State sees drop in TB cases


New Mexico health officials say there has been a drop in the number of tuberculosis cases in the state. 

The state Health Department says there were a total of 40 cases of active tuberculosis diagnosed in New Mexico in 2012. That's down from 49 cases the previous year. The rate of tuberculosis in New Mexico stands at 1.9 cases per 100,000 people. The national rate is more than 3 cases per 100,000 people. 

Despite the good news, health officials say New Mexico is still experiencing a higher than average TB mortality rate of 15 percent. Nationally, the mortality rate stands at 4 percent. 

The signs and symptoms of infectious active TB include a persistent cough, unexplained weight loss, night sweats, fatigue and loss of appetite.

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FAA says Santa Fe airport will lose control tower


The Federal Aviation Administration announced Friday that Santa Fe is among 149 airports around the country set to lose funding for their air traffic control towers because of federal budget cuts.
 It was not immediately clear what impact the cuts will have on the state capital and mountain tourism destination, which has just in the past few years won back commercial jet service. 
American Airlines currently has daily flights between Santa Fe and Dallas and Los Angeles, and United plans to begin service to Denver later this spring. 
Double Eagle, a general aviation airport in west Albuquerque, is also losing tower funding.

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President to designate Rio Grande del Norte National Monument


Retired U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman and U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich will join President Obama at a National Monument Proclamations Signing Ceremony in the Oval Office on Monday to establish the Río Grande del Norte in northern New Mexico as a U.S. National Monument. 
 In 2007, now-retired Senator Jeff Bingaman's office began working with residents of Taos and Rio Arriba Counties to identify how to best protect the land. 
Since then, Bingaman, Sens. Tom Udall, Martin Heinrich, and Rep. Ben Ray Luján have worked to advance legislation through Congress to protect the area and asked the White House to consider a monument designation. 


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Family of man shot by neighbor says he was murdered

From KRQE-TV.com - ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - The family of a man shot by a neighbor in a northwest Albuquerque neighborhood says he was murdered. They say the man who shot 23-year-old Jonathan Mitchell was trying to play cop – and ended up gunning down a veteran.
     Police say residents in the Ventana Ranch neighborhood called 911 after Mitchell was seen standing in a neighbor’s driveway holding a gun. The neighbors also called neighbor Donnie Pearson for assistance. Pearson later pulled in front of Mitchell’s house and the two exchanged gunfire – with Mitchell firing first. Mitchell died from the gunshot wound.
     “This case almost mirrors the George Zimmerman case,” said Aaron Mitchell, Jonathan’s older brother and a Florida police officer. “[Pearson] had no business driving around looking for an armed assailant. That's not his job.”
     Mitchell’s brother Aaron Mitchell, a police officer in Florida, says APD was too quick to portray Pearson as a Good Samaritan. “My brother did fire first. But he fired because he saw a threat. He's military trained. He's a combat veteran,” he said.
     The family doesn’t know why Mitchell would have been in the neighbor’s driveway with a gun. “I think if those concerns were valid, I think a reasonable thing for a citizen to do is to call those who are sworn to protect, not take matters into their own hands,” his father Isaac said.
     APD will turn the results of its investigation over to the DA for a decision on charges. Read more
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Senate committee may hold summer hearing on Skandera

From the Santa Fe New Mexican - by Robert Nott - The Senate Rules Committee may continue its confirmation hearing for Education Secretary-designate Hanna Skandera sometime this spring or summer. But even so, Skandera would have to wait until the next legislative session in early 2014 before the full Senate body can vote on her confirmation.
     During the recent 60-day legislative session, the Rules Committee held about 10 hours of testimony and questioning over three days of confirmation hearings on Skandera. But it didn't finish the process.
     The committee can vote to recommend or not recommend confirmation, but the full Senate makes the final call. If the Senate does not confirm Skandera, she will be fired from the position. Until that vote goes to the Senate floor, Skandera may continue to serve as secretary-designate. Read more
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Swickard: Happy cows and citizens

© 2013 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. Our country is basically a happy country. What is the source of our happiness? Capitalism is the core of our happiness. Consider this: New Mexico has the happiest cows in our country. I do not make that claim lightly. I have it on good authority that when you see New Mexico milk cows they are happier than the milk cows in New York. The test of happiness in cows in general concerns the amount of milk they give. Milk producers are experts on cow happiness because they get more milk per cow if that cow is happy. No fooling, this is true.
     Likewise, Americans are happier than citizens of other countries and like our cows there is an external measure of happiness. It is the general freedom of Americans in the market. Disregard all of the political speech about how our country is very much in poverty. We Americans do not know poverty like people in Africa. Our poorest Americans are richer than the middle class in many countries.
     But that is not what makes Americans so happy. Rather, each and every American is free to trade their own things of value for any other American’s things of value. We get to trade for what we want in a relatively free manner. We are a country where what you want, within reason, if within reach.
      In our capitalistic system, when two Americans trade things of value, both with equal knowledge, they both come away from the trade better off than before. Hence, they are both happy. That is why the capitalistic system generates happiness since both sides of a trade get what they want or they are free to not trade. Read column
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Alford to stay with Lobos for 10 more years

From KRQE-TV.com - ALBUQUREQUE (KRQE) - The University of New Mexico has confirmed that Head Basketball Coach Steve Alford has signed a new 10 year contract with the Lobos. The news of Coach Steve Alford’s new contract came one day before the Lobos kicked off their NCAA Tournament run in Salt Lake City. The Lobos were on the court Wednesday taking part in their last practice before they take on the Harvard crimson Thursday.
     Coach Alford’s deal is reassuring the UNM faithful that whatever happens in the tournament, the same general will be leading the charge. “I’m just excited about,” Alford said. “I’ve had a lot of fun through six years…it's something that I think we've really started to put our imprint on the program.”
     Athletics Director Paul Krebs says UNM wanted to continue what he calls a "great era in l\Lobo basketball". In Alford’s time at New Mexico, the Lobos have won three times as many game as they've lost and have made the tournament three times.  Alford is hoping his new deal isn't a distraction for his players as they look to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.  One of those players, , his son Kory Alford, was possibly a big part in coach's decision to sign a long term deal.
     Bailing out early would cost Alford a lot of money. He would have to pay UNM $1 million if he leaves before April of 2015, $500,000 between 2015 and 2017 and $300,000 after that.  Read more
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Lawmakers approve legislation to ease traffic citation confusion


Speeders and other traffic violators who now face a roadside dilemma about whether to pay a ticket or fight it in court would get a breather under a bill passed by the Legislature.  
Lawmakers were unanimous during the recent session in approving legislation that changes the sometimes-confusing traffic citation process in New Mexico.  Senate Bill 131 has gone to Gov. Susana Martinez. 
Under the proposed change, all citations would be sent to courts, rather than the current practice of having some sent to the Motor Vehicle Division.  Now, a motorist who’s stopped for speeding must decide on the spot whether to plead guilty and be issued a ticket payable to the MVD, or go to magistrate court or Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court to fight it. 


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Santa Fe officials say same-sex marriage legal in NM


Santa Fe Mayor David Coss and a City Council member say New Mexico county clerks should issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, and Santa Fe's city attorney says it'd be legal to do so. 
Coss and Councilor Patti Bushee plan to introduce a City Council resolution on March 27 "recognizing" that same-sex marriage is legal in New Mexico. They have a legal memo in which City Attorney Geno Zamara says same-sex marriage is permitted in New Mexico
Zamora says that's partly so because New Mexico law defining marriage is gender-neutral and lacks any prohibition on same-sex marriage.


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Gov. in Rome for papal inauguration

Gov. Martinez

Gov. Susana Martinez is hoping Pope Francis will reinvigorate Catholics worldwide and fix any problems that are lingering from recent scandals. 
Martinez was in Rome on Tuesday with a U.S. delegation led by Vice President Joseph Biden to greet the new pope and attend his inauguration and first mass. 
She told Fox News Latino that the papal inauguration fell on the anniversary of the 2006 death of her mother Paula, who died of cancer. Martinez wants Pope Francis to bless a photo she has of her mother during her first communion.


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