Four Corners looks at natural gas

One group in the Four Corners wants to bring compressed natural-gas stations to the area, but first they'll need support from local government.

 Four Corners Economic Development is looking into how successful compressed natural-gas stations would be in the four corners area. Farmington used to have one gas station that served eco-friendly cars. That station closed several years ago, but the Four Corners economic team hopes new technologies will create a high demand for this kind of station. 

Currently the development group is talking with several government officials in the area to see if using these stations would benefit them. 

The city of Farmington says they'd be interested in converting some of their vehicles to compressed natural gas if it's easily accessible.

Information from kob.com. 

Four Corners looks at natural gas

State Fair revenue down

Attendance at the New Mexico State Fair was down and so was revenue. 

Unaudited figures provided by Expo New Mexico's chief financial officer indicate that revenues totaled $4.7 million during the Sept. 1-22 fair. 

According to the Abluquerque Journal,  that compares with $5.2 million during the 2012 fair. Year-to-year attendance dropped 4 percent. 

Fair manager Dan Mourning says the 2013 fair was hampered by record rainfall during the beginning of the 12-day run.

State Fair revenue down

Gov. proposes 3% budget increase

Gov. Martinez

Gov. Susana Martinez is proposing a 3 percent spending increase on education and state government programs next year, but no across-the-board pay raise for public employees.

 The governor on Monday released the administration's budget recommendations for the upcoming legislative session. Martinez called for spending nearly $6.1 billion in the fiscal year starting in July, an increase of almost $179 million. The governor proposed a smaller budget increase than the Legislative Finance Committee, which recommended a 4.3 percent or nearly $254 million spending increase.

Martinez recommended $14 million for targeted pay raises covering almost a third of the state workforce, including state police and prison correctional officers. 

The LFC has proposed a 1.5 percent pay raise for all state and school workers, with higher increases for many employees.

Gov. proposes 3% budget increase