Latest Stories

While out East, Richardson woos national press

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Gov. Bill Richardson wooed the national press during a breakfast Tuesday in Washington, D.C. The breakfast, sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor, has already resulted in a couple of positive profiles of the potential 2008 presidential candidate. “… he gave reporters a preview of the distinctive campaign he’d run – and how much he’d differ from likely rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York,” wrote Steven Thomma of McClatchy Newspapers. “He boasts a decidedly different résumé. He’s arguably more candidate. And he’s definitely funnier.” The Monitor wrote a balanced article that included this statement: “Although he is running for reelection, Richardson felt confident enough to take time out for a swing through several Eastern states to campaign for Democratic gubernatorial candidates.” Richardson told reporters at the breakfast he is confident Democrats will take control of the House of Representatives and a majority of governorships, in part because of frustration over the war in Iraq. Continue Reading

Elections task force releases critical report

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Doña Ana County’s elections bureau suffers from “relatively high turnover, low morale and a lack of organizational cohesion,” according to the highly anticipated election task force report released Tuesday. “The problems have resulted in failure to apply the election code properly, inconsistent training of poll workers, and canvassing delays that have damaged the public image of the election process in Doña Ana County,” the report states. Click here to read the entire report. The highly critical report found problems with almost every aspect of operations and structure of the county’s Bureau of Elections. The task force made several recommendations in the report, including: • the hiring of a qualified elections supervisor. Continue Reading

Richardson to blame for debate falling through

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There may not be a gubernatorial debate this year after all because Gov. Bill Richardson doesn’t want a lot of people seeing it. Richardson had tentatively agreed Monday to one debate at Congregation Albert in Albuquerque on Oct. 15, but insisted that the debate not be televised. When his Republican opponent, John Dendahl, wouldn’t budge on the television issue, the debate fell through. Richardson’s campaign manager, according to the Albuquerque Tribune, said Dendahl would launch negative attacks rather than focusing on the issues, and said such attacks would be a disservice to viewers. Continue Reading

Despite glitches, officials upbeat about first launch

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Though there were some problems, officials were upbeat about Monday’s launch from Spaceport America. “We inaugurated a spaceport today,” said UP Aerospace CFO Bill Heiden at a post-launch briefing Monday night in Las Cruces. “This was not a perfect flight, but it was an overwhelmingly successful launch.” The day began with a failed transponder – a piece of equipment that helps officials find the rocket after it lands. Fixing that problem delayed the launch more than six hours. The launch itself went perfectly, but the rocket corkscrewed and then veered off course shortly after launch, and failed to reach space. Continue Reading

Officials optimistic about first rocket launch

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A group of about 200 people gathered Sunday evening at the Hilton Las Cruces for a briefing that revealed the historic nature of today’s planned first launch from Spaceport America northeast of Las Cruces. One of the experiments going into space, which will measure the effect of time on watches, was designed by a group of middle- and high-school students, including sixth graders from St. Paul, Minn. who were in attendance at the briefing. Payloads on the rocket will travel into space in containers designed and manufactured by high-school students. Continue Reading

Scandal leads to independent movements, reform

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On the National level, the Unity08 movement threatens to shake up the two-party system and the extreme partisan split plaguing our nation. In New Mexico, a group has formed that might similarly shake up state politics. Independent Voters of New Mexico’s aim is to elect a split ticket of candidates in the November general election to prevent one-party domination of government at the state and national levels, according to the Associated Press. “This is a chance for people who don’t want to associate their names with any party to be active and make sure their votes will make a difference,” Abraham Gutmann, founder of the political action committee, told the news service. “It’s not in the interests of independents to have any one party dominate any single level of government.” Independents are the fastest growing segment of voters in New Mexico, and with good reason. Continue Reading