Latest Stories

Santa Fe-centered coin commission considering four Zia symbol designs for state quarter

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The four designs being considered for the state’s quarter all center around the Zia symbol, but even more interesting to people who don’t live in Santa Fe might be the fact that five of the six members of the state’s coin commission, appointed by Gov. Bill Richardson, are from Santa Fe. The sixth is District Judge Fernando Macias of Las Cruces. The commission had also been considering designs that included ristras, a mushroom cloud and space aliens, but has narrowed the choice to four variations of the Zia symbol on top of the state, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican. Click here to read the newspaper’s article. You’ll also be able to view the four designs under consideration. Continue Reading

LCPS election sees few problems, few voters

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It appears to be a rather uneventful Election Day for the Las Cruces Public Schools. On one hand, that’s good: It means there haven’t been that many problems. One the other hand, it means voter turnout isn’t that high. But it never has been for school board elections. As of 2 p.m., 84 people had cast votes at Highland Elementary School in the District 5 race between incumbent Sharon Wooden and challengers Connie Phillips and David Morgan. That’s out of almost 2,600 registered voters assigned to that polling place. Continue Reading

UNM law school dean rebuffs governor in dispute over state’s judicial nominating process

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There’s a fight brewing between Gov. Bill Richardson and the woman in charge of the state’s judicial nominating system. At issue is the fact that a judicial nominating commission in Carlsbad, in January, recommended only one candidate to Richardson for appointment to an open district judge seat. The law requires commissions to interview applicants and recommend candidates to the governor. If the governor doesn’t like the options, he is allowed to ask, once, for the commission to meet again and send him additional recommendations from the original list of applicants. The system is designed so that a bipartisan group of legal professionals weed out applicants who aren’t suited to be judges before politics enter into the picture with the appointment by the governor. Continue Reading

School board elections are running smoothly

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The three school board elections in Doña Ana County appear to be running smoothly. Elections staffers, poll workers and candidates I’ve been able to reach have reported few problems and, at least in the Gadsden Independent School District, an unusually high voter turnout for a school board election. That isn’t surprising: The south-county community has been very active in its school district since recalling four of five board members a few years ago after they fired popular Superintendent Ron Haugen. The state appointed new board members, who reinstated Haugen. Those new board members are up for re-election today. In Sunland Park, more than 50 people had voted before 11 a.m. – not a huge percentage of the 3,367 registered voters who are assigned to that polling place, but a far higher number than in past years. In that race, District 1 Board Member Manuela Huerta is challenged by Luz Vargas-Troncoso, the recalled former board member Huerta replaced. Continue Reading

Check out ABQTrib interview with Richardson

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The Albuquerque Tribune unveiled today a long-sought interview with Gov. Bill Richardson. The Tribune’s managing editor and politics reporter had been publicly haranguing Richardson since he announced his run on Jan. 21 for not responding to their requests for an interview. The interview covers a wide range of topics related to his presidential run, his character, and questions about fundraising during the Legislative session and his conduct toward women. Click here to read a transcript of the lengthy interview, or you can watch it by clicking here. Continue Reading

Denish, Chávez aren’t the only 2010 candidates

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Diane Denish and Marty Chávez had better watch out. The dark-horse candidate in the 2010 gubernatorial race is from Las Cruces. His name is Thomas E. Fry and he’s an elderly government watchdog who spends lots of time at government meetings and writing letters to the editors of newspapers. I came across his car Monday at the meeting of the Doña Ana County Board of Commissioners. Here’s what I found: If you want to know more about Fry, you can read an article he wrote about good government by clicking here. Continue Reading

It’s Richardson meet-up day across the nation

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Grassroots supporters of Gov. Bill Richardson’s presidential run from across the nation plan to meet today to organize local events to promote his candidacy and push for support in Iowa, Nevada and New Hampshire. Though there is such a group in the Albuquerque area, there isn’t one in Southern New Mexico. You can search the list of Richardson groups from across the nation by clicking here. Richardson, who has been silently building a base of Internet supporters for months, plans to participate in conference calls with several of the groups today, his deputy campaign manager told the Albuquerque Journal. Amanda Cooper expects about 100 people at the meet-up in Boston, and another 35 at one in Minnesota, for example. Continue Reading

Cockfighting ban heads to Senate floor

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A bill that would outlaw cockfighting in New Mexico is headed to the Senate floor after the Judiciary Committee passed it this afternoon, but not without first making a change. Senate Bill 10, sponsored by Sen. Mary Jane Garcia, D-Doña Ana, was approved by a vote of 7-3. As proposed by Garcia and passed last week by the Senate Conservation Committee, the bill made cockfighting a fourth-degree felony punishable by up to 18 months in prison. As amended before today’s vote, the bill now makes cockfighting a misdemeanor on a first offense, punishable by less than one year in prison, and a fourth-degree felony after that. Garcia took the amendment as friendly. Continue Reading

Committee approves housing authority overhaul

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A bill that would overhaul the state’s affordable housing system cleared its first hurdle Friday evening, but still has a long way to go before approval. Senate Bill 519, sponsored by Sen. Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, would, over a period of several months, shut down the state’s scandal-plagued regional housing authorities and replace them with an affordable housing system overseen by the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority. The bill would also provide for audits of each of the seven housing authority regions to determine the extent of the mismanagement first revealed last year when Frances Williams, a member of the Las Cruces-based Region VII board, complained about problems. Several weeks after she went public, the Region III authority, based in Albuquerque, defaulted on $5 million in bonds it owed to the state. Papen’s bill has the blessing of Gov. Bill Richardson, but had been assigned to three Senate committees, which many legislators say is a common tactic designed to slow or kill bills that don’t have political support. The bill, however, passed the Senate Public Affairs Committee on a 4-1 vote on Friday. Continue Reading

Commission formally censures treasurer, demands restitution for illegal use of county resources

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The Doña Ana County Board of Commissioners voted today to formally reprimand Treasurer Jim Schoonover for illegally using county staff and equipment to benefit the Elks Lodge and other issues, and to demand that he reimburse the county $1,500. Commissioners voted 4-1, with Kent Evans casting the dissenting vote, for the formal censure. The vote came after Schoonover, through his attorney Paul Rubino, refused to respond to a multitude of charges of improper and illegal conduct. Rubino said he would not do so because County Attorney John Caldwell accused his client last year of committing a felony crime by purchasing, with county money, pencils that were similar to his campaign materials. “I told him to say nothing. Continue Reading

Commission formalizes April 3 spaceport tax vote

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Following almost two hours of public debate, the Doña Ana County Board of Commissioners formally approved a resolution today that will allow voters to decide on April 3 whether they want to increase the gross receipts tax 1/4 percent to help fund Spaceport America. On a vote of 4-1 with Oscar Vasquez Butler in opposition, commissioners voted to send the question to voters. Commissioner Bill McCamley, one of the primary supporters of the spaceport tax increase, said voters should approve the tax if they want the spaceport to be built. The money raised by the tax will be significant not just because it helps with construction, but also because it proves to companies that this community is committed to the project. Without such a commitment, companies will go elsewhere where they will receive it, he said, and a spaceport won’t ever be built in Southern New Mexico. “It’s about this community saying we’re going to put our money where our mouth is,” McCamley said. Continue Reading

Richardson well received at DNC winter meeting

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Gov. Bill Richardson impressed many party insiders during a speech he gave Saturday at the Democratic National Committee’s winter meeting. Richardson spoke about topics that have become common to his campaign, including bringing troops home from Iraq, supporting unions, and his own foreign-policy credentials. Click here to read the Albuquerque Journal’s article on the event, and here to read about it from the Associated Press. If you’re so inclined, below is video of his speech, in two parts, and the text of the entire speech. Before the video, here are a few more links. Continue Reading

LCPS board candidates discuss controversial policy that grants course credit to some student athletes

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While the Las Cruces Public Schools Board of Education’s efforts to find a permanent superintendent have exploded twice in recent years, the controversial issue of whether high school athletes should receive course credit for practicing their sports has simmered. But it’s an issue that board members who are elected on Tuesday will have to address in the next four years. Early voting has ended, but polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. It’s too late to apply for an absentee ballot. Those who have already requested absentee ballots must return them by the time polls close. Currently, many LCPS athletes who participate in major high school sports including football, volleyball and basketball can earn course credit for practicing. Continue Reading

Poll: Legislators shouldn’t seek Bush impeachment

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A majority of those who voted in last week’s non-scientific poll on this site said state legislators should not pass a resolution calling for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Out of 154 voters, 88, or 57 percent, said lawmakers should not approve the resolution, while 66, or 43 percent, said they should. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading

Richardson speaks tomorrow at DNC meeting

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Gov. Bill Richardson is scheduled to speak at the winter meeting of the Democratic National Committee on Saturday, but, as an Albuquerque Journal reporter notes, his campaign appeared to be absent from today’s events. Five of the party’s nine declared 2008 presidential candidates, and retired Gen. Wesley Clark, who has not yet announced, spoke today to the group. You can read about today’s events by clicking here. Richardson is scheduled to speak tomorrow. But as the Journal’s Michael Coleman notes, Richardson “seemed to be the only candidate without a campaign table in the Hilton lobby” where the conference is being held. Continue Reading