Angel Fire Resort Open First NM Zipline Tour

From marketwatch.com -Angel Fire Resort today announced plans to open a multi-station zipline tour at the summit of the Angel Fire Resort ski mountain in July 2012. The Angel Fire Zipline Adventure Tour will be the first of its kind in New Mexico. On the signature segment of the tour, adrenaline seekers will fly fifty-stories above the forest floor as they traverse from peak to peak, side by side, on a 1,600' foot tandem zipline. "We're always looking out for new attractions and innovative ways to add more fun and excitement into a family's Rocky Mountain vacation. This will be the first zipline tour in the state and we are confident it will be a great experience for both kids and adults to enjoy," said Dave Dekema, director of marketing, Angel Fire Resort. "A zipline melds perfectly with our mountain's topography, the scenic views, and the existing infrastructure of our ski mountain. Not to mention it's an absolutely unforgettable, thrill-a-minute experience."  More here

Angel Fire Resort Open First NM Zipline Tour

Summerfest to Celebrate NM's 100 Years

From The Sacramento Bee -To celebrate New Mexico's 100 years of statehood, Albuquerque will host the state's largest birthday party. The Centennial Summerfest on June 16, 2012 will provide diverse and exciting entertainment. Historically themed pavilions, free concerts, delicious food, a car show and more are sure to provide a true Albuquerque and New Mexico experience. "This is the largest event in New Mexico to commemorate our state's one hundred years of statehood. Centennial Summerfest is a chance for visitors to—in one day—experience the rich cultural history of New Mexico," said Albuquerque Mayor Richard J. Berry.  More here

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/05/21/4505472/centennial-summerfest-to-celebrate.html#storylink=cpy

Summerfest to Celebrate NM's 100 Years

Wait ’til November? Hardly — 15 Roundhouse races decided June 5

From Capitol Report New Mexico - The general election is not set until November but a review of Roundhouse races shows that for 15 seats in the state Senate and House of Representatives, it will be all over but the shouting on June 5. That’s because the party primary elections in those 15 races involve candidates who — should they win on June 5 — won’t face any challengers from the major opposing party in November. Twelve of those races involve Democratic Party candidates and three involve Republican hopefuls. For example, take House District 46 in Santa Fe County — a district with a sizeable Democratic base — that has been held since 1975 by Ben Luján, who is retiring at the end of this year. No Republican has filed to run for that seat so the winner in the June 5 Democratic primary between candidates Carl Trujillo and David Coss will essentially get a walkover to the Roundhouse in November. Theoretically, an independent can run for any of the 15 races but the odds of victory would be very remote and third-party candidates have little more than a month (June 26) to file with the Secretary of State’s office. Read more

Wait ’til November? Hardly — 15 Roundhouse races decided June 5

SBA names First American Bank top rural lender

New Mexico Business Weekly - First American Bank in Artesia has been named the Community/Rural lender of the year for fiscal year 2011 by the U.S. Small Business Administration. New Mexico’s oldest community bank, First American had the highest number of SBA-backed loans in New Mexico for FY11, the SBA said in a news release. The release did not say how much the bank loaned in FY11. First American, with $624 million in deposits, is New Mexico’s fourth largest community bank. It has 15 offices, including two in Albuquerque, one in Rio Rancho and one in Los Lunas. The bank received the award in Washington, D.C., as part of the SBA’s national Small Business Week event. For the first six months of FY12, First American made 11 SBA-backed loans for a total of $1.6 million, according to the SBA. It ranked third in the number of loans and fifth in the dollar amount during the period, according to the SBA. Read More News New Mexico

SBA names First American Bank top rural lender

Will the feds kill America’s future under a tombstone of senseless regulations?

Marita Noon

It is fire season in the West. Reports say the early start is “not a good sign,” and forecasts claim the “combination of heat and dryness will only make western wildfires worse.” The predictions were made in the same week that US District Judge Frank Zapata made a decision to deny an emergency request by the city of Tombstone, AZ, to repair its water system damaged in last year’s Monument Fire. He doesn’t think Tombstone has a crisis. Zapata said: “Claims of a drastic water emergency related to public consumption and fire needs are overstated and speculative.”

Though he was born in a small town, seven miles from the third highest mountain in Arizona, Zapata apparently has not lived with the eminent threat of forest fire. Having grown up in the foothills of Southern California where my family had to evacuate several times as the flames pressed toward our home, I understand the importance of water.

I got interested in the Tombstone story when I heard a promo for John Stossel’s show addressing Tombstone’s water woes. He teased the show saying that Tombstone was told they could fix their broken pipes using horses and shovels. This piqued my interest. I’ve written a couple of columns addressing the Forest Service’s requirements for mining claims in Montana that included hand tools and pack mules. You’d think they make this stuff up just for TV, but it’s real--as is the threat of fire in Tombstone. Read the rest of the column here: News New Mexico

Will the feds kill America’s future under a tombstone of senseless regulations?

Tourism department OKs second out-of-state bid

Alamogordo Daily News - The New Mexico Department of Tourism, under fire a few months ago for hiring an out-of-state company to produce commercials, is drawing more criticism for outsourcing another contract. KRQE-TV reports that the department recently paid $180,000 to a Missouri-based company, MMGY, to redesign its decade-old website. In January, the agency drew fire after announcing it awarded $2 million to a Texas-based production house to shoot the commercials as part of its "New Mexico True" campaign. Veronica Valencia, communications and marketing director for the department, said the Missouri company scored the highest during the request for proposals, beating out the 11 other companies including five from New Mexico..

Rep. Brian Egolf, a Santa Fe Democrat, said local firms should always come first. Read More News New Mexico

Tourism department OKs second out-of-state bid

Mosaic Potash brings compaction plant on line

Carlsbad Current-Argus - There's a lot of shaking, rock and rolling and drying out going on at Mosaic Potash and it's bringing a big smile of satisfaction to plant engineers and contractors. The plant's new compaction plant has successfully come on line after two years of construction. The new six-story high compaction plant costing $36 million to build replaces the old compaction plant that was built sometime in the 1940s. The old compaction plant did not meet today's emission and health standards and was requiring a lot of maintenance. "The quality of this plant can now compete with any producer in the world," said Jim Johnson, mechanical engineer and surface operations manager. The Carlsbad mine produces two separate potassium minerals — sylvite, also known as muriate of potash, and langbeinite. It's the sylvite that goes to the compaction plant and where it is processed into a product that is sold to agriculture markers both at home and abroad. Read More News New Mexico

Mosaic Potash brings compaction plant on line

N.M. may land hundreds of aerospace jobs

KRQE -  Hundreds of high-paying jobs could be coming to the state by the end of the summer, and they're all part of an industry that is really taking off in New Mexico --aerospace. The latest example is Bendix/King, which recently announced that it's moving to Albuquerque. The company creates navigation and communication devices for small planes and is looking to fill more than 140 jobs. But that could be just the beginning. "I think there's some really good opportunity to see another 200-400 jobs," said Bill McMillan a co-founder of the New Mexico Aviation/Aerospace Association. McMillan helps the state land flight-related companies' contracts. He said after Bendix/King, whose parent company is Honeywell, announced it's move to the city, about a half a dozen other operations showed interest in moving to the Land of Enchantment. "Whether it's landing gear or parts on the fuselage, it's a pretty broad spectrum of companies that are looking," McMillan said of the types of contracts in the works.  "They're all components of an aircraft." The jobs would pay well ranging from $60,000-$100,000 annually. New Mexico is a big draw because it has colleges that specialize in the field and even have a new high school that teaches all generations about the booming business. Read More News New Mexico

N.M. may land hundreds of aerospace jobs

All Three C.D. #1 Democrats Favor Obamacare

Eric Griego

Following Saturday’s Congressional District # 1 debate one thing seems clear. Former State Representative Janice Arnold-Jones is going to face off against a proponent of making the federal government bigger in the general election in November.

All three Democrats running for the House of Representatives were firmly in support of “Obamacare,” the government’s late night takeover of the healthcare system engineered in large part by Nancy Pelosi when she was Speaker of the House. 

Michelle Grisham-Lujan

State Senator Eric Griego, said Democrats should not compromise on budget and tax debates, even in the face of trillion dollar deficits. Griego is considered the favorite to win the primary. He has raised more than $709,000 in contributions through March, mostly from unions and radical environmentalist organizations.
Griego says he wants even more government control of health care. Griego said, “If we’re serious about reforming health care, we need to go far beyond the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and we need to be talking about Medicare for all,” Griego said. “If it’s good enough for seniors, it’s good enough for the people we care about … we need to offer that to everybody.”

Martin Chavez

One issue that remained unresolved at the end of the evening was the ethics behind a whopping $24,000 in severance pay Griego extracted from New Mexico Voices for Children late last year. Griego was the executive director of the nonprofit organization when he decided to quit and run for Congress. Not surprisingly, New Mexico Voices for Children receives substantial funding from government every year. You can watch the entire debate on KOAT here: News New Mexico

All Three C.D. #1 Democrats Favor Obamacare

Photo Voter I.D. Opponents Silent on Fiasco in Sunland Park as More Charges Filed

NewsNM note (Spence) Opponents of photo voter I.D. laws pretend voter fraud doesn't exist. They pretend there are no consequences to having no controls to protect LEGITIMATE votes. Their position is a fraud.  KRQE - Authorities investigating corruption allegations in city government in Sunland Park filed additional criminal charges against two former city officials on voter fraud allegations. And a third official was charged with tampering with evidence during a police search of City Hall in February.
Prosecutors say Silvia Gomez, the city's former senior center director, was charged with registering four people who live in Texas to vote in a New Mexico election. She was previous charged with similar allegations. Jesus Dario Hernandez, the city's former public works director, also faces new voter fraud allegations. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Photo Voter I.D. Opponents Silent on Fiasco in Sunland Park as More Charges Filed

PRC and Blanco Head to Supreme Court

NM Watchdog - “Forget about it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.” That was the last line of the classic movie Chinatown in which Jack Nicholson playing a private investigator stumbles onto a bigger story about the politics of water and the people behind it.
On August 25, 2010 the Public Regulation Commission (PRC) fined a small privately-owned water utility company in Dona Ana County named Picacho Hills Utility Company and its owner, Stephen Blanco, $1 million dollars for violating 40 rules of operating a public utility.

The $1 million dollar fine is the largest fine ever handed down in PRC history. The fine was $950,000 assessed on Mr. Blanco personally, and $50,000 on his utility company.
Stephen Blanco claims he is not in violation of state public utility laws and that there are larger forces behind the scenes of the PRC with political aspirations and economic incentives who want to take away his company and its valuable water rights. Read full story here: News New Mexico

PRC and Blanco Head to Supreme Court

Prescription Drug Abuse on Rise in NM

KOAT - The abuse of prescription drugs in New Mexico is on the rise, according to state statistics. Sales of opioids are skyrocketing, and so are the state death rates involving the drugs. Action 7 news anchor Tanya Mendis reported on the alarming trend that is hitting throughout the state.
Doctors know that when taken correctly, opioids can help people handle pain. But Mendis said a good thing can go dangerously bad in a hurry. The amount of prescription drugs, such as Oxycontin, Hydrocodone and Morphine, sold in New Mexico has increased 130 percent in 10 years, Mendis said, adding that in the last five years the number of people who died from drug overdoses increased 61 percent. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Prescription Drug Abuse on Rise in NM

Filipina Hookers Claim Wiener Played in Foursome, (There Was No Time for Golf)

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Filipina Hookers Claim Wiener Played in Foursome, (There Was No Time for Golf)