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Thursday afternoon I hosted the third New Mexico Blog Radio show and spoke with Matt Brix, a policy analyst who serves on the governor’s task force on ethics reform. We had a good discussion about what’s been happening and how the current effort to reach out to lawmakers will be different than last year’s. You can listen to or download the 30-minute podcast by clicking here. Continue Reading
Members of the U.S. Senate failed to overcome deep divisions over how to reform the nation’s immigration system, and the proposal was shelved Thursday night with no timeline to bring it back to the forefront. After a first test vote on the bill failed 33-63 earlier Thursday, a second vote to end debate and schedule a final vote received only 45 favorable votes. It needed 60. U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., part of a bipartisan group that proposed the plan, voted against ending debate and scheduling a final vote on the bill. “Democrats are refusing to allow votes on amendments to the legislation on the Senate floor,” Domenici said. Continue Reading
New polls show Gov. Bill Richardson has gained ground in head-to-head competition against the two GOP frontrunners for their party’s presidential nomination, but that’s not entirely due to an increase in his popularity. Richardson’s gains are partially due to “soft support for the leading GOP candidates,” according to the Rasmussen Reports article that accompanies its newest survey results. In the survey, Richardson trails Rudy Giuliani 43 percent to 39 percent. He trails John McCain 43 percent to 38 percent. In April, he trailed Giuliani 51 to 34 percent. Continue Reading
The new chair of the Democratic Party of New Mexico has decided to seek applicants for the position of executive director. The current director, Matt Farrauto, can reapply, but others can also seek the job. Party Chair Brian Colón announced the job posting in an e-mail Wednesday evening. The job description and more information can be found here. Farrauto has been executive director for 18 months and was communications director for 18 months before that, but it’s not unusual for a new party chair to bring in a new director. Continue Reading
A proposal to reform the nation’s immigration system is on life support after it failed to pass an important test vote earlier today. That came after the Senate, by one vote, opted shortly after midnight to add an amendment that would eliminate the nation’s guest-worker program after five years. You might recall that, days ago, the Senate approved an amendment by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., to cut the guest worker program in half, from 400,000 to 200,000. Bingaman’s successful proposal followed the Senate’s vote against a proposed amendment from Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D, to eliminate the guest-worker program altogether. The new amendment approved this morning came from Dorgan. Continue Reading
The state’s new law limiting gifts to public officials doesn’t prohibit two lawmakers from traveling to the Netherlands on a lobbyist’s dime to learn about a uranium enrichment plant similar to one being constructed in Southeast New Mexico, the attorney general says. The new act, which takes effect next Friday, prohibits public officials and candidates for state and local offices from accepting gifts with a value of more than $100 during legislative sessions and $250 the rest of the year. It also prohibits lobbyists from giving gifts whose combined value total more than $1,000 to any official or candidate each year. Reps. William Gray of Artesia and Shirley Tyler of Lovington, both Republicans, asked Attorney General Gary King for an opinion on whether the trip would be prohibited under the new law. Continue Reading
I just got back from spending about an hour on the radio with the new host of The Morning Show on KSNM-AM 570. Alan Riehl seems to be an intelligent, friendly person. Today was his first day on the air after Michael Swickard and Radio Las Cruces, the station’s parent company, parted ways on Tuesday. He’s still learning the setup, and there were a few kinks, but I think he’ll fill in nicely. Riehl, 43, was born and raised in El Paso but came to Las Cruces in 1999. Continue Reading
At 4:30 p.m. today, I’ll be hosting the third New Mexico Blog Radio show. Matt Brix, a policy analyst who serves on the governor’s task force on ethics reform, will be the guest. Brix and I will be discussing ethics in state government and some proposals for reform. If you haven’t experienced it before, blog talk radio is like conventional talk radio, only it’s on the Internet. You visit a Web site and listen through your computer. Continue Reading
Former Doña Ana County Magistrate Judge Reuben Galvan has been charged with drunken driving. Galvan was arrested Sunday in El Paso County, according to online records. He faces a misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated. He was released from jail Monday after posting a $200 bond. Galvan has two prior DWI convictions in New Mexico from 1983 and 1990. Continue Reading
Angela Kurz, a photographer who runs the site CrucesLive.com, took these photos Tuesday at the launching of the Spanish-language V-me network at KRWG-TV’s studio in Las Cruces. V-me is the nation’s only Spanish-language public television network. The first photo is of Lt. Gov. Diane Denish. The second is of state Sen. Leonard Lee Rawson of Las Cruces. Kurz, a German immigrant, has an interesting take on Spanish-language television and other materials and government programs that aren’t in English. Continue Reading
The nation’s largest Spanish-language network has invited presidential candidates from both parties to attend debates conducted in Spanish, and Gov. Bill Richardson is the first to accept. Univision plans to hold the Democratic and Republican candidate debates on two Sundays in September. They would be held in Miami and would likely focus on immigration, the Los Angeles Times is reporting. The Democratic debate is scheduled for Sept. 9 at the University of Miami. Continue Reading
Stan Rounds is no longer the interim superintendent of the Las Cruces Public Schools. That’s because on Tuesday night the school board voted 4-1 to remove “interim” from his title. It’s a move that could eventually mean the board decides against conducting a search it previously planned for a superintendent to replace Rounds. When board members hired Rounds in February, they planned to keep him as interim superintendent for at least a year to allow the district time to stabilize after years of turmoil, then begin the search for a permanent superintendent. Since coming on, Rounds has impressed many, and the board has been pleased with his work. Continue Reading
Doña Ana County Commissioner Bill McCamley wants his peers to approve a resolution supporting the postponement of oil and gas drilling on the Otero Mesa until a study of the water underneath it is complete. The delay has the support of three of New Mexico’s elected officials in Washington – Democratic Sen. Jeff Bingaman and Rep. Tom Udall and Republican Sen. Pete Domenici – who have all asked the Bush Administration to put off leasing the land. U.S. Rep. and Hobbs oilman Steve Pearce, R-N.M., whose district includes the Otero Mesa, has thus far been silent on the issue. McCamley, a Democrat, is vying for the right to take on Pearce next year, but so is Al Kissling. McCamley said the resolution, which commissioners will consider on Tuesday, is not politically motivated. Continue Reading
Today marks the start of a weekly column on this site by Carter Bundy. If you missed last week’s announcement, read it by clicking here. By Carter Bundy So Heath has been kind enough to offer me a regular space on his blog. Sweet. First dilemma: come up with a catchy name for the column. Continue Reading
By Whitney Cheshire Jails, taxes, lies, bloggers, candidates who can’t read a voting record… Will the GOP stay mum? Welcome to Campaign Albuquerque 2007! We’re going to stick with Albuquerque stuff today, because it really doesn’t get any better than this! By now, you know that the Albuquerque City Council handed Mayor and gubernatorial candidate Martin Chávez a stiff defeat on Monday when it overrode his veto, keeping in place $9 million for jail funding. On a 6-3 vote that crossed party lines, a majority of the council said “No” to Mayor Marty and his latest attempt to funnel public safety dollars into his special projects. Continue Reading