Keys To Prosperity

Russell Allen

NMPolitics - I recently attended a Democratic candidate’s forum in the south valley hosted by the Anthony Chamber of Commerce. Fortunately there was time for a question-and-answer period where a woman, in Spanish, asked the candidates what they would do to provide public transportation for her.

Each candidate responded by telling her that they would work with both the cities of Las Cruces and El Paso to provide public transportation services to those areas that were in need. This solution sounds easy enough, plausible right? Ask an existing government entity to do more for the citizens of rural Doña Ana County. There is one significant problem with this Band Aid solution — not enough money.

If the funds were there and if it were a priority for the existing legislative and county representatives, transportation would already be provided in the south valley. In a Democrat perfect world, the government will provide transportation at a bus stop that might only come two or three times a day, controlling how often and where you can travel.

Republicans, however, if you give us the chance, would provide a dynamic economic climate where small and large businesses alike will set up shop in and throughout the south valley and New Mexico. This climate will usher in a period of prosperity because business will be able to expand, hiring and providing more jobs for our family, friends and neighbors; it would also be the time for some of us to pursue our own small-business ventures. Read More News New Mexico

Keys To Prosperity

Farming Recharges Aquifer

Greg Daviet

Greg Daviet - Recently, there has been a significant number of discussions regarding agricultural groundwater pumping in Dona Ana county. Much of these centers around the concern that agricultural users are pumping too much and the Mesilla groundwater basin is rapidly being drained.  Like the most recent article on groundwater pumping, the impression given implies the sky is falling and we will soon run out of water.  As an agricultural water user, I would also be worried if I didn’t already know the missing pieces of information.  It is my sincere hope I can dispel the “sky is falling” myth by telling the rest of the story. Allow me to start by reassuring you that we have been through this before.  The droughts of the 1950’s, 1960’s, and 1970’s also required extensive groundwater pumping.  Because the 1980’s and 1990’s had more than adequate surface water supplies, it is understandable that most of us don’t have a clear memory of what a drought period looks like, or that the groundwater aquifer rapidly recovers when surface water availability increases. Agricultural use of surface water has built and maintained our aquifer over the last century.  When water flows from Elephant Butte Lake to local farms, more than 1/3 of that water seeps from irrigation canals back into the groundwater.  When a farmer puts water on a field, more than 20% (on average) of that water also ends up as groundwater.  Because our surface water supply comes from north of Espanola, the only way this ‘outside’ water is brought into our aquifer is through its use by farmers in the Lower Rio Grande. Read More News New Mexico

Farming Recharges Aquifer

Former Columbus Mayor Gets 51 Months

NewsNM note (Spence) How ironic that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder obstructs justice by refusing to comply with subpoenas and submitting false statements during the Fast and Furious investigation....while his underlings successfully prosecute arms smugglers for also shipping guns to Mexico? KOAT - LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The former mayor of the New Mexico border town of Columbus has been sentenced to more than four years in prison for his role in a gun smuggling ring that prosecutors say shipped nearly 200 guns to Mexican drug cartels.
U.S. District Judge Robert Brack in Las Cruces on Thursday sentenced 52-year-old Eddie Espinoza to 51 months in federal prison. Espinoza, former Columbus Police Chief Angelo Vega and former town trustee Blas Gutierrez were among a dozen defendants who have pleaded guilty in the case. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Former Columbus Mayor Gets 51 Months

Sunland Park Derby a Major Player in New Point System on "Road to Kentucky Derby"

Paulick Report - The new “Road to the Kentucky Derby” series will be divided into two phases, each offering different points to the Top 4 finishers of each race over geographically diverse and historically significant paths:
•The “Kentucky Derby Prep Season” includes 19 races on dirt or synthetic surfaces over distances of at least one mile that are typically run between late September and late February. The lone exception is England’s Royal Lodge, an international juvenile steppingstone that is carded at one mile on turf at Newmarket. These races traditionally serve as foundation-building races in advance of the “Kentucky Derby Championship Series.” Points will be awarded to the Top 4 finishers in each race on a 10-4-2-1 scale.
•The “Kentucky Derby Championship Series” is a three-part series of 17 marquee races on dirt or synthetic surfaces over distances of at least one mile that are traditionally run over a compact, 10-week run up to the first Saturday in May:

•The first leg, which mostly includes races that feed into the major Kentucky Derby launching pads, includes eight events – the Risen Star (Fair Grounds), Fountain of Youth (Gulfstream Park), Gotham (Aqueduct), Tampa Bay Derby (Tampa Bay Downs), San Felipe (Santa Anita), Rebel (Oaklawn Park), Spiral (Turfway Park) and Sunland Derby (Sunland Park) – with a 50-20-10-5 point scale;

•The second leg features seven stakes races – the Florida Derby (Gulfstream Park), UAE Derby (Meydan Racecourse), Louisiana Derby (Fair Grounds), Wood Memorial (Aqueduct), Santa Anita Derby (Santa Anita), Arkansas Derby (Oaklawn Park) and Blue Grass (Keeneland) – that are worth 100-40-20-10; and
•The final leg is two “Wild Card” events, the Lexington (Keeneland) and The Cliff’s Edge Derby Trial (Churchill Downs), which offer some hope for horses to increase their point totals with a 20-8-4-2 scale.
The Top 20 point earners will earn a spot in the Kentucky Derby starting gate if more than 20 horses enter the race. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Sunland Park Derby a Major Player in New Point System on "Road to Kentucky Derby"