News New Mexico

New Mexico's U.S lawmakers spend time in the state

Sen. Tom Udall

New Mexico’s U.S lawmakers have been spending time in their home state the last couple weeks.

This week Senator Tom Udall is scheduled to visit Santa Rosa, Fort Sumner, Española, Silver City, Las Cruces and Santa Teresa to discuss economic development, education, helmet safety and border trade issues.

On Monday, Udall was in Santa Rosa to tour the Ilfeld Warehouse, the site of the future Route 66 Museum in New Mexico, and get an update from City Councilors and Guadalupe County Commissioners on ongoing economic development efforts. Today, Udall will meet with DBA Consulting, a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) that provides independent testing and assessment for new technologies and equipment for federal agencies like the Department of Defense and the State Department.

Then, on Tuesday, Udall will meet with Fort Sumner and De Baca County elected officials and State Rep. George Dodge, Jr. to discuss agriculture, energy and economic development issues.

On Thursday, Udall will give the keynote address at the 4th Natural History of the Gila Symposium in Silver City. From there, he will travel to Oñate High School in Las Cruces to meet with student athletes, coaches and trainers on concussions and sports safety. In 2011, Udall introduced the Children’s Sports Athletic Equipment Safety Act aimed at protecting youth athletes from the dangers of sports-related traumatic brain injuries.

On Friday, Udall will be in Santa Teresa to attend a briefing on border trade issues with local economic development groups. Then, he will tour Southwest Steel Coil and the Union Pacific Rail Facility.

Rep. Steve Pearce

Meanwhile Congressman Steve Pearce hosted his eighth job fair of this Congressional term, in Hobbs on Thursday. The job fair wrapped up a series of events which fulfilled the Congressman’s commitment to putting New Mexicans back to work.

“We continue to focus on what is most important to get our economy going again, and that is connecting workers with job opportunities,” Mr. Pearce said. “I don’t know a more important role for Congress that I could do than get New Mexicans working again.”

More than 300 employers participated in the job fairs, which were held in Las Cruces, Roswell, Silver City, Alamogordo, Los Lunas and Hobbs. Approximately 2, 750 people attended the job fair series.

At last week’s job fair in Hobbs, Richard Johnson, Operations Manager of R360 Environmental Solutions of Hobbs, had 15 truck driving positions he was attempting to fill. “Each one of those positions have a potential salary of over $80,000,” Johnson said. “The economy is very strong in southeastern New Mexico and we need workers. We appreciate the opportunity to come and speak to job seekers.”

The Alamogordo job fair featured jobs for veterans with over 3,000 jobs available that day. “Employers should be looking at hiring veterans that are coming home right now. They are trained and ready to go to work, and the government offers incentives for hiring veterans that would be beneficial to companies,” added Pearce.

Vanessa Dabovich

Carlsbad MVD Ambassador Program off to a slow start

Photo-Carlsbad Current-Argus

Monday was supposed to be the dawn of a new day at the Carlsbad branch of the Motor Vehicle Department. But customers who showed up to the office Monday said their visit was just more of the same frustrations over long wait times and customer service issues.

Mark Williams, director of the state's Motor Vehicle Division, told Carlsbad residents at a meeting last week they could expect big changes Monday, including the implementation of what he called the "MVD Ambassador Program." The Ambassador's job would be to greet customers and help them identify which documents they would need before waiting in line for service.

But there was no such person greeting or helping Stephanie Rodriguez, Giovanny Munguia, Deb Watson or anyone else at the Carlsbad MVD -- much to the chagrin of Williams himself.

It was his understanding that an ambassador was in place in the Carlsbad office from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Williams said he will look into the matter and that the ambassador they hired was most likely in the back training for her new position.

Representative Cathrynn Brown, who organized Friday's meeting, was also disappointed, though she continues to have hope. "I'm definitely curious," she said. "They were going to bring in a new employee and shift someone from a new field office. That one I expected to take a little bit longer. But boy, I got the impression that Monday was going to start these changes."

And when questioned by the Current-Argus, the

Carlsbad MVD field office manager said she had been instructed by the state office not to share any information with the press.

Eighteen-year-old Giovanny Munguia was at the office for the seventh time Monday afternoon.

His previous six visits were unsuccessful because the office employees weren't clear about which legal documents he needed to bring with him, he said. He agreed that the proposed ambassador position would "help a lot."

Williams said he's arranged for a team from Santa Fe to visit the Carlsbad office later this week to provide support and oversight.

He asked for patience from the public.

"We're on top of it," he said Monday afternoon. "We're piloting this plan. It's not going to change everything around in five minutes."

Alamogordo considers convenience center changes

Photo-Alamogordo Daily Times

The Alamogordo City Commission is set to revisit a resolution that will allow city residents to dump yard waste without it counting toward a monthly weight limit.

The commission tabled the measure at its last meeting because commissioners wanted to include a couple of changes to the measure.

Mayor Susie Galea said previously that the commission was mostly in agreement to pass the measure -- which it hopes will help curb illegal dumping in the desert surrounding the city -- but that it wanted to make a few changes.

Galea said the commission might include a sunset clause in the resolution because it probably will cause the city to lose about $5,000 in revenue. She said the commission was also mulling the possibility of curbside pick-up for people without large trucks and allowing people cited by code enforcement to use their citation as proof of residency.

Currently, the city tacks on a $2 charge to water bills throughout Alamogordo that applies toward the use of the city-run convenience center on Lavelle Road.

Anyone who pays a water bill is allowed to dispose of up to 2,000 pounds of solid waste at the convenience center each month and pay $2 for every 100 pounds he or she goes over.

Commercial account holders pay the same rate, documents show.

In the 2011 fiscal year, the city estimates about 283 tons of tree limbs and yard waste were delivered to the convenience center. It costs the city about $18 per ton to process this kind of waste, documents show.

The convenience center was established in 1993 as a transfer station for residents of Alamogordo, and the commission intends the new rate change to encourage citizens to "beautify their properties," documents show.

State's unemployment rate down for September

New Mexico's unemployment rate dropped slightly for the month of September, down to 6.4 percent from 6.5 percent in August.

The New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions says that's also down from 7.4 percent a year ago.

Meanwhile, the agency says large gains were reported by the state's leisure and hospitality industries, which added 2,700 jobs between September 2011 and September 2012.

Educational and health services reported adding about 1,000 jobs during the same time period, while the state's mining industry gained 900 jobs. Professional and business services reported a loss of 3,200 jobs statewide since this time last year, while the construction industry also says it posted losses, down 3,000 jobs.

NMFA audit results to be made public soon

In little less than a month, New Mexico taxpayers as well as financial experts will get their first look at what happened at the New Mexico Finance Authority when a fraudulent audit plunged the agency into one of the biggest financial controversies in state history.

State Auditor Hector Balderas told members of the NMFA Board on Monday that his office will release to board members and the public at large preliminary findings from independent audits into the controversy that has led to criminal charges, threats of lawsuits and jeopardized the state’s bond rating.

Balderas didn’t give an exact date for the release of the preliminary findings but when the announcement comes, it will mark the first time since the scandal broke in July that results from independent sources can begin to determine the extent of the problem.

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New voter registration up in NM
Sandia Lab to help Navajo Nation with energy
First Native American canonized

Gov. Martinez back on the campaign trail for Romney

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez is back on the campaign trail for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

The Romney campaign says Martinez is to attend a rally this evening in Colorado with the presidential candidate, vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan, rocker-rapper Kid Rock and others.

The rally in the Denver area comes the day after the final debate between Romney and President Barack Obama.

The governor's political adviser said Martinez will return to New Mexico Tuesday night after the rally.

Martinez is the nation's first female Hispanic governor. Hispanics account for nearly 21 percent of Colorado's population.

The governor campaigned for Romney earlier this month in Nevada.

First Native American canonized

Pope Benedict anointed the first Native American to be canonized into sainthood by the Catholic Church on Sunday.

This was part a ceremony where six others were recognized as saints.

Kateri Tekakwitha was a 17th century Algonquin Mohawk woman, whose miracles were first recognized by the church in 1980.

Groups of New Mexicans were among the celebrants at Kateri’s canonization, one numbering about 50 and accompanied by Archbishop of Santa Fe Michael Sheehan, and a second of about 200 parishioners from Gallup, led by Bishop James Wall.

Sandia labs to help Navajo Nation develop energy sources

Sandia National Laboratories extended an agreement with the Navajo Nation to provide technical assistance as the tribe develops its energy resources.

The Farmington Daily Times reports that the agreement announced Friday extends the cooperative relationship between the federal lab and the tribe another five years.

The agreement comes as the tribe is forging an energy policy to take advantage of the coal, natural gas, wind and solar resources on Navajo land.

New voter registration up in NM

New voter registration figures show the number of New Mexicans eligible to vote has increased about 5 percent since the last presidential election and independent voters grew the fastest.

The secretary of state's office reported Monday that nearly 1.3 million people are registered to vote in the Nov. 6 general election.

The numbers of voters who are unaffiliated with a political party — so-called independents — increased by 22 percent since Oct. 31, 2008.

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