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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

When a pandemic hit Las Cruces

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© 2009 By Michael Swickard, Ph.D. Foreword to the local college’s first yearbook, written in a cave near Las Cruces the last days of March 1907: “It is finished… We have found ourselves in the position of the carpenter who hurried through the narrow, crooked streets of Boston, with his arms stretched awkwardly before him, praying that no one would run into him. He had the measure of a door. He had no yardstick! We have had no yardstick. Nor have our prayers been answered: for we have been ‘run into.’” What ran into the college yearbook was a pandemic that killed many students in just two weeks. 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

Rumor: Returning soldiers are potential menaces

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© 2009 By Michael Swickard, Ph.D. “During a period when veterans were big news, every time an ex-soldier got himself in a jam the fact that he was a vet was pointed out in the headline. An ordinary killing or assault seldom rated the front page, but if it involved a jealous veteran or a battle-fatigue case, it could be sure of a prominent play… But the sad fact was that such headlines gave added impetus to the rumor that always appears in every country after a war — that the returning soldiers are trained in killing and assault and are potential menaces to society.” – From Bill Mauldin’s 1947 book, Back Home. Dateline April 2009 — Many veterans are upset with a Homeland Security report that included these words: “The return of military veterans facing significant challenges reintegrating into their communities could lead to the potential emergence of terrorist groups or lone-wolf extremists capable of carrying out violent attacks.” Current veterans are furious. But the prejudices against veterans have gone on for generations, including during WWII. 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

Jennings is exploiting investment issue to score points

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By Gilbert Gallegos This column comes in response to a Thursday guest column about the growing investment scandal in New York and New Mexico written by Senate President Pro Tem Tim Jennings. Not surprisingly, Sen. Jennings doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Nevertheless, he’s trying to exploit the issue to score political points. First, the governor was not aware of any deals between fund managers and marketers. The state is not part of those deals, nor do we pay those fees, which are legal. Continue Reading

Aldus founder faces criminal charges in New York

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NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo alleges that illegal dealings related to investment funds extended all the way to New Mexico A founder of Aldus Equity who was charged with a felony in New York on Thursday faces allegations that, in exchange for increased business in that state, he helped the son of the New York state comptroller win a lucrative contract in New Mexico for a firm he was representing. The new allegation further ties New Mexico to the massive scandal that is rocking New York and spreading across the nation, and comes on the heels of Gov. Bill Richardson ordering the State Investment Council (SIC) and Educational Retirement Board (ERB) to fire Aldus. In filing a fraud-related felony charge against Aldus founder Saul Meyer on Thursday, Andrew M. Cuomo, New York’s attorney general, said on a conference call with reporters that he is “disclosing a national network of actors who often acted in concert and did this all across the country,” The New York Times is reporting. “This is sort of like when you pull a thread on the sweater and that one thread starts to unravel the entire fabric,” the Times quoted him as saying. “We’re pulling threads and it turns out the other end of the thread is in New Mexico or Connecticut or Illinois or in California.” According to the criminal complaint Cuomo’s office filed against Meyer, in 2006 Meyer sought and received control over an additional $200 million from a New York pension fund from then-N.Y. Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi. Continue Reading

Hundreds to attend launch from Spaceport America

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Officials say that’s a sign that excitement is building as project moves closer to reality More than 350 people have signed up to attend Saturday’s educational launch from Spaceport America. Officials say that’s evidence that, as the project progresses from a proposal to reality, excitement is building. “It’s a feeling that the public is getting behind this. Everybody senses that it’s actually real,” spaceport Executive Director Steve Landeene said in an interview. A lot has happened in the last few months to move the publicly owned and funded spaceport from the drawing board closer to reality. Continue Reading

Lawmakers must better oversee state investments

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By Timothy Z. Jennings Revelations that politically connected and influential friends of the governor were paid millions of dollars for steering state investments to their clients are an alarming wake-up call for legislators to better oversee how and where state money is invested. The New York pay-to-play scandal involving Aldus Equity has spilled over to involve the New Mexico State Investment Council (SIC). The tangled and troubling tale that has emerged is one in which politics seems to have played a role equal to that of investment fundamentals in decisions about how the state invests billions of dollars of trust funds. While various law-enforcement and regulatory authorities investigate possible wrongdoing, the state Legislature must assert itself to help restore the public’s confidence in its government. The Legislature has already taken some steps to fix the mess. Continue Reading