Dunn House Parking To Remain Open!

(Downtown Taos 4 PM) This afternoon, according to Town of Taos Manager, Daniel Miera, he was able to negotiate a last-minute deal with property owner Anne Brenner to keep the Dunn House Parking lot open. Miera said mail went to the wrong town department and he was unaware of the crisis until he read Taos Friction. He said he wanted to reassure merchants that the Town and Brenner had agreed in principle and would sign a new lease, when Brenner returned from her trip to China.

“All’s well that ends well,” said Flavio. “I feel bad for Lou, though. He thought he had his old job back. ” Earlier today, a news leak suggested the Bent St. area parking lot might close down and local merchants panicked. Flavio heard about the growing crisis while sweeping up outside a local shop. 

Litigants focus on TMS Administrators and Catholic Icons

Now that St. Jude has come under fire by TMS administrators and Tony the Ant has taken up ex AD James Branch’s case, expect the local school district to bleed red. When Tony fires off a tort claim, he follows up with laser like preparation and incisive arguments. Cuddy & McCarthy better look to their bedpans.

Meanwhile, the district is apparently trying to settle a claim with an allegedly abused lunchroom worker. We hear she has been offered a job but finds the working environment hostile. The district is as desperate to settle this one, as the powers that be are neurotic about nutrition.

And the strange procedural mishaps applied to the beloved Ms. Singleton have created another potential race case with ageism thrown in due to the humiliating conditions. One must ask why the longtime Home Ec instructor has been banned from school property, including, allegedly, forbidden from attending sporting events on school property. Apparently, she has been sent off into the gulag of administrative leave for an expensive psych eval–like some Gitmo detainee—while a substitute is paid to take her place. The district bungles and the atmosphere of the jungle pervades this Darwinian house of horror.

Theresa Singleton

 

(BTW: Our elected and appointed officials might each consider an introspective session with a shrink.)

According to three audits, the CRABBIES can’t count, do inventory, or figure out the software-hardware interface. (This year, 2010, marks the beginning of the second decade in the 21st Century.) Key administrators admit in public that they “don’t know” why students can’t read but continue to matriculate. If you don’t know what you’re doing, shouldn’t you resign? Due to onerous regulations imposed by the legislature, the elected TMS board is helpless to right the ship.

Now, more parents of Special Ed kids are also considering their litigious options—filing with the Office of Civil Rights. So the battle to deliver education and due process to employees at the district is moving from CRAB Hall to the courts.

(See Tony the Ant above.)

The union itself offers little leadership to the district while it whines about this 1 percent or that benefit in an economy where everyone suffers. Why don’t teachers volunteer to teach an extra hour and hold themselves to higher educational standards of accountability? When it comes to delivering the goods–reading, writing, and arithmetic–even the high school teachers whisper about the failure of their elementary school colleagues. You can’t keep blaming the parents or society.

Each day of resistance by administrators at CRAB Hall means the community is another step closer to chaos, crime, and the evolution of charter schools. No wonder the County is building a great big jail. The acts of El Weston and the Crab Hall Gang begin to look a lot like déjà vu all over again (as Yogi Berra might say). Fancy contracts with outside training agents are no substitute for hard work.

"The Enforcer"

 

Tony the Ant is coming and he carries a hammer in his hand.

(Editor’s Note: Ms. Singleton sued TMS Super Leonela Serna and TMS in the 80’s as I remember because the former fired the 14-year instructor at THS .  Singleton then went to work at Arbys for $3.75 an hour until she won her case and was reinstated. Now, the  James Branch case is focussed on Serna’s daughter Madelyn Marmol. According to Friction sources, the gestation of the Branch-Marmol conflict concerned her hito’s status as basketball player on Branch’s team. St. Jude was an excuse, not a cause. Ironically, Marmol graduated from the University of Notre Dame. Pray for us, St. Jude.)