Scandals may intersect in payments to Correra

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Gov. Bill Richardson’s administration is currently facing so many scandals and controversies related to financial deals that you had to know, at some point, some of them might intersect. That may have happened in the instance of Marc Correra, the son of a close friend of Richardson. We already knew that Correra shared in more than $11 million in finders’ fees as a third-party marketer for financial companies that won business with the State Investment Council (SIC), thanks to a document the SIC released last month. Now, as reported by the Associated Press and Albuquerque Journal, the New Mexico Educational Retirement Board (ERB) has released its own document detailing finders’ fees paid to third-party marketers by companies that won business with the ERB. The document indicates that Correra shared in as much as another $4.2 million in finders’ fees that came from contracts with the ERB, according to the AP. Continue Reading

Arnold-Jones considering running for guv, Congress

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State Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones, R-Albuquerque, says she’s seriously considering whether to run for governor, Congress or re-election to her legislative seat next year. And she knows the clock is ticking as others are making decisions. “People keep telling me every day that I don’t make a decision is a day that I can’t get back,” Arnold-Jones said in an interview. She said she is weighing her chances of winning either of the high-profile races against the opportunity she currently has to push for change in the state Legislature. “While I would like to run for governor, there’s a real practical issue here that I’m weighing,” Arnold-Jones said. Continue Reading

Weh forms gubernatorial ‘exploratory committee’

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Allen Weh can begin raising money to run for governor after he announced today that he’s forming what he’s calling an “exploratory committee” as he considers jumping into the 2010 race. “We need to clean up the corruption in Santa Fe. We need to save jobs and make jobs, and move New Mexico in a better direction,” Weh said in a news release sent shortly after he held a news conference in Albuquerque to announce the formation of the committee. Weh, the former chairman of the Republican Party of New Mexico, said in the release that he is taking a “long, hard look at this race.” He was joined at the news conference by members of his family, former U.S. Rep. and Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan Jr., former Albuquerque City Council President Vickie Perea and several leaders in the business community. Today’s announcement wasn’t a surprise. Continue Reading

Challengers enter 2010 congressional races

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Two of New Mexico’s Democratic freshmen in the U.S. House are already drawing potential 2010 challenges. Iraq war veteran Adam Kokesh has formed an exploratory committee as he considers running against Democrat Ben R. Luján in the Third Congressional District next year. The Marine, who has become a leading voice in the anti-war movement since returning to the United States, has gained quite a following though Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty. There’s even a Draft Kokesh movement on the Internet. “When I got out of the Marine Corps, I joined the monumental fight to end the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, bring the troops home to defend America and restore a Constitutional foreign policy. Continue Reading

A new day for Otero Mesa

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10th Circuit ruling means we need to now focus all of our energy on permanent protection for this Serengeti of the Southwest By Nathan Newcomer April 2009 will be a time to remember for the campaign to preserve Otero Mesa. On April 28, at 11:45 in the morning, we received a document from the federal 10th Circuit Court of Appeals on our lawsuit challenging the Bureau of Land Management’s oil and gas drilling plan for Otero Mesa. The decision couldn’t have been more forthcoming. The court ruled that the BLM’s original resource management plan amendment, which opened the vast majority of Otero Mesa to oil and gas leasing and limited protection for the desert grasslands, was fatally flawed due to its failure to consider protection for Otero Mesa and the salt basin aquifer. The court declared that the BLM had to consider an alternative that closed Otero Mesa to oil and gas leasing, admonishing the agency that “(d)evelopment is a possible use, which BLM must weigh against other possible uses — including conservation to protect environmental values…” The court ruling underscores what has been at the heart of the Otero Mesa debate for the past eight years. Continue Reading

Guv: swine flu is cause for concern, but not panic

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At Las Cruces news conference, Richardson and other officials seek to calm fears, provide facts By Vicki Nisbett Doña Ana County should expect some cases of the swine flu soon, but New Mexico is prepared for the situation, so there is no need for panic, state officials said Monday at a news conference in Las Cruces. “It’s inevitable that Doña Ana County will have some cases of the swine flu,” Department of Health Secretary Dr. Alfredo Vigil said at the news conference. He was joined by Gov. Bill Richardson and others. (Listen to the entire news conference by clicking here.) There have been three confirmed cases and 12 probable cases of swine flu throughout six counties in New Mexico, but none — yet — in Doña Ana County. Half of the state’s cases are in people who have already recovered or are recovering. Continue Reading

Obama to hold town-hall meeting in ABQ

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President Barack Obama will visit Albuquerque next week to discuss credit card debt at a town-hall meeting, Gov. Bill Richardson said today in a news release. The meeting will be held on May 14. No further details were released. “I am pleased the president is returning to our state to engage New Mexicans in a discussion about this critical economic issue,” Richardson said in the release. “Our working families are struggling under the weight of credit card debt fueled in part by out-of-control interest rates and fees. Continue Reading

Journalism requires due diligence

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Leaving out the context and failing to assure his readers that he’s not being used as a tool in a political game means Joe Monahan’s reporting on criminal probes and other matters can’t be taken seriously Marjorie Childress, a colleague of mine at the New Mexico Independent, is right on today in her observations about the reporting of political blogger Joe Monahan and his alligators. And though I don’t usually get involved in criticism of Monahan, today’s posting on his site about the federal investigation of allegations of pay to play in the Richardson administration is fairly egregious in its cavalier handling of serious allegations that could have a big impact on people’s lives. Monahan named two officials who are in some way connected to the circumstances the grand jury is investigating: Amanda Cooper, one of Richardson’s top political operatives, and Chris Romer, a Colorado politico who worked for one of the companies that’s part of the investigation. Monahan reports that both have been given immunity by federal prosecutors. The problem is, he doesn’t provide any context. Continue Reading

Guv to discuss swine flu today in Las Cruces, Clovis

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Gov. Bill Richardson will be in Las Cruces this afternoon to brief the community on the status of swine flu (or H1N1 flu) in New Mexico and “the state’s efforts to track and stop the spread of the virus,” according to a news release from the governor’s office. Richardson will hold a news conference in the commission chambers at the Doña Ana County Government Center, 845 North Motel Boulevard, at 2:30 p.m. Richardson will also be in Clovis to discuss the situation at 11:30 a.m. in the board room at Clovis Community College, 417 Schepps Boulevard, according to the release. There has been one confirmed case of swine flu in New Mexico — an 18-year-old man from Valencia County who is recovering, according to the state Department of Health. The department is investigating 14 other “probable” cases, and the state is taking some serious measures this week to try to stop the spread of the virus. The department has announced that Carlsbad High School, Deming Intermediate School and all public schools in the Socorro and Lordsburg districts will be closed this week. Continue Reading

Setting the record straight on NM’s film incentives

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By Eric Witt In a recent guest column, Rep. Dennis Kintigh argued why he believes the state’s film incentives are bad public policy. Unfortunately, the representative used bad information to back up his stance. Rep. Kintigh wrote that “two studies” have been done on the return on incentives for New Mexico’s film industry, producing wildly differing conclusions: “One study claims the return to taxpayers is $1.50 for every tax dollar paid out. The other study identifies the return to be only 14.5 cents on the dollar.” He implied that the scope and methodology of the two studies is somehow comparable, and that they simply reach different conclusions regarding the same phenomena, making it difficult to tell which provides the truer picture. This is entirely inaccurate. Continue Reading

Most voters in poll say NMFA should release docs

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The vast majority of those who voted in last week’s nonscientific poll on this site said the New Mexico Finance Authority should release the subpoena or subpoenas it has received in the federal probe of the Richardson administration. Of 176 voters, 154, or 88 percent, said NMFA should release such documents, while 20, or 11 percent, said the agency should not, and two, or 1 percent, said they don’t know. The context: the NMFA has denied a public records request I filed seeking copies of such documents, so my business, Haussamen Publications, has filed a lawsuit seeking a court order to force the release of the records. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading

Rocket launches successfully but fails to reach space

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A rocket successfully launched from Spaceport America today but failed in its goal of reaching suborbital space. Spaceport Authority Executive Director Steve Landeene was quoted by The Associated Press as saying that he doesn’t know why the rocket didn’t reach the 62-mile boundary of space. It touched down on Bureau of Land Management property and is in the process of being recovered. It’s the third time UP Aerospace has launched a SpaceLoft XL rocket from the spaceport. One of the three has reached space. Continue Reading

King considering joining investment scandal probe

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King’s office has spoken with NY attorney general about the growing scandal, which has tentacles in New Mexico The attorneys general of New York and New Mexico have been in touch about the possibility of expanding the investigation of a pension scandal in New York to include dealings in New Mexico. While confirming that such a conversation has taken place, Lynn Southard, deputy communications director for N.M. AG Gary King, said no decision has been made by that office on whether to join the investigation into the growing scandal. “We have been in touch with the New York AG,” Southard said. “At this point, we are looking into this, however, it is too early to speculate” about what King’s office will do. She said the AG’s office might have more information mid to late next week. Continue Reading

Dealing with uncertain times

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The media does sometimes exaggerate, but there’s much to be concerned about right now. There’s also a lot you can do to make sure you’re ready for whatever lies ahead. The Las Cruces Sun-News has been criticized by some this week for publicly raising the question about whether the sudden death of a six-year-old boy might have been related to the swine flu. The newspaper has been accused by some of unnecessarily spreading fear. But, while most journalists including me look back from time to time and realize they should have done something differently, I don’t think it was unreasonable for the Sun-News to raise the question. Continue Reading

AG says basis for ‘pay-to-sue’ assault is false

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Attorney General Gary King now says the entire basis for the Wall Street Journal’s “pay-to-sue” assault on him is false. It’s true that the Williams Bailey law firm gave $25,000 to King’s AG campaign on Sept. 27, 2006, and another $25,000 to King on Oct. 18, 2006. But F. Kenneth Bailey, the Houston lawyer the newspaper says is at the center of the pay-to-sue scheme, broke off all ties with that law firm long before the firm gave King the contributions. Continue Reading