phone in the business district of Madrid. A Spanish newspaper published a document Monday that it said shows the U.S. National Security Agency spied on more than 60 million phone calls in Spain in one month alone — the latest revelation about alleged massive U.S. spying on allies.
BERLIN (AP) — The United States could lose access to an important law enforcement tool used to track terrorist money flows, German officials said Monday, as Europe weighed a response to allegations that the Americans spied on their closest European allies.
In Washington, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein called for a “total review” of all U.S. intelligence programs in response to the allegations — activity the California Democrat said she wasn’t told about. Feinstein said that while her commit-
HIGH 86 LOW 46
TODAY’S FORECAST
tee was informed of the National Security Agency’s collection of phone records under a secret court order, it “was not satisfactorily informed” that “certain surveillance activities have been in effect for more than a decade” — including eavesdropping on German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s own cell phone. She said President Barack Obama was also not told that Merkel’s communications were being collected since 2002. “With respect to NSA collection of intelligence on leaders of U.S. allies— including France, Spain, Mexico and Germany—let me state unequivocally: I am totally opposed,” Feinstein said in a statement Monday. “Unless the United States is engaged in hostilities against a country or there is an emergency need for this type of surveillance, I do not believe the United States should be collecting phone calls or emails of friendly presidents and prime ministers,” Feinstein said. “The president should be required to approve any collection of this sort.” Spain became the latest U.S. ally to demand answers after a Spanish newspaper reported that the NSA monitored more than 60 million phone calls in that
• CALVIN LEE ROBERTS JR. (PETE) • GEORGE SALCIDO • STOARMY J. (MILLER) VARGAS
explosives case arrested JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
David Baca, 34, who was listed as a person of interest in the Roswell explosives case, was apprehended near Odessa, Texas, on Friday, following a shootout with authorities. Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms spokesDavid Baca man Sgt. Raphael Martinez confirmed that Baca was arrested by the Texas Department of Public Safety and Ector County Sheriff’s Department. Baca and another unnamed person from Roswell became involved in an exchange of gunfire after stealing a vehicle. The Ector County Sheriff’s Department reported that two people were injured during the gun fight See BACA, Page A3
See SPYING, Page A3
TODAY’S OBITUARIES • PAGE A6
See ATTORNEY, Page A3
CLASSIFIEDS ..........B6 COMICS .................B4 ENTERTAINMENT .....B5 FINANCIAL ..............B5
INDEX GENERAL ...............A2 HOROSCOPES .........B5 LOTTERIES .............A2 NATION ..................A6
SPORTS .................B1
WEATHER ..............A8 OPINION .................A4