Education Reforms Blocked at Every Turn

Mary Helen Garcia
In New Mexico unions bosses have made sure that first and foremost, education works for the benefit of the adults working in the system. And the entrenched educational power center’s influence in Santa Fe is alive and well.
No other group is working harder or more successfully to thwart desperately needed reforms that will benefit New Mexico children, than those using legislature leadership to fight education reforms.
The well documented efforts of Michael Sanchez and other Senate Democrats to sandbag the nomination of Hanna Skandera is one example. And what fellow Democrats in the leadership positions in the House of Representatives did to longtime professional educator Rep. Mary Helen Garcia’s is another. Yesterday Garcia's efforts to bring a bill to the floor that would end the long discredited practice of social promotion were strangled by would be speaker Ken Martinez and current speaker Ben Lujan.
Ken Martinez
There are few elected officials in our state that understand education more than Rep. Garcia. Garcia has been championing the idea of putting a permanent stop to the mindless practice of passing students that cannot read at grade level for several years. Apparently her great crime within the Democratic Party was advocating a common sense policy both before, and after newly elected Governor Susana Martinez agreed with the idea.
There is something quite insidious going on in the leadership of the Democratic Party in New Mexico in 2012. Michael Sanchez, Ben Lujan, Ken Martinez and some of most their loyal lieutenants like Sheryl William Stapleton will lay waste to the efforts of any sincere reformers if they think Governor Martinez merely agrees with the change in policy.
It is time for New Mexico try something new. Reformers like Mary Helen Garcia will thrive under new leadership and the state will too. Ken Martinez, Michael Sanchez, and Sheryl William Stapleton need to find something new to do.


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U.S. Forest Service Sues New Mexico and Otero County

From therepublic.com -The U.S. Forest Service filed a lawsuit against the state and Otero County over management of forest lands, after the county passed a resolution last year saying it intended to begin following an 11-year-old state law on the issue. The U.S. attorney's office said in a statement the U.S. Constitution forbids New Mexico and Otero County from supplanting federal policies on land and fire management. The legal action filed Feb. 7 followed efforts by the Forest Service and U.S. attorney's office to legally satisfy the concerns of Otero County commissioners about mitigating fire risk due to extreme drought conditions in the forest. "However, the United States Constitution forbids New Mexico and Otero County from supplanting the federal government's land and fire management regime with its own state- and county-specific policies that disrupt the numerous interests the federal government must balance when developing and implementing fire management plans," the statement says.  More News New Mexico
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Chesapeake to Sell Lease Holdings to Boost Gas Liquids

From bizjournals.com -Chesapeake Energy Corp. is preparing to sell up to $12 billion of its oil and gas fields and other assets in New Mexico and Texas. But while the company is significantly reducing its dry-gas production, it plans to boost gas liquid and oil output in New Mexico and elsewhere. The Oklahoma company, which is the second-largest U.S. natural gas producer, announced Feb. 13 it would consider the sale of all its Permian Basin assets, where it owns 1.5 million net acres of lease holdings, if it received a compelling offer. The leasehold sales, along with the divestment of other assets and sale of $1.3 billion in senior notes, could generate up to $12 billion in capital to improve cash flow and help finance gas-liquid and oil production, according to the company.  More News New Mexico
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Eisenhower's "Secret Meetings" With Aliens

President Eisenhower
From dailymail - Former American President Dwight D. Eisenhower had three secret meetings with aliens, a former US government consultant has claimed. The 34th President of the United States met the extra terrestrials at a remote air base in New Mexico in 1954, according to lecturer and author Timothy Good.  Eisenhower and other FBI officials are said to have organised the showdown with the space creatures by sending out 'telepathic messages'  More News New Mexico
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Molina Healthcare Appoints Former N.M. Governor Garrey Carruthers to Board of Directors

 Garrey Carruthers
From marketwatch.com -Molina Healthcare, Inc. today announced that Garrey E. Carruthers, a former Governor of New Mexico, has been elected to serve as a director by the Company's Board of Directors. Dr. Carruthers will fill an existing vacancy in Class I of the Board. "Governor Carruthers' extensive experience in health care, in government, and in business gives him a unique perspective and insight into our company," said J. Mario Molina, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Molina Healthcare, Inc. "During this exciting time of growth and change in our industry, he will be a true asset for the Company and a great addition to our Board."   More News New Mexico
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Donor Pulls $1M Donation For New Field

From krqe.com -One of the largest donors in the effort to renovate the University of New Mexico’s baseball field has pulled his money out of the project after being “dragged through the mud.”  Johnny Cope had hoped to sit in the newly renovated field, named after him, and enjoy a Lobo baseball game but Governor Martinez’s pressure to keep his name off the field has prompted Cope to withdraw his donations from the project.  More News New Mexico
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“Social promotion” bill sponsor thwarted on House floor

From Capitol Report New Mexico - Speaker of the House Ben Luján played some hardball politics on Tuesday night (Feb. 14) and Mary Helen Garcia got brushed back. At the end of the House floor session at a little after 8 p.m., Rep. Garcia (D-Las Cruces) took the microphone from her seat and asked to be recognized. The reason? Her bill — one of the so-called “social promotion” bills that Gov. Susana Martinez approves of — had not been heard on the House floor and with the 30-day session winding down, Rep. Garcia wanted it debated in the hopes that it can pass the House. But as Garcia asked to be recognized, Majority Floor Leader W. Ken Martinez (D-Grants) leaped to his feet and grabbed his own microphone and called for the House to be recessed for the night. Garcia still called to be recognized but Speaker Luján (D-Nambé) ignored her, recognized Martinez and closed down the House for the night. Read more
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N.M. Officials Eye Up Gay Marriage License

From koat.com -New Mexico officials say they are preparing for gay couples across the state who may try to obtain marriage licenses on Valentine's Day. Bernalillo County Clerk Maggie Toulouse Oliver says her office has been notified by advocates of gay marriage that demonstrations are planned for Valentine's Day wedding ceremonies. The office said officials are expecting that some gay couples will try to get marriage licenses to protest the state's law prohibiting gay marriage. Oliver says the office has been advised that New Mexico law prohibits county clerks from issuing such licenses.  More News New Mexico
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N.M. Mom and Third Grader Stop Runaway Bus

From foxnews.com -An alert New Mexico mother sprang into action Monday morning when she watched a school bus roll past her waiting children and was told by one of her kids, “something’s not right with our bus driver,” KOAT.com reported. Rhonda Carlsen, the parent whose children attend Seven Bar Elementary School in Albuquerque, ran with the bus packed with frightened kids and pounded on its door, trying to get the attention of a third-grader toward the front of the bus. The bus driver appeared to be having some kind of seizure, the station reported. She instructed the student to pull on a lever near the driver’s seat, the station reported. The student successfully opened the door and she ran into the bus and hit the brakes and turned off the ignition, the station reported.  More News New Mexico
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