“Because of the sheer number of similar jets that are currently on the market, Diane does not believe now is a good time to sell the jet,” Denish said in a statement released by her campaign.

The lieutenant governor also defended her use of the jet, saying, “New Mexico is more than just Santa Fe and Albuquerque, …Many of the trips I have taken were small business forums to bring small businesses together and help them find access to capital and cut red tape. I will never stop advocating for rural New Mexico — and to advocate for rural New Mexico, sometimes you have to get out to rural New Mexico.”

The statement continued: “As part of my plan to save taxpayers $450 million, I would review all state expenditures including policies and procedures related to plane use to ensure that our fleet is being used efficiently.”

Denish also advocated using a portion of tax revenue to pay for incentives and programs focused on helping to fund renewable-energy products and creating “centers of excellence” for green-energy development at the state’s research universities.

“Creating jobs takes a whole lot more than platitudes and sound bites, it takes hard work, innovative ideas and the courage to get it done,” Denish is quoted as saying in a news release issued by her campaign. “I’ve been a small business owner and I have a track record of creating jobs. As governor that will be my number one focus every day.”

After Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller was murdered at his church, two of the doctors who worked with him began working with Dr. Curtis Boyd in Albuquerque. Subsequently, Operation Rescue announced it was sending two “missionaries” to set up a satellite office in Albuquerque.

As The Washington Independent reported today, House Democrats have returned to a top liberal priority that didn’t make it into the final health care reform bill.

The Congressional Budget Office projects that offering a public option alongside private plans in states’ health care exchanges would reduce the federal deficit by $68 billion between 2014 and 2020.

That’s according to a tracking poll released this week by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-profit focused on health care, showing the percentage of people who view the law unfavorably decreased by 6 points to 35 percent over the past month, while support remained stable at around 50 percent.

Seniors, who vote more regularly than other age groups, still view the law more negatively than the general public at large, however, the poll found.

Here’s an excerpt about the poll from Kaiser Health News:

About 38 percent say they support the law, while 46 percent of seniors view it unfavorably – a drop of 10 points since April.  Twenty percent of seniors said they would be better off with the changes and 37 percent said it will make no difference in their lives.

The poll, conducted by phone July 8 through July 13, surveyed 1,504 adults and included responses from 406 people over the age of 65. The margin of error for the full poll is +/- 3 percentage points, Kaiser Health News reported.

But the Denish campaign won’t say what kind of policy she’d have for the state if she becomes governor. The Independent twice posed the question to a campaign spokesman Wednesday. Both times he ignored the query.

A number of key issues surfaced in the testimony presented at the hearings. These include the problems faced by Navajo families forcibly relocated from their ancestral land; the threat posed by development to sacred sites; environmental hazards; and a prevalence of unsolved deaths of Navajos. A key recommendation is that the border towns establish official agreements for ongoing cooperation with the Commission.

The Commission also raised the issue of economic development, characterizing as “staggering” the amount of Navajo money spent off the reservation. While unemployment is at 49 percent, the Navajo Nation government spends approximately $64 million annually with off-reservation businesses. The overall annual personal income on the Navajo Nation is $1.6 billion, and about 70 percent of that is spent in border towns.

“The Commission finds this staggering,” the report states, while providing an analogy of a river overflowing its banks:

There is no attempt to divert or minimize the flow to allow for the development of the land for farming and eventual growth of vegetation that could be used to feed a growing nation. Instead, the people take from the river only what they need for the day. Enormous opportunities are lost each day as the water flows away from the people.

The issue of economic development is critical, the Commission states in the report, due to the economic conditions found on the reservation:

Indigenous communities are the most economically depressed communities in the United States and the Navajo Nation is no different. No other area in America suffers more from inadequate infrastructure and economic development opportunities than Indian Country. Third world conditions compare in employment rates, lack of education and inadequate healthcare are some examples of social conditions Indian Nations are confronted with.

Noting that young Navajo entrepreneurs expressed frustration with the lack of development support, the Commission suggests in the report that an income tax be enacted that is specifically earmarked for infrastructure and economic development within the territory of the Navajo Nation.

According to an analysis by RealtyTrac, home foreclosures in Santa Fe have skyrocketed in the first half of 2010 with an increase of more than than 200 percent in total foreclosure activity. That’s in today’s Santa Fe New Mexican.

The Las Vegas Optic has a story about Mayor Alfonso Ortiz, who has announced he won’t run for a second term after feeling satisfied that he made positive change in the city such as raising taxes and utilities fees.

In a meeting last night, the Socorro Electric Cooperative’s Board of Trustees discussed dropping the co-op’s lawsuit against its member-owners who demanded the board adhere to new transparency bylwas, reports El Defensor Chieftain.

The meeting will be paid for by Govs. Richardson and Schwarzenegger, but mostly the money will come from private sponsors, according a press release from Richardson’s office. It was originally scheduled to be held in Arizona, but Gov. Jan Brewer canceled the meeting after several officials said they would boycott because of Arizona’s controversial immigration law.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton issued a preliminary injunction to prevent the state from requiring that people carry proof of their immigration status and to prevent law enforcement officers from being required to ask about immigration status when they stop people.