Trip Jennings
Do the guv’s corporate ties conflict with the president-elect’s platform?
The federal agency that Gov. Bill Richardson will take over as U.S. Commerce Secretary is a gargantuan “bureaucratic fiefdom” that includes agencies as diverse as the U.S. Census to the National Weather Service and the Patent and Trademark Office.
But the secretary’s main mission is to act as the chief cheerleader for U.S. business, both at [...]
New Mexicans have the best imaginations in the world, guv tells Esquire magazine
Did you know Gov. Bill Richardson grew his beard “as a rebellion against those consultants who told me I had to comb my hair, shave, lose weight.”
Or that the guv believes New Mexicans have the best imaginations in the world. His proof: “My point on UFOs is, I don’t know if they’re fact or fiction. [...]
‘Our vote was our voice,’ Richardson says to Latinos en Español at Chicago press conference
Gov. Bill Richardson demonstrated one of his many skills Wednesday during a short speech after President-elect Barack Obama had nominated him as U.S. Commerce Secretary: that of bilingualism.
Richardson is perfectly bilingual in English and in Spanish, which likely will come in handy in his dealings as commerce secretary with the many countries of Latin America.
Richardson pick for U.S. Commerce Department nod isn’t ‘consolation prize’ for Latinos, Obama insisted
It may have been the only sour note in Wednesday’s press conference announcing Gov. Bill Richardson as President-elect Barack Obama’s U.S. commerce secretary nominee.
Does Richardson’s nomination as commerce secretary amount to a “consolation prize” for the nation’s Latinos and Hispanics, a reporter asked.
“It seems many were expecting, hoping that Bill Richardson was going to be [...]
Obama to Richardson: ‘We’re deeply disappointed at the loss of the beard’
During the Q & A after the announcement of Gov. Bill Richardson’s nomination as U.S. commerce secretary, President-elect Barack Obama took a question from a reporter that many in New Mexico have been wondering: Where’s the beard, governor?
President-elect Barack Obama, not Richardson, decided to field the question.
The guv ain’t leaving yet
OK, so now he’s officially President-elect Barack Obama’s nominee for the post of U.S. commerce secretary.
But that doesn’t mean Gov. Bill Richardson’s outta here. At least for the time being.
Richardson is saying he won’t resign his post until the U.S. Senate confirms him, according to a press release from the governor’s office. The Obama administration [...]
New Mexico politicos to Obama: What took so long?
The nation heard President-elect Barack Obama nominate New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson as U.S. Commerce Secretary this morning.
But it’ll come as no surprise for anyone paying attention in New Mexico, especially the political class.
Many elected officials will e-mail out congratulatory notes once the nomination is made public today — soon-to-be U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan [...]
Cities and counties rush to get state money with 600 invoices last month alone
New Mexico’s looming financial crisis has accomplished something that all manner of goading by state officials hasn’t over the years: A flood of invoices from cities and counties, some as old as two years, for brick-and-mortar projects in their communities.
The reason is simple. With New Mexico’s worsening financial situation –- some estimates predict a $500 [...]
N.M. puts federal road and bridge money on its holiday wish list
New Mexico transportation officials are quietly hoping Congress quickly passes a federal economic stimulus plan that includes billions for road and bridge construction.
If that happens, the state could see north of $100 million in much-needed funds for roads and bridges, depending on the size of the bill, state Transportation Secretary Rhonda Faught said Tuesday.
TODAY’S TOP STORIES: Hantavirus takes the life of an Otero County woman
Hantavirus has taken the life of a 22-year-old Otero County woman. Meanwhile, a 36-year-old lawyer accused of killing a pedestrian in Santa Fe and then fleeing the scene initially told police he hadn’t been drinking.
In Albuquerque, a Sandia National Laboratories solar energy researcher is a finalist in Discover Magazine’s “The Future of Energy in 2 [...]