I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
Gov. Bill Richardson ignored reporters’ questions Tuesday about an ongoing federal investigation into how a California consultant won $1.5 million in fees from a state finance authority after it contributed to two of the governor’s political action committees.
Richardson’s refusal to answer questions came at the end of a news conference in his cabinet room in the state Capitol where he announced that a solar plant would be built in Belen.
Richardson’s departure was quick. A reporter told him, “You know we have to ask you about CDR” and Richardson rose from his chair and quickly walked out of the room without making eye contact. Before he got through the door, one reporter asked if Richardson had been subpoenaed by a grand jury reportedly empaneled to examine a contract.
Richardson did not stop to take the question.
CDR Financial Products is the name of the firm at the middle of the investigation.
Richardson’s abrupt departure was out of character for a governor who usually lingers at the end of news conferences to shake hands and mingle with individuals in the room. But on Tuesday he never made eye contact with the reporters.
The grand jury in Albuquerque is reportedly looking into Beverly Hills, Calif.-based CDR Financial Products Inc., which received almost $1.5 million in fees from the New Mexico Finance Authority in 2004 after donating $100,000 to Richardson’s efforts to register Hispanic and American Indian voters and pay for expenses at the Democratic National Convention in 2004, people familiar with the matter said.
