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Final defendant pleads guilty in metro court case

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The last defendant in the Bernalillo County Metro Courthouse scandal pleaded guilty on Wednesday, The Associated Press is reporting. Michael Murphy’s plea is the final chapter in a case that also saw the felony conviction of former state Senate President Pro Tem Manny Aragon and several others. “We got eight convictions. It’s absolutely a victory for us,” the news service quoted Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Yarbrough as saying after Murphy pleaded guilty to accepting a $20,000 check he knew came from illegal funds from one of the other defendants in the case. Murphy could face up to three years in prison and a $250,000 fine, but no sentencing date has been set. Continue Reading

A portal into space, and it’s in my backyard

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New Mexico got final approval this week to build a commercial spaceport 40 miles from my house. I dreamed as a child about someday going into space, so this project makes me a little giddy. For many boys of my generation, dinosaurs, G.I. Joe, baseball or the first Nintendo game system was the big thing. Not me. I was interested in some of those things, but my real passion was anything to do with outer space. Continue Reading

Race shouldn’t be a factor in hiring of NMSU coach

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Note: No, this isn’t turning into a politics and sports Web site, but Foley and Michael Swickard sure like to write about sports lately. By Dan Foley I was surfing the internet on Sunday and wandered onto a web site called NMPreps.com. If you haven’t checked it out and you’re interested in New Mexico sports, from high school to college, then this is your site. The owner is a young man named Kyle Henderson who seems to spend all his time trying to get New Mexico athletes the coverage they need and deserve in order to play at the next level. What really grabbed my attention was the story on the front page about the New Mexico State football coaching search and the possibility that the Alabama offensive coordinator was interested in the job. Continue Reading

Nonprofits file lawsuit in dispute over mailers

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Groups want federal judge to stop secretary of state’s attempt to require them to register as PACs This article has been updated. Two nonprofits filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday in an attempt to try to block efforts by the secretary of state and attorney general to force them to register as political committees or pay steep fines. The action was expected, as the nonprofits and government agencies reached an agreement several months ago to settle the issue in court. Tuesday’s lawsuit filed by SouthWest Organizing Project (SWOP) and the Center for Civic Policy’s New Mexico Youth Organized (NMYO) is their attempt to stop what the lawsuit calls the “chilling effect” the state agencies’ action has had on their right to free speech. “Although NMYO and SWOP do not intend to register as political committees, the defendant’s threats to impose civil and criminal sanctions on them if they fail to register has had, and continues to have, a chilling effect on NMYO’s and SWOP’s protected activities,” the lawsuit states, adding that the groups have ceased sending out what they call issue-based mailers “because they fear enforcement of the (Campaign Reporting) Act against them and the Act’s related criminal and civil penalties.” You can read the entire complaint, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque, by clicking here. Continue Reading

Guv keeps ducking questions about grand jury

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This article has been updated. Gov. Bill Richardson again ducked questions today about a federal grand jury investigation into the awarding of a lucrative state contract to a California company that made big contributions to political action committees he formed.It’s the second time the commerce secretary-designate has refused to talk about the probe. On Monday, Richardson also refused to answer a question about the probe from the New Mexico Independent’s Trip Jennings. Jennings and the Santa Fe New Mexican’s Steve Terrell were present for Richardson’s dodging of questions at a news conference held today on a separate topic. Richardson’s refusal to answer questions at the end of the news conference was recounted by Jennings in a blog posting this afternoon: “Richardson’s departure was quick. Continue Reading

Newspaper pretends big news isn’t news. Why?

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An Albuquerque Journal article published today had an interesting take on Monday’s news that the U.S. Attorney’s Office has convened a federal grand jury to investigate the awarding of a lucrative state contract to a California company that made big contributions to political action committees formed by Gov. Bill Richardson. The Journal article, which you can read by clicking here, called Monday’s report from Bloomberg.com — the first to publicly reveal the grand jury investigation — “old news,” at least “for the most part.” Why is that? Well, the Journal article goes on to recount the fact that the newspaper had already reported in August and again in October on the federal investigation into the fact that CDR Financial was paid more than $1.4 million on a contract it won in 2004 to advise the New Mexico Finance Authority on interest-rate swaps and other work related to a $1.6 billion transportation project. Meanwhile, in 2003 and 2004, CDR Financial gave $75,000 to Richardson’s political action committee Si Se Puede!, and the company’s head, David Rubin, gave $25,000 to Moving America Forward, another Richardson PAC. But there were two key facts revealed for the first time on Monday in the Bloomberg.com article and a second article published by the Washington Post, facts that had not previously been reported by the Journal. Continue Reading

Spaceport America clears another hurdle

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Spaceport America cleared another critical hurdle on Monday when the Federal Aviation Administration formally issued the state a license to operate a commercial spaceport.But to secure tens of millions of dollars in funding from the state and Doña Ana County for the $198 million facility, the spaceport authority must still ink a formal lease agreement with planned anchor tenant Virgin Galactic before the end of the year. State officials say they expect that to happen. Still, the issuing of the license is big news — another required step that had to happen before the end of the year for the funding to kick in under conditions set in place by the state Legislature and the county commission. The FAA approved both horizontal and vertical launches from the fledgling spaceport. “It’s an important day for New Mexico and the nation, as Spaceport America now adds to the United States’ launch infrastructure,” Daniela Glick, chair of the spaceport authority, said in a news release. Continue Reading

Bingaman to lead health care working group

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New Mexico’s U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman will replace Hillary Clinton as head of a health-care reform working group on insurance coverage.The move was announced Monday by Sen. Edward Kennedy, who chairs the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, of which the working group is part. Clinton, who like Bingaman is a Democrat, is resigning from her New York Senate seat to be President-elect Barack Obama’s secretary of state. “Sen. Bingaman is a longtime advocate of quality and affordable health care for the American people,” Kennedy said in a news release in which he also announced expanded roles on health care reform for other senators. “… We are all committed to working with the Obama Administration and our colleagues in Congress to finally give the American people the health care reforms they urgently need and deserve.” Bingaman pointed out that New Mexico has one of the highest rates in the nation of people without health care. “Furthermore, many New Mexicans that are fortunate enough to have health insurance struggle because the coverage may be very costly or may not provide comprehensive benefits,” Bingaman said in the release. Continue Reading

More attention on probe of Richardson donor

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The federal grand jury investigation I reported on earlier today into the awarding of a lucrative state contract to a California company that made big contributions to political action committees formed by Gov. Bill Richardson is starting to gain wider attention.The Bloomberg.com article upon which my earlier posting was based has been linked to all day from the widely-read Drudge Report. Perhaps more indicative that the mainstream media is picking up on the story is that the Washington Post published its own article on the investigation this afternoon. The Post’s article, which is currently featured prominently on the newspaper’s home page, included some new details. According to the newspaper, the probe is “in a highly active stage,” two “sources familiar with the matter” said. On Tuesday in Albuquerque, according to the Post, the grand jury is expected to hear testimony from several witnesses, including officials at J.P. Morgan, who worked with the state and CDR Financial, and from officials with Richardson’s political action committees. Continue Reading

Domenici closes Washington office

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U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici’s Washington office closed on Friday, and Domenici gave his last radio news conference today.Here’s the statement Domenici released in announcing the closing of his office: “This is a difficult day after all these years in the Senate, but I am upbeat about the change. I will be forever grateful to the people of New Mexico for sending me to Washington and for continuing to support me as I worked for them here,” Domenici said. “I have also been blessed over the years with a very loyal and talented staff, who worked hard to serve our state. “I have met with Sen.-elect Udall and my long-time friend Sen. Bingaman and have told them I am willing to help them where I can to advance the best interests of our state,” he said. “So, I again thank everyone. Continue Reading

Meet lt. guv hopeful Lawrence Rael

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Meet Lawrence Rael, executive director of the Mid-Region Council of Governments, who wants to be the state’s next lieutenant governor.He’s been involved in some high-profile projects, including getting the Rail Runner Express running and helping the state sort through the mess left in the wake of the housing authority scandal. David Alire Garcia, who co-hosts KNME’s New Mexico in Focus and is the managing editor of the New Mexico Independent (for which I also write), interviewed Rael for an episode of the TV show that aired this weekend. “Oh, absolutely,” Rael said when Garcia asked if he’s interested in being lieutenant governor. “I think I could offer her a great deal of experience and understanding about budgets, about government in general… I’d be very honored and delighted to do that job.” President-elect Barack Obama has nominated Gov. Bill Richardson to serve as commerce secretary in his administration. Assuming Richardson is confirmed by the Senate, Lt. Gov. Diane Denish will become governor and get to name her replacement. Continue Reading

Grand jury probes Richardson donor’s state contract

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This article has been updated. The U.S. Attorney’s Office has convened a federal grand jury to investigate dealings between the state and a California company that was paid almost $1.5 million for work related to a contract it won around the same time it donated $100,000 to political action committees formed by Gov. Bill Richardson.The grand jury probe comes after months of investigation by the FBI, whose agents, according to Bloomberg.com, have asked “current and former officials” from the New Mexico Finance Authority if any staffers in the governor’s office influenced the hiring of CDR Financial in 2004. The grand jury investigation was first reported on today by Bloomberg. “They’re looking at everything related to CDR,” William Sisneros, the finance agency’s chief executive officer, was quoted by Bloomberg as saying about the FBI investigation. “They’re just trying to evaluate all the relationships to see what CDR was doing for the money.” The company won a contract related to the massive transportation-funding plan Richardson dubbed GRIP — or Governor Richardson’s Investment Partnership — in 2004. Continue Reading

‘An issue they will be forced to confront’

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Local governments join guv in not doing enough to prepare for coming budget cuts The Las Cruces Sun-News’ Walt Rubel pointed out in a weekend column that local governments in Doña Ana County are doing little to help the state deal with a massive budget deficit over the next 18 months that’s approaching $1 billion — but, then again, neither is the governor who asked them to pitch in. Asked to cooperate with the state finance department’s efforts to identify some $200 million in capital outlay money that has already been approved but can be deauthorized, the City of Las Cruces came up with only one project — a skeet shooting range for which $65,000 had been set aside. While that isn’t much, it’s better than any other government within the county, because it was the only project any of them identified for deauthorization. The problem for the local governments is stated in a letter from the state Rubel quotes in his column: “Local governments that do not recommend capital appropriations for potential deauthorization will lose the opportunity to indicate which priority projects need to reach completion,” the letter states. Do these local governments think they are somehow going to escape cuts in already appropriated money when the Legislature and governor both want to cut those projects by $200 million? Continue Reading

Cisneros wins poll on Senate pro tem battle

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Carlos Cisneros narrowly won last week’s non-scientific poll asking who should be the state Senate’s president pro tem. Of 188 voters, 95, or 51 percent, picked Cisneros for the position, while 93, or 49 percent, picked Tim Jennings. Don’t forget to vote in the new non-scientific poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. It will stay up until the end of the year. Continue Reading

Senator says AG is stalling legal opinion

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McSorley wants King to explain interpretation of state’s definition of political committee; AG’s office says it’s working on itAlmost three months have passed since state Sen. Cisco McSorley asked Attorney General Gary King for an official opinion on how New Mexico defines political activity. Now McSorley says the AG is stalling. Although the attorney general still hasn’t responded to McSorley’s request, King’s office says any charges of stalling are unfounded. “The McSorley opinion is still being researched and drafted. No completion date has been set,” AG spokesman Phil Sisneros said. Continue Reading