News New Mexico

Martinez Proposes Stiffer Penalties for Child Abuse

Susana Martinez

Yesterday, Governor Susana Martinez announced a major legislative proposal that will change New Mexico’s Criminal Code to help better protect New Mexico children from child abuse and predators.
The Governor's bi-partisan bill beefs up prison time for child abusers, increases penalties for drunk drivers who kill kids, and defines new crimes where certain behavior toward children is predatory.
Martinez wants to increase penalties for first-time and repeat child abusers, allowing for additional prison time in child abuse cases even those that do not result in great bodily harm or the death of the child.

The proposed legislation will increase jail time for first-time child abusers from three years to nine years. Repeat offenders would face up to 18 years in jail, instead of only nine years.

Obama's Keystone Debacle Has One Winner: Burlington Northern, Warren Buffett's Railroad

NewsNM note (Spence) - I originally found this story on Bloomberg. Strangely, the story was quickly taken down as President Obama makes plans to play the "envy" politcal card and Warren Buffett's secretary serves as his designated prop in the upcoming State of the Union address tonight. Fortunately, the story is now all over the internet, so the effect of Bloomberg pulling what if thinks might be damaging to Obama, has no real effect on the flow of information.

News Room America - A railroad largely owned by billionaire Warren Buffett stands to benefit financially from a decision by the Obama administration to reject a major oil pipeline project that would have stretched 1,700 miles south from Canada to refineries in Texas.

Warren Buffett

Bloomberg News reported Tuesday that Burlington Northern Santa Fe LLC is among U.S. and Canadian railroads that stand to gain from the U.S. State Department's rejection last week of the Keystone XL pipeline project. Buffett is a long-time political and financial supporter of Obama.

"Whatever people bring to us, we’re ready to haul," Krista York-Wooley, a spokeswoman for Burlington Northern, a unit of Buffett’s Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc., investment house, told Bloomberg. If the pipeline deal falls through, she added, "we’re here to haul." Read full story here: News New Mexico

Governor Urges State Business Leaders to "Hold State Legislators Accountable"

Susana Martinez

NM Business Weekly - On Monday Governor Susana Martinez exhorted the state’s business leaders and their employees to hold their state legislators accountable for creating a more business-friendly climate in the state. Speaking before an audience of 500 in Albuquerque, Martinez told businesspeople they should track specific pieces of legislation, call and email their lawmakers and show up to committee meetings at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe. “The easiest way to kill a bill is to not hear it,” Martinez said. “Your voice has to be heard. Don’t assume that what is going on in the Roundhouse is in the best interests of small businesses.” Read full story here: News New Mexico ------- Find contact information for your legislator here: News New Mexico

League of Women Voters Turning Partisan?

A number of Republican Senators boycotted a stacked panel discussion on Voter ID that the League of Women Voters sponsored last night. The panel selected by the "league" was asking the dubious question, “Is Photo ID Essential?” And the panel discussion entitled, “Voter Verification: Facts and Fallacies” was dominated by people with a bias against the basic tenets of election fraud prevention contained in Voter ID.
“The League of Women Voters clearly has not included any top supporters of requiring photo identification when voting in New Mexico,” State Senator John Ryan said. “I suspect the forum will be supplying biased information that is not useful because of it being so partial.”
Senator Ryan is one of many elected officials supporting legislation requiring New Mexicans to show a photo ID when voting in New Mexico elections. Ryan said that while Republican Senators were invited to the event, most of the panelists selected have expressed opposition to voter ID. The panelists include members from the ACLU and the UNM Political Science Department.

"Another Vacation"

Courtesy of Conservativedailynews.com

janice2012.us

Last Code Talker Turns 92

KOB TV - The last surviving member of the original Navajo Code Talkers turned 92 years old Monday. The City of Albuquerque recognized Chester Nez for his contributions in World War II. Nez was one of 29 original code talkers who developed a code based on their native language to help the United States fight Japan during the war. Nez said he was happy to represent such an important part of U.S. history. Read full story here: News New Mexico

APD settlement costs rise in 2010, 2011

From KRQE-TV - ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Over the past two years combined, the city of Albuquerque has paid out more than $8 million to settle police misconduct cases. The Albuquerque Journal reports that in the previous eight years, the city had paid nearly $10 million to resolve such cases. Mayor Richard Berry has done away with his predecessor Martin Chavez's policy of settling a limited number of cases. Chavez, now running for Congress, in the past has defended his limited settlement policy and has said the city prevailed in almost every case instead of paying out. But Rob Perry, Albuquerque's chief administrative officer, said the Chavez administration saddled Berry's team with a high number of unresolved cases and said that while payouts have gone up, the city could have lost more money in some cases if it had gone to trial. All but five of the 60 payouts in 2010 and 2011 stemmed from cases that were initiated during Chavez's tenure as mayor, Perry said. The city felt it was in its best economic interest to settle some of the cases, he said. A statement from the president and vice president of the Albuquerque Police Officers Association says the policy shift amounts to a lack of support for police officers from the city administration. Read more

Santa Fe New Mexican editorial: Powering up Santa Fe?

Editorial from the Santa Fe New Mexican.com - The notion that Santa Fe -- city and county together -- should explore the ownership of an independent municipal power utility is intriguing. Right now, Santa Fe and most of the county receive their electricity from Public Service Co. of New Mexico. Most of that power, as we know, is generated from coal-fired power plants in northwestern New Mexico. Plants, by the way, that are known for the pollutants they emit as much as the jobs they bring to the Four Corners area. Local citizens think there might be a different way to bring electricity to Santa Fe and more than 1,500 people have signed a petition asking the City Council to study the idea -- a renewable-energy municipal power utility owned by the public. That's a decent number of signatures, considering driving force, local builder Faren Dancer, just started gathering names on Jan. 12. Adding steam to the effort is this news from Santa Fe County Commissioner Kathy Holian: she says the joint city and county Regional Planning Authority has allocated $25,000 to study the idea. It's not unheard of for cities to own utilities. Santa Fe, for example, owns its own water company. Up on the Hill, Los Alamos County manages electricity, gas, water and waste for residents. Under that arrangement, PNM still owns the power lines, which Los Alamos then leases. The benefit to consumers is that the county can control its rates more closely, as well as push harder to develop alternative energy. Of course, the proposal is just in its infancy, but we hope to see both governments -- as well as the citizens who are backing the concept -- work hard to see whether Santa Fe is the right place for a citizen-owned electric company. Read more

Columbus, New Mexico struggles after gun-smuggling case wipes out leadership

From the El Paso Times.com - By Reyes Mata III - COLUMBUS -- When federal agencies raided this small New Mexico town last year to stop a gun-smuggling operation they allege was sending guns into Mexico's drug war, they left a trail of indictments that gutted city leadership -- including the police department -- and turned residents leery of having outside law enforcement patrol it. "There were two police early this morning giving tickets, making people late for work," complained Alejandro Zapata, a resident of Columbus for more than 20 years. He pointed to a street corner where, he said, New Mexico State Police were handing out citations last week. "People said somebody put out a report that we needed more police. We don't. We have our policeman, and it's Ojeda. We don't need any more than him." The Ojeda to whom he is referring is Jose Ojeda, a corporal from the Luna County Sheriff's Department who, in July, was reassigned from Deming to patrol Columbus, about 50 miles to the south. Ojeda has been patrolling the estimated 750 homes in Columbus since July 7. That's the day the Village Council voted to dissolve its police department after Police Chief Angelo Vega, Mayor Eddie Espinoza, and trustee Blas Gutierrez were among 11 defendants charged in an 84-count federal indictment that ultimately linked them to the gun-smuggling operation. Read more

Guònián Hǎo - Chinese Year of the Dragon

Everyone at News New Mexico wants to wish you a Happy New Year in this Chinese Year of the Dragon.

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