HS students forced to take classes at elementary

From KOB-TV.com - By: Lauren Hansard, KOB Eyewitness News 4 - In one New Mexico district, this year high school students are being put in the elementary school with the much younger kids. The Capitan School Superintendent said a wall will be separating the elementary school students from the high school students, but some parents say that's not enough.
     Rita Dickinson has a child at the high school and middle school. She said she’s concerned about her daughter being peer pressured. “We try to obviously raise our kids right at the house and tell them wrong from right and smoking, and drugs, and sex and everything else so that introduces another new peer pressure to these younger kids," said Dickinson.
     The renovations to the high school won’t be completed until next August. Until then nearly two hundred high school students will take classes in the elementary school. “It will be interesting to see how teachers are going to handle that and handle the noise from high school students being in the elementary and keeping the elementary kids focused because they’re not very focused at that age," said Dickinson.
     Superintendent Shirley Crawford said they are just trying to make it work. “You move, you make do. If you've ever been involved in a renovation in your own home you know it makes you want to pull your hair out and you always run into things you didn’t think we’re going to happen, but we're doing our best to keep it safe and make the best of the situation," said Crawford.
     The Superintendent said the district looked into buying portables for the high school students but decided to use that money for the renovations. More

HS students forced to take classes at elementary

Group wants to feed bears in Sandia Mountains

From KOAT-TV.com - Members of the Sandia Mountain Bear Watch want to put out food in the mountains to help the animals survive. — An organization is calling the bear population in New Mexico a crisis situation. "We've got a big problem. I think we are on the verge of losing our bear population in the Sandia," said Jan Hayes, of Sandia Mountain Bear Watch.
     Hayes believes the drought plays a big role. "When it gets to this point, we don't believe there is anything here for them to eat. That's why everyone is seeing bears," said Hayes.
     Hayes is going straight to the governor and asking that the Department of Fish and Game start giving the bears supplemental food. "What will help is diversionary feeding. That means to divert them away from the homes, and just to feed them to get them over this starvation hump," said Hayes.
     The Department of Fish and Game does not support supplemental feeding of wildlife. Officials said they are concerned that supplemental feeding is not a long-term solution. Read more

Group wants to feed bears in Sandia Mountains

ABQ Mayor looking into homophobic bus incident

Add caption

Albuquerque’s mayor is ordering an official inquiry into a strange incident on an airport shuttle bus involving a driver who ordered a gay couple to sit in the back of the bus. 

The story is getting national attention. The couple’s offense? They were holding hands. Now the two men, from Portland, Oregon, are considering legal action.

 It happened June 28 aboard a Standard Parking shuttle bus at the Sunport. The driver told the Alibi weekly newspaper that he didn’t want women and children to see the couple’s “inappropriate” behavior. 

Mayor Richard Berry says the driver was the one who was inappropriate.

Berry says this does not reflect Albuquerque, New Mexico, and as the mayor he’s upset about it and wants to make sure they get to the bottom of it. 

Standard Parking is a private business working under a vendor contract with the city. The company has issued a public apology to the gay couple. 

The driver has been suspended since early July.

ABQ Mayor looking into homophobic bus incident

State to see food assistance cuts

This fall, hundreds of thousands of New Mexico residents could see a cut in their food assistance benefits. 

The USDA released data showing 442,000 residents would be impacted when a temporary boost to a supplemental nutrition assistance program, known as SNAP (formerly food stamps), expires this fall. 

Across the country, an estimated 47 million Americans will see a reduction in their benefits. 

According to New Mexico Voices for Children, 42 percent of the state's children are on food stamps. The news comes on the heels of another report by Feeding America that found New Mexico has the highest rate of child hunger in the nation. 

When the benefit boost expires on Oct. 31, NM Voices for Children says a family of three would see a reduction of $29 a month, averaging less than $1.40 per person per meal.

State to see food assistance cuts

NMSU Pres. wants alcohol at Pam American Center

New Mexico State University President Garrey Carruthers is voicing support for the possibility of selling beer and wine during sports events at the Las Cruces school's Pan American Center. 

According to the Las Cruces Sun-News, that possibility is expected to be up for discussion this fall. 

Carruthers says selling beer and wine at the center would be a good revenue-maker for NMSU and shouldn't have a downside if handled appropriately.

 On the other hand, Carruthers says he'd oppose alcohol sales at Aggie Memorial Stadium. He says that's because the university would be liable if people who drink while tailgating before the game purchase a single drink inside the stadium. 

The Pan American Center is the venue for NMSU home basketball and volleyball games as well as special events.

NMSU Pres. wants alcohol at Pam American Center

NM health providers lose appeal

Behavioral health providers under investigation for possible overbilling, mismanagement and fraud have lost an appeal of a court ruling that allows New Mexico to continue to withhold Medicaid payments.

 The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver on Monday dismissed the appeal by eight nonprofit providers. A federal judge in Albuquerque last month denied the providers' request for an order stopping the state from freezing payments for mental health and substance abuse services.

 A lawyer for the providers said the lawsuit against the state remains pending in district court. 

A legislative committee last week sent a letter to the U.S. Health and Human Services Department seeking assurances that New Mexico won't lose Medicaid funding.

NM health providers lose appeal

Marita Noon: Please Don’t Frack

Commentary by Marita Noon - Regular readers of my weekly column may be shocked at my suggestion: “please don’t frack.” But, bear with me. The terms “frack,” “fracking,” or “frack job” have become a part of the vernacular. “Frack” is short for “fracturing.” It generally refers to the process used in drilling for oil and gas known as hydraulic fracturing—a process where pressure is applied to crack rock. Fracking is responsible for America’s newly found abundance of oil and natural gas—hence, the opposition from environmentalists. As the Sierra Club’s Beyond Natural Gas website states, this abundance “displaces the market for renewables.”
     Displacing the market for renewables is bad news for the Obama administration—which has allocated nearly 100 billion taxpayer dollars for so-called green energy projects. Obama’s EPA—under the direction of Lisa Jackson—has repeatedly, unsuccessfully, attempted to tie fracking to water contamination. If fracking can be found to be unsafe, and therefore banned, America’s domestic oil and gas will be kept in the ground, jobs will be lost, energy costs will soar—and renewables can come in as the solution with newfound cost parity.
     But, it is not just about oil and gas. Coal was the first target of the Obama administration’s attack on energy. Using the now discredited ruse of manmade climate change caused by CO2 emissions, the White House pushed for a cap-and-trade bill that would have artificially raised the price of energy. Even with Democrats in control of both houses, thanks to an uprising of the American public in the Summer of 2009, cap and trade never passed. Undaunted, the Administration has continued to push crippling energy policies through executive order, regulatory action, and bureaucratic bumbling. The result has been thousands of jobs lost in coal country where the real unemployment rate hovers around 20%.
     Americans are beginning to wake up. On July 10, Iraq war veteran and coal miner Jimmy Rose captured the national spotlight and became an overnight sensationon America’s Got Talent with his heartfelt song “Coal Keeps the Lights On.” Rose poignantly sings about the benefits of coal and in verse two brings it home: “They went plumb crazy in Washington. They’re talking about closing the mines. They’re gonna bleed us all dry from the inside out. They don’t care that much about the little man or the calloused hands. It’s a way of life ‘round here, just like it’s always been.” The crowd went crazy. The video went viral. Read full column

Marita Noon: Please Don’t Frack

Oh no, Balloon Fiesta loses world record

From KOB-TV.com - By: Jeffery Gordon, KOB.com - Albuquerque’s International Balloon Fiesta no longer holds a world record.The record for launching the most hot air balloons within an hour was set in 2011.
     That is when 345 balloons lifted off at Balloon Fiesta Park. The Lorraine Mondial Festival in France has set a new record with 408 balloons.
     Balloon Fiesta organizers are saying they might not try to break the record at this year’s upcoming fiesta. More

Oh no, Balloon Fiesta loses world record

Who really discovered Carlsbad Caverns?

NewsNM:Swickard - last week we were talking about the discovery of Carlsbad Caverns. August 4, 2013 the Carlsbad Current Argus came out with that story. - By Valerie Cranston

     Carlsbad Caverns, once known as Bat Cave, has been referred to as the Eighth Wonder of the World.
Many claimed to be its discoverer, but no one knows for sure who really discovered this magnificent underground world. One fact no one will dispute is that the Indians who roamed this area many years ago knew of this huge hole in the ground long before any white man.
     In May of 1968, then Carlsbad Caverns park naturalist Neal R. Bullington compiled and edited a document of recorded claims and counterclaims of discovery of the Bat Cave. One specific account in the document titled "Who Discovered Carlsbad Caverns?" tells of unfolding events at a barbecue in the early 1920s at Washington Ranch.
      "For years many have credited Jim White with being the discoverer. To the best of our knowledge, Jim White made no active claim to discovery, although neither did he go out of his way to stop others from claiming it for him," Bullington wrote noting, in no way should any claims tarnish White's reputation as explorer and promoter. 

     Dr. Willis T. Lee, head of the National Geographic Expedition in the cave March 20 to Sept. 15, 1924, wanted to promote the cavern following his underground visit. He invited a crowd of newspaper people and dignitaries to join him in a free tour of the cave followed by an invitation to the barbecue."We are indebted to Carl Livingston (Lee's expedition assistant) for recording what followed," wrote Bullington.

     Livingston, cowboy, attorney, amateur archaeologist, geologist, public official and writer recalled and wrote about the barbecue events for the March 1934 issue of New Mexico Magazine. The title of his story was "The Eighth Wonder; A Saga of 'Baloney' told Link by Link in which Discoverers of the Great Carlsbad Cavern are Thick as Flies." Read full story

Who really discovered Carlsbad Caverns?

Swickard: Our lovable corrupt New Mexico

© 2013 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. We have lovable rogues in our state. One had a sign on his office, “If I ain’t in, shove the money under the door and go away.” Everyone looked at the sign and laughed. Me, I was pretty sure that the sign meant exactly what it said. I never saw anyone in the media print a picture of the sign. Go figure.
     New Mexico, known as the Land of Enchantment, is a land of corruption. Many New Mexicans are enchanted with our loveable corrupt rogues. The only thing we ask is that they act with panache. We do not like people who bash suckers in the head and scurry away with their wallets.
     No, we want great schemes that leave us breathless as to the audacity. We want to laugh at the way that these rogues shred the laws by knowing which Judges are up for a bribe and which Judges are not. These Robin Hoods make a good living and make us glad that they came to our little slice of heaven to enliven the environs.
     I do not know why people look surprised when they metaphorically turn over a government rock and find night creatures. That is just the way many New Mexico leaders operate. As is the habit of little dogs to bark and bite, many of our leaders enrich themselves as did their parents and their grandparents. Their cousins all have government jobs.
     The problem for most corrupt leaders involves the idea that the media is watching. Most of the time the media is only watching a little bit because there are too few journalists working in each organization to spend the thousands of hours it takes to bring down these corrupt politicians. Most media are just getting by financially. In fact, it is the great hope of many journalists to get a government job with a pension.
     As for the authorities who are supposed to catch the crooks, what of them? Many are political animals who know how far to go and which of the “Fixers” to leave alone. There is a price politically to be paid if someone starts sticking their neck where it does not belong. Read full column

Swickard: Our lovable corrupt New Mexico