Morning Word: Los Alamos Grad Elected President of Croatia

Legislature starts one week from today

M

adam president. Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovicwas earned a 3.9 grade point average at Los Alamos High School and was elected to the homecoming court in Los Alamos. Now she's the first female elected president of Croatia. We have to wonder if that has Gov. Susana Martinez dreaming.

It's Tuesday, January 13, 2015

The1986 Hilltopper was elected on Sunday. The position is viewed by many as largely ceremonial, but Sunday’s results are considered a barometer of voter sentiment ahead of parliamentary elections later this year.

Carol Clark has more at the Los Alamos Daily Post.

Gov. Martinez plans to advance her education reform agenda in her own $6.3 billion budget proposal. She unveiled her plan at an elementary school in Las Cruces on Monday. Read more at the Las Cruces Sun-News.  Budget highlights at the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Senate Finance Committee member Howie Morales, D-Silver City, is keeping a close eye on the budget as new revenues from oil and gas continue to decline. He's also concerned that much of the money allocated for education isn’t reaching the classroom.

Morales told reporter Susan Dunlap he will carry about 20 bills in the upcoming session. Read more at the Silver City Sun-News.  Middle schooler Nathaniel Tavarez who was blinded after he was shot by a classmate a year ago in Roswell gave KOB 4 his first television interview.

See it online.  Basketball fans in Eastern New Mexico are mourning the death of Clovis Coach JD Isler after he was killed in a car crash. Read more at the News Journal.  Criminal charges for child abuse, DWI and even possession of cocaine could hurt the chances of four Las Vegas school board candidates. Read more at The Optic.  Like around most of the state, the Ruidoso stream forecast is below normal this year. Read more at the News Journal.  More than 60 percent of Albuquerque area water now comes from the Rio Grande. John Fleck has detail at the ABQ Journal.
New Mexico lawmakers will consider a bill to legalize the farming and production of hemp around the state .

Read it at the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Carlsbad Current-Argus
Columnist Bob Hagan wonders as state after state legalizes marijuana if New Mexico will be next.

Read Hagan's take here. Naloxone, an overdose drug, is credited with saving hundreds of people's lives in New Mexico. KUNM has the story. Public Service Company of New Mexico executives are disputing allegations made by former plant manager Gregory Smith that he was ordered to cut maintenance costs to boost the utility’s profits.

Read more at the Alamogordo News.  State government reporter Steve Terrell followed up his weekend column on former secretary of state staffer Rod Adair after he was asked to provide examples of so-called advocacy journalism. Read more at Roundhouse Roundup.  Terrell’s colleague at the Santa Fe New Mexican , Milan Simonich blogs lawmakers have a real chance to reform the state’s criminal justice system. Read it at Ringside Seat. As expected Monday, 2nd Judicial District Attorney Kari Brandenburg filed paperwork charging Albuquerque police officer Dominique Perez and recently retired APD Detective Keith Sandy with open counts of murder in connection with the shooting death of James Boyd in April. A state district court judge will scheduled a preliminary hearing. If probable cause is determined the men will be bound over for a trial. Watch the story on KRQE.  Sandy’s attorney Sam Bregman called it a “terrible, terrible decision.” “We plan on clearing his name through the judicial process now that the district attorney has made the bad decision to drag him through this process.” Read it at the ABQ Journal.  Boyd’s family, who has filed a civil lawsuit in the death of their brother, says they’ll be watching the officer’s preliminary hearing closely. Civil rights attorney Shannon Kennedy, who represents the Boyd family, says having lapel camera footage from police officer involved shootings is critical.

Law enforcement analysts said this could be one of the first instances in which footage from a wearable camera would be used as evidence in a murder case against an officer. See more on KOB 4.  Albuquerque police union representatives don’t agree with Brandenburg’s charging decision either. While many think they know exactly what happened on the mountain that day because they saw a short snippet on video, the simple truth is that lapel cameras cannot capture the entirety of any situation and there is so much more to this story that will come out in court.

Read more online.

The charging information made national news. Here’s how the New York Times covered the story.

Read it at the New York Times.

Political blogger Joe Monahan and his alligators have considered the political implication of Brandeburg's charging decision and Democratic Party Chairman Sam Bregman's decision to represent Keith Sandy. Read their analysis here. New Mexico State University’s Chile Pepper Institute has introduced a new red chile powder that make it easier to prepare tasty hot sauces for our enchiladas. Read more at the Las Cruces Sun-News.  Several school openings are on two-hour delays this morning as a winter storm moves across much of the state bring snow and rain.

Check for weather related closings and delays here. 

Letters to the Editor

Mail letters to PO Box 4910 Santa Fe, NM 87502 or email them to editor[at]sfreporter.com. Letters (no more than 200 words) should refer to specific articles in the Reporter. Letters will be edited for space and clarity.

We also welcome you to follow SFR on social media (on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) and comment there. You can also email specific staff members from our contact page.