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Newsbreak New Mexico 5pm Webcast 10/24/12
Newsbreak New Mexico 5pm Newscast with Vanessa Dabovich
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Environmental group accuses wildlife feds of keeping Mexican Wolf information secret
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Environmentalists on Tuesday accused
federal wildlife managers of keeping secret some of the details behind
decisions that led to the capture of a female Mexican gray wolf whose pack was
blamed for several cattle killings in southwestern
The criticism comes after a
public records request by WildEarth Guardians netted hundreds of pages of
blacked-out documents. Nearly 80 percent of the 870 pages released by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services were redacted.
Wildlife Services noted in a letter to the
environmental group that some of the information requested was exempt under the
Freedom of Information Act because it included employee opinions and
recommendations and other draft documents.
WildEarth Guardians is planning to
appeal and is calling for a congressional investigation of the agency’s
handling of the records request.
Newsbreak New Mexico 12pm Webcast 10/24/12
Newsbreak New Mexico 12pm Newscast with Vanessa Dabovich
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The White House knew within two hours
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| Ambassador Chris Stevens |
The emails, obtained by Reuters from government sources not connected with U.S. spy agencies or the State Department and who requested anonymity, specifically mention that the Libyan group called Ansar al-Sharia had asserted responsibility for the attacks.
The brief emails also show how U.S. diplomats described the attack, even as it was still under way, to Washington. Read full story here: News New Mexico
Busy highway construction between Raton and Clayton complete
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U.S. Sen. Tom Udall speaks during the ribbon-cutting ceremony held in Clayton Wednesday to mark the completion of the 81-mile project on U.S. 64/87 between Raton and Clayton. |
Representatives from Raton and other northeast New Mexico communities attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Clayton Wednesday morning to mark the completion of the project that actually began in early 2006 following a groundbreaking ceremony held in 2005.
The 81 miles of highway were widened in the project that was divided into seven phases of work. The final three segments that were completed last year and this year covered a 41-mile stretch from nine miles east of Raton to 15 miles east of Des Moines.
The New Mexico segment of U.S. 64/87 between Raton and Clayton is the first section of the Ports-to-Plains Trade Corridor to be completed as a four-lane, paved highway. The federally designated Ports-to-Plains Corridor starts at the U.S.-Mexico border in Laredo, Texas, and continues through Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma before it ends in Colorado. The federal government has made the corridor a funding priority to encourage commercial traffic on it and promote greater economic trade in the Southwest. Similar trade corridors have been designated in other parts of the nation.
Commercial truck traffic on U.S. 64/87 in northern New Mexico carries billions of dollars worth of goods a year, according to state highway officials. In addition, local officials and residents in communities along the highway have long called for the widening of the highway to improve traffic safety.
The new highway has two traffic lanes in each direction — east and west — that are divided by a median and shoulders. With the expansion, the traffic count on the highway is expected to triple by 2023, according to state figures.
“Today we are celebrating a success story,” New Mexico U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, who cosponsored legislation to designate the U.S. 64/87 portion of the Ports-to-Plains Corridor, said at Wednesday’s ceremony. “This expanded highway is crucial to the region’s economy and the safety of its people. Infrastructure projects like this are important investments for our future, and the value to economic development in northeast New Mexico and the entire region will be powerful and ongoing.”
Representatives from the offices of New Mexico U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman and northern New Mexico U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján also attended the ceremony.
Read more at The Raton Range...
Alamogordo commissioner Cole resigns
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| Ed Cole |
Cole, who also served as the city's Mayor Pro-Tem, announced that he was resigning at the end of a city commission meeting Tuesday night, effective immediately.
Cole said he has been battling dementia for about five years, and that his illness played a role in his decision to step down.
"It's getting to a point where I can't serve the city the way I think I should serve the city," Cole said. "It has taken its toll on my health."
During a brief but emotional statement, Cole thanked his wife, Sara, for her support.
He also complimented his fellow commissioners, saying he had enjoyed working with them during his time on the commission.
"Every one of you commissioners is an outstanding person," he said.
Cole thanked the staff at city hall, saying he appreciated the help they had provided him, specifically, with the items he had to consider at commission meetings.
"Our staff of this community, of our city government, is outstanding," he said.
The commission chambers broke into a standing ovation, after Cole finished his statement.
Mayor Susie Galea adjourned the meeting and individual commissioners walked over to Cole, who remained seated and visibly emotional, to offer a hug or handshake.
Cole, who represents the sixth commission district, was elected to his latest term in 2010.
State AG's office creates new unit
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The
The office said Tuesday that the new Just Conviction & Exoneration
Unit was created last month and will look at cases where DNA evidence could
possibly overturn convictions like 1st degree murder.
Margaret
McLean, who heads the new unit, says Attorney General Gary King has received a
number of inquiries about DNA testing in connection to appeals of some convictions.
She says the unit will help the office handle inquiries from 13 state judicial
districts. McLean says there are less than 10
cases pending that are seeking to use new DNA technology.
Navajo Nation to increase sales tax
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| Ben Shelly |
Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly is expected to sign a bill
this week that would increase the tribe's sales tax by 1 percent.
The
Farmington Daily Times reports that the Navajo Nation Council passed the bill
last week. Money from the increase would go toward education and energy
development.
The increase from 4 percent to 5 percent would begin in January. Shelly
spokesman Erny Zah says the sales tax should help decrease the tribe's
dependency on federal funding. Zah says the tribe receives more than 75 percent
of its funding from the federal government.
Senator Mary Jane Garcia asks for fine waiver
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| Mary Jane Garcia |
Garcia, who is the Democratic whip, said Tuesday in a letter to Republican Secretary of State Dianna Duran that she has “never intentionally violated any provision” of the Campaign Reporting Act, and she questioned whether Duran is correctly applying the law.
Garcia said Duran should ask the attorney general for an opinion on that question, and at least defer a decision about fining her until the opinion is issued.
Duran’s chief of staff, Ken Ortiz, said Garcia’s letter was under review Tuesday and no decision had been made.
Duran told Garcia in a letter last week that she planned to fine her. She was acting on a complaint from Bryan Stegall, who is listed as the campaign treasurer for Lee Cotter, Garcia’s GOP opponent in the Nov. 6 election.
Duran said Garcia had reported using nearly $5,500 in campaign funds to pay expenses to attend legislative meetings on a dozen occasions from January 2010 through August of this year. The lawmaker also received travel and per diem payments from the Legislature for the same meetings, Duran said.
Duran said Garcia violated the law repeatedly by making disbursements of more than $100 from campaign funds payable to “cash” rather than to an individual or entity.
Garcia said in her letter that she doesn’t use credit cards when she travels, instead paying cash for hotels, restaurants and gas stations.
“Using campaign funds for travel expenses related to my duties as a legislator is allowed under the act,” the senator wrote, adding that she hasn’t used the cash for anything other than the travel expenses.
And she questioned whether the $100 limit on disbursements to “cash” applies in this case, since the money was not being spent for political purposes, which is what that section of law regulates. She said the attorney general should be asked about that.
Newsbreak New Mexico 8am Webcast 10/24/12
Newsbreak New Mexico 8am Newscast with Vanessa Dabovich
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Senator Mary Jane Garcia asks for fine waiver
John Duff departs NMFA
Fire in Carson National Forest
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Senator Mary Jane Garcia asks for fine waiver
John Duff departs NMFA
Fire in Carson National Forest
Fire in Carson National Forest
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A 250-acre fire is burning in the Carson National Forest
The Midnight Fire is burning in the
Midnight Meadow area south of Ortiz
Peak
Officials are concerned about the forecasted high
winds in the area. As a precautionary measure, campers in the Valle Vidal,
McCrystal and Cimarron campgrounds are being
asked to prepare to evacuate the campgrounds if necessary.
Chief operating officer departs NMFA
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| John Duff |
Interim NMFA Chief Executive John Gasparich confirmed Tuesday that Duff’s
departure from the finance authority was effective Sept. 28. He declined to say
whether Duff, who had been on unpaid leave, resigned or was fired and did not
disclose any terms related to his departure.
Meanwhile,
the Finance Authority received good news with the recent decision of Standard
& Poor’s, a national credit rating agency, to affirm the agency’s AAA bond
rating, the highest possible rating. Standard & Poor’s also removed the New Mexico
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