NM court limits DWI license revocation
For a year and a half, the state Motor Vehicle Division could take away your driver’s license administratively even if the police officer didn’t have reasonable suspicion to pull you over.
That changed this summer with a decision by the state Supreme Court.
In its unanimous opinion in Schuster vs. State of New Mexico, written by Justice Edward L. Chavez, the high court ruled that “MVD must find the arrest and underlying police activity leading to the arrest are constitutional as a prerequisite to revoking a driver’s license.”
Upon arrest for DWI in New Mexico, two processes start: one is criminal, overseen by a judge and requires the state to find someone guilty beyond a reasonable doubt for a conviction; the other is administrative, overseen by a state hearing officer and requires a 51 percent finding of guilt to strip someone’s driving privilege.
And in the case of Eric Schuster, who was arrested on suspicion of DWI outside a Farmington bar in May 2009, the officer did have reasonable suspicion to investigate Schuster for drunken driving and probable cause to arrest him, according to the court’s opinion.
So the court upheld MVD’s mandatory one-year revocation of Schuster’s driver’s license.
Ousama Rasheed, president of the New Mexico Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, specializes in DWI law and argued the Schuster case before the Supreme Court.
The saga began in January 2011, Rasheed said, when the state Court of Appeals ruled in Glynn vs. State of New Mexico that the constitutionality of an arrest need not be considered in MVD’s administrative license revocation hearings.
Information from ABQ Journal
NM Gas Company working to prevent outages
February 2011 is a month many New Mexicans will remember, especially at the beginning when a massive cold front came through the state, dropping temperatures below zero.The San Juan basin, where most of New Mexicans get gas to heat their homes froze up because of the temperatures. So the state turned to the Permian gas basin and West Texas, but they also had the same cold front. There was too much demand for the lack of supply at the time. Thousands of New Mexicans were without heat.
Almost two years later, the Company spoke with the Public Relations Commission Thursday to discuss how a disaster like February 2011 can be prevented. Company Vice President of Operations Ken Oostman said a "perfect storm" hit the entire region, surprising everyone.
"This particular storm that happened in february is extreme, and it affected all the suppliers of the wellheads," Oostman said.
Since the freeze, Oostman said the Company has worked with law enforcement to achieve better communication when weather events like February 2011 happen again.
"I think we're much better prepared," Oostman said. "From everything from communication with the local and the state authorities, Homeland security and emergency management.
Information from KOB.COM
Ruling means New Mexicans owed $10 million from lender
A New Mexico district judge's ruling could mean millions for consumers who took out small loans from a Dallas-based lender.
New Mexico Attorney General Gary King says his office's three-year legal battle against FastBucks, LLC, ended this week with a ruling saying the company took advantage of borrowers "to a grossly unfair degree."
King says the state's consumers could recover more than $10 million. The ruling issued Monday by Santa Fe District Judge Michael Vigil found that FastBucks crafted their installment loans to circumvent a 2007 law reining in payday loan abuses.
King alleged the loans carrying interest rates from 520 percent to 650 percent were unconscionable under the New Mexico Unfair Practices Act.
FastBucks lawyer David Streubel tells the Albuquerque Journal the company plans an appeal.
Information from KOB.COM
ABQ to lose 150 Cardinal Health jobs
Albuquerque will lose more jobs son when Cardinal Health starts cutting positions next month.
About 150 jobs will leave Albuquerque when Cardinal Health trims its workforce. The company told Action 7 News in a statement, "After a long decision-making process conducted over many months, the decision has been made to contract out 130 finance organization jobs to Xerox." Twenty other New Mexico positions are moving back to Ohio as well.
Layoffs start Tuesday and will be finished by spring 2013. After the transition, Cardinal Health said they estimate about 225 positions will stay in Albuquerque.
The dismal news comes after a recent study showed the city has had zero job growth since 2008.
"We are at a crossroads. We're at a place where we need to start making some really tough decisions, about what it is that we're going to do to be competitive," city Economic Development Director John Garcia said.
Garcia said changes may be in order to the city's tax policy to make it easier to do business.
In the short term, Garcia encourages New Mexicans to spend dollars locally and support small businesses.
"Maybe we're in a crisis and this really is a time for us to get behind a support efforts for making this business climate a little better," Garcia said.
Information from KOAT.COM
Rio Rancho mayoral position debated
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| Mayor Tom Swisstack |
Current Rio Rancho Mayor Tom Swisstack says he already does that. But should the mayor be able to have two full-time jobs? Swisstack is also the deputy county manager in Bernalillo County.
"I make my meetings, and no one is saying I don't do my job," Swisstack said.
The longtime politician challenged skeptics to show where he has neglected either position.
The committee pretty much suggested staying out of the matter, and said the public will have the opportunity to evaluate any mayor's performance through elections.
The mayor makes about $27,000 a year in Rio Rancho. Any pay adjustment won't come up until 2014 when this mayoral term is finished.
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