Morning Word: Papen Calls For A Vote On Skandera

Plus a zipply little Tuesday morning feature

T

ime to vote on an education chief and discuss mental health issues around the state. New Mexico Senate President Pro-Tem Mary Kay Papen may be 82, but she's fired up and ready for the 2015 Legislature. Plus, you'll want to read to the bottom for a "zippy" Morning Word surprise.

It's Tuesday, January 06, 2015

Sen. Papen, D-Las Cruces, says too much time has been wasted preventing the confirmation of Gov. Susana Martinez’s Public Education Department Secretary-designate Hannah Skandera. She suggests, “We just need to get on with it.” No word from Senate Rules Committee Chair Linda Lopez on when she plans to hold a confirmation hearing. Read Russell Contreras story at the Deming Highlight. Sen. Papen and Doña Ana County District Attorney Mark D'Antonio plan to host a town hall meeting in Las Cruces tonight to discuss the state’s mental health crisis. Papen will introduce legislation this year that will allow health care professionals to take people in for evaluations and provide early intervention resources. Civil Rights advocates plan to oppose the measure. Read more at the Las Cruces Sun-News. As New Mexico legislators prepare to consider Gov. Susana Martinez’s call to repeal a law that authorizes driver’s licenses for immigrants in New Mexico, immigrants in California are lining up to get new licenses. Read more at the Alamogordo Daily News. Hundreds of renewable energy advocates rallied against the Public Service Company of New Mexico’s energy replacement power plan outside the Public Regulation Commission on Monday. KUNM's Rita Daniels has audio. All that New Year’s Day snow we got won’t put a dent in the Southwest’s 12 year drought.

Details at the Navajo Times. Still the storms have brought much needed moisture to San Juan County. Read it at the Farmington Daily Times. The U.S. Department of Energy says more needs to be done to improve ventilation for workers at the federal government's underground nuclear waste repository in southern New Mexico. Read the Associated Press clip here. Patrick Malone also has a story on the new report that criticizes the WIPP site’s emergency operation plans.

Read it at the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Science Reporter Laura Paskus has a blog post about the Washington Post's story on New Mexico’s huge methane gas problem. Paskus also posted videos produced by nonprofit group Earthworks that show gas emission leaks normally invisible to the naked eye. See them online here. New Mexico Mercury's

V.B. Prices hopes 2015 becomes an environmental turning point in the Land of Enchantment.

Read Price's view here. The New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission wants a retired man who filed an Open Meetings Act violation complaint against it to pay it for costs it incurred after a meeting was on the Gila River Diversion plan was temporarily halted.

The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government told Albuquerque Journal Reporter John Fleck that the agency's unprecedented action could have a chilling effect on citizens who wish to hold government accountable. Read it Up Front. A 1960 era pipeline that shutdown Carlsbad Caverns last week after it was damaged by freezing temperatures will be replaced. Read more at the Carlsbad Current-Argus. State Rep. Dennis Roch, R-Logan, who serves as the Logan Municipal Schools Superintendent says he thinks Common Core with help students.

Roch says the state is still on track to spend more on education in 2015 than it did in 2014 despite a decline in oil prices that could impact the state's overall budget. Read it at the Quay County Sun. Former US Energy Secretary and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is predicting oil prices could drop to $43 a barrel. Read it at KOB 4. Albuquerque Police Department sources told broadcast journalist Tina Jensen they don’t have many tips, but they are investigating one “person of interest” in the Saturday morning shooting of veteran cop Lou Golson. So far no arrests have been made.

See more at KRQE.

APD officers like Golson, who are shot or injured on the job, can only earn up to 960 hours (about half a year) of paid sick leave while they heal. What’s worse, up to now the time law enforcement officers, firefighters, and other emergency personnel around the state spend recovering doesn't count toward their retirement pensions. Rep. Paul Pacheco, R-Albuquerque, a retired police officer himself, wants to change that. He’s introduced a bill to eliminate what is called “dead time.” See more at KOAT. A political playmaker in Española is getting a hefty pay raise. Elias Fresquez was investigated by former KOB Investigator and Anchor Gadi Schwartz and me in 2012 for offering booze to Rio Arriba County voters in exchange for votes for a slate of his candidates. Read it at the Rio Grande Sun. The Urban Institute has ranked New Mexico the 2nd most dangerous state in the country right behind Alaska. New Mexico's violent crime rate went up almost 7 percent between 2012 and 2013. The statistics come out to about 597 violent crimes per 100,000 residents. New Mexico also has the second highest poverty rate in the nation. SFR's Joey Peter's has the details. The woman who alleges she was sold as a sex slave to Britan’s Prince Andrew also claims she had sex with one of OJ Simpson’s former defense attorneys during a billionaire’s orgies at a ranch near Santa Fe while she was a teenager. Read more at KOAT. The Apache Wind Rider ZipTour

opened to the public in full force on Sunday at Ski Apache. It looks like fun and something to look forward to as we zip toward the weekend.

See the video at the Ruidoso News.

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