Latest Stories

Accused cop killer talks about the death penalty

By |

Gov. Bill Richardson has until midnight to decide whether to sign a bill that would repeal the death penalty, and he says the vast majority of those who have contacted him want him to sign it. Meanwhile, the Santa Fe Reporter gave a voice today to a person whose comments about the death penalty are interesting and loaded: accused cop killer Michael Astorga, who himself might face the death penalty if he’s convicted. The man accused of shooting and killing Bernalillo County Deputy Sheriff James McGrane Jr. didn’t say much to reporter Dave Maass about his own case, but he did talk about the death penalty, which Richardson has said he deserves. Richardson has long been a supporter of the death penalty but now says his stance is softening. Astorga, who is housed in the state penitentiary outside Santa Fe awaiting trial, told Maass that he believes Richardson is not having so much a change of heart as he is a “contradiction” of heart. Continue Reading

Vigil-Giron alleges a ‘conspiracy to destroy me’

By |

Former SOS says recently-released audit is severely flawed and that its promotion by the state auditor is politically motivated Former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron is blaming politics for a recently released audit that found severe mismanagement of federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) funds by her administration — an audit she says is severely flawed. Because of that, she is requesting that the firm that completed the audit, Atkinson & Co., retract, correct and reissue the audit. “I hope that this information and request does not fall on deaf ears and that my Detractors cease in their conspiracy to destroy me and all the good service that I have given to the state of New Mexico,” Vigil-Giron wrote in a letter she mailed to Atkinson on Monday. In the eight-page letter, Vigil-Giron alleges that Atkinson was “set up to assist in destroying my reputation.” She also writes that State Auditor Hector Balderas has sensationalized the firm’s audit report “for political gain,” possibly because he has a desire to run for higher office. Vigil-Giron’s letter includes a lengthy response to each of the findings in the audit of the secretary of state’s office for the 2006-2007 fiscal year. Continue Reading

Reform bills advance, but it may be too late

By |

This article has been updated.One high-profile ethics-reform proposal passed the House today, and another passed the Senate, but there’s doubt that either will make it through the other chamber in time to be sent to the governor before the session ends at noon on Saturday. The Senate approved today a committee substitute bill for Senate Bill 263, sponsored by Sue Wilson Beffort, R-Sandia Park, that also took elements from Senate Bill 296, sponsored by Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque. The bill would require that prospective and current state and local government contractors disclose their campaign contributions and that such disclosures be included in an Internet database accessible to the public. It was approved on a vote of 26-11. The House, meanwhile, approved on a vote of 64-0 a proposal to create an independent state ethics commission with subpoena power. Continue Reading

Conference committee bill skipped again

By |

For the third straight day, the Senate had on its agenda today a proposal to open conference committees and other legislative meetings to the public, but Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen, never brought the item up for debate and a vote. Senate Bill 737, sponsored by Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque, began the day at No. 6 on the agenda. The last item considered today was No. 72. Continue Reading

Aragon sentenced to 5.5 years in prison

By |

Former Senate President Manny Aragon was sentenced today to 5.5 years in federal prison for his role in the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Courthouse scandal, The Associated Press is reporting. Aragon was also fined $750,000 — most of which he has already forfeited to the government — and ordered to pay at least $649,000 in restitution, the news service reported. Read about it here. Aragon pleaded guilty in October to three felony counts of conspiracy and mail fraud. He was accused of pocketing more than $600,000 in the scheme in which prosecutors say he and several others stole $4.2 million in taxpayer money by inflating and falsifying invoices during construction of the courthouse. Continue Reading

Las Cruces Sun-News hit with layoffs

By |

This article has been updated.Three staffers at the Las Cruces Sun-News — two in the editorial department and one in the advertising department — have been laid off in the last week as the newspaper and its parent company deal with economic woes that are hampering the newspaper industry. The editor of Pulse, the newspaper’s weekly entertainment insert, in addition to the typist who transcribes calls to Sound Off! and the paper’s only advertising writer, were all laid off in the last several days, sources confirmed. The layoffs come as all employees of the paper’s parent company, Denver-based MediaNews Group, are taking weeklong, unpaid furloughs before the end of this month to help the company make ends meet for the quarter. When the furloughs were announced last month, MediaNews said they were an attempt to avoid layoffs. Continue Reading

Senate Rules OKs open conference committees

By |

The Senate Rules Committee gave a do-pass recommendation this morning to a bill that would open conference committees and other legislative meetings to the public. With a similar bill already on the calendar for today’s Senate floor session, what happens next isn’t clear. House Bill 393, sponsored by Rep. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, was approved by the committee on a vote of 3-2 with Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen, Committee Chair Linda Lopez, D-Albuquerque and Dianna Duran, R-Tularosa, voting for it. Voting against the bill were Senate President Pro Tem Tim Jennings, D-Roswell, and Minority Leader Stuart Ingle, R-Portales. While Duran has voted to open conference committees in the past, Sanchez twice voted against the proposal in 2007. Continue Reading

Another conference committee bill being heard

By |

I wrote last night that one bill that would open conference committees and other legislative meetings to the public was scheduled but not being heard on the Senate floor. Meanwhile, a similar bill is getting a hearing this morning in the Senate Rules Committee. House Bill 393, sponsored by Rep. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, is being considered by the committee right now. The meeting isn’t being webcast, so I can’t tell you what’s happening there, but I can tell you that at least one other journalist is attending the meeting. More on Cervantes’ bill later. Continue Reading

Senate skips conference committee bill again

By |

For the second straight day, the Senate had on its agenda a proposal to open conference committees and other legislative meetings to the public, but, as it did on Sunday, the Senate adjourned late this evening without considering the bill. Senate Bill 737, sponsored by Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque, will appear on the Senate’s agenda again on Tuesday, but when the bill is brought up for debate is solely in the hands of Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen. Two other bills that would open conference committees to the public — Feldman’s Senate Bill 150 and House Bill 393, sponsored by Rep. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces — have been languishing in the Senate Rules Committee. Because of that, Feldman used Senate Bill 737 and an unusual procedural move last week to force a Senate floor vote on the issue. Feldman replaced what’s called a “dummy bill” — one that contains no actual legislation but can be replaced with a committee substitute after the deadline for new legislation passes — with a mirror of House Bill 393, which had already passed the House. Continue Reading

Senate webcast elicits jokes, discontent, anger

By |

Though some of it is being expressed in a joking manner, there appears to be some serious disappointment, beyond what I personally expressed earlier today, with the Senate’s first attempt at video webcasting. The single-camera webcast, unveiled today, shows the desks of only nine of 42 senators, and it shows them from behind. That prompted a series of jokes on the Senate floor today, the New Mexico Independent is reporting. “This does create the impression out there that all senators are bald,” said Albuquerque Democratic Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, whose head appears shiny in the video. Sen. Steve Fischmann, D-Las Cruces, got in on the joking with this quip: “I’ve heard that there’s already a raging discussion about how much advertising space might cost on top of Ortiz y Pino’s head,” he said. Continue Reading

But what about ethics reform?

By |

Want to know why it’s so difficult to pass any ethics-reform measure in Santa Fe? A news release sent out by the governor’s office this evening provides a clue about one of the big reasons. The release was about Gov. Bill Richardson meeting this afternoon with more than 100 New Mexicans to discuss legislation during meetings that each lasted 3-5 minutes. People traveled from as far away as Mesquite (located in southern Doña Ana County) for the meetings, according to the release. Not surprisingly, the most popular issue brought up was the bill the Legislature has approved that would repeal the death penalty, the release states. Continue Reading

Goose and gander, Part II

By |

By Carter Bundy New Mexico is in the full throes of recession/depression. While things are worse elsewhere, it’s bad here and not looking good for the next few years. One of the most common phrases heard around the Roundhouse this year is “shared sacrifice.” Problem is, that sharing is limited to working families. Good times, bad times During good times, everyone did well. The wealthiest New Mexicans saw their tax rate nearly cut in half. Continue Reading

Speaker’s bill could exacerbate newspaper woes

By |

What are already hard times for New Mexico newspapers could get worse under a bill sponsored by House Speaker Ben Lujan, D-Nambé. House Bill 895 would allow the publication of legal notices via television or radio in addition to newspapers. Currently, such notices must be published in newspapers, and that’s a major source of revenue for a struggling industry. Craigslist, which publishes classifieds online for free, has already taken lots of other classified advertising revenue from newspapers, and many papers’ classifieds are now anchored by legal notices. Lujan’s bill has passed the House on a vote of 58-2 and is awaiting a hearing in the Senate Rules Committee. Continue Reading

Check out the Senate video webcast

By |

The Senate’s official video webcast is up now. You can check it out by clicking here. My immediate thoughts: This is certainly better than what’s been done in the House, which has approved only audio webcasting. And it’s way better than what the Senate was doing before, which was nothing. But the Senate had the ability to place three cameras in the chamber, with one in the back and two that would zoom in on senators’ faces when they spoke. Continue Reading

A lesson from Rev. Harvey to the choir

By |

By Michael Ray Huerta “We must destroy the myths once and for all, shatter them. We must continue to speak out, and most importantly, every gay person must come out. As difficult as it is you must tell your immediate family, you must tell your relatives, you must tell your friends, if indeed they are your friends, you must tell your neighbors, you must tell the people you work with, you must tell the people in the stores you shop in, and once they realize that we are indeed their children, that we are indeed everywhere, every myth, every lie, every innuendo will be destroyed once and for all.” -Harvey Milk on June 25, 1978 Harvey Milk believed in a simple principle: the more of us they know, the more accepted we’ll become. Today, this is especially true in New Mexico. A short time ago, our elected officials voted against providing same sex couples with equal domestic partner rights and benefits. Continue Reading