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A federal court this week gave a uranium company the green light to move forward with mining operations in Churchrock, a Navajo community just east of Gallup, New Mexico. Opponents had argued that since the site already emits more radiation than regulations allow, a license for a new operation can’t be given because any new radiation emitted, no matter how small, would compound the problem.

Arsenic levels at both of Bernalillo’s active wells have jumped over the past three years, and the New Mexico Environment Department announced Tuesday it will issue the Town a second arsenic violation notice by next week. The town’s project engineer, Ramesh Narasimhan, is now considering supplementation of the Town’s aluminum-based arsenic removal system with iron treatments — an approach recommended in a 2006 engineering report scuttled by former town manager Stephen Jerge. At Narasimhan’s recommendation, Jerge opted instead for the Town’s no-bid purchase of the aluminum-based system, which is produced by a Bernalillo firm.

Stock up on white flour tortillas and red chile pods now. The New Mexico Senate voted late Saturday night to extend the state’s gross receipts tax on a wide variety of foods after a wide-ranging debate that included attempts to raise taxes on the state’s wealthiest residents and out-of-state corporations.

The concept that nuclear energy is a “green” energy was brushed aside by most Democrats on the Senate Rules committee Wednesday morning. A memorial brought by Sen. William Sharer, R-Farmington, would have directed that the state environment department acknowledge nuclear energy as a “clean and efficient source of energy,” and that the state energy, minerals [...]

For your convenience, the legislative schedules for Friday, Feb. 5 are embedded after the jump.

As the CDR inquiry wound down, however, another was powering up, thanks to New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo’s office was investigating pay-to-play allegations in that state’s Comptroller’s office and it didn’t take long to stumble upon New Mexico connections.
Since then, New Mexico’s former financial adviser, Saul Meyer, has pleaded guilty to security fraud [...]

Along with Berry’s victory over Chavez, one of the bigger surprises in 2009 was the inability of a large California developer to win at the Legislature.
The SunCal Corporation has plans for a huge development on the west side of Albuquerque, and had lobbied state lawmakers to pass legislation allowing it to tap future state [...]

As if New Mexico didn’t have enough to digest with the state’s troubled finances and repeated scandals, residents in the state’s biggest city woke up to a new mayor after Albuquerque’s municipal elections in October.
In a big surprise, Richard Berry, a two-term Republican state legislator, knocked off Martin Chavez in convincing fashion, collecting nearly 44 [...]

Amid all the scandals and alleged corruption, other stories managed to compete and demand New Mexicans’ attention. One of the biggest, still-developing stories is all the red ink associated with the state’s budget, and how it’s addressed could determine how deeply hundreds of thousands of New Mexicans are affected.
Like the rest of the country, the [...]

As the year ends, it’s clear much of what occurred in 2009 will influence what happens in 2010.
Will the ongoing federal investigation into investments reveal any wrongdoing? And how will all the scandals, most of which involve Democrats, play out during the 2010 elections, when New Mexicans elect a governor and dozens of state lawmakers?
Meanwhile, [...]

Perhaps it’s hyperbole to call 2009 the year of the scandal, but not by much. As noted already, the year started off explosively.
Nearly a month to the day after President-elect Obama had nominated him as Commerce Secretary, Gov. Bill Richardson announced he was withdrawing his name from consideration, citing a federal corruption investigation.
The inquiry looked deeply [...]

As 2009 draws to a close, senior Mexican officials have concluded that the deployment of 10,000 soldiers in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico this year has failed to control the violence and crime that has stricken the city over the past two years, says a Washington Post report this week. Mexican drug cartels have been fighting over [...]

A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department study, due next month, will show there are already significant threats posed to endangered species in the region by industrial and agricultural pollutants in the four corners region.

Don’t worry, no Tiger Woods news here, just a roundup of some tidbits from Washington today.
Yesterday, Harry Teague floated an idea to end funding for TARP and use the money to pay down part of the national debt. There is another idea, however, for the unused TARP money — use it for a new jobs [...]

To hear the Democrats tell the tale, the extension of jobless benefits enacted over the weekend will provide those living in high-unemployment states with an additional 20 weeks of insurance. But that’s impossible because of a glitch in the law.