New Mexico
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2:40 a.m.
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Secretary of State Mary Herrera is alleging that former Elections Director A.J. Salazar resigned not because of ethical concerns about the way she runs the office but because he wanted time off from work that she didn’t allow. It’s a charge Salazar says is ridiculous....
New Mexico Independent - Thu 5:46 p.m. - 2 clicks 
A federal court this week gave a uranium company the green light to move forward with mining operations in Churchrock, a Navajo community just east of Gallup, New Mexico. Opponents had argued that since the site already emits more radiation than regulations allow, a license for a new operation can’t be given because any new radiation emitted, no matter how small, would compound the problem....
New Mexico Independent - Thu 2:08 p.m. - 2 clicks
From League of Women Voters Central NM (LWVCNM): To celebrate International Women’s Week, experts in the areas of human rights and climate justice, women’s studies, environmental sustainability, and faith will share a moderated panel discussing the local and international implications......
Democracy for New Mexico - Thu 2:08 p.m.
This week Rep. Eric Massa, D-N.Y. resigned amid an ethics investigation that included Massa’s admission that he tickled a staffer until he couldn’t breathe. On Glenn Beck’s Fox TV program, Massa insisted that he “did nothing sexual.” Reflecting on the situation, Marc Ambinder, a political reporter for The Atlantic, recalled how in 1999, then Energy Secretary [...]...
New Mexico Independent - Thu 1:44 p.m. - 2 clicks
We had an easy flight into Rio after a late flight into Atlanta. We took a bus tour while waiting to embark on the Veendam. This is Ipanema Beach. It is hot here and we will leave in a few hours to start visiting historic towns all the way down to Buenos Aires. More tomorrow! ...
Jim Baca: Only in New Mexico - Thu 1:29 p.m. - 2 clicks
An executive producer of a film shot in New Mexico and titled “Chooch” pleaded guilty Wednesday to securities fraud in New York. David Loglisci is the former chief investment officer for New York state’s pension fund and the first official from that agency to plead guilty in an ongoing criminal pay-to-play inquiry that has netted six [...]...
New Mexico Independent - Thu 12:22 p.m. - 2 clicks
National Republican Committee Chairman Pete Sessions, R-Texas, will be in Albuquerque on Sunday for a fundraiser to benefit Jon Barela, the Republican candidate in the 1st Congressional District. Sessions will appear at a breakfast rally, the day after the Republican pre-primary convention. Barela will be facing incumbent Democrat Martin Heinrich in the general election. Neither has [...]...
New Mexico Independent - Thu 12:22 p.m. - 2 clicks
The Rio Grande Sun writes a must-read story about Espanola’s new mayor’s actions against the existing city manager, as “heads start rolling at city hall.” The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission looks into allegations of a gas pipeline price-gouging claims, reports The Farmington Daily Times. TEA Partiers of Deming, Las Cruces, and Silver City protest outside the [...]...
New Mexico Independent - Thu 12:22 p.m. - 3 clicks
Want another fact to remind you that New Mexico isn’t as bad off as other states? New figures released by California on Wednesday showed that in eight counties, more than 1 in 5 people were out of work, the Los Angeles Times reported. The state’s unemployment rate, meanwhile, rose to 12.5 percent. That compares with [...]...
New Mexico Independent - Thu 12:22 p.m. - 2 clicks
Keeping up the good fight! Rep. Martin Heinrich (NM-01) today announced that he has joined 33 of his colleagues in the House in sending a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid urging him to end a procedural practice that......
Democracy for New Mexico - Thu 12:22 p.m.
Today Rupert Murdoch is 79 and Justice Antonin Scalia is 74. Tick. Tick. Tick. Ralph Abernathy was born on this date in 1926. Abernathy was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s friend and associate and assumed leadership of the the Southern Christian Leadership Conference when King was killed in 1968. Abernathy was with [...]...
NewMexiKen - Thu 9:52 a.m. - 3 clicks
The Harry Montoya campaign has announced that the following elected officials have endorsed his candidacy for Commissioner of Public Lands: Santa Fe County Commissioner Virginia Vigil; Santa Fe City Councilors Carmichael Dominguez and Ron Trujillo; Former Santa Fe County Commissioners......
Democracy for New Mexico - Thu 9:52 a.m. - 3 clicks
On the campaign trail focusing on jobs, small business, families Come on down: Diane Denish will highlight the important role small businesses will play in New Mexico’s economic recovery at a pre-convention kick-off rally today in Albuquerque. The Road to......
Democracy for New Mexico - Thu 9:26 a.m.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced yesterday that the Senate would look into reforming the filibuster. The Senate Rules Committee will hold hearings on the potential Senate rule changes, including testimony by Senator Tom Udall, D-N.M. Earlier this year, Udall proposed a “constitutional option” for changing Senate rules on the filibuster. “In the time since I [...
New Mexico Independent - Thu 9:06 a.m.
Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) has written Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt in support of Think BIG Farmington’s proposal to become a test site for the company’s experimental project for ultra-high speed broadband internet networks in select locations across the country. The......
Democracy for New Mexico - Thu 8:46 a.m.
It's not over yet, not by a long shot. We’re still waiting for the New Mexican economy to hit bottom. The most politically sensitive indicator of the state's economic health has climbed yet again, with the US Labor Department now pegging the January jobless rate at 8.5 percent of the work force, a new Great Recession high and creating an even more turbulent backdrop for the embryonic 2010 cam...
Joe Monahan - Wed 11:46 p.m. - 3 clicks
A friend, Elizabeth Barraclough, who walks and photographs in this Albuquerque North Valley open space field with her digital camera nearly every night at sundown, took this picture Monday night. She said it was in a succession of photos seconds......
Cocoposts - Wed 5:26 p.m. - 3 clicks
Governor Bill Richardson today signed SB 40, a bill sponsored by Sen. George Munoz (D-Gallup) that removes the ban on concealed carry licensees from bringing their weapons into New Mexico restaurants with beer and wine licenses. However, Governor Richardson said......
Democracy for New Mexico - Wed 1:42 p.m. - 4 clicks
Governor Bill Richardson issued a statement saying he has taken final action on all bills passed by the Legislature during its regular 2010 session that ended in February. The Governor had until today to act on all bills. Out of......
Democracy for New Mexico - Wed 1:21 p.m. - 4 clicks
The 17th Annual César Chávez Day March and Festival will take place on Saturday, March 27, from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM in Albuquerque. The march will begin at the Westside Community Center located at 1250 Isleta Blvd. SW (map)......
Democracy for New Mexico - Wed 12:26 p.m. - 3 clicks
Today, Congressman Harry Teague’s Energy Jobs for Veterans Act (H.R. 4592) will be heard by the full House Veteran’s Affairs Committee, according to a statement released by his office. The bill, aimed at improving employment opportunities for veterans, seeks to......
Democracy for New Mexico - Wed 10:48 a.m. - 3 clicks
In response to questions resulting from the 2009 APS audit that was released in January, State Auditor Hector Balderas today announced that he issued a letter (pdf) to the Albuquerque School District (APS). A statement released by Balderas says the......
Democracy for New Mexico - Wed 9:44 a.m. - 3 clicks
Yesterday, Governor Bill Richardson signed what he called "two very important pieces of health care reform legislation that have been part of his comprehensive health reform package over the past few years." The legislation will result in more services for......
Democracy for New Mexico - Wed 8:08 a.m. - 3 clicks
Health care reform has stalled, then started again at the national level, but here in New Mexico we are slowly but surely putting the pieces into place. Yesterday the Governor signed a measure (HB12) that would direct at least 85% of premiums paid to health insurance companies go to medical care, rather than administration and profit. It’s something that we’ve......
State Senator Dede Feldman - Wed 7:48 a.m. - 4 clicks
The City of Albuquerque's budget is as bad as I predicted it would be and Mayor Berry's administration is the one that has to deal with it. City residents and city employees just need to pony up to this situation which is the culmination of over spending by Mayor Marty Chavez and his councils and the general meltdown in economy. It will be the most harrowing budget year ever. I will b...
Jim Baca: Only in New Mexico - Wed 6:49 a.m. - 5 clicks
Following up on our post with a photo slideshow and videos yesterday, here are more clips from the DFA-Democracy for New Mexico Democratic Lt. Governor candidate debate held on Saturday, March 6, 2010 at the UNM Law School in Albuquerque.......
Democracy for New Mexico - Tue 10:20 a.m. - 4 clicks
Update 3.9.10: Today, Gov. Bill Richardson signed additional legislation. He now has signed a total of 101 bills that the 2010 New Mexico Legislature has sent to him: Action Date – March 9 HB 12 Health Insurer Service Reimbursement HB......
Democracy for New Mexico - Tue 8:47 a.m. - 3 clicks
VP Biden You can give some of the thanks to Vice-President Joe Biden for the improved financial fortunes of New Mexico's two national nuclear weapons labs. So says ABQ US Rep. Martin Heinrich who tells us he sees budget growth coming for Sandia Labs after several relatively flat years. That's a big deal for the state's largest city as Sandia's budget is $2.2 billion annually. The two lab...
Joe Monahan - Mon 11:25 p.m. - 5 clicks
Governor Bill Richardson released a statement today announcing that New Mexico is receiving $85,944,012 in the second phase of State Fiscal Stabilization Funds. The federal stimulus funds were provided directly to governors to help save jobs and drive education reform.......
Democracy for New Mexico - Mon 7:04 p.m. - 4 clicks
New Mexico Defamation Suit uses their patented Manny Aragon head ScandalRater to give our Secretary of State 2.5 out of 5 for the stuff she pulled according to a former employee, who wrote what Suit calls one hell of a......
Cocoposts - Sat 4:49 a.m. - 17 clicks
I have been writing a few articles for law enforcement publications and I thought I would share with you the following one I wrote for the New Mexico Lawman, a publication of the New Mexico Sheriff's and Police Association. Drug Interdiction Summit Seeks to Solve Northern New Mexico Drug Problem. Mayor Joseph Maestas spent his last days in office at a Drug Interdiction summit in his...
Sheriff Greg Solano Blog - Fri 1:23 p.m. - 8 clicks
In 1994 it was a six cents a gallon tax on gasoline that became the rallying cry for a disaffected electorate and a marginalized Republican Party. They had enough punch to throw Democrat Bruce King out of the Governor's office. Fast forward to 2010 and history could repeat. The two percent tax on food approved in the Special Session of the NM Legislature that concluded Thursday has all the ingr...
Joe Monahan - Mar 5 - 8 clicks
Kenneth Gonzales The question in the wake of the nomination of Assistant US Attorney Ken Gonzales as the new NM US Attorney is what role current Republican US Attorney Greg Fouratt will play in the office. (White House release here .) Fouratt crowed publicly prior to the Gonzales announcement that he knew who the White House was going to pick and that he and the NM public would be pl...
Joe Monahan - Mar 3 - 6 clicks
Sens. Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall announced that Kenneth Gonazales has been nominated to replace U.S. Attorney Greg Fouratt. Gonzales, a Pojoaque High School graduate, has been working in the Las Cruces office of the U.S. Attorney. Fouratt has been interim U.S. Attorney since David Iglesias was forced out during the controversial 2006 U.S. Attorney firings by the Bush Administration. “Pres...
What's the Word with Peter St. Cyr - Mar 3 - 7 clicks
Senate Minority Whip Bill Payne, who represents part of Albuquerque's far Northeast heights, said Bernalillo County will be hit hardest by the multitude of tax increases the State Senate passed in Santa Fe last night. In the video below, Payne compares Bernalillo County to other counties. And claims it already pays twice as much in property taxes, and levies upon levies as well as having one of t...
What's the Word with Peter St. Cyr - Mar 3
You can bet that Governor Richardson will take that job as the movie industry's lobbyist in Washington in a heartbeat. Who wouldn't. He can flee the state's nagging revenue mess, the Albuquerque Journal, and his sagging approval ratings all at once. I hope he gets the job because he could continue to make New Mexico a great place for the film industry. I have been trying to figure ...
Jim Baca: Only in New Mexico - Mar 3 - 6 clicks
Richardson & Redford All of you who bet that Big Bill was going to finish out his second four year term, start hedging those bets. Richardson is reportedly under consideration to become the CEO for the Motion Picture Association of America . This is a major plum. The current CEO, former Congressman Dan Glickman, pulls down a whopping $1.3 million a year in salary and benefits. The job i...
Joe Monahan - Mar 2 - 5 clicks
Well, I just have to say the proposed tax hikes by the legislature just are horrendous. We need tax hikes but we don't need regressive ones. And the most regressive is the sales tax. And the cowardly leadership pounded out a deal that absolutely screws the cities in New Mexico by making them the ones to reimpose a tax on food. The Mayors in New Mexico should descend upon th...
Jim Baca: Only in New Mexico - Mar 2 - 5 clicks
Sens. McSorley & Ryan The Special Session is already sinking . The proposal to up the tax on a pack of smokes by 75-cents was killed in the crib only hours after the session started Monday, perhaps foretelling the fate of the effort to partially reinstate the hyper-controversial food tax. For ABQ Dem liberal state Senator Cisco McSorley this special and the budget pact conceived...
Joe Monahan - Mar 1 - 5 clicks
Updated March 5 - 9:34a The Domenici for Governor Campaign announced Monday night that it has raised $260,000 in the first six weeks after launching his campaign. “This support reflects the strong welcome Pete’s campaign has received from people who believe that he is a solid Republican who has the respect, backing, and state-wide exposure to win the governor’s office.” Domenici Camp...
What's the Word with Peter St. Cyr - Mar 1
I went to clean out my deposit box today at Bank of America. As I said before the rates on the little metal container had gone up 300% in three years. I had the box there since the 80's. When I asked the young bank manager why this was done he said, "All the banks are doing it. That is how the economy works." I might ask have asked him what other things had gone up 3...
Jim Baca: Only in New Mexico - Mar 1 - 3 clicks
The City of Albuquerque has a big bill to pay off as a result of a US Supreme Court refusal to hear the City's appeal of lower court rulings. It is about a long running case involving down zoning of property near Winrock Shopping Center by the City Council in the first Chavez administration. (This was not Mayor Chavez's fault.) But now it is Mayor Berry's headache. When I serv...
Jim Baca: Only in New Mexico - Mar 1 - 4 clicks
Rep. Maestas Democrats may be playing with political dynamite as they go into special session in Santa Fe today to try to resolve a budget shortfall for the year that starts July 1 and that could be as much as $800 million. The dynamite sticks are a quarter cent increase in the gross receipts tax and a reinstatement of the taxon food while leaving untouched the tax bills of the state's mos...
Joe Monahan - Feb 28 - 3 clicks
