Morning Word: Gun bill fails, NM pop growth stalls

Brian Colon, the former Democratic Party of New Mexico chair and former Democratic Lt. Gov. candidate, is organizing a run to benefit the victims of the Boston bombings. --- You can

, where New England native Mary Ellen Broderick wrote about both the bombing and Colon's run.

But the short version is this: A 5K run on April 28 at 1:00 pm. I'm not sure that I'll be able to run -- but I encourage you to do so. And if you want to help organize, please do so. This isn't a partisan issue. Its just a human thing.

On to the Word:

• Thoughts and prayers to all of those in West, Texas.
• The population growth in New Mexico
• has slowed down
• .

• The state has seen an average annual increase of 0.9 percent in population since mid-2007, roughly when the recession officially began, compared to an annual average of 1.8 percent in the 1990s, says the Rocky Mountain Economist report. The state’s population grew at an annual rate of 1.3 percent from 2000-2007.

• The FBI
• executed a search warrant at the Rio Arriba County Sheriff's office
• as part of an ongoing federal investigation.
• The U.S. Senate
• didn't get enough votes to break a filibuster on expanded background checks
• . Both U.S. Senators from New Mexico voted to break the filibuster.
• A petroleum group
• is seeking another waiver of a biodiesel mandate
• . It would be the third waiver of a mandate of 5 percent biodiesel in all diesel sold in the state.
• Here's a rarity: Wal-Mart
• gives up on a bid to build a new store
• . This one was supposed to be on Albuquerque's West side.
• Senators
• want a military buffer zone for White Sands Missile Range and Fort Bliss
• .
• U.S. Reps. Ben Ray Lujan and Michelle Lujan Grisham
• wrote a letter to President Barack Obama expressing concern over chained CPI
• .
• New Mexico Mercury says that New Mexico
• is in a "economic drought."
• Two animal advocacy groups
• said they would sue over a proposed horse slaughterhouse
• k placing another obstacle in the facility's way.
• Your Daily Drought Digest:
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• There is a
• proposal to pipe water from Catron County to the Middle Rio Grande Valley
• .

• Augustin Plains Ranch LLC, owned by a family in Italy, proposes to collect rain water in the San Agustin Plains in Catron County, allow it to soak into the aquifer there for storage and then send it via pipeline to cities needing water in the Middle Rio Grande area. Michel Jichlinski, who’s directing the project, said it would supply 54,000 acre-feet of water per year to customer cities and replenish the aquifer with rainwater.

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• The Santa Fe Reporter
• writes about water codes to incentivize more sustainable subdivisions
• .
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• There is
• a forest fire in Lincoln County, per NMFireInfo.com
• . Its
• about 200 acres
• .
• There will be
• hearings for the Rio Rancho city budget
• .
• Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden,
• will deliver the commencement address at Navajo Technical College
• in Crownpoint, NM.
• AG Gary King
• is concerned about health risks from eating horse meat
• .
• San Juan County commissioners and the Navajo Nation
• reached an agreement to replace a dangerous bridge
• .

Santa Fe Reporter