BlogNetNews.com » New Mexico

Errors of Enchantment: Prisons as “Economic Development” Tools

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:20:57 -0500

Rarely do opinion pieces get it as wrong as this one which appeared in the ABQ Journal on Monday. Essentially, the folks at the CCA-New Mexico Women's Correctional Facility argued that because of the facility's contributions to this community, which the writer notes include "employing almost 150 people and paying" [...]

New Mexico FBIHOP: President Obama's remarks at Fort Hood

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:35:32 -0500

President Barack Obama spoke at a memorial service for those killed during the horrific shootings in Fort Hood, Texas last week. Below are his remarks as prepared for delivery.We come together [...]

Democracy for New Mexico: Campaign Kickoff for Ray Powell for Land Commissioner: Ezra's Place Nov. 14

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:15:27 -0500

From Ray Powell for Land Commissioner:

You're Invited to the Campaign Kickoff for
Ray Powell for Land Commissioner
Saturday, November 14 at 3:00 PM
Ezra's Place Restaurant
6132 4th Street NW, Los Ranchos de Albuquerque (map)

Hosted by
Hon. Debbie O’Malley, Hon. Danny Hernandez, Fred Harris,
Tomas Garduño, Juan Vigil, Olivia Ximenes, Bob Jenks,
Dale' [...]

New Mexico Independent: Otero County officials endorse Martinez for governor

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:04:53 -0500

Republican gubernatorial candidate Susana Martinez today announced she has the endorsements of three elected officials from Otero County.

Martinez said in a news release that the endorsements from three Republicans — state Sen. Dianna Duran, County Treasurer Grace Gonzalez and County Commissioner Ronny Rardin — show that her campaign [...]

New Mexico FBIHOP: Heinrich doesn't see eye to eye with GOP opponent on health care

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:17:29 -0500

Peter St. Cyr, reporting for NMPolitics.net, outlines the differences between Congressman Martin Heinrich's stance on health care reform and that of his only announced Republican opponent, Jon Barela.

Spoiler alert: Barela basically touts the GOP party line, where he says that tort reform (which most likely wouldn't cut health' [...]

New Mexico Independent: Heinrich gets thanks from labor on health care vote

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:10:26 -0500

Congressman Martin Heinrich is among the “endangered Democratic Members” of Congress who are receiving thanks from Health Care for America Now and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), according to Roll Call. Heinrich is among 20 members of Congress who voted for the bill and will [...]

New Mexico FBIHOP: Heinrich gets thanks from labor groups for health care vote

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:00:00 -0500

Congressman Martin Heinrich is among the "endangered Democratic Members" of Congress who are receiving thanks from "the labor-backed Health Care for America Now and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees" (AFSCME) according to Roll Call.

Heinrich is among 20 members of Congress who voted for the bill [...]

Democracy for New Mexico: Albuquerque Journal: Hawking the GOP Line on Health Insurance Reform

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:28:21 -0500

It's always an adventure to retrieve the Albuquerque Journal from my driveway each morning, sit down at our round table in the den with a steaming cup of strong coffee, take the rubber band off the paper and check out the latest snowjobs the editors [...]

New Mexico Independent: News from around the state: Everybody’s running

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:28:07 -0500

Two Santa Fe county commissioners–Mike Anaya and Harry Montoya–have announced that they’re running for state land commissioner, the Santa Fe New Mexican reports. In the race already are two Democrats, Public Regulation Commissioner Sandy Jones and former land commissioner Ray Powell Jr., and one Republican, Bob Cornelius. Current Land [...]

Errors of Enchantment: Jim Scarantino on Denish and the Broken Windows Theory

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:20:25 -0500

The little stuff matters. Details count. NYPD proved it with their application of the Broken Windows Theory. I think that approach applies equally to how we hold government and politicians accountable. Combing through records showing how the Lt. Governor spent $225,000 is a good case study ... [...]

Diogenes'six: David Schmidly, still thinkin', one week later.

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:03:00 -0500

If you asked UNM President David Schmidly if he expected UNM Head Football Coach Michael Locksley to step up to honest accountability for what he has done,
Schmidly would say yes.

He would tell you as well, UNM Athletic Director Paul Krebs, is expected to step up.

He [...]

Diogenes'six: Limits? on the right to petition the government for redress of grievances.

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:08:00 -0500

The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, here emphasized in significant part;Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to [...]

SFReeper.com » News: Video Library Is Moving, But Where?

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:46:49 -0500

Update 2: Owings-Dewey Fine Art Directer Laura C Widmar says the gallery has not yet decided whether it will take up a lease in the Video Library building. The gallery used to rent a space there but terminated the lease last December.

Update 1: Following notification [...]

New Mexico Independent: Jobless Benefits Extension Stiffs High Unemployment States

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:36:09 -0500

Number of comments: 1

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) (WDCpix)

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.

Well, not quite.

Because the bill was held up for [...]

Errors of Enchantment: Pfizer abandons site of infamous Kelo eminent domain taking

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:24:10 -0500

Amazing how corporate welfare backfires. Remember the Kelo v. New London decision on eminent domain? The Supreme Court's decision in that case essentially gave governments across the nation a green light to take any American's property for any reason so long as the public received some benefit from the taking. [...]

Only in New Mexico: Pariahs

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:04:00 -0500

I often bemoan the art of scapegoating. So in the spirit of the art I will now scapegoat bankers. Yesterday I received a notice from CITI Bank that my credit card interest rate would be more than doubling to almost 20%. The letter just might as well have said, "Bend" [...]

Democracy for New Mexico: Thank Rep. Ben Ray Luján for Health Reform Vote at Fundraiser Reception at Zinc on Nov. 12

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:51:59 -0500

You're Invited to a
Fundraising Reception
In Honor of
Rep. Ben Ray Luján
Thursday, November 12, 2009
5:30 PM - 7:00 PM
Zinc Wine Bar & Bistro
3009 Central Ave SE, Albuquerque, NM (map)
Suggested Donation $100

Hosted by
Buddy & Amado Abeyta, Vanessa Alarid, Erika Anderson,
Robert Apodaca, Yasine & Kyle Armstrong, Shannon Bacon,
Cristy Carbon-Gaul, Chris Catechis, Mark Chaiken,
Morris' [...]

What's The Word with Peter St. Cyr: Mayor-elect Berry on the job before sunrise

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:51:00 -0500

Number of comments: 0
On a chilly Fall day, Mayor-elect Richard "RJ" Berry was pounding the pavement -- busy introducing himself to city employees -- during a whirlwind tour around Albuquerque.

The tour began just after 5:45am at the Solid Waste Department.

After telling sanitation drivers, many who are members of AFSCME [...]

New Mexico Independent: More medical marijuana providers will be needed soon, Drug Policy Alliance says

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:00:46 -0500

Number of comments: 1

Although the Drug Policy Alliance of New Mexico applauded the state’s decision Monday to approve four new nonprofit medical marijuana providers, Executive Director Reena Szczepanski said more will be needed soon. “You can do a back-of the envelope calculation and say this will meet a significant portion of [...]

New Mexico Independent: N.M. pro-choice group condemns abortion restrictions in House health bill

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:00:15 -0500

Number of comments: 3

The New Mexico Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice today expressed outrage that an amendment included in health care legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on Saturday could mean the loss of abortion coverage for millions of women whose health insurance now covers it.

“Major Christian and Jewish [...]

The Westerner: Army appeals Pinon Canyon court ruling

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:41:00 -0500

he Army is appealing a federal district court ruling in September that rejected its environmental study of the impact of training more soldiers at the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site. The appeal was filed Monday with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. In September, U.S. District Court Judge Richard [...]

The Westerner: US, Mexico, Canada To Cooperate on Wilderness Conservation

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:38:00 -0500

The United States, Mexico and Canada for the first time formally agreed to cooperate on wilderness conservation measures across the continent. Mexican President Felipe Calderon announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Cooperation for Wilderness Conservation at the opening ceremony of the 9th World Wilderness Congress in Merida, Mexico on [...]

The Westerner: Senators look past Barbara Boxer's climate bill

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:37:00 -0500

While Sen. Barbara Boxer was celebrating her committee’s passage of a sweeping climate change bill Thursday, other Democrats and Republicans were already looking for a Plan B. Rank-and-file members from both parties dismissed the Boxer bill, coal-state senators were unhappy and many said Boxer’s move to approve the bill without [...]

The Westerner: Cap-and-trade mirage

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:33:00 -0500

What guarantees failure of the proposed climate bills, however, are their provisions for carbon offsets, a concept not used in the acid rain program. Both bills allow all required greenhouse-gas reductions for almost 20 years to be met with carbon offsets rather than actual reductions in use of the capped [...]

The Westerner: Algae as a fuel could skew corn's role

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:30:00 -0500

The corncob could be losing its special place in the nation's energy future. The 2007 energy bill required that refiners start using biofuels made from cobs, wheat straw, grasses and other sources of plant cellulose by 2010, with the mandate growing annually to reach 16 billion gallons by 2022. But [...]

The Westerner: Judge affirms plan to restore Kaibab National Forest

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:29:00 -0500

A federal judge this week struck down a lawsuit contending the U.S. Forest Service unlawfully approved a plan to reduce forest fuels and plant trees on a northern Arizona forest. The Warm Fire Recovery Project called for harvesting fire-killed trees on 9,000 acres of the Kaibab National Forest and replanting [...]

The Westerner: Federal judge asked to end Yellowstone bison kills

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:27:00 -0500

A coalition of environmental and American Indian groups sued two federal agencies today to stop the mass slaughter of bison that migrate outside Yellowstone National Park in search of food. During the last decade, federal agencies working with the state of Montana have captured and shipped to slaughter more than [...]

The Westerner: Top agencies to work for in the federal government

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:26:00 -0500

Writing in the Washingtonian Magazine, James Michael Causey notes "don't look now, but working for the federal government is cool again." As the eldest son of FederalNewsRadio's Senior Correspondent Mike Causey, he brings a unique perspective to the magazine's "Fifty Great Places to Work". Five of the top 50 are' [...]

The Westerner: Amphibians role as indicator species disputed by new study

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:23:00 -0500

Amphibians such as frogs, long considered a leading indicator of environmental health, are not so susceptible to pollution, according to an analysis to be published in an influential academic journal. Researchers from Washington State University, the University of South Dakota and Yale University reviewed more than 28,000 toxicological tests in [...]

The Westerner: Bloomfield Refinery to close; 100 workers laid off

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:22:00 -0500

At least 100 employees at the Bloomfield refinery will be laid off by mid-December after Western Refining, Inc. announced plans Monday to cut costs by transferring all Bloomfield operations to its Gallup facility. The El Paso, Texas-based company said the consolidation of its Four Corners refineries will save Western Refining [...]

The Westerner: Sheep attacked by mountain lion in Fremont's Morrison Canyon

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:19:00 -0500

Bob Garcia is no stranger to mountain lion sightings or attacks. Living in Morrison Canyon for more than three decades, the 56-year-old retired teacher has lost a fair share of his livestock to the wild animals. But late Friday night or early Saturday, he lost yet another sheep — his [...]

The Westerner: Transatlantic partners agree to antibiotic resistance task force

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:16:00 -0500

U.S. and European leaders meeting in Washington on Nov. 3 for a TransAtlantic summit on key issues agreed to include a new initiative to study antibiotic resistance. In a joint declaration issued by White House and the EU, summit leaders agreed to "establish a transatlantic task force on urgent antimicrobial" [...]

The Westerner: Livestock care initiative passis in Ohio

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:15:00 -0500

Issue 2 -- the Ohio ballot initiative that called for the establishment of a board on livestock care standards -- was adopted by voters in the state yesterday, with almost two-thirds of voters approving the concept late last night. The measure establishes a 13-member Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board that [...]

The Westerner: It's All Trew: Exactly how narrow does a niche have to be?

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:12:00 -0500

Down through the years, I have known or heard of several people who found their niche in life even though it was narrow and limited in scope. I once interviewed an old man, a grandfather of a friend, who told of his niche when he was growing up in Arkansas. [...]

The Westerner: Song Of The Day #177

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:10:00 -0500

Ranch Radio will stick with old time country music for the rest of the week. Today's offering is Shout Lula recorded in 1927 by Grayson & Whitter.

G.B. Grayson, fiddler/singer was from North Carolina and Henry Whitter, guitarist/singer was from Virginia. They were only together for [...]

New Mexico Politics with Joe Monahan: White Vs. Wiener: A Bizarre Battle Breaks Out; More Republican Fraticide, Plus: Di And the Journal, Also: The New Mayor Watch

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:39:00 -0500

Around noon Tuesday, Bernalillo County Commissioner Michael Wiener and Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White made their peace. The Nov. 30 county commission meeting to name White's replacment will now be held at 5 p.m, not 2 pm

Wiener said: "I apologize for leaving a heated message on your voicemail'" [...]

Mario Burgos: Siphoning off Money

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:01:00 -0500

I've noted before in response to some comments that I don't believe that Lt. Governor Diane Denish is corrupt. However, I do believe that she made a conscious decision during her seven years at Governor Richardson's side to just go along to get along. She opted to look the [...]

New Mexico FBIHOP: Zangara racked up $250K in gambling losses trying to save his business

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:43:54 -0500

Ken Zangara, an influential member of the Republican Party in New Mexico, has some explaining to do after some unique fiscal mismanagement with his company.

This was kind of lost in the health care shuffle this weekend, but it is interesting nonetheless. From the Albuquerque Journal:The former Albuquerque auto dealer [...]

Democracy for New Mexico: State Auditor Hector Balderas Responds to Gov. Richardson's Veto of Audit Fund Transfer

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:35:00 -0500

State Auditor Hector Balderas just issued a statement praising the decision by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson to veto the transfer of funds out of the audit department:

“I want to commend Governor Richardson’s veto of the $500,000 transfer from the Audit Fund. In these tough economic times, it’s critical [...]

New Mexico FBIHOP: Gov. approves some budget cuts; spares auditor's office

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:29:41 -0500

Governor Bill Richardson made some line item vetoes today, but also approved other budget cuts in HB 3. In all, nearly $110 million was cut.

From the New Mexico Independent:Gov. Bill Richardson signed today legislation that cuts $110 million from various state funds to help plug this year's budget [...]

Democracy for New Mexico: Governor Bill Richardson Signs HB 3, Agrees to Deep Cuts for College Affordability Scholarships

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:38:11 -0500

Governor Bill Richardson signed House Bill 3 today, but executed some line-item vetoes. The Governor reluctantly agreed to cut $68 million from the College Affordability Endowment Fund -– a program he created to provide need-based scholarships to New Mexicans -- according to a statement released this afternoon.

“It pains me [...]

New Mexico Independent: Guv OKs cutting college scholarship program, spares auditor

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:29:24 -0500

Number of comments: 1

Gov. Bill Richardson signed today legislation that cuts $110 million from various state funds to help plug this year’s budget shortfall, but he vetoed a provision that would have taken more money from the state auditor.

“Without the money, the auditor would not have been able to conduct effective [...]

Democracy for New Mexico: Stephen Jones: Sweeping Reform Begins with a First Step

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:12:41 -0500

This is a post by contributing writer, Stephen Jones, who is a progressive political activist and a resident of Las Cruces, New Mexico.

For any of us who have been watching the health reform legislation creak along through the Congress, the old saying that watching legislation being passed is like watching [...]

Democracy for New Mexico: NM Economic and Rural Development Committee Has Long Agenda for Meeting This Week

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:12:33 -0500

The Economic and Rural Development Committee of the New Mexico Legislature is slated to meet in Room 322 of the State Capitol in Santa Fe on November 11th through 13th, 2009 according to a press release issued today by the New Mexico Senate. Click for details of the Committee's' [...]

New Mexico Independent: N.M. approves four new medical marijuana producers

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:08:19 -0500

Number of comments: 3

Photo by Philippa Willitts

After months during which New Mexico’s single non-profit producer of medical marijuana was unable to keep a consistent supply of medical cannabis, Department of Health Secretary Alfredo Vigil announced Monday that the state is licensing an additional four producers, enough, [...]

What's The Word with Peter St. Cyr: Heinrich won't predict Senate action on health care bill

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:51:00 -0500

Number of comments: 1
U.S. Rep. Martin Heinrich, who cast his vote for the new House health care reform bill, is back in New Mexico. During the lunch hour, on Monday, he met with doctors, nurses and medical providers at the University of New Mexico Medical school.

While, he won't predict what' [...]

New Mexico FBIHOP: NM members of Congress on their Stupak amendment votes

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:45:48 -0500

All three House members responded to questions from the Albuquerque Journal on their votes on the Stupak Amendment. The Stupak Amendment has been widely panned (that might be too light of a word) by progressives across the country.

Here's what FireDogLake has to say about it:Abortion would be the [...]