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 White House released a 28-page report Wednesday to tout the gargantuan amount of federal dollars otherwise known as the federal economic stimulus package that is flowing into communities across the country as I write.
Called “100 days 100 projects,” the White House document showcases projects benefiting from federal stimulus money by region — western, southern, northeast, you get the idea.
And Rio Rancho, New Mexico gets a cameo toward the end of the report; project No. 82, to be precise.
Here’s the excerpt of the report with the reference to New Mexico:
Lena Smith and Robert Metz received an SBA 504 loan for $3.74 million to build an assisted living facility in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, specializing in residents with dementia. Because the Recovery Act eliminated their fees, Smith and Metz saved $31,180. The whole project will allow them to create 75 new jobs, and the fee savings will augment their working capital.
The fees eliminated are a small amount in the universe of federal spending. But it’s something.
New Mexico, as a whole, is making out pretty well under the federal stimulus package, meanwhile. It’s share of the stimulus package is $3 billion so far. And that could increase by hundreds of millions of dollars if New Mexicans apply by the thousands for competitive federal grants, which could pump more money into the Land of Enchantment if successful.
That may not be the end of it, either. There’s a potential third pot of money the Land of Enchantment could draw from, according to former Gov. Toney Anaya, who is heading up Gov. Bill Richardson‘s Office of Recovery and Reinvestment.
New Mexico could find itself in line for some portion of the money left over as other states say “no thanks” to some portion of federal stimulus money, Anaya said last week.
It is unclear how large this new pot of money may grow to be, if it materializes at all, Anaya added.
