Newsbreak New Mexico 5pm Webcast 10/26/12

Newsbreak New Mexico 5pm Newscast with Vanessa Dabovich

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Workplace deaths up in NM
Operation Halloween
LANL $213 million project fails
Winter drought forecast 





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CIA agent request for help denied during Benghazi attack

NewsNM:Swickard - This is betrayal at the highest levels of our government. According to the rules of FLASH CIA and U.S. State Department  communications, POTUS (President Of The United States) had to be immediately informed. It would seem it was his decision to not save the lives of the Americans over a four hour window or longer. This is not a political statement and I detest anyone who wants to make it so. Americans were killed because of the actions of our leaders. I come from a military family and a decision to not rescue Americans when possible is beyond belief.
FoxNews Exclusive - Fox News has learned from sources who were on the ground in Benghazi that an urgent request from the CIA annex for military back-up during the attack on the U.S. consulate and subsequent attack several hours later on the annex itself was denied by the CIA chain of command -- who also told the CIA operators twice to "stand down" rather than help the ambassador's team when shots were heard at approximately 9:40 p.m. in Benghazi on Sept. 11.
Former Navy SEAL Tyrone Woods was part of a small team who was at the CIA annex about a mile from the U.S. consulate where Ambassador Chris Stevens and his team came under attack. When he and others heard the shots fired, they informed their higher-ups at the annex to tell them what they were hearing and requested permission to go to the consulate and help out. They were told to "stand down," according to sources familiar with the exchange. Soon after, they were again told to "stand down."
Woods and at least two others ignored those orders and made their way to the consulate which at that point was on fire. Shots were exchanged. The rescue team from the CIA annex evacuated those who remained at the consulate and Sean Smith, who had been killed in the initial attack. They could not find the ambassador and returned to the CIA annex at about midnight.
At that point, they called again for military support and help because they were taking fire at the CIA safe house, or annex. The request was denied. There were no communications problems at the annex, according those present at the compound. The team was in constant radio contact with their headquarters. In fact, at least one member of the team was on the roof of the annex manning a heavy machine gun when mortars were fired at the CIA compound. The security officer had a laser on the target that was firing and repeatedly requested back-up support from a Spectre gunship, which is commonly used by U.S. Special Operations forces to provide support to Special Operations teams on the ground involved in intense firefights. The fighting at the CIA annex went on for more than four hours -- enough time for any planes based in Sigonella Air base, just 480 miles away, to arrive. Fox News has also learned that two separate Tier One Special operations forces were told to wait, among them Delta Force operators. Read more
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Newsbreak New Mexico 12pm Webcast 10/26/12

Newsbreak New Mexico 12pm Newscast with Vanessa Dabovich

                                     Listen here:


LANL $2134 million project fails

Legislature looks into MVD problems

Senators Bingaman and Udall ask for National
Monuments in NM

Governor appoints Pat Woods to vacant Senate seat 





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Work deaths in NM on the rise

The state Environmental Department says workplace deaths in New Mexico rose substantially in 2011. 
The department says it logged a total of 51 deaths last year from 38 in 2010. The biggest increase was tallied among transportation workers, where 21 people were killed last year. That compares to just 12 transportation workers killed on the job in 2010. 
A statement from deputy environmental department secretary Butch Tongate called the statistics a sobering reminder that workplace safety can't be taken for granted. He says the department works to help employees and workers identify and eliminate hazards that lead to fatalities but it is ultimately up to employers to promote a culture of safety.

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LANL $213 million project fails

After more than seven years’ work and $213 million, the new security system at Los Alamos National Laboratory’s most important nuclear weapons manufacturing site doesn’t work. 
A lab spokesman acknowledged the project suffered from construction problems, and an internal government memo suggests longstanding concerns by the federal government about the way Los Alamos has managed the project. 
The project, intended to provide tighter security at the lab’s Technical Area 55, where plutonium research is done and nuclear bomb parts are made, was scheduled to be finished early next year. Instead, it will be delayed indefinitely.

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Newsbreak New Mexico 8am Webcast 10/26/12

Newsbreak New Mexico 8am Newscast with Vanessa Dabovich

                                     Listen here:


Senator Mary Jane Garcia pays fines

Midnight fire update

Governor appoints Pat Woods to vacant Senate seat 




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Bingaman and Udall urge President to create National Monuments in NM

New Mexico Sens. Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall are asking President Obama to designate the Rio Grande Gorge near Taos and the Organ Mountains in southern New Mexico as national monuments. 
The senators, who are sponsors of legislation that would elevate the sites to national conservation and wilderness areas, wrote a letter to Obama asking him to use his authority to establish the sites as National Monuments because a congressional logjam has made it difficult to pass their bill. 
They say National Monument status would protect the lands and their wildlife habitat while preserving existing uses such as hunting, fishing, and grazing. 


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Governor appoints Pat Woods to vacant Senate seat

Pat Woods
Republican Gov. Susana Martinez has appointed Curry County rancher Pat Woods to fill a vacant Senate seat representing eastern New Mexico
Woods is to be sworn into office Friday in Clovis at the Curry County Courthouse. He succeeds Republican Clint Harden, who didn't seek re-election and resigned from office earlier this month. 
Woods is unopposed in the general election for the Senate seat and defeated a candidate backed by Martinez in the GOP primary election. 
Harden has served in the Senate since 2002, and supported Woods in the primary election. The boards of county commissioners of each county in the district recommended Woods for appointment by the governor.



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Midnight fire grows to over 400 acres

The Midnight Fire burning in the Carson National Forest swelled to 429 acres on Thursday morning. 

The fire is 0 percent contained. No homes are threatened at this time, and no roads are closed because of the fire. 
The McCrystal and Cimarron campgrounds in the Valle Vidal remain voluntarily evacuated as a precautionary measure. 

Fire crews said the fire didn't spread much on Wednesday, but they were unable to fight it because it's burning in rugged terrain where there are high winds. 
Officials hope the upcoming cold weather and chance of rain will help them curb the fire over the next few days. 
The cause of the fire is under investigation.

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Senator Mary Jane Garcia pays fines

Mary Jane Garcia
Rather than wait for a final ruling, state Sen. Mary Jane Garcia said today she has opted to pay a $1,200 fine levied by the Secretary of State's Office and repay $3,980 that had been withdrawn from her campaign account. 

Garcia also says she had requested the Attorney General's Office to review the case. She says the money can be returned to her later if the Secretary of State decides to waive the fine, but that she would reimburse her campaign fund regardless. 

Ken Ortiz, chief of staff for the Secretary of State's Office, said Thursday that they were not aware of Garcia's decision. The last correspondence they received from Garcia was on Tuesday, when she cited statute defending her expenditures and asked that the fine be waived. 

The Secretary of State's Office sent a letter to Garcia on Oct. 17, alleging 12 possible violations of state campaign financing laws. 



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Albuquerque to spend $350K on escalators

NewsNM:Swickard - most New Mexico towns do not have escalators so there is a question about how important are they. From KRQE-TV.com - by Alex Tomlin - A temporary wall and temporary doors have been set up at city hall to block people from a major construction project. What's behind that wall and doors will cost you a lot of money but the city says it has no choice. “They are approximately 20-25 years old,” Michael Riordan with the City of Albuquerque said. He’s talking about the dusty, damaged and dangerous set of escalators leading from the street to the basement of city hall where city councilors and county commissioners meet. “We've had other incidents in the past that we could fix,” said Riordan. “These cracks are of a significant nature that’s more structural and it's not something you can just repair, you have to replace them.”
City officials had to shut down the escalators in May after discovering the cracks. They quickly found out replacing these 20 plus year-old, people-movers is going to be very expensive. “You can't buy escalators off the shelf because every depth is different every width is different, they have to be designed,” said Riordan. It's going to cost $350 thousand to replace them. City officials thought about making the whole thing stairs but by the time you rip out the escalators and fill this up with concrete the cost is about the same. “We want to make sure we do what is best for the taxpayer dollar,” said Riordan. Read more
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Wandering bear captured on Santa Fe's southwest side

From the Santa Fe New Mexican - by Nico Roesler - The nine-year-old black bear looked down from its perch in an oak tree in south Santa Fe with the warmth of a child waking up from a nap. Santa Fe police think the creature had spent the night in the tree after a night of marauding through Dumpsters around the Kohl’s, Outback Steakhouse and Ranch House off Cerrillos Road early Thursday.
Patrol officers spotted the bear at about 1 a.m. and tried to pursue her through the wee hours of the morning, Capt. Aric Wheeler said. She evaded them until later in the morning when she awoke directly across the street from police headquarters at the Park and Ride stop off Camino Entrada.
A green tag could be seen on one of the animal’s ears while it remained perched among the tree branches. Rael said the bear must have been tagged on another trip into the city, and he wondered if it would be set free again following its capture. Ben Otero of the EspaƱola district office of Game and Fish later said the estimated 225-pound bear would be released again into the wild. “We have a three strikes policy when it comes to bears entering the city,” he explained said.
About 20 feet up, she became visibly affected by the 1,000 milligrams of tranquilizing serum in her system, no longer gazing at her gawkers but now confusedly gazing toward the rising sun. A back foot slipped and she spun around a branch, still holding on with her front paws.
Down below, Animal Control officers shifted a three-foot-deep air mattress to where they thought the bear would fall. The bear fell, without hitting any other branches on the way down, to the pillowy landing pad.
The bear was tagged a second time and loaded into its cage. Otero said the bear would be injected with some antibiotics then released into the Jemez Mountains. Read more
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Swickard: Burnt up about the ethanol requirements

Commentary by Michael Swickard, Ph.D. - Ethanol requirements in gasoline are almost a complete disaster. Not quite, but close. Let us count the ways ethanol is good: there is only one. If no conventional fuel is available during a crisis, such as a war in the Middle East, we are glad to have ethanol. Is there anything else good about ethanol? No, the harm is profound.
To be sure gasoline is better, cheaper, less polluting, non-corrosive and ultimately less risky. Ethanol is so very corrosive that it cannot be transported by pipeline; rather, it must be shipped in stainless steel tanks either on the railroad or by truck. And therein is the problem for the consumer. Ethanol is so corrosive that people with older vehicles will see the destruction of gaskets, steel tanks and rubber fittings.
The harm of ethanol is not just to our pocketbooks and our vehicles, the use of food to make fuel when our nation has abundant energy resources causes food prices to increase. This is not just corn products. Wheat and rice products increase as consumers react to corn prices so that all three food prices increase. And, since beef, chicken and pork use these same grains, the price of meat increases dramatically.
In our country this is hard for people who live on subsistence calories. But the real damage of ethanol is that it injures fragile populations throughout the world. This has been seen with the price of corn tortillas in Mexico and food in the Middle East. Each place where food increases in price causes fragile citizens to be devastated by the pressure put on their basic subsistence.
The rise of food prices destabilizes some parts of the world, again, for no real good reason. Yes, there are those people who wave the “Global Warming” banner but day by day it is increasingly obvious to everyone that Global Warming is a political hoax.
In my town there was one vendor who sold gasoline without ethanol but alas, he was forced to only sell ethanol “enhanced” gasoline this last week. He sent me this message by email: “…I have spent my entire thirty two year career in the convenience store business being a leader and not follower. Words cannot explain my frustration and anger concerning being forced back into selling an ethanol blend fuel… I have a great collection of vintage vehicles and know the destruction that is being done by ethanol on my rubber gaskets and engine.”
The problem is Washington D. C. requiring a political solution to a non-political problem. People need energy but using the political solution of ethanol is tragic. This next year let us wrestle the government on the ethanol requirement. It may take all of us to do it. Read full column


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