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José Frietze has announced that he will seek a fourth term as the District 1 representative on the Las Cruces City Council, the Las Cruces Sun-News is reporting today. Frietze has held the seat since 1995. Las Crucen Miguel Silva has spoken publicly about his intention to run against Frietze but has not formally announced his candidacy. Election Day is Nov. 6. Continue Reading
Steven Montaño has officially announced his bid to replace District 4 representative Steve Trowbridge on the Las Cruces City Council. Montano, who currently works as the Southern New Mexico senior business development consultant for the state’s Economic Development Department, is a native Las Crucen who pledged, in a news release, to bring “fair and honest government” to the city if elected. “I have always been a strong proponent of respectful work ethics, volunteerism and improving the quality of life in my community for family and neighbors alike, and I will take that code with me to the Las Cruces City Council,” he said in the release. Trowbridge isn’t seeking another term on Nov. 6. Continue Reading
The majority of those who voted in the last non-scientific poll on this site said U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici is beatable in 2008. Of 240 voters, 151, or 63 percent, said the GOP senator is beatable, while 84, or 35 percent, said he is not, and five, or 2 percent, said they don’t know. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading
Gov. Bill Richardson today ordered the cancellation of contract negotiations on the redevelopment of the Department of Transportation headquarters, a project that has been mired in controversy involving the governor, a donor and men indicted in the Bernalillo County Metro Court scandal. Richardson announced in a news release that the project will be rebid, but not until the completion of two reviews he has ordered. The new process will have more oversight, he said. It will be the second time the project has been rebid. On the first round, the contract was awarded to the sole bidder, Richardson friend and donor Gerald Peters. Continue Reading
Gov. Bill Richardson and Sen. Chris Dodd became today the first Democratic presidential candidates today to promise to not campaign in states that hold early primaries or caucuses in violation of party rules. For Richardson, the new position is a flip-flop. He said earlier said he would campaign in Florida even though the state’s Democrats are holding their contest on Jan. 29 in violation of Democratic National Committee rules. But since Richardson made that statement months ago, much has changed. Continue Reading
New Mexico Supreme Court Justice Pamela B. Minzner died today after a long battle with cancer. Minzer, the second woman to sit on the high court and first to serve as chief justice, was 63. News of her death was released in a statement from the Supreme Court. “Justice Minzner enjoyed unconditional respect and admiration from the legal community because she was hard working, articulate and an excellent writer,” current Chief Justice Edward L. Chávez said in the release. “Yet her best qualities were her human qualities. Continue Reading
A memorial was held on Thursday in Albuquerque for Bob Johnson, the director of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government who died Saturday. You can read about it from the Associated Press by clicking here. Also, check out memorials for Bob published on the editorial pages of the Santa Fe New Mexican, Las Cruces Sun-News and Roswell Daily Record. If you missed what I wrote about Bob earlier this week, check it out by clicking here. Continue Reading
Doña Ana County Commissioner Kent Evans will host the annual conference of the U.S./Mexico Border Counties Coalition in Las Cruces next month. The conference will be held Sept. 7 and 8. Dozens of delegates from counties on both sides of the border are expected to attend the conference, which will be held at Hotel Encanto and at White Sands Missile Range. Evans will deliver welcoming remarks. Continue Reading
Gov. Bill Richardson won’t get a chance to show off his Spanish-language skills to a Spanish-speaking audience at Univision’s Democratic presidential candidate forum on Sept. 9. The forum is a first for the Spanish-language network, and Richardson and Chris Dodd, the only presidential candidates who are fluent in Spanish, jumped on the opportunity when it was first announced. It had huge potential for them – either they’d be the only two attending and asking for Hispanic votes, or the others would be clumsily speaking through a translator while they directly engaged viewers in their language. Not so fast. Continue Reading
Gov. Bill Richardson said at a news conference today in Santa Fe that there was “no impropriety” in his acceptance of campaign contributions from two developers picked for separate multimillion dollar contracts with the Department of Transportation, the Associated Press is reporting. He said there is “no connection” between contributions and decisions made in state government. He said he doesn’t get involved in such projects and often doesn’t even know who contributes to his campaign. The statements came with the not-surprising news that the attorney Richardson has hired to conduct an “independent” review of the controversial DOT projects won’t look into the governor’s involvement, but will only look at other aspects of the situation. There may not be any involvement. Continue Reading
As new polls show his campaign not gaining traction in Iowa and New Hampshire, Gov. Bill Richardson is straddling a fine line between challenging and attacking the frontrunners for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. Richardson has thus far refrained from going negative. However, in an e-mail sent today to campaign supporters, he suggested that Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards have not been providing “straight answers” on how many troops they would leave in Iraq and for how long, and said that, while he has been “completely open,” they’ve responded to his asking for such details with “silence.” And in stating that there’s no “confusion of ambiguity or waffling” in his stance, the governor seems to be implying that there is in the stances of the other three. Richardson is asking people to sign a petition pushing for the question to be asked at the next debate, the Univision forum on Sept. 9, on how many troops each would leave in Iraq and for how long. Continue Reading
U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., isn’t jumping on the bandwagon of GOP officials calling for the resignation of a Republican senator who pleaded guilty earlier this month to a misdemeanor charge stemming from allegations that he solicited sex from an undercover police officer in an airport restroom. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, was arrested June 11 in Minneapolis after an undercover male officer said he engaged in conduct “often used by persons communicating a desire to engage in sexual conduct.” Craig claims he entered the guilty plea to the misdemeanor charge to try to deal with the incident quickly and quietly. Now that it has become public, Craig says he regrets his plea and did nothing wrong. Regardless, the incident has led to an ethics investigation and GOP leadership in the Senate has stripped Craig of senior committee positions. The White House has expressed disappointment, and a number of GOP senators and representatives have called for Craig’s resignation. Continue Reading
I was on The Morning Show with Alan Riehl today. Topics we discussed included the upcoming City of Las Cruces election, the controversies at New Mexico State University and the controversy involving the Department of Transportation headquarters redevelopment project in Santa Fe. You can listen to or download the podcast, which is about 42 minutes long, by clicking here. Secretary of State Mary Herrera was also on the show this morning. You can listen to her podcast by clicking here. Continue Reading
The current issue of the Weekly Alibi in Albuquerque includes a profile of me and this site. Check it out when you get a chance by clicking here. Continue Reading
I’ve reported since his arrest in June that the criminal case against House Minority Whip Dan Foley might be weak. Now the Roswell Daily Record is reporting that the case against the GOP representative from Roswell is in limbo, having been dismissed in municipal court and not re-filed in magistrate court a month later because it’s under review. The district attorney apparently doesn’t think there’s enough evidence at this time to proceed, having deemed the case an “investigatory file.” “At this point, there is no case filed,” Deputy District Attorney Michael Sanchez told the newspaper. “We need to find out all of the facts first.” Asked if the case will be refilled at some point, he told the newspaper, “I’m not going to say it will or it won’t.” Legal experts tell me it’s likely the district attorney’s office got the case and found there wasn’t enough evidence to proceed. They’re now conducting further investigation to determine whether a case against Foley exists. Continue Reading