LCPS board upholds its decision to fire Diaz

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The Las Cruces Public Schools Board of Education has upheld tonight its November decision to fire former Superintendent Sonia Diaz. On a 5-0 vote following a brief closed session, the board upheld its firing. Diaz’s attorney has said she would appeal such a decision. The motion to uphold the firing was made by outgoing Board member John Schwebke and seconded by Board member Gene Gant. As soon as the district serves Diaz’s attorney with the appropriate paperwork, her salary will cease, said District spokeswoman Jo Galvan. Continue Reading

Richardson reappoints Conniff as NMSU regent

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Gov. Bill Richardson today reappointed Laura Conniff to the New Mexico State University Board of Regents. I reported in mid-December that he would do so. “Laura has proven herself as an advocate who works in the best interest of NMSU, its students and faculty,” Richardson said in a news release. “She has earned another term on the Board of Regents, where I am confident that she will continue to move the university forward.” Conniff, who earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from NMSU in 1974, recently completed her first a six-year term on the board. She was originally appointed by former Gov. Gary Johnson. Continue Reading

Tsosie chooses Navajo council, will quit Senate

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State Sen. Leonard Tsosie, D-Crownpoint, will resign his seat to take a position on the Navajo Nation Council, the Associated Press is reporting. Tsosie, who has held the Senate position since 1993 and was a member of the powerful Finance Committee, took the oath of office today for the council position. He hasn’t yet resigned from the Senate, but said he will travel to Santa Fe on Tuesday to do so and give his regards to lawmakers and Gov. Bill Richardson. Because Tsosie represents a multi-county area, Richardson will appoint a replacement after each county commission in the district makes a recommendation. After being picked last year for a spot on the council, Tsosie had fought to keep both seats, but the Navajo Supreme Court ruled last week that he cannot be a council delegate and a state senator at the same time, and ordered him to choose one by 9 a.m. today, the news service reported. Continue Reading

Richardson’s conduct toward women scrutinized

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Since news broke on Friday that Gov. Bill Richardson would run for president, the blogosphere has been abuzz with talk about rumors and allegations involving his conduct with women. Three of the top liberal blogs in the nation – DailyKos, Wonkette and Huffington Post – have all made references to such rumors in recent days. Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, the administrator of DailyKos, wrote about Richardson’s private life being “the subject of – how should I delicately put it? – Clintonian rumors.” Wonkette referred to Richardson’s “unspecified bimbo-itis.” But the most concrete and potentially damaging allegations came Sunday from Stephen Clemmons, who runs the blog The Washington Note. His critique was also run by Huffington Post. Continue Reading

Richardson’s team includes locals, national figures

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A number of familiar names in New Mexico and several high-profile, national figures will make up the team that tries to convince voters to make Gov. Bill Richardson the next president of the United States. Richardson’s campaign will be managed by Dave Contarino, who ran his 2002 campaign for governor, was his chief of staff for three years and was chair of his 2006 re-election campaign. Amanda Cooper, who managed the 2006 campaign, will work on fundraising for Richardson. Pahl Shipley, who was the communications director in the governor’s office, has left that job to handle communications duties for the exploratory committee. “There are familiar people in familiar roles,” Shipley said. Continue Reading

Evans hospitalized, will have tumor removed today

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Doña Ana County Commissioner Kent Evans will undergo surgery later today to have a tumor removed from his colon. Doctors haven’t yet determined whether the tumor is malignant, Evans said, but it’s a soft tissue tumor – and such tumors are far more often benign than cancerous. Doctors may also have to remove part of his colon, he said. “This is kind of scary, but I feel alright about it,” said Evans, 66. “I feel pretty confident I’ll be alright.” Evans is scheduled to go into surgery early this afternoon. Continue Reading

Most who vote in non-scientific poll say lawmakers will approve ban on cockfighting

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Most who voted in last week’s non-scientific poll on this site believe the state’s legislators will approve a ban on cockfighting this year. Of 193 voters, 150, or 78 percent, said lawmakers will approve a ban, while 43, or 22 percent, said they will not. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading

Richardson: ‘I can bring this country together’

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White House bid is finally official Gov. Bill Richardson announced today that he is seeking the Democratic Party’s 2008 nomination for president. The worst-kept secret in New Mexico became official with an exclusive interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s This Week (click here to read the article and here to watch a video clip) and was followed by an interview with the Albuquerque Journal. “I’m a westerner. This is a new area that is fertile for the Democratic Party,” Richardson told Stephanopoulos. “But most importantly, I can bring this country together.” Richardson said he will be able to compete with the star power of candidates like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Continue Reading

More details about Richardson’s announcement

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Here’s my understanding of how Gov. Bill Richardson’s announcement that he’s running for president will play out:On Sunday, he will appear on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos to make some sort of announcement – either that he will soon form an exploratory committee, or that he’ll announce his decision on Monday, or something that is a major announcement but provides few details.That’s designed so that he can keep his promise that he will make the announcement in New Mexico.Sometime Monday, he will hold a news conference in Santa Fe to lay out further details or make a more definite announcement.I’ll report more details as I get them.Richardson’s announcement will span almost four days, then, since it leaked on Friday, and that may be by design. It’s quite possible Friday’s leak was intentional and designed to earn the governor even more press.Or it might have been leaked to grab some headlines before today’s announcement by Sen. Hillary Clinton that she is forming a 2008 exploratory committee – an announcement that promises to overshadow Richardson’s declaration.Richardson’s announcement comes just days after Barack Obama’s and, for all practical purposes, at the same time as Clinton’s, and they are the two Democratic frontrunners. This firmly establishes Richardson as an underdog, but I suspect that’s exactly where he wants to be.This Week airs in the Las Cruces area at 9 a.m. Sunday on ABC-7. It doesn’t air until 4 p.m. throughout the rest of New Mexico on KOAT-7, and by then it will be old news. Check back here Sunday morning for complete coverage. Continue Reading

BREAKING NEWS: Richardson to launch 2008 presidential bid on Sunday

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Gov. Bill Richardson will announce Sunday that he is taking the initial step toward seeking the Democratic Party’s 2008 presidential nomination. Richardson plans to announce that he will soon file paperwork creating an exploratory committee, the first step toward a run for president and the same step taken earlier this week by Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. One source told me this afternoon about the planned Sunday announcement. Shortly after that, the Associated Press reported that several sources had confirmed it. Richardson is scheduled to appear on This Week with George Stephanopoulos on Sunday morning, and will likely make the announcement there. Continue Reading

Pearce fights against repealing oil tax breaks

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As I was visiting with New Mexico’s Democratic lawmakers in the nation’s capital Thursday, U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., spent much of the day on the House floor arguing against rolling back tax breaks and subsidies for oil companies. The Democratic-controlled House eventually voted to do just that. When I was in the offices of Sen. Jeff Bingaman and Rep. Tom Udall, Pearce was on the television arguing against the Democratic proposal. He spoke in place of other Republican representatives whose turn it was to take the podium, and argued back and forth with Democratic lawmakers throughout the day. The bill passed 264-163. Continue Reading

Poll: Richardson leads 2008 N.M. primary race

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Bill Richardson is ahead in a 2008 New Mexico Democratic presidential primary poll, but is losing badly in all 7 other states surveyed. The poll, conducted by American Research Group, had Richardson with 28 percent of the vote among “likely Democratic caucus goers” in New Mexico. Hillary Clinton had 22 percent, Brack Obama had 17 percent and John Edwards had 12 percent, with several other candidates in single digits. The poll included 600 telephone interviews with 520 Democrats and 80 independents between Jan. 11 and 13, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. Continue Reading

House Democratic leaders tout Steinborn, Cote

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The office of House Majority Leader Ken Martinez put out this news release today about Doña Ana County’s two freshman legislators, Jeff Steinborn and Nate Cote. I thought it was interesting, especially in light of all that’s been happening, so here it is: Las Cruces freshmen eager to serve the community through the legislative process Santa Fe, NM – The 48th Session of the New Mexico Legislature opened on Tuesday with what promises to be an unprecedented number of bills introduced and with an expected $720 million surplus to the budget. Rep. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces, and Rep. Nathan Cote, D-Las Cruces, are two of the 11 new representatives in the House who will contend with these bills while getting their legislative feet wet. Both representatives, however, are up for the job and ready to serve their constituents. Speaker of the House Ben Lujan made committee assignments on the second day of the session, and the new Las Cruces legislators are well positioned to have a significant impact on policy that affects the southern part of the state. Continue Reading

Bingaman and Udall discuss Richardson’s ambitions, Iraq, climate change and other issues

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The two Democratic members of New Mexico’s delegation in Washington, D.C. will support Gov. Bill Richardson if he runs for president. “I’ve urged him to run,” U.S. Rep. Tom Udall said. “Gov. Richardson and I go way back and we’ve been good friends.” Sen. Jeff Bingaman, who has several Democratic colleagues running for president, agreed. “I’ve told Bill that I’d be glad to support him if he jumps into the race,” he said. “It’s an amazing undertaking and I compliment him for it.” Their comments were part of wide-ranging interviews I had with both at their congressional offices during a visit I made to the nation’s capital on Thursday. Continue Reading

House GOP wants to pick its committee members

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Republicans in the House plan to try to change the rules to create ranking minority members on committees and grant the minority leader, not speaker, the right to appoint minority members of committees. House Resolution 1 has already been introduced by Minority Whip Dan Foley, and would allow the minority leader to designate a minority member of each committee as its ranking member. Foley said a second resolution will soon be introduced that would grant authority to appoint minority members to committees to the minority leader. That power is currently given to the speaker. The proposals come after House Republicans were upset with committee assignments handed to the GOP by Speaker Ben Lujan. Continue Reading