Morning Word: Stefanics Prepares Senate Campaign

County Commissioner wants seat she lost to Phil Griego

Good Morning. It's Wednesday, September 9, 2015.

Stefanics Ready to Campaign

Santa Fe County Commissioner Liz Stefanics has formally announced her state senate campaign. She wants the District 39 seat she won in 1992. Stefanics was ousted just four years later in 1996 by

in March just a few months after a series of SFR stories led to an ethics probe.

Strong Words

In Santa Fe, a group of Baptist ministers is speaking up in defense of Kim Davis, the county clerk in Kentucky who was jailed over the weekend for contempt of court after refusing to issue marriage certificates to same-sex couples. One of the ministers says

to America than terrorists. Other members of faith in the community say they disagree with that bold assessment.

Quick Fix

Catholic Church parishioners and priests around the state are welcoming Pope Francis’ decision to

for broken marriages.

Martinez: Duran Should Resign

Yesterday, The New York Times published a long piece on some of the state’s recent political scandals. Meanwhile, Gov. Susana Martinez told KOB she believes Secretary of State Dianna Duran should resign

.

Brockovich Challenges Students

Environmental activist Erin Brockovich met with Navajo Nation leaders to discuss the impact of the Gold King Mine on their summer crops. While she was in the state, she also met with students in Shiprock to encourage them to

.

Getting Close

Virgin Galactic’s CEO George Whitesides is optimistic that the space tourism company is back on track after a crash last year. Engineers, he says, are

to testing new rocket engines, and a new spacecraft should be completed in about two months.

Best Schools

This probably doesn’t come as a surprise, but a new report ranks schools in the Los Alamos School District the

. The ratings are primarily based on students' math and reading scores on state assessment tests. Other factors, like student-teacher ratio, are also factored in.

Hidden Records

A records custodian who was fired by the Albuquerque Police Department plans to file a lawsuit against the embattled department. Reynaldo Chavez claims he was regularly told by command staff and a city attorney to

. When he told top brass that was illegal, he was put on leave and ultimately fired last month.

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