News New Mexico

Broken Dreams - Thomas Goes on the Record

Sharon Thomas

City Councilor Sharon Thomas went on the record on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams issue ......but not with News New Mexico. She made her views know with one of her constituents via e-mail. We will take the time to do some fact-checking of her response, which came after an inquiry to her that referred to our preliminary findings on the mess near Monte Vista Elementary School. We expect to provide an update on the Thomas position next week.

Use of Temps & Part Timers the Pattern

As orders for locomotive engines picked up this spring, the GE Transportation factory near Erie, Pa., started hiring to fill positions, which had fallen to 4,000 from 5,500 last year. At 18-employee Pilla Performance Eyewear in Ridgefield, Conn., business ramped up enough that it expanded its staff by eight. And at medical device maker Theragenics (TGX), based in Buford, Ga., an unexpected spike in first-quarter orders led the company to add a few dozen workers to its roughly 500-person head count. Finally, U.S. companies are staffing up. Read more here:

Wheat Soars to 23-Month High

Vladimir Putin

Wheat extended a rally to the highest price in almost two years on concern that other nations may follow Russia’s export ban, and may reach $10 a bushel, a price not seen since the global food crisis in 2008. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said that Kazakhstan and Belarus should also suspend shipments as Russia’s ban was announced yesterday from Aug. 15 to the yearend. “It’s got $10 written all over it,” said Peter McGuire, managing director at CWA Global Markets Pty, who correctly forecast Aug. 3 the surge to $8.50. Wheat last traded at $10 in March 2008, and a gain to that price would be a 23 percent advance from yesterday’s close. Read more here:

Report on Albuquerque Impact Fees: Inconclusive

From the Albuquerque Journal - City Hall's top economist took a stab this week at determining whether Albuquerque's temporary reduction in impact fees has boosted development. The evidence sounds inconclusive, based on my reading of the report. That probably won't stop both sides — critics and supporters of the fees — from using it to bolster their arguments. The 10-page report examined construction activity in a recent six-month period, during which impact fees were cut in half for most developments or eliminated entirely for "green" projects. The report says residential construction grew substantially while commercial construction slowed — at least compared to the same period the year before. The catch, however, is that the trend simply "mirrors what has happened nationally." There are so many factors affecting local construction that it's difficult to tease out what impacts the fee reduction had, the report said. Read more:

Stiglitz - Anemic Recovery

Joseph Stiglitz

Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz said the U.S. economy faces an “anemic recovery” and the government will need to enact another round of “better designed” stimulus measures. The Obama administration took “a big gamble and it doesn’t look like it’s paying off,” Stiglitz told Bloomberg TV in an interview in Sydney yesterday. “The recovery is so weak that it is not strong enough to generate new jobs for the new entrants in the labor force, let alone to find jobs for the 15 million Americans who would like a job and can’t get one.” Read more here:

Linda Chavez - Affirmative Action's Coffin

Linda Chavez

The call to end affirmative action gained a new proponent this week -- and from an unlikely candidate. Gregory Rodriguez, a Los Angeles Times columnist and fellow at the progressive-leaning New America Foundation, wrote this week, "We need to find new, less divisive ways to fight inequality." I couldn't agree more with Rodriguez's conclusion but not entirely with the analysis that leads him there. Rodriguez's opposition stems from his fear that white racial anxiety is rising and that affirmative action could lead to a destructive white backlash. "The combination of changing demographics and symbolic political victories on the part of nonwhites will inspire in whites a greater racial consciousness, a growing sense of beleagurement and louder calls to end affirmative or to be included in it," he writes. Read more here:

Kudlow - The Washington War on Investment

Larry Kudlow

Will higher tax penalties on investment really spur jobs and faster economic growth? Most commentators would say no. It’s really a matter of economic common sense. But Tim Geithner says, Yes! Speaking to a group in Washington this week, the Treasury secretary said that extending tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans would imperil the fragile economic recovery. He argued that government needs the revenues from those top-end tax hikes. So failure to raise taxes would harm growth. And then he went on to say that the trouble with the wealthy is that they save more of their tax breaks than do other groups. Okay. Are you confused now? Most people would be. Read more here:

Picacho Hills Utility Owner in Battle with PRC

The Public Regulation Commission (PRC) will refer allegations of perjury and witness intimidation against Picacho Hills Utility Company owner and real estate developer Stephen Blanco to the Attorney General’s office, according to PRC records and commissioners. The findings, which the PRC will vote to refer to the attorney general’s office by Aug. 12, resulted from an agency review of Blanco’s company. Read more here:

Heath - Courts & Public Information

Heath Haussamen

The New Mexico Supreme Court recently took steps to address privacy concerns related to information contained in court records. It’s considering additional steps that would reduce what information is available online. While some of the steps are logical, others are and would be troubling moves toward limiting the public’s access to information it has a right and need to know. As of July 1, court documents filed by prosecutors are only available to the public with certain information redacted: all but the last four digits of social security numbers, taxpayer ID numbers, financial account numbers and driver’s license numbers, and all but the year of a person’s date of birth. Read more here:

Las Cruces Bulletin

Ken Miyagishima

Mayor Ken Miyagishima says he would support the movement of the racino at Ruidoso Downs to Las Cruces. Read more about what the mayor says in this week's edition of the Las Cruces Bulletin.

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