Swickard: The radical I have become

© 2013 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. Ronald Reagan explained he did not leave the Democrat party, the Democrat party left him. The principles he embraced when he joined the Democrats were no longer being embraced. Reagan had three choices: first, try to change those core values back to what they were when he joined the party. Second, he could belong to a party not representing his principles. Or third, he could leave, which is what he ultimately did.
     Reagan became a Republican and the rest is history. His core principles stayed the same, but his political label changed. What party would Reagan join today? His core beliefs are central to neither major party.
Lately I am seen as a radical for my core beliefs. What beliefs? That we Americans are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Further, that with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we Americans mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor in defense of our country.
     My beliefs in God, the U. S. Constitution and my right to protect myself were mainstream in the society to which I was born. I still pray to God each day and view the Constitution as the guiding principle for our nation including my right to have and use a means to protect myself.
     Know this: the God of my birth is still my God. The Constitution of my nation’s birth is still my Constitution. My right to protect myself, a right I had at birth, is still paramount. Read full column

Swickard: The radical I have become

Abortion debate heats up in NM

The abortion debate could be moving from Texas to New Mexico. 

A group in Albuquerque, Voices for Family Values has started a petition to put an ordinance on the November ballot that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

 Chris Donnelly of Voices for Family Values says this ordinance would bring "common sense" legislation regarding abortion laws. 

The group has until July 25 to get 15,000 signatures to get the ordinance on the ballot. According to the city, if the group does get the signatures, the city will put this on the November ballot. If it does pass, it would be challenged immediately because the state law already addresses abortion rights in New Mexico. 

Currently, the New Mexico law bans partial birth abortion.

Abortion debate heats up in NM

Powder found at Santa Fe Courthouse not dangerous

Authorities say a suspicious substance found in mail sent to a judge at the Santa Fe Courthouse isn't dangerous. 

Santa Fe Fire Department Assistant Chief Jan Snyder said Wednesday that preliminary testing identified the white powdery substance as sodium bicarbonate, commonly considered baking soda. Additional testing will be done at a laboratory in Albuquerque. 

The courthouse was evacuated for several hours but it's reopening for business in the afternoon. Chief Judge Raymond Ortiz said 20 people in the court clerk's office were isolated after a worker found the powder in an envelope addressed to District Judge Stephen Pfeffer.

Powder found at Santa Fe Courthouse not dangerous

Pentagon eyes cut in danger pay

From the San Angelo Standard-Times The Pentagon is eyeing plans to eliminate danger pay for service members in as many as 18 countries and five waterways around the world, saving about $120 million each year while taking a bite out of troops’ salaries, The Associated Press has learned.
     Senior defense and military leaders are expected to meet later this week to review the matter and are poised to approve a new plan. Pentagon press secretary George Little declined to discuss details but said no final decisions have been made.
     Senior military leaders came up with the proposed list of locations in their regions that no longer were perilous enough to warrant danger pay, including several countries in the heart of the tumultuous Middle East, such as Jordan, where hundreds of troops have recently deployed because of the bloody Syrian civil war on its border.
     Defense officials said the proposal would strip the stipend — which can be up to $225 per month — from as many as 56,000 service members, including thousands stationed in Kuwait, which was a key hub during the Iraq War. It also would affect thousands of sailors who routinely travel through the Persian Gulf region on ships or airmen who fly over the Gulf.
     The $225 monthly cut in pay would come regardless of the service member’s base salary, which can range from a low of roughly $18,000 a year for a brand new recruit to a high of nearly $235,000 a year for a four-star general with more than 40 years in the military. Troops also can receive a variety of other allowances for housing, clothing or job specialties.Read more

Pentagon eyes cut in danger pay

NM declines quick approval of WIPP expansion

The state of New Mexico has declined the Department of Energy's request for quick approval of a proposal to bring radioactive waste from Washington state's Hanford Nuclear Reservation to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad. 

Instead, the New Mexico Environment Department says it will hold public hearings before any decisions are made. 

Environment Secretary Ryan Flynn in a statement Monday evening said the decision will ensure that "the public's views are carefully considered" before the state acts on the Department of Energy's request to modify the WIPP permit to allow the waste to be brought from Washington state. 

The DOE in March asked the department for a quick approval of a change in the WIPP permit so it can bring 3.1 million gallons from leaking waste tanks at Hanford.

NM declines quick approval of WIPP expansion

USDA offers fire assistance to agricultural producers

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service is accepting applications for financial assistance from agricultural producers in New Mexico impacted by wildfires of 2011, 2012 and 2013 under the new Burned Lands Initiative. 

The financial assistance will help address resource concerns on private land through NRCS’ Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP). 

Applications will be accepted through Friday, July 19, 2013 for producers impacted by wildfires such as the Jaroso Fire, Las Conchas Fire, Little Bear Fire, Silver Fire, Thompson Ridge Fire, Track Fire, Tres Lagunas Fire, Wallow Fire and Whitewater-Baldy Complex Fire.

USDA offers fire assistance to agricultural producers

Rio Grande to run dry

With the flow between Elephant Butte and Caballo reservoirs ending on Monday, the shortest irrigation season in the history of the Rio Grande Project is quickly coming to an end. 

Although a limited flow will continue between the two reservoirs for the next few days, there are no further releases scheduled for 2013. Flows from Caballo Reservoir for Rio Grande Project water delivery will end on July 14, which will mean the river channel between the two reservoirs and downstream of Elephant Butte will begin to dry. 

Water levels at Elephant Butte Reservoir are at a historic 40-year low. The current level is 3.1 percent of total storage capacity. Irrigators on the Rio Grande Project received an initial allotment of just six percent of a full supply this year. 

The irrigation season began on June 1.

Rio Grande to run dry

Oil boom creating traffic problems in Eddy County

From KOB-TV.com - By: Lauren Hansard, KOB Eyewitness News 4 - Eddy County in Southeast New Mexico isn't known for traffic problems until now. The oil industry is booming, add in normal truck traffic and you have a problem law enforcement is cruising to solve. The biggest challenge for drivers and law enforcement is rush hour.
     "If you live in Eddy County you know between 5:00 in the evening and 7:00 in the morning it is hard to get anywhere," said Lieutenant James Page with the Eddy County Sheriff Department. Page says they have increased patrols to keep up. "I think we're doing a good job, just trying to keep pace to this ever expanding field.”
     The Sheriff’s Department got a $20,000 grant just to manage traffic in the oil fields. "The increase in traffic is exponential from what it was 10 years ago," said Page. They’re putting more deputies on patrol in those areas especially during peak times. The department has logged 289 hours of overtime patrols this year with over 500 tickets issued during those hours.
     "Some days it is nonstop from the time we come in to when go home at night, it can be crash after crash," said Page. The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant has also started an initiative to help make highways safer.
     "We're working to see how we can reduce accidents in SE New Mexico," said Susan Scott, the Deputy Manager of Communications at WIPP. WIPP lost two employees last year in car accidents and have been holding meetings with the Sheriff Department all year to make roadways safer. Read more

Oil boom creating traffic problems in Eddy County

Senator to save NMSU football by de-emphasizing

Will NMSU ever be playing in the New Mexico Bowl?

Commentary by Milan Simonich: They still play football at Cumberland University, a school that lost to Georgia Tech in 1916 by the record-breaking score of 222-0. Cumberland, with an enrollment of 1,400, has a schedule this fall that includes Faulkner University and Bluefield College. Playing mighty Georgia Tech is only a bad memory.
     Cumberland administrators learned long ago that their school in central Tennessee could not be a football powerhouse so they scaled back the program. New Mexico State Sen. Howie Morales envisions a similar change on the border.
     Morales, D-Silver City, says the New Mexico State Aggies can compete at the highest level in basketball but not in football. He says NMSU should maintain an intercollegiate football program, but scale it down to Division II or the Football Championship Subdivision.
     "The reality of it is that you've got to be competitive if you're going to keep playing football," said Morales, who received his Ph.D. from New Mexico State.
     His argument against NMSU remaining at the highest level in football will be clear to all by late summer. Read full column

Senator to save NMSU football by de-emphasizing

Wherry Elem students dismissed due to power outage

NewsNM: Swickard - Wherry Elementary is my first public school almost 60 years ago. I smile as I go by it when I am in Albuquerque. 
From KOB-TV.com - By: Elizabeth Reed, KOB.com - Due to a power outage, Wherry Elementary School is releasing students in its K-5 summer school early on Monday.
     According to Albuquerque Public Schools spokesman John Miller, a transformer failed and now PNM crews are waiting on a part to fix it.
     Miller said parents are encouraged to pick their children up, but if they cannot, the school will hold them until their regular dismissal time of 3 p.m.
     No word yet on whether or not school will be in session on Tuesday. More

Wherry Elem students dismissed due to power outage