Track repair dispute leaves NM train service in jeopardy

From KOB-TV.com - By: Stuart Dyson, KOB Eyewitness News 4  - Railroad tracks in lousy condition are threatening to bring passenger train service in northern New Mexico to a screeching halt. It's the Choo-Choo Blues and nobody wants to fix what's wrong. At times Amtrak's Southwest Chief has to slow down to ten miles an hour because of aging tracks in bad condition. Crews said most of the time, the famous train creeps along at a stately 45 miles per hour, about half of its peak cruising speed. "I think it's pretty ridiculous," said passenger Kate Decker as the Chief slowly hauled itself up through Raton Pass. "This is a really nice train ride. It's sad that they haven't kept up the lines. It would be a shame if they weren't able to use them." The State of New Mexico owns the tracks these days, part of the deal that brought us the Rail Runner commuter train, but it wants to give the 200 miles of rail line from Lamy to the Colorado border back to the BNSF railroad. The railroad doesn't want to pay back the nearly $5 million the state paid to acquire the tracks. Neither side wants to fix the tracks, at a price tag that could go as high as $100 million. Read more

Track repair dispute leaves NM train service in jeopardy

Clovis and Silver City Air service provider looking to opt out

From the Clovis News Journal - By Kevin Wilson - Great Lakes Airlines is looking to opt out as Clovis' commercial air service provider. Clovis officials have received a 90-day termination notice from Great Lakes, which provides round-trip air service daily between Clovis and Albuquerque as part of the federally funded Essential Air Service program. Under its latest contract signed in April 2011, Great Lakes is paid to provide two round trips per day and each weekend to Albuquerque from Clovis, with a federal subsidy rate of $1.6 million per year. Clovis Municipal Airport Director Gene Bieker said the termination would be effective Sept. 3 if approved, and the New Mexico Department of Transportation can decide to either accept the termination, reject it or extend the termination date.  Bieker said the notice didn't come as a surprise because he received a phone call Tuesday from Great Lakes officials, and Great Lakes CEO Chuck Howell IV had been clear about the company's desire to sever ties with Albuquerque International Sunport in previous conversations. "Albuquerque, for us on a long-term basis, just doesn't work as a business plan for us," Howell told Clovis Civil Aviation Board members in a Feb. 1 meeting via conference call. According to the notice, operating costs to provide the EAS service increased in 2011 and 2012, and, "additionally, the trends in connecting capacity at Albuquerque International Sunport suggest that Albuquerque would not offer incremental connecting capacity, with airlines in which we have connection agreements, to generate enough future revenue to offset the incremental operating costs which we are experiencing." Great Lakes also plans to opt of out its EAS contract with Silver City. Clovis' contract with Great Lakes runs through March 2013, with the carrier serving Clovis and Silver City since April 30, 2005. Read more

Clovis and Silver City Air service provider looking to opt out

Swickard: Do home school children have summer vacation?

Commentary by Michael Swickard, Ph.D. - Someone asked an interesting question recently on my talk radio program, “Do home schoolers get to take a summer vacation like public school children?” I did not know. My initial guess was that home-schooled students did not take three months off to laze on the couch all day. Why? It is obvious their parents know that learning is best when continuous.  I know several home schooler parents. All indicated to me that there was no summer vacation for their kids, but some of their learning tasks are focused on summer opportunities. Going to Yellowstone National Park is a learning activity. None of the home schooler parents said that when summer comes they just turn the kids loose to vegetate. So why do we do so with public school students? Home schooling is one of the most contentious issues in education. The public receives conflicting messages. On the one hand, they hear that parents are the most influential force in children learning. But, on the other hand, many education leaders say that learning at home is somehow different and inferior to “real” education by professional educators in a professional school setting. Read column

Swickard: Do home school children have summer vacation?

Martinez cuts state airplane fleet from 8 to 3

Susana Martinez

Alamogordo Daily News - Gov. Susana Martinez's air assault is complete. She said the state had too many airplanes, and even campaigned on a promise to sell what she called state's "luxury jet," which was purchased during Democrat Bill Richardson's governorship. Martinez's administration sold that plane, a 2005 Cessna Citation Bravo, to an Alaska couple for $2.5 million. Today it sold a 1983 Gulfstream Turbo Commander. The buyer, Jerry Gay of Santa Fe, paid $575,000. Executives of the General Services Department said in a statement that the sale completes a reduction in the number of state-owned airplanes from eight to three since Martinez took office. "Trimming the number of aircraft to three makes more sense than continuing to pay for hangar space and maintenance when our usage has been quite limited," Martinez said. Read More News New Mexico

Martinez cuts state airplane fleet from 8 to 3

AAA New Mexico: Pump prices continue steady decline

New Mexico Business Weekly - Gasoline prices across New Mexico dropped five cents this week to a statewide average of $3.59 per gallon, according to the AAA New Mexico Weekend Gas Watch. It is the seventh consecutive week that prices have fallen in the state. Of the major metropolitan areas surveyed, drivers in Las Cruces are paying the least, at $3.47, and drivers in Santa Fe are paying the most at $3.61 per gallon of unleaded regular gasoline. The national average is $3.56. Industry analysts say the decline in retail gas prices continues as global crude oil prices have dropped in response to economic concerns overseas. A slowing global economy is expected to consume less crude oil, which puts downward pressure on prices. Read More News New Mexico

AAA New Mexico: Pump prices continue steady decline

Stimulus Money for New Mexico Spent On Studying Beaver Dams in Yellowstone

NM Watchdog - One of the first New Mexico projects to receive funds from the Obama stimulus bill, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, had nothing to do with New Mexico. It was a $184,986 study of beaver dams in Yellowstone National Park, which is located not in the Land of Enchantment, but in the Cowboy State, in northwestern Wyoming. With money from the stimulus package, the National Science Foundation awarded the grant to the University of New Mexico “to document beaver-related sediments in floodplains of small streams in the greater Yellowstone area, in deposits dating from the present back to the end of the last glaciation about 12,000 years ago (the Holocene epoch).” What would be accomplished by this expenditure of funds intended to create jobs for human beings? According to the official description of the project on the recovery.gov website, the site created by the Obama Administration to “track every dime” (the President’s words) of the stimulus: “By detailing the texture, mineral and organic composition, chemistry, and sedimentary structures of modern beaver-pond deposits and their associated landforms, this work will define diagnostic characteristics essential to identifying beaver-related deposits in older floodplain sequences and abandoned channels. Read More News New Mexico

Stimulus Money for New Mexico Spent On Studying Beaver Dams in Yellowstone

Fed Beige Book survey: NM region’s economy sees moderate improvement

New Mexico Business Weekly - The economy in northern New Mexico and neighboring states “improved moderately” in late April and May, according to the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book report, which gauges economic conditions. The Fed’s Kansas City district, which includes northern New Mexico, saw retailers and restaurants reporting stronger sales. Tourism activity also increased, at least partly because of good weather for the spring, the report said. Hotel occupancy in the region was steady, while average room rates inched up. Residential real estate activity rose, and commercial activity was described as “solid.” Housing starts declined from the previous survey, but builders surveyed expected new home construction to improve over the next few months. Bankers in the region reported a slight increase in loan demand. Most bankers surveyed said loan quality was getting better. And the Fed said every banker it surveyed in the region thought the outlook for loan quality in the next six months would stay steady or improve. Read More News New Mexico

Fed Beige Book survey: NM region’s economy sees moderate improvement

NM Costs of Sequestration Steep

NM Busness Weekly - New Mexico could lose up to 8,216 jobs and $150 million a year in defense contracts if federal budget cuts scheduled for January take effect, according to a new study. Those job losses would include 3,600 active-duty military and civilian defense department personnel, and 4,600 private sector employees, according to the Washington, DC.,-based Center for Security Policy.
The job-loss calculations were based on President Barack Obama’s efforts to cut the defense budget by $487 billion, a 9 percent reduction, between 2013 and 2021, and 18 percent reductions the group said are possible as a result of the sequestration cuts scheduled to begin in January. Read full story here: News New Mexico

NM Costs of Sequestration Steep

French president Francois Hollande cuts retirement age

Telegraph - France's new socialist government cut the country’s retirement age in the face of the eurozone’s deepening crisis, citing “social justice” to explain a move that goes against austerity efforts across the region. Workers who entered employment aged 18 will be able to retire at 60 rather than 62, under the decree agreed at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. The decision follows pre-election promises from the new president Francois Hollande to reverse the rise in the retirement age introduced by his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy in 2010. “We committed to put this measure in place quickly for social justice for those who started working early,” said Social Affairs Minister Marisol Touraine. The reforms will cost the state billions of euros a year but can be afforded through higher worker and employer contributions, according to the government. Read full story here: News New Mexico

French president Francois Hollande cuts retirement age