Morning Word: Amtrak Service Still at Risk in NM

It's Friday, June 12, 2015

Just like the Rail Runner in New Mexico, Amtrak officials told Congress that they can’t afford those expensive safety upgrades required to automate speed and other train functions. That means the Southwest Chief’s route, which runs between Chicago and Los Angeles, could still be terminated.

After a 5-year dispute, Wells Fargo Bank has agreed to settle a lawsuit with the Public Employees Retirement Association for $50 million. PERA claimed it lost more than $90 million in 2008 when the former Wachovia Bank invested its money in structured investment vehicles, which banks used “in order to get assets off their books.” Those kinds of investments, according to analysts, were the first investments to fail when the recession hit.

Maggie Shepard reports that New Mexico Supreme Court Justice Richard Bosson, 71, plans to retire this fall.

Two former Las Cruces Police Department officers, accused of beating a suspect in a holding cell last December, have been indicted.

Four New Mexico police officers have been disciplined by the state’s Law Enforcement Academy Board, chaired by Attorney General Hector Balderas, including a Santa Fe cop who resigned a month after a dashboard video showed him tackling a Santa Fe taxicab driver.

Less than a month after District Attorney Kari Brandenburg asked Balderas to investigate the validity of some Albuquerque police officers' training and certifications, an attorney is challenging a citation issued to a downtown bar owner for a noise ordinance violation. It could be just the tip of the iceberg. Attorney Franziska Ortega-Moore says APD should be “terrified” about the possible impact of the invalid certifications, but a spokesman for the department says a whistleblower’s claims are unsubstantiated. The AG is continuing to review the merits.

Felony charges have been dismissed against the Santa Fe Public Schools teacher who allegedly threw a book at a student; she will have her contract renewed and be back in class at De Vargas Middle School this fall.

US Sen. Tom Udall, D-New Mexico, wants the Agriculture and Commerce departments to put together a priority plan to expand broadband Internet access in rural communities, where deployment of the fast service is lagging.

Heath Haussamen’s summer intern, Grace Cowie, is online this morning with a preview of this fall’s municipal elections in Las Cruces and Albuquerque.

It looks like a Denver newspaper is once again heating up the debate over who has the best green chile: Colorado or New Mexico. Of course, we already know New Mexico’s peppers are unmatched.

Looking for something fun and interesting to do this weekend? Check out SFR’s

here. And we’ll see you right back here for the Monday Morning Word.

Santa Fe Reporter