Pearce raises $245,500 during second quarter

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U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., raised about $245,500 during the second quarter of 2007. In a report filed today with the Federal Election Commission, Pearce also reported expenses of almost $60,300 during the period that ended June 30. At the end of the period, he had a little more than $383,000 on hand for his 2008 re-election campaign. His fundraising total is high above that of his most active Democratic challenger, Doña Ana County Commissioner Bill McCamley, who raised $139,600 during the quarter. But McCamley’s expenses during the period were $6,300, leaving the difference between what each candidate raised this quarter and carries over to the next period at a little more than $51,000. Continue Reading

Guv rises in Pennsylvania and Michigan, not in Ohio

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Three new polls show Gov. Bill Richardson doing reasonably well in two large states and not so well in a third. In the new polls, Richardson is at 8 percent in Pennsylvania, 7 percent in Michigan and 2 percent in Ohio. The new poll in Pennsylvania, conducted by the conservative Strategic Vision, had Hillary Clinton in the lead among Democratic contenders with 36 percent, Barack Obama with 25 percent, John Edwards with 12 percent, Richardson with 8 percent and Joe Biden with 5 percent. Twelve percent were undecided. The overall survey of 1,200 likely voters in Pennsylvania was conducted July 6-8 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent, but the survey asked many questions of Democrats and Republicans. Continue Reading

12 are finalists for Democratic Party director job

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The Democratic Party of New Mexico has named 12 finalists for the position of executive director, including one who wasn’t on the original list of applicants released. The successful candidate will replace outgoing Director Matt Farrauto. Party Chair Brian Colón is expected to make a decision soon. The finalists are: • Francisco Apodaca, who was not included on the original list of applicants released to the public • Joe Casados • Chris Cervini • Eamonn Donovan • Terri Holland • Christopher Honey • Michael Minh-Nguyen • Yvette Ramirez Ammerman • Laura Sanchez • Art Terrazas • Rebecca Vigil-Giron • Nate Williams Continue Reading

Building a better Las Cruces

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By Ken Miyagishima There has been considerable controversy recently over the pace and kind of growth currently occurring in our area. In the past year alone the City of Las Cruces has annexed almost 20 square miles of surrounding land, including over 4,000 acres in the Presidios project on the East Mesa. The City of Las Cruces is going to grow. We have a good climate, friendly people, a beautiful landscape and a great university. We sit at the crossroads of two of New Mexico’s major highways and within an hour of a major airport. Continue Reading

Bingaman global warming bill has bipartisan support

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U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., introduced today bipartisan legislation his office says is “designed to stop the advancement of global warming while protecting the U.S. economy and American consumers.” The measure, which is cosponsored by Sens. Arlen Specter, R-Penn., Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is an economy-wide mandatory cap-and-trade program that limits the amount of greenhouse gases that can be emitted, according to a Bingaman news release. The bill would set an annual target on the amount of carbon that can be released into the atmosphere. It would allow firms to buy, sell and trade carbon credits and would provide incentives to promote a gradual transition to new, lower-carbon technologies. “There is a great desire in our country to address the global warming crisis,” said Bingaman, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Continue Reading

Poll: Richardson at 4 percent in Obama’s home state

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A new poll shows Gov. Bill Richardson gaining little ground over the last six months in Barack Obama’s home state of Illinois, whose primary is important because of its early date – Feb. 5 – and the Chicago media market. Richardson has spent little time in the state since jumping into the race on Jan. 21, so the new American Research Group poll isn’t a surprise. The poll, conducted July 6-9, has Obama in the lead with the support of 37 percent of likely Democratic primary voters. Continue Reading

County seeks applicants for tax advisory board

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The Doña Ana County Board of Commissioners is seeking applications from residents who want to serve on a committee that will help it decide how to spend the county’s portion of the spaceport gross receipts tax. One-fourth of the quarter-percent tax increase approved by voters in April will be returned to the county for use on spaceport-related activities. The commission intends to use it for education in math, science and business that relates to the aerospace industry. In June, commissioners created a nine-member advisory committee comprised of representatives from each of Doña Ana County’s three school districts and New Mexico State University’s Education and Engineering colleges, as well as a representative of the aerospace industry, a commissioner and two members of the public. The Spaceport Educational Advisory Committee will make recommendations to the commission about how to allocate the funding to the Hatch, Las Cruces and Gadsden schools. Continue Reading

Gay slur comes back to haunt Richardson

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Gov. Bill Richardson is coming under fire for a gay slur he made during a radio interview more than a year ago. The site Gay News Watch reported Tuesday on Richardson using a Spanish-language slur for gay people during a March 29, 2006 interview with former talk-show host Don Imus. Imus used the word “maricón” – which is most commonly translated as “faggot” – in telling Richardson that an Imus staffer named Bernard “has been claiming that you’re not really Hispanic.” “You can just answer this yes or no and this will answer that question. Would you agree that Bernard is a maricón?” Imus asked Richardson. Richardson immediately replied, in Spanish, by saying, “I believe that Bernard, yes, he’s a faggot if he thinks that I am not Hispanic.” The incident went largely unnoticed, and Richardson had never publicly apologized or had to explain it before now, though he did apologize privately to one gay-rights activist, Gay News Watch reported. Continue Reading

King is working to combat government corruption

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Gary King took the reins of the attorney general’s office in January knowing he would have to focus much of his effort on rooting out government corruption. Six months later, King is making a difference. The indictments last month of the wife of state Rep. Richard Vigil and three others on government corruption charges were an indication that King, who like Vigil is a Democrat, places the law above politics. Other investigations are ongoing. King’s office is scrutinizing Land Commissioner Pat Lyons’ decision last year to bypass his own bidding process and lease thousands of acres of land in Las Cruces to a developer who gave $20,500 to a political action committee that passed most of it on to his re-election campaign. Continue Reading

The heat is on

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By Whitney Cheshire Ouch. Bill Richardson’s team may be at that point: That time in a campaign when strategists and consultants – those hired public-relations guns – clench their teeth, breathe in and beg for a little rain to come in and cool off what turned out to be a triple-digit scorcher of political screw-ups. It’s the kind of heat that can envelope a candidate and threaten to cook him alive. A little too melodramatic? Perhaps. Continue Reading

Homans to join rubber recycling company

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Rick Homans is leaving his job as director of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority to work for a Malaysia-based company that plans to build a rubber recycling plant in Gallup and its U.S. headquarters in Albuquerque. The state’s Economic Development Department announced today that The Petra Group plans to house both facilities in New Mexico, and will make a formal announcement Wednesday in Albuquerque. Michael Henningsen, spokesman for the department, confirmed that Homans would join the company, and said he would release more details later today in a news release. Homans said he could not comment until after that happens. The company has its fingers in a lot of projects, but one of its divisions focuses on environmental technology. Continue Reading

McCamley campaign has some big-name contributors

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Bill McCamley’s campaign contributor list includes a number of high-profile business owners and New Mexico Democrats, and it’s earning him some national attention. McCamley announced Sunday that he raised $139,600 during the second quarter of 2007. He spent $6,300 and had $133,300 on hand. All money McCamley raised is for the primary election, according to the report he filed with the Federal Election Commission late Monday. U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, the Republican McCamley is attempting to unseat, hasn’t yet filed his report with the FEC. Continue Reading

County to begin Webcasting commission meetings

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Doña Ana County will soon begin broadcasting commission meetings live on its Web site and archiving the recordings for those who want to access them at a later date. Commissioners voted unanimously today to adopt a system proposed by the county attorney’s office. Under the new system, audio and video recordings of meetings will be broadcast and archived on the county’s Web site. Archives of the meetings will be organized based on the meeting’s agenda. Markers in the recordings will allow people to click on a specific agenda item and watch or listen to the discussion on that item. Continue Reading

County funding makes film-industry lobbyist a reality

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On a 3-2 vote, the Doña Ana County Board of Commissioners decided today to provide $25,000 to NMSU to help pay an employee whose job will be attracting films to the area. The vote formally approved an agreement with the Creative Media Institute at New Mexico State University designed to help draw films to the area. The City of Las Cruces and NMSU have already agreed to each provide $25,000 for the position, so the county’s vote ensures it will become a reality. The position is essentially that of an economic development employee who will lobby Hollywood to shoot films in Doña Ana County and help coordinate such projects. Having such an employee recently helped draw the filming of part of the fourth Indiana Jones film to the Deming area. Continue Reading

County likely to increase public input in development

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The Doña Ana County Board of Commissioners appears prepared to place new requirements on developers that are designed to ensure the public has input in the approval process. Commissioners, at today’s meeting, unanimously approved a resolution that will direct staff to begin drafting amendments to the Land Use Regulations and Zoning Ordinance to require developers of projects of 100 lots or larger to hold two “town-hall” style meetings prior to the county review process. The amendments, which are likely to be approved by commissioners at a future date, would apply to development proposals only in unincorporated areas of the county that are not in the extraterritorial zone around Las Cruces that is governed by a joint city/county board. The proposal by Commissioner Bill McCamley would require developers of such projects to hold such meetings at reasonable times and in publicly accessible locations as close to their proposed developments as possible. It would require the developers to give the county notice of such meetings 10 days before they’re held to allow the county time to publicize them. Continue Reading