The Senate confirmation saga of Hanna Skandera
, the Santa Fe New Mexican reports.---
- The Albuquerque Journal
- looked at some cities that say they will have to raise taxes
- because of a recent tax package passed by the legislature.
- Another edition of sequestration hitting home.
- Two regional airport towers in New Mexico are among the 149 that will be closed
- because of the forced spending cuts.
The FAA on Friday announced it will close 149 regional airport control towers including those at Santa Fe and the Double Eagle II in Albuquerque because of forced spending cuts.
- There are
- allegations of bribery in the Central Consolidated School District in San Juan County
- .
The New Mexico Attorney General's Office currently is reviewing a complaint that Superintendent Don Levinski may have given several school board members under-the-table payments, according to documents obtained by The Daily Times under an open records request.
District officials deny any wrongdoing.- The Republican Party of New Mexico says that they launched their 2014 campaign season with their Lincoln Day Dinner with guests RNC chairman Reince Priebus and George P. Bush.
- "2014 is a critical election in New Mexico, and we must work tirelessly to retain our elected Republicans at all levels and expand our seats—especially now that the State House of Representatives is in play," party chairman John Billingsley said in a statement. "We are grateful to George P. Bush, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, Congressman Steve Pearce, and all of our sponsors for making this year’s Lincoln Day Dinner a huge success."
- Capitol Report New Mexico was on the scene
- .
Priebus did not talk to the local media before his speech and afterwards as he and his entourage hurried to catch a flight, Priebus was approached by New Mexico Watchdog and James Monteleone of the Albuquerque Journal. When asked by New Mexico Watchdog if he could answer one quick question, Priebus said, “Uh, I’m not going to do that guys,” shutting the door of the SUV.
- The
- Albuquerque Journal as well
- :
“We need to talk to people, we need to get into the community, we need to be granular, we need to do it year-round and we need to fight for what we believe in,” he said.
Priebus, however, made no mention during his remarks Saturday about how the party can better connect with Hispanic voters in New Mexico or be more welcoming to the gay community, as recommended by the party’s status report released on Monday. Following the event, Priebus declined questions from the Journal and other media outlets.- While University of New Mexico coach Steve Alford recieved a large raise,
- university faculty and staff have gone more than four years without a raise
- . Alford is paid from a different pot of money than the faculty and staff.
- A
- proposed ban of fracking in Rio Arriba County failed after industry lobbying
- , the Farmington Daily-Times reports.
- President Barack Obama named Rio Grande del Norte
- a national monument
- , something backed by both U.S. Senators and the U.S. Representative who represents the area.
- Sen. Tom Udall
- will host a celebration for the Rio Grande del Norte national monument designation
- today in Taos.
- Veteran newsman V.B. Price
- is starting the New Mexico Mercury
- .
- Hal Rhoades
- says the legislature trying to exempt itself from the Inspection of Public Records Act is "utter nonsense."
- The Los Alamos Monitor
- spoke to Rep. Stephanie Garcia Richard, D-Los Alamos
- , about her first legislative session. The drivers license issue came up, of course.
Compromise was a word used by our Gov. Martinez and Democrats alike throughout the session, but I saw very little desire to build consensus and do good work both sides of the aisle could be proud of. The game of ‘gotcha politics’ played by the Governor’s political operatives and their relentless attempts to spread lies throughout the district this session regarding my votes, left me with an unsettled feeling.
The truth is that the bill Gov. Martinez insisted was a compromise on drivers licenses would have left out a portion of residents who are legally here and have obtained federally recognized residency. The fact that the governor was unwilling to correct this grave error is just further proof that this specific issue was only used as a ploy for future elections.- The Albuquerque Journal reports that there is a
- "bottleneck" in commercializing technology that comes out of the national labs
- .
- Albuquerque mayor Richard Berry
- signed a $115 million bond package
- , the Albuquerque Journal reports.
- Fire restrictions
- could be happening soon, the Ruidoso News reports
- .
- The Rio Rancho governing body (think: city council) is at it at again; they want to
- do some significant changes to the city zoning code
- .
Proposed Rio Rancho zoning ordinance changes would give property owners more freedom, provide for more parking spaces for businesses and forbid new neighborhood associations from requiring lawns.
- The lawn change is for conservation.
- Alamogordo's city council
- will vote on a ban on texting-while-driving
- but still allowing phone calls while driving.
- The
- Curry County manager had his contract extended
- .
- The Taos News reports former Taos County manager, meanwhile,
- settled with the county for $57,000
- after he was allegedly fired without cause by a previous county commission.
- The mayor of Milan
- wonders about the fees paid to an attorney by the village
- .
“He’s doing a lot of work for us,” responded Manager Marcella Sandoval. “He has to do research sometimes. We need to think about that when we talk about making any changes.”
“But it’s been $5 to $6 thousand per month,” commented the mayor.- A
- police officer says he was fired in retaliation for doing his job
- .
Smith filed a District Court lawsuit in June 2012, alleging that after he issued a traffic citation to the husband of a village councilor who was driving near a fire station in Angel Fire in November 2011, the acting police chief at the time, John Perkins, warned him to “choose his battles carefully” and directed him not to issue citations in that area. The chief also informed Smith that the Mayor’s Office had complained about him issuing tickets near the fire station, the complaint says. The mayor at the time was time was Stuart Hamilton.
- Sandoval County
- is considering building a military history museum
- , though they want to see financials first.
- Drought watch: The Albuquerque Journal had a front-page Sunday story on how
- the drought is threatening crops in Hatch Valley
- .
- Carlsbad will begin its limited watering schedule on April 1
- .
- And all indications show the drought will continue.
Thanks to a weak La-Nina in place,Southwest states will continue to see drought conditions thru Spring. #Txwx #nmwx twitter.com/JR251WX/status…
— James Rodriguez (@JR251WX) March 25, 2013- El Grito has
- video of students celebrating a "New Mexico Student Bill of Rights."
- It came from a passage of a memorial in the Senate in this year's session.
- Tuberculosis apparently still happens in New Mexico (it seems like a disease that died out in the 1950s to me, but I am wrong on this as I have been on many other points in my life) -- but
- the cases of TB in the state were down in 2012
- .
- An Albuquerque subway?
- Here is what an Albuquerque subway map might look like
- -- of course, it has even less chance of happening of an Albuquerque arena or trolley system.
Santa Fe Reporter