Fire teams confident they'll save Kingston

From KRQE-TV.com - HILLSBORO - Despite helpful winds the Silver Fire continues to bear down on Kingston as firefighters vow to save the historic mountain community. The latest estimate has the fire within a quarter of a mile of the village tucked into a high canyon in the Black Range.
     While firefighters say the winds may actually be helping them today, this town is still very much in danger. As of late afternoon winds were pushing the flames away from the town, but it's still a big fight complicated by knowing the winds could act up at any moment. People in Kingston say they got word early Monday morning that they had to leave.
     Meanwhile, the latest estimates indicate the fire sparked by a lightning strike on Friday has grown to nearly 12,000 acres. Fire officials say it's grown to the south and west in very rugged terrain that's making it hard to fight on the ground. Instead the fire team is relying on aircraft dropping water and retardant.
     Fire lines are also being set up near the end of the tree line where it goes back into grassland and where fire fighters can actually work. They're doing all this while keeping an eye on Kingston. Another thing working against firefighters is the extreme heat with little to no humidity.
     Still they are confident they can keep the flames out of Kingston. Read more

Fire teams confident they'll save Kingston

Experts: Cartel disputes fuel increase in Juárez region violence

From the El Paso Times - By Diana Washington Valdez - U.S. officials on Wednesday said their intelligence indicates that the Sinaloa and Juárez drug-trafficking organizations are still active in the Juárez region, and that a recent spike in drug violence there can be attributed to cartel disputes.
     Joseph Arabit, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration in El Paso, said the violence stems from "fracturing within the Sinaloa cartel and continued fighting between the cartels."
     Army Col. Marisa Tanner, intelligence director for Joint Task Force North at Fort Bliss, said rogue elements of cartels that break away from the main groups contribute to violence.
     Arabit and Tanner were among panelists Wednesday at the International Association for Intelligence Education hosted this week by the University of Texas at El Paso. The conference brings together intelligence educators and trainers from around the world.
     They were joined for a discussion on border security by Ian Brownlee, U.S. consul in Juárez; Mark Morgan, FBI special agent in charge in El Paso; and Edward Regula, chief of the Border Intelligence Fusion Section at the El Paso Intelligence Center.
     Although elements of both drug cartels operate in the Juárez region, the experts said, intelligence indicates that Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman's organization, of Sinaloa, is the dominant group. Read more

Experts: Cartel disputes fuel increase in Juárez region violence

Study puts NM at top for child hunger

New statistics show the state has the most hungry children of any state in the country. 

The numbers show one in every three New Mexican children don't have enough to eat. The study was done by Feeding America, a hunger relief charity. 

Stephanie Miller of the Road Runner Food Bank said there's a number of reasons - from recession to parents unable to provide -- that a third of the state's kids are going hungry. The food bank can also check and see if patrons qualify for food stamps. 

New Mexico also ranks second overall in the country for adult hunger, which means 20 percent of New Mexican adults don't know where they'll get their next meal.

Study puts NM at top for child hunger

ACLU looking into Whole Foods Spanish policy

The American Civil Liberties Union is investigating a claim that a Whole Foods Market in Albuquerque has begun a "no Spanish" policy with employees. 

The store on Academy and Wyoming boulevards says it didn't formally ban speaking Spanish, but ACLU attorneys said they feel there may have been a human rights violation. 

Bryan Baldizan, the employee at the center of the controversy, said a Whole Foods supervisor recently singled out Spanish speakers. Baldizan claims that while handing out the company's language policy at a work meeting, the supervisor said they could not speak Spanish at work. Whole Foods said it does not have a "no foreign languages spoken" policy. 

The company's official policy, however, is that English is the default language employees must speak for consistent communication. 

He and another employee wrote a letter expressing their grievances about not being able to speak Spanish.

ACLU looking into Whole Foods Spanish policy

NM Courts rule in favor of telephone warrants

New Mexico's highest court has ruled that police can obtain search warrants over the telephone from a judge. 

The state Supreme Court said Monday that judges don't have to see in writing the sworn statement from authorities that provides the probable cause for issuing a search warrant. 

The ruling overturned a decision by the state Court of Appeals in a case involving Lester and Carol Boyse of Mesilla, who were sentenced in 2010 to probation for five years after pleading no contest to more than 100 charges of animal cruelty. 

Authorities searched the couple's southern New Mexico property in 2008, and found about 100 cats inside their home, including four dead cats inside a freezer.

NM Courts rule in favor of telephone warrants

The Sierra Club Exposed

Columnist Marita Noon

Commentary by Marita Noon - In a news cycle where the lack of transparency is revealed daily, it is refreshing when something previously opaque exposes its true motives. Such is the case for the Sierra Club and its desire to block oil and gas drilling.
     I've written many times on environmental groups’ influence over use of public lands and how they often use claims of some endangered flora or fauna as cover for their efforts to block any beneficial economic development, such as mineral extraction or agricultural activity. They cry about some critter when in fact it is really about control—control of public lands.
     But now, in a season of cover-ups, the Sierra Club has come clean. This month they've launched a new campaign: Our Wild America—which will call for new national monument designations.
     The Hill’s E2 Wire heralds the news: “Green groups to Obama: Designate public lands to stop oil and gas drilling.” No longer hiding behind the protection of a critter, the environmental groups have come out of the shadows and boldly proclaimed their intentions. The article starts with: “Environmental lobbyists are pressing President Obama to turn more western lands into national monuments to prevent oil-and-gas companies from drilling there. The Sierra Club is leading the charge…”
      In its announcement about the Wild America campaign, the United Press International said the following: “The Sierra Club, a leading environmental lobbying group in Washington…” The Sierra Club endorses candidates and policies—recently voting to support comprehensive immigration reform. In an interesting post on the website Progressives for Immigration Reform, life-long Sierra Club member and environmental activist, Philip Carfaro, bemoans the club’s reversal in its position on immigration that had been held for four decades, saying the shift “looks to have been driven by short-term politics.” Read full column

The Sierra Club Exposed

Feds increase southern NM's commercial zone 30 miles

From Alamogordo Daily News - by Milan Simonich, Texas-New Mexico Newspapers - New Mexico's southern border will become broader in terms of the customer base. U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Friday submitted a rule change that will extend the border commercial zone in New Mexico from 25 to 55 miles.
     It means that shoppers and diners from Mexico will be able to venture into Las Cruces, Deming and Lordsburg, the three largest New Mexico cities on the border. Mexican nationals who have undergone background, fingerprint and security checks can obtain Border Crossing Cards that will give them access to all three towns.
     El Paso, snug against Mexico, already is positioned for border commerce. Tucson, Ariz., also had an edge over the New Mexico cities, even though it is further from the Mexican border. That is because the former Immigration and Naturalization Service in 1999 issued a rule permitting a border zone up to 75 miles in Arizona. More

Feds increase southern NM's commercial zone 30 miles

Lightning caused fire burns 400 acres in the Gila Forest

From KOB-TV.com - By: Shaun Griswold, KOB.com - A fire ignited by lightning in the Gila National Forest on Friday has now burned more than 400 acres. The Sillver Fire is located about 7 miles southwest of Kingston, NM and is now considered a Type II incident.
     Firefighters have not been able to access the fire from the ground due to extreme rough terrain. Two air tankers and two helicopters are working the fire today. Air suppression efforts yesterday did not stop the fire’s spread. Smoke is visible from Highway 152 and Silver City.
     Today crews are mopping up the Indian and Papoose Fires, also lightning caused. Both fires burned about 80 acres each near Hillsboro Peak, roughly 10 miles northwest of the Silver Fire. New Mexico 152 from 35 miles east of Bayard at mile marker 16 to 28.8 miles west of Hillsboro at mile marker 24 is closed due to the fire. More

Lightning caused fire burns 400 acres in the Gila Forest

AG bows out of same-sex marriage fight

NM Attorney General Gary King

From KRQE-TV.com - by Gabrielle Burkhart - The much anticipated opinion from Attorney General Gary King on same-sex marriage in New Mexico turned out to be no opinion. "The policy of this office generally prohibits us from issuing opinions in cases where the same issue has been raised in court," said King at a press conference Thursday.
     King was asked to weigh in a couple of months ago after Santa Fe city officials claimed same-sex marriage is legal in New Mexico because state marriage law is not gender-specific. They said county clerks should start issuing marriage licenses to gay couples.
     However, King said after legal research by his staff, he cannot say definitely that state law allows same sex marriage. King said he personally supports it, but that the courts or the Legislature must decide the issue. At least one lawsuit is pending. King's no call is a major disappointment for supporters of same sex marriage. They're calling it a delay of justice for gay couples.
     "We cannot state definitively that state law currently permits same sex marriage," said King.  According to Santa Fe City Attorney Geno Zamora, the announcement is a disappointment. "The attorney general had an opportunity to single-handedly end discrimination against our brothers, sisters and children, and didn't," Zamora told KRQE News 13. Read more

AG bows out of same-sex marriage fight

Swickard: Working at getting and keeping jobs

© 2013 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. These are tough times on some American citizens. Jobs are harder to get for many Americans than they were a few years ago. The economy has turned somewhat sour. Yet, there are other Americans who find this the best of times. They are making money and building a business. Go figure. They have gone against the tide of everyone else and done well despite the market.
     In the midst of all the economic bad news some Americans are starting businesses that are thriving. They are taking a chance and working very hard. For some Americans they are hitting the jackpot. Yes, others may be slipping down the porcelain convenience. It is capitalism where those who satisfy the customers best usually do the best in business.
     That needs to be the American motto: you can still do well in America. And you can. There are important factors which include being business smart, working hard and having some luck. Does luck play a part? Yes, especially if you equate luck with smarts and hard work. There is a correlation but as my stats professor drummed into our minds, correlation does not infer causation.
     Advice is like lice, better to keep to oneself. But I must offer this advice to those who are unemployed and have been for an extended time. It seems to me I have spoken with a number of Americans in the last couple of years who seem to not know the game. What is the game? To get and keep a job there must be a fair trade between employer and employee. If either in this transaction are abused then something bad will happen to both.
     What makes and made capitalism so powerful is that it runs on satisfied customers. If either party in the transaction is not satisfied, it is not capitalism; rather, it is something else. Read full column

Swickard: Working at getting and keeping jobs