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.
The Albuquerque Journal’s Jeff Jones points out the “heavy-duty” Sun Cal Corporation public relations campaign for that big “tax break” in one of today’s top stories.
At the Santa Fe New Mexican, Staci Matlock takes an in-depth look at how the trustees of the Valles Caldera National Preserve are balancing the need to provide public access to the 88,900-acre former ranch at the same time they develop a land use management plan that preserves it.
Also, Ashley Meeks of the Las Cruces Sun-News reports that, with spring break coming up, college students are being warned to stay clear of traveling down to Mexico. And it’s not a hard sell — interest among students has decreased to 1 percent of what it was three years ago. Despite the draw for younger drinking laws, Mexico is simply “too dangerous.”
Ex-Eclipse workers are eligible to sue their former employer, apparently, for not being given proper notice of their imminent unemployment. The law suit would put 60 days’ net worth of pay and benefits back into their pockets.
And finally, should retirement be actual retirement — as in no longer working — or should people who retire be allowed to continue working? That’s the question surrounding “double-dipping,” a practice in New Mexico in which public employees “retire” when they become eligible for their pension — and then go straight back to work at the same job for the same salary.
It’s become a big issue since the state rules were changed back in 2003 allowing that to happen, and now folks are realizing just how many people draw a government pension and salary at once — for the same job. Mayor Marty Chavez says that people will have a choice in his administration from now on, except for public safety employees and some of his top administrators. Those top administrators can make the choice to stay at one salary or “retire” at the end of the year, presumably hinging on whether he’s re-elected for a new term. Dan McKay has the story in the Albuquerque Journal.
NMI’s Danielle Bauer contributed to this report.
