News New Mexico

Tourism department OKs second out-of-state bid

Alamogordo Daily News - The New Mexico Department of Tourism, under fire a few months ago for hiring an out-of-state company to produce commercials, is drawing more criticism for outsourcing another contract. KRQE-TV reports that the department recently paid $180,000 to a Missouri-based company, MMGY, to redesign its decade-old website. In January, the agency drew fire after announcing it awarded $2 million to a Texas-based production house to shoot the commercials as part of its "New Mexico True" campaign. Veronica Valencia, communications and marketing director for the department, said the Missouri company scored the highest during the request for proposals, beating out the 11 other companies including five from New Mexico..

Rep. Brian Egolf, a Santa Fe Democrat, said local firms should always come first. Read More News New Mexico

Mosaic Potash brings compaction plant on line

Carlsbad Current-Argus - There's a lot of shaking, rock and rolling and drying out going on at Mosaic Potash and it's bringing a big smile of satisfaction to plant engineers and contractors. The plant's new compaction plant has successfully come on line after two years of construction. The new six-story high compaction plant costing $36 million to build replaces the old compaction plant that was built sometime in the 1940s. The old compaction plant did not meet today's emission and health standards and was requiring a lot of maintenance. "The quality of this plant can now compete with any producer in the world," said Jim Johnson, mechanical engineer and surface operations manager. The Carlsbad mine produces two separate potassium minerals — sylvite, also known as muriate of potash, and langbeinite. It's the sylvite that goes to the compaction plant and where it is processed into a product that is sold to agriculture markers both at home and abroad. Read More News New Mexico

N.M. may land hundreds of aerospace jobs

KRQE - Hundreds of high-paying jobs could be coming to the state by the end of the summer, and they're all part of an industry that is really taking off in New Mexico --aerospace. The latest example is Bendix/King, which recently announced that it's moving to Albuquerque. The company creates navigation and communication devices for small planes and is looking to fill more than 140 jobs. But that could be just the beginning. "I think there's some really good opportunity to see another 200-400 jobs," said Bill McMillan a co-founder of the New Mexico Aviation/Aerospace Association. McMillan helps the state land flight-related companies' contracts. He said after Bendix/King, whose parent company is Honeywell, announced it's move to the city, about a half a dozen other operations showed interest in moving to the Land of Enchantment. "Whether it's landing gear or parts on the fuselage, it's a pretty broad spectrum of companies that are looking," McMillan said of the types of contracts in the works. "They're all components of an aircraft." The jobs would pay well ranging from $60,000-$100,000 annually. New Mexico is a big draw because it has colleges that specialize in the field and even have a new high school that teaches all generations about the booming business. Read More News New Mexico

All Three C.D. #1 Democrats Favor Obamacare

Eric Griego

Following Saturday’s Congressional District # 1 debate one thing seems clear. Former State Representative Janice Arnold-Jones is going to face off against a proponent of making the federal government bigger in the general election in November.

All three Democrats running for the House of Representatives were firmly in support of “Obamacare,” the government’s late night takeover of the healthcare system engineered in large part by Nancy Pelosi when she was Speaker of the House.

Michelle Grisham-Lujan

State Senator Eric Griego, said Democrats should not compromise on budget and tax debates, even in the face of trillion dollar deficits. Griego is considered the favorite to win the primary. He has raised more than $709,000 in contributions through March, mostly from unions and radical environmentalist organizations.
Griego says he wants even more government control of health care. Griego said, “If we’re serious about reforming health care, we need to go far beyond the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and we need to be talking about Medicare for all,” Griego said. “If it’s good enough for seniors, it’s good enough for the people we care about … we need to offer that to everybody.”

Martin Chavez

One issue that remained unresolved at the end of the evening was the ethics behind a whopping $24,000 in severance pay Griego extracted from New Mexico Voices for Children late last year. Griego was the executive director of the nonprofit organization when he decided to quit and run for Congress. Not surprisingly, New Mexico Voices for Children receives substantial funding from government every year. You can watch the entire debate on KOAT here: News New Mexico

Photo Voter I.D. Opponents Silent on Fiasco in Sunland Park as More Charges Filed

NewsNM note (Spence) Opponents of photo voter I.D. laws pretend voter fraud doesn't exist. They pretend there are no consequences to having no controls to protect LEGITIMATE votes. Their position is a fraud. KRQE - Authorities investigating corruption allegations in city government in Sunland Park filed additional criminal charges against two former city officials on voter fraud allegations. And a third official was charged with tampering with evidence during a police search of City Hall in February.
Prosecutors say Silvia Gomez, the city's former senior center director, was charged with registering four people who live in Texas to vote in a New Mexico election. She was previous charged with similar allegations. Jesus Dario Hernandez, the city's former public works director, also faces new voter fraud allegations. Read full story here: News New Mexico

PRC and Blanco Head to Supreme Court

NM Watchdog - “Forget about it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.” That was the last line of the classic movie Chinatown in which Jack Nicholson playing a private investigator stumbles onto a bigger story about the politics of water and the people behind it.
On August 25, 2010 the Public Regulation Commission (PRC) fined a small privately-owned water utility company in Dona Ana County named Picacho Hills Utility Company and its owner, Stephen Blanco, $1 million dollars for violating 40 rules of operating a public utility.

The $1 million dollar fine is the largest fine ever handed down in PRC history. The fine was $950,000 assessed on Mr. Blanco personally, and $50,000 on his utility company.
Stephen Blanco claims he is not in violation of state public utility laws and that there are larger forces behind the scenes of the PRC with political aspirations and economic incentives who want to take away his company and its valuable water rights. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Prescription Drug Abuse on Rise in NM

KOAT - The abuse of prescription drugs in New Mexico is on the rise, according to state statistics. Sales of opioids are skyrocketing, and so are the state death rates involving the drugs. Action 7 news anchor Tanya Mendis reported on the alarming trend that is hitting throughout the state.
Doctors know that when taken correctly, opioids can help people handle pain. But Mendis said a good thing can go dangerously bad in a hurry. The amount of prescription drugs, such as Oxycontin, Hydrocodone and Morphine, sold in New Mexico has increased 130 percent in 10 years, Mendis said, adding that in the last five years the number of people who died from drug overdoses increased 61 percent. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Filipina Hookers Claim Wiener Played in Foursome, (There Was No Time for Golf)

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Annular solar eclipse dazzles New Mexico onlookers

From KOB-TV.com - By: Marissa Torres, KOB Eyewitness News 4 - The annular solar eclipse was everything Albuquerque expected and more. Thousands of people showed up to the Hard Rock Pavilion at Mesa del Sol to see the spectacular event. Solar eclipse glasses were passed out to the first 2,000 people, but if you didn't have it, professional astronomers and cosmic junkies set up their own telescopes for anyone to take a look. The eclipse started at 6:28 p.m., when experts predicted, and continued to pass over the sun for the next hour. Experts say the next annular solar eclipse will be in 11 years. Read more

The Dept of Justice gets it right on the War on Cameras

Courtesy: Reason Magazine

From Capitol Report New Mexico - The Department of Justice has come under a lot of criticism during Eric Holder’s tenure as secretary but you have to give credit when credit is due as earlier this week an official from DOJ came out in defense of citizens recording public events in the public square. We’ ve written numerous times about this “War On Cameras” and how too many public servants freak out when somebody pulls out a FlipCam to show (horrors!) what transpires on public property. On Monday (May 14), Jonathan Smith of the Special Litigation Section of DOJ sent a letter to city officials in Baltimore after police there were slapped with a lawsuit after allegedly grabbing the cellphone and deleting the video of a man who was recording the cops forcibly arresting a friend of his. Smith’s 11-page letter says the Baltimore Police Department should “prohibit officers from destroying recording devices or cameras and deleting recordings or photographs under any circumstances.” Furthermore, “officers should be advised not to threaten, intimidate, or otherwise discourage” people from using cameras or recording devices and reiterates court decisions defending citizens who record from their private property. Read more

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