State might change project to developer’s benefit

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Please read the updates posted at the end of this article. The state Department of Transportation is considering scaling back plans for its new headquarters complex, leaving more publicly owned land for the use of a private developer who is a large donor to Gov. Bill Richardson, the Albuquerque Journal is reporting. A project that is already controversial is further tainted by the revelation. This is the same project that, in recent months, the Journal has reported was initially tied to two men now indicted in the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Courthouse scandal. Richardson has ordered a review of the DOT project as a result. But the newest revelation about the project is the worst. Continue Reading

Officials should identify donors paying for probe

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Jay Miller’s newest column is an interesting look at the mystery of who bankrolled an investigation into the death of Billy the Kid. In recent days the public has learned, for the first time, that the trail leads through Gov. Bill Richardson. Four years ago, two Lincoln County sheriff’s deputies began an investigation into whether Sheriff Pat Garrett might have shot someone else instead of Billy the Kid and then covered it up, Miller wrote. The kicker was that private money would finance their investigation. Miller has been on the trail ever since. Continue Reading

Miyagishima announces candidacy for mayor

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Las Cruces City Councilor Ken Miyagishima officially announced today his candidacy for mayor of the state’s second-largest city. I reported Tuesday night that Miyagishima, 44, would announce his candidacy today. He did so in a news release, saying that encouragement from residents throughout the city was a key factor in his decision. The councilor has earned support in recent months from residents who have been galvanized by their belief that growth is out of control. “I have received hundreds of e-mails and phone calls in recent months urging me to run for mayor,” Miyagishima said in the release. Continue Reading

Miyagishima will try to unseat Mayor Mattiace

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Las Cruces City Councilor Ken Miyagishima will take another shot at unseating Mayor Bill Mattiace on Nov. 6. Miyagishima, whose current term on the council runs until 2009, plans to make his mayoral campaign official with an announcement on Wednesday, a source confirmed. Miyagishima ran for mayor in 2003, receiving 25 percent of the vote in the unsuccessful effort. Almost 40 percent went to Mattiace, while three additional challengers split the other 35 percent. Continue Reading

Group says N.M. is ‘on the cutting edge’ of elections

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An independent research group issued a report today that said New Mexico “is on the cutting edge of election administration” after examining the state’s management of the 2006 general election and the switch to paper ballots that accompanied it. The study found that more then eight in 10 voters rated their experience as excellent or good, according to a news release from the governor’s office. The report came from the CalTech/MIT Voting Technology Project. The report said the state “has executive and local leadership forging aggressively ahead with the intent of building a better, strong, efficacious and more voter confident voting system.” “This independent report confirms that our state’s transition to a paper ballot system has been successful,” Gov. Bill Richardson said in a news release. “Voters and poll workers favored the new voting process and gave it high marks for reliability, privacy and ease of use. Continue Reading

Solano makes lieutenant governor run official

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Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano made official today his 2010 campaign for lieutenant governor. Solano made the announcement during a news conference in Santa Fe, then sent out a news release and the text of the speech he gave at the Roundhouse. Solano spoke about spending time as a child at the Roundhouse because his grandmother was a custodian there and his family could not afford child care. “As a child I roamed the halls of this building,” he said, according to the text of the prepared remarks. “Legislators and governors would buy me candy from the vending machines.” Solano said he has “never been a man of money,” but is one who “works hard to make an honest living while trying to make a difference.” He said he’s a candidate “of the masses.” “How many of the candidates know what its like to get a late notice from the electric company?” he asked. Continue Reading

Officials celebrate final OK for new Cannon mission

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New Mexico’s leaders today hailed the final approval of the new mission for Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis, which will begin Oct. 1. Though it had been previously announced that the base would become home to a special operations wing of the Air Force Special Operations Command, an environmental impact statement was holding up final approval. The Pentagon signed off on the statement today, finalizing the mission. Gov. Bill Richardson said today’s signing was “great news for the people of Eastern New Mexico.” U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce said the new mission “will only increase the synergy of New Mexico’s significant role in the United States’ defense and military development.” Cannon is now on track to begin its new mission on Oct. Continue Reading

Poll confirms that guv’s support in Iowa is stagnating

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A new Iowa poll confirms that Gov. Bill Richardson’s support has stagnated over the last month. That’s bad news for a presidential candidate whose support climbed steadily in the two months before that. Richardson is solidly in fourth place in Iowa and has acknowledged he must finish third or better in the nation’s first presidential nominating contest. The new Zogby poll released today has Hillary Clinton leading among Iowa likely caucus goers with 30 percent of the vote, John Edwards with 23 percent, Barack Obama with 19 percent and Richardson with 10 percent. The poll finds that 13 percent remain undecided. Continue Reading

Connor announces re-election bid

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Las Cruces Mayor Pro-Tem Dolores Connor is asking voters to keep her for another term on Nov. 6. Connor made the announcement late Monday in a news release. “As a native Las Crucen, ensuring that our community grows with the essential quality-of-life amenities our citizens deserve is at the forefront of my thoughts,” she said. “I love my job and I want to continue dealing with the issues facing Las Cruces, listening to all the stakeholders and making decisions that are important to our community.” Connor is being challenged by Vince Boudreau, a former member of the Las Cruces Public Schools Board of Education. Continue Reading

Lawmakers report productive meeting on foundation, move forward with AG letter, possible legislation

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State lawmakers reported a productive meeting with officials from New Mexico State University on Monday about whether the NMSU Foundation’s donor records should be public. In addition, a draft of a letter seeking an attorney general opinion on whether the foundation’s records are legally public documents is being circulated among the Doña Ana County delegation. And lawmakers are talking about possible changes in state law to clarify the situation. “I think the next step is to get the letter up to the attorney general and get some clarification and see if maybe we need some legislation,” state Rep. Nate Cote said following the meeting. Rep. Joseph Cervantes hasn’t decided whether he’ll sign the letter, but he is considering legislation that would open most state university foundation records to the public.He said he believes some donors should be allowed to remain anonymous if restrictions are placed on them. Continue Reading

Michigan will likely hold its primary on Jan. 15

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Michigan will likely holds its presidential primary on Jan. 15, jumping ahead of South Carolina and Florida and tossing a new monkey wrench into the plans of presidential campaigns. Though the deal isn’t yet official, a number of news services reported over the weekend that officials from both major parties had agreed to hold their primaries that day. For Gov. Bill Richardson, it’s bad news. He hasn’t spent hardly any time in Michigan, has little name recognition there and wasn’t even worth mentioning in a Detroit News article on the most recent poll conducted there. Continue Reading

Santa Fe County sheriff wants to be lieutenant guv

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Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano apparently wants to be the state’s lieutenant governor. He sent a news release today from the e-mail address solanoltgov@aol.com announcing that he’ll hold a news conference on Tuesday in Santa Fe to “address plans to run a political campaign for a New Mexico statewide office.” And he posted an article on his blog today stating that – despite the new e-mail address with “ltgov” in it, he would not confirm or deny “the rumor going around” that he’s running for lieutenant governor. While refusing to answer the lieutenant governor question, Solano told the Santa Fe New Mexican that he can conduct a political campaign while serving as sheriff. “I’ve done that effectively while I ran for re-election. I have a very good staff,” he told the newspaper. Continue Reading

Explaining why I replaced this week’s poll question

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You might notice that I replaced this week’s original poll question. Now the question is about whether Las Cruces is moving in the right direction in terms of growth and development, but the original weekly poll asked which Doña Ana County state representative is most likely to lose his or her seat in 2008. It was a question I thought was interesting, one I’ve been asked a few times in recent months. But something happened that I didn’t anticipate. Supporters of some of the representatives organized votes against others so their favored representative wouldn’t lose. Continue Reading

Former school board member to challenge Connor

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A former member of the Las Cruces Public Schools Board of Education plans to challenge the city’s mayor pro-tem in this year’s municipal election. Vince Boudreau announced his candidacy for the District 2 seat currently held by Dolores Connor today in a news release. Connor is seeking re-election on Nov. 6. “When I was on the Las Cruces School Board and served as its president, we viewed the public as our greatest ally. Continue Reading

Former U.S. Attorney Iglesias signs book deal

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He’s mentioned the possibility for several months, but news spread on Friday that David Iglesias, the former U.S. attorney for New Mexico, has signed a deal to write a book about his experiences. The book is expected to focus heavily on his time in the Bush Administration and his role in the scandal that resulted in the firings of several U.S. attorneys last year. Iglesias’ public allegations caused the firings to become a national scandal that is leading to a coming showdown between Congress and the Bush Administration. The book promises to include a number of interesting discussions of the operation of the Department of Justice and White House. It will be published by John Wiley & Sons and is expected to be released in April 2008, TPM Muckraker is reporting. Continue Reading