Jerome Block Jr. just can’t seem to get a decent headline. The Democratic candidate for the Public Regulation Commission has been fined $11,000 by Secretary of State Mary Herrera for campaign violations and must return another $10,000 in public financing, The Santa Fe New Mexican and other newspapers report this morning. In other political news, John McCain may be heading back to Las Cruces this weekend, according to The Las Cruces Sun-News, while a Clovis dairyman talks about his 15 minutes of fame at Sarah Palin’s recent rally, The Roswell Daily Record notes.
The economic crisis on Wall Street has trickled down not just to Main Street but to sidewalks and alleys, and has drastically deflated the value of recyclable metals, The Clovis News Journal reports. Farmington’s bad news is in its air; The Farmington Daily Times writes today that San Juan County ozone levels exceed new federal standards, which could mean sanctions if the state it doesn’t do something to improve the situation.

Block fined by Secretary of State

Jerome Block Jr. did not respond to questions from The Santa Fe New Mexican regarding the letter from Secretary of State Mary Herrera issued Friday that spells out the bad news for his campaign: He must pay $11,000 in fines for three violations of state campaign law and return $10,000 in public financing he received as the Democrats’ candidate for Public Regulation Commission in northern New Mexico.

Block cannot use any of the $101,000 in public financing he received to pay the fine or reimburse the state, the paper reports.

Block admits he lied about paying a band $2,500 to perform at a rally, and could have faced a $20,000 fine, but state officials cut the penalty in half. The candidate was fined another $1,000 for using public money to donate $700 to help retire the campaign debt of Sen. Hillary Clinton.

McCain may be back in Las Cruces this weekend

News reports last weekend quoted the John McCain campaign saying that New Mexico and Iowa appeared to have fallen into the Obama camp, but the Republican presidential contender won’t give up. The Las Cruces Sun-News says there’s talk of another appearance in Las Cruces on Saturday, which would be his second visit since August.

The news follows on the heels of a visit Friday by Democratic vice presidential hopeful Joe Biden, and that Hillary Clinton will be in southern New Mexico on Saturday, on behalf of Barack Obama.

McCain’s possible visit is based on an agenda item from the Mesilla board of trustees, which called a special meeting for Wednesday afternoon to consider approving “a request from the McCain campaign for use of the Plaza” on Saturday. A spokeswoman for the McCain campaign in New Mexico wouldn’t confirm the visit, but it’s standard procedure to wait until the last minute to schedule campaign events.

Ed the Dairyman revealed in Roswell

Not to be outdone by a plumber in Ohio named Joe, a Clovis dairy owner named Eddie Schaap painted up a sign for Sarah Palin’s visit to Roswell last weekend and, sure enough, got the VP hopeful’s attention. The Roswell Daily Record talked to Schaap, a 22-year dairyman from Clovis, who waved his “Ed the Dairyman” sign at the rally.

Palin gestured toward Schaap and his daughter as she gave her version of the Democrats’ tax plans. “Barack Obama calls it spreading the wealth,” Palin told the crowd. “Joe Biden calls higher taxes patriotic. But Joe the Plumber and Ed the Dairyman, I believe they think it sounds more like socialism.”

Schaap said he agreed with Palin and Joe the Plumber. “I’m not in favor of Obama’s tax plan” either, he told the paper.

Schaap said he and his daughter thought it was fun to be singled out of the crowd by Palin. “We were thrilled,” he said.

Scrap metal prices drop as economic woes trickle down

The big boys on Wall Street are worried about their golden parachutes, but the can-pickers are really hurting, The Clovis News Journal reports today. The price of aluminum has dropped by a third, from 60 cents a pound to 40, while scrap iron that brought $200 a ton just two months ago is now worth $40.

It sounds like trickle-down economics, the way Michael Lingnau, who owns Ed’s Recycling, describes it. The demand for metal has dried up, which affects the demand for recycled material, which means the kids on the streets in Clovis don’t get paid as much for bringing in bags of aluminum cans, he said.

Another recycler, Francisco Chavarria, said his operation is selling half as much salvaged metal as earlier this year. “(Price drops) happen, but not this bad,” he told the paper. He’s had to lay off five employees, he said.

San Juan County’s air fails federal test

New federal standards for ozone in San County have put state officials in hot water with federal air-quality regulators. The Farmington Daily Times reports today that readings taken at four sites earlier this month show an average of 77 parts per billion of ozone in the air, slightly higher than the limit of 75 ppb set last spring.

The bottom line is that future development in San Juan County, such as the Desert Rock coal-fired power plant, could be at risk until existing emissions are cut back. The federal Environmental Protection Agency has already approved an air permit for Desert Rock, which the Times notes came under fire from state officials and environmental groups who said the EPA didn’t adequately research its decision.

One of the biggest polluters in the area, Public Service Company of New Mexico’s Four Corners coal-fired power plant, is in the process of cutting its pollution levels, which should help reduce ozone in the region. Ozone is formed when sunlight reacts with various pollutants, such as engine exhaust.

The feds can withhold highway transportation funds if the state doesn’t improve the air quality, said Mary Uhl, director of the New Mexico Environment Department’s Air Quality Bureau. It has a year to develop a plan for coming back into compliance.