News New Mexico - Once a statewide radio show providing state news aggregation and commentary, we have evolved. On this site we post political/cultural commentary, both domestic and international. At the top of the right hand sidebar there are links to discussions of the fundamental pillars of our world views. Click on these discussions and gain useful insights into our biases and how many of our views are formed.
From NBCNEWS.com - By Deepa Seetharaman and Ayesha Rascoe , Reuters - A123 Systems, which had received a $249 million grant from the U.S. government, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday, giving Republicans fresh ammunition to attack the Obama administration's subsidies for green energy.
The filing came after the lithium-ion battery maker's $465 million rescue deal with Chinese auto parts supplier Wanxiang Group collapsed, hobbled by "unanticipated and significant challenges," A123 said on its website.
A123 has agreed to sell its automotive operations, including two factories in Michigan, for $125 million to Johnson Controls Inc, a leading battery supplier and another recipient of federal green subsidies.
The U.S. Department of Energy allotted about $90 billion for various clean-energy programs through the administration's stimulus package. Of that, at least $813 million went to energy companies that eventually filed for bankruptcy, including A123, Solyndra, Beacon, Abound Solar and EnerDel.
The Solyndra failure has been regularly cited in stump speeches leading up the Nov. 6 presidential election, including those of Romney, who argues that the government should not be in the business of picking corporate winners and losers. Read more
Government-funded battery maker files for bankruptcy
Patients, physicians and
advocates have launched a campaign to protect PTSD patient access to medical
cannabis.
Today,
more than 3,000 New Mexican residents with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or
PTSD are actively enrolled in our state’s Medical Cannabis Program. Many of
them are military veterans, patients living with disabilities, and victims of
serious trauma and violent crime.
This enrollment is being challenged by New
Mexico Psychiatrist Dr. William Ulwelling who has filed a petition
to the Department of Health requesting PTSD be removed from the list of
eligible medical conditions for the enrollment in the New Mexico Medical
Cannabis Program.
Ulwelling
cites lack of scientific evidence for his petition.
Ulwelling-
"I'm not even arguing that there
might be some people currently in the program that are benefiting from it, I'm
just saying there's no evidence at the current time to say, we could offer this
to the people of New Mexico as an accepted treatment.”
The
Campaign is standing up to protect the legal rights of patients to access safe
medicine. State Director of the New Mexico Drug Policy Alliance, Emily Kaltenbach
says since 2009 when it was approved, PTSD has become the disabling condition
most frequently indicated by patients in the program.
Kaltenbach-
“We’re really concerned because 40% of the patients in the program are
qualified under PTSD, that’s the number one condition in the program. Now when
we think about who are those patients with PTSD, many of those are veterans. And
those veterans deserve to be taken care of when they get home and unfortunately
their right is being threatened by this petition.”
On
November 8th, the Drug Policy Alliance is also re-launching an
updated version ofHealing a Broken System with current numbers and new material
related to medical cannabis as a safe and effective treatment for veterans
diagnosed with/suffering from symptoms of PTSD.This report examines the significant barriers that
veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan face in obtaining effective
treatment for mental health and substance abuse problems, and the consequences
of leaving these wounds of war untreated.
Ulwelling’s
petition will be heard by the program’s Medical Advisory Board at a public
hearing, November 7thfrom 1 – 5 pm at the HaroldRunnelsBuilding,
1190 St. Francis Drive
in Santa Fe.
The Secretary of Health will have the final decision.
For
Newsbreak New Mexico,
I’m Vanessa Dabovich.
Advocates launch campaign to protect medical cannabis program
The New Mexico Film Office has been making its rounds across the state holding Town Hall meetings. After a tour of the northern part of New Mexico, film office director, Nick Maniatis, has decided to bring his crew to Carlsbad. The upcoming Town Hall meeting will take place at the NMSU-Carlsbad Campus Auditorium at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 24.
"Nick Maniatis is going to address the audience and tell them what the Film Office is about," said Dirk Norris, the Film Office's Outreach Programs Manager, who will also be attending the meetings. "He (Maniatis) is also interested in knowing what's going on in the community film-wise."
According to the Film Office press release, "The town hall meetings are free and open to all, including students, local filmmakers, businesses, and the public. The Town Halls are intended to provide an open forum for each community to share information about their educational programs, film related businesses, and issues of concern."
But the town hall meeting is not solely for discussion's sake. Norris said an additional purpose for the meeting is for the Film Office to connect with individuals who are interested in being cast as extras in upcoming movies. The representatives from the Film Office will be taking head shots of those interested starting at 6 p.m. before the Oct. 24 assembly. "Those who already have a headshot are encouraged to bring them to the town hall meeting and fill out the casting call registration form," wrote the
Film Office in their press release. Norris said the information will be submitted to all the casting companies in the state.
Though Norris stressed that they are not casting for a particular movie at this time, he did mention that major motion picture crews often film scenes in New Mexico for which extras are needed. In fact, the Film Office recently held an open casting call for "Lone Survivor," a new film starring Mark Wahlberg, which is set in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. The cast and crew of "We're The Millers," Jennifer Aniston's new flick, were also filming in New Mexico just last month...
The petitions seeking a recall election for each of Raton’s four sitting city commissioners do not have enough valid signatures to force an election, City Clerk Nancy McGlothin told The Raton Range.
McGlothin’s review resulted in disqualifying, or purging, from 68 to 76 signatures from each of the four petitions, leaving each petition short of the 194 signatures needed to force a recall election, The Range said.
A list of purged signatures was posted Monday at city hall, and anyone who signature was purged has 10 days to provide evidence to the city clerk as to why the signature should be restored to the petition, the paper reported.
If the city clerk does not reinstate the signature, the person may petition state District Court to have his or her signature reinstated, according to The Range.
As Santa Fe marks the 10th anniversary of its
nationally known living wage ordinance, some members of the local business
community say it’s time to freeze the wage at its current rate.
If trends
continue, Santa Fe’s
minimum wage, currently $10.29 per hour, could easily go to $10.50 or more next
year. The chamber and others have consistently opposed the wage increases, and
– when the rate jumped last year from $9.85 to $10.29 per hour, giving the City
the highest minimum wage in the country – argued the rate needed to be capped.
A
city ordinance requires that wage increases be recalculated every year based on
a federally determined annual consumer price index for the Western
United States. Mayor David Coss said the minimum wage will quickly
lose its meaning if it doesn’t keep up with inflation. He called the wage a
“great accomplishment” that has “made a giant difference in the lives of
working families.”
Santa Fe local business community wants min. wage capped
The
Albuquerque BioPark Zoo is one of the state's most popular and affordable
attractions, but without some serious financial help, it's in danger of falling
into disrepair. On Monday night, the City Council battled over the cost of
admission at the zoo. Some of the costly problems at the BioPark include old,
beat-up air conditioning units, cracks in the cement, mold and rust growing on
the walls and ceilings in the turtle holding area and drainage problems on the
roofs. That's why city leaders want to keep the general admissions fee at $10,
pointing out that the recent increase also goes to pay BioPark employees who
are trying to keep the aging infrastructure safe for the animals and the
patrons. Some councilors want to roll the price back to $7 in the tough economy.
City councilors decided to defer a
vote Monday night on zoo admission for two weeks.
A large number of furloughs being
granted to inmates at the San Juan County jail has led to worries that inmates
are bringing contraband back into the jail.
Jail records show judges have allowed more than 300 inmates to take furloughs
for various reasons this year. They include medical treatment, to attend
funerals or seek work. The
Farmington Daily Times reported that
records show 80% of requests are granted.
AdultDetentionCenter administrator Tom
Havel says returning inmates have been caught smuggling drugs and other items.
One returning inmate was found with a tattoo gun hidden in a body cavity and
later collapsed. Jail officials
suspect a package containing drugs broke inside his body. Five inmates failed to return from
furloughs this year and were charged with attempted escape.
San Juan County jail inmate furloughs causing concern
Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham has
widened her lead over Republican Janice Arnold-Jones in the 1st Congressional
District race in an ABQ Journal Poll.
Lujan Grisham, a former Bernalillo county
commissioner and former state Cabinet secretary for health and aging, had
support from 51 percent of likely voters, according to the Journal Poll taken
Oct. 9 to 11. Arnold-Jones, a small-business owner and former state
representative, trailed in the race with 37 percent of the likely vote. Twelve
percent of voters were undecided.
In New
Mexico’s two other U.S. House districts, incumbents
Ben Ray Luján, a Democrat, and Steve Pearce, a Republican, maintained
significant leads over their challengers.
Lujan-Grisham leads Arnold-Jones in ABQ Journal poll
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