With no great fanfare and little national media coverage, the people who organized the April 15 Tea Parties are gearing up for a new day of protests against government spending and higher taxes. Hundreds of rallies will take place, at least one in every state, in public places and in parks rented out for the occasions.
By Arthur Alpert 7/3/09
Let us cheer poor Gov. Mark Sanford’s discovery that his frailty is “human.” As for knowing that the Lord wants him to remain governor, well, Sanford would seem at least one blue corn tortilla short of a combo plate. So let’s give him time to reorder.
By Tracy Dingmann 7/2/09
Neda’s death comes just in time to reinforce the importance of being free to speak your mind in America — and to serve as a vivid reminder of what happens in countries where you are not.
By V.B. Price 7/1/09
Health care in England and France are considered basic human rights. In the United States, health care is considered a pot of gold for some and the thin edge of the wedge to bankruptcy for many others.
Former New Mexico House Minority Whip Dan Foley says he wasn’t aware that state law required him to return his legislative license plate when he left office almost six months ago. Right.
By Brigette Russell 6/30/09
The other day, when it seemed like everyone else was getting dewey-eyed over the death of a pop star they’d spent the past decade or so mocking as a freak, I was, as usual, perusing the fine print in the “How They Voted” section of the Santa Fe New Mexican to see what our illustrious members of Congress had been up to.
By Trip Jennings 6/29/09
What I will remember for a long time is the press conference where Gov. Bill Richardson signed the abolition bill into law last March. The governor gave some of us in the media who attended the ceremony an unexpected glimpse into his private struggles over the rightness of his decision.
By David Alire Garcia 7/2/09
Ray Rivera is an Albuquerque native who recently turned 30. Following two years on Barack Obama’s grueling but ultimately triumphant presidential campaign, Rivera promptly moved to Washington, D.C., and is now arguably New Mexico’s highest ranking presidential appointee.
By Trip Jennings 7/2/09
Members of the American Federation of Teachers New Mexico are orchestrating a statewide petition drive in hopes of pressuring state lawmakers to overturn a measure that has tens of thousands of public employees paying more into their pensions.
By Marjorie Childress 7/1/09
A leader of the city’s blue collar workers say his members weren’t asked who they wanted to endorse for mayor before their parent union gave the endorsement to incumbent Mayor Martin Chavez in late May. But AFSCME’s political director disputes that, and says the local was involved in the endorsement decision.
By Heath Haussamen 6/30/09
Jim Spiri is a conservative who traveled extensively last year to try to help GOP nominee John McCain win the presidency. Now, because of his son’s 2001 death, he’s openly supporting President Barack Obama’s attempt to reform the nation’s health care system.
By Heath Haussamen and Trip Jennings 6/26/09
A week after the the secretary of state’s office quietly launched its new campaign finance and disclosure database on its Web site, officials now say problems have knocked out all of the office’s systems, and they don’t know whether the database can be salvaged. It’s the latest chapter in the state’s long-delayed efforts to give the public a searchable database of reports filed by public officials.
By Trip Jennings and Heath Haussamen 6/26/09
Texas-based Aldus Equity, New Mexico’s former investment adviser, appears to have drawn the interest of federal prosecutors, according to two federal subpoenas that have been made public. The subpoenas were released by the Educational Retirement Board Thursday afternoon.
By Marjorie Childress 6/26/09
Albuquerque mayoral candidate Richard “R.J.” Berry and the state Republican Party said this week that police policies regarding immigrants are partly to blame for a violent robbery on the west side that left one person dead. Mayor Martin Chavez’s office responded that Berry and the state GOP are “endorsing racial profiling.”
By Anthony Fleg 6/25/09
Forty-five years after the 1964 release of the Surgeon’s General Report on Smoking and Health that linked smoking to lung cancer, this week’s signing of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act marks another milestone in the time line of commercial tobacco in the United States.
By Trip Jennings 6/25/09
Two lawsuits -– one filed by whistleblower Frank Foy, the other by the National Education Association of New Mexico -– seek to recover damages from Texas-based Austin Capital Management, on allegations that they lost money due to fraud. Now the question is whose lawsuit should get first dibs on trying to recover that money.
By Gwyneth Doland 6/24/09
A public hearing ran so late Tuesday night that another hearing will be scheduled to hear testimony from residents about a request from a cement plant located in Albuquerque’s North Valley to extend its hours of operation.
By Heath Haussamen 6/24/09
David N. Hernandez, an Albuquerque attorney and former head of the State Bar of New Mexico, is accused of destroying, changing, fabricating or hiding two invoices and a promissory note with the intention of preventing the apprehension, prosecution or conviction of him or someone else.
By Trip Jennings 6/24/09
The National Education Association of New Mexico, a major teachers’ union in the state, wants a Texas-based investment firm to pony up to $75 million for the losses New Mexico taxpayers’ experienced thanks to the spectacular fraud perpetrated by Bernie Madoff, according to a lawsuit that was unsealed Tuesday.
By Gwyneth Doland 6/23/09
Tonight the city of Albuquerque has scheduled a public information hearing to hear concerns about whether a cement company should be allowed to expand its hours of operation to 24 hours a day. Residents of the North Valley neighborhood surrounding the American Cement plant complain about cement dust blanketing their yards and trees, but representatives for the company say they’ve made significant improvements since buying the plant last year.
By Trip Jennings 6/23/09
Only six of New Mexico’s 73 charter schools outperformed their traditional public school counterparts on standardized test scores, a new study shows. The study conducted by Stanford researchers also found that New Mexico was one of six states where charter school students’ academic gains were lower on average than those of their non-charter public school counterparts.
By Heath Haussamen 6/22/09
Potential 2010 Republican gubernatorial candidate Allen Weh says his campaign centers on a “common sense” approach to growing the economy and rooting out public corruption.
By David Alire Garcia 6/20/09
The city’s Rio Grande Zoo will soon have two new poster boys. But the more than four year lapse between acquisition of two enormous saltwater crocodiles and the temporary public viewing set to begin next month raises questions.
By Marjorie Childress 7/3/09 11:24 AM
Councilor Michael Cadigan, candidate for reelection
Albuquerque City Councilor Michael Cadigan is taking heat from his two District 5 challengers for planning a public safety postcard initiative using both city funds and a city employee to do the leg work.
more »
By Matthew Reichbach 7/3/09 9:20 AM
Albuquerque mayoral candidate Richard Romero sent out an e-mail to supporters yesterday in honor of the upcoming 4th of July holiday (it’s tomorrow, have you bought your fireworks yet?). more »
By Trip Jennings 7/3/09 9:18 AM
This headline greeted me on the Albuquerque Journal’s Web site yesterday: State’s fasted growing city? Cuba.
Ahh, another story about the Rainbow gathering, I told myself, referring to that annual event that where thousands of folks converge for a week to live in an intentional community.
more »
By Heath Haussamen 7/3/09 8:02 AM
New Mexico Secretary of State Mary Herrera said Wednesday that she was “optimistic” that the computer systems in her office that enable database searches and Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) filings via her Web site would be back online Thursday.
As of the publication of this posting, the UCC filings database is operational.
more »
By Marjorie Childress 7/2/09 5:11 PM
Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez is pushing an idea to keep intoxicated people from driving when the bars close — in a nutshell, keep the bars open an extra hour serving food, soft drinks and coffee so that people can sober up before leaving.
While his ability to get his message out there in traditional media is well known, with today’s above the fold Albuquerque Journal article about the idea being a good example, he’s also one of the elected officials in New Mexico who’s really gotten on board with new media technology — he twitters, uses Facebook, and occasionally has live internet town halls meetings.
more »
By Marjorie Childress 7/2/09 4:34 PM
Albuquerque City Council President Isaac Benton thinks that Mayor Martin Chavez’s veto of a bill placing city charter amendments on the October municipal ballot has a good chance of an override by the council. The question is a matter of timing, he told the Independent.
more »
By Heath Haussamen 7/2/09 3:22 PM
Reading this year’s legislative scorecard put out by the Albuquerque-based Association of Commerce and Industry, you would think Doña Ana County’s legislative delegation is pretty unfriendly to business.
“Don’t buy it,” the Las Cruces Sun-News’ Walt Rubel writes in a recent commentary.
more »
By Danielle Bauer 7/2/09 1:54 PM
The blogs, they are a’dualing here in New Mexico today. Bloggers face off over two important topics blowing up the news. First off, health care reform.
more »
By David Alire Garcia 7/2/09 12:17 PM
New Mexico most clogged traffic intersection may finally be getting a much-needed makeover. The Albuquerque Journal’s Lloyd Jojola reports that funding for the massive $350 million I-25/Paseo del Norte interchange may finally be coming together from a variety of local, state and federal sources.
more »
By Marjorie Childress 7/2/09 9:57 AM
Politico reports that the Washington Post “sells access, $25,000+”.
In what appears to be straight out of a political campaign’s playbook, the Post is arranging what it calls “salons” which “underwriters” can attend.
Held at the home of CEO and Publisher Katherine Weymouth, the event described by Politico is “an off-the-record dinner and discussion” with “key Obama administration and congressional leaders.”
more »
By Heath Haussamen 7/2/09 7:54 AM
First, a vote by U.S. Rep. Harry Teague, D-Hobbs, for a controversial cap-and-trade energy bill was labeled as “the most daring of any in his caucus” in an article published in The Politico.
Now, the Huffington Post is publishing a commentary that mentions U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján, D-Santa Fe, as one who joined a coalition that “successfully pushed to include key provisions in the bill — provisions that will bring economic opportunity to disadvantaged communities.”
more »
By Heath Haussamen 7/2/09 6:07 AM
New Mexico Secretary of State Mary Herrera said late Wednesday that the computer systems in her office that enable database searches and Uniform Commercial Code filings should be back online Thursday.
Herrera wrote in an e-mail that those systems were being tested today, and her office is “optimistic that this functionality will be operational on Thursday.”
more »
By Marjorie Childress 7/1/09 5:41 PM
Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez vetoed the City Council bill today that placed numerous amendments to the city charter on the October municipal ballot.
The bill was passed by the council with a six to three vote on June 22. In his veto message, the mayor gave three reasons for axing the bill.
more »
