Border
‘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.
TODAY’S TOP STORIES: Starvation in Palomas fed by a drug war… plus shopping to live on ‘Black Friday’
About half of Palomas — a border town of 7,000 in Mexico bordering Columbus, N.M. — is on the brink of starvation, according to a Las Cruces alternative weekly called the Grassroots Press. Apparently, the town has been devastated by the drug war currently raging along the border.
The Gallup Independent says that while the economy [...]
TODAY’S TOP STORIES: Legislative watchdog says state overpaid insurers by $200 million
The Legislature’s watchdog committee is saying New Mexico has overpaid insurers by $200 million, a contention the state disputes. Santa Fe officials are set to kick off a major annexation effort to extend the City Different’s city limits. Mexican officials are saying the nation’s former drug czar took hundreds of thousands of dollars to leak [...]
TODAY’S TOP STORIES: New Mexico loses another son in Iraq
Another New Mexican dies in Iraq. The Secretary of State has decided there will be no more fines for Democrat Jerome Block Jr. Here’s the letter informing him. Gov. Bill Richardson sent a letter out this week to state agencies asking them to list brick-and-mortar projects to stop funding.
TODAY’S TOP STORIES: Hackers access state client info, putting at risk potentially thousands
Hackers managed to access client information at the state human services department, putting at risk thousands of individuals for identity theft and other forms of skulduggery. One third of Albuquerque Public Schools’ teachers aides called in sick Thursday and it may be due to a contract dispute. Emilio Naranjo, the former Rio Arriba county political [...]
TODAY’S TOP STORIES: Can straight ticket to voter laziness be abolished?
New Mexico is one of only 16 states that still has a straight-party voting option on its ballots, and Green Party candidate Rick Lass says he will lobby to abolish it. A beheaded man was left hanging from an overpass in Ciudad Juarez Thursday, a gruesome calling card in the latest violence in the Mexican [...]
The battle over immigration produces a new American voter
The impact of the immigration debate in this country, with a shift toward stronger enforcement of immigration laws, the construction of a border fence, and mass raids and deportations of immigrants over the past couple of years, can be seen in the stories of immigrants such as Pajarito Mesa’s Salvador Montes, who became a citizen and will vote for the first time this year.
MALDEF lawsuit: Another voter steps forward
A third plaintiff, Francine Gonzales, has now joined a federal lawsuit accusing two Republican operatives of voter intimidation. On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Martha Vázquez will conduct a hearing to consider the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund’s request for a temporary restraining order against Republican attorney Pat Rogers and private investigator Al Romero.
Immigrants weathering financial storm
Affordable housing and financial literacy are always issues for undocumented immigrants who may not speak English fluently and may be suspicious of the federal government. But contrary to what you might think, the mortgage collapse has not driven the state’s immigrant community into mass foreclosure and bankruptcy, according to Marcela Diaz, executive director of Somos Un Pueblo Unido, a Santa Fe-based immigrants-rights organization.
Juarez businesses suffer double whammy: extortion and tourism drop
Businesses in the Mexican border city of Juarez not only are closing and cutting back hours because of a steep drop in tourism, but say they are also being forced out of businesses because they are paying extortion money to drug cartels, Reuters is reporting.