Lottery scholarship program may be in danger

From KOB-TV.com - by Stuart Dyson, KOB Eyewitness News 4 - It was a must-do job for the state legislature – and it didn’t get done. Now thousands of New Mexico college students on lottery scholarships are wondering if they’ll be able to stay in school.

     Analysts say the scholarship fund will be $5 million in the red by July, with more and more students becoming eligible and tuition costs going higher and higher. At the same time, lottery ticket sales are on a downward slide. Less money coming in – more money going out. You don’t have to be a math major to figure out it’s going belly-up.
     The lottery scholarships are good for full tuition at New Mexico’s public universities and community colleges and other public higher education institutions. Students must graduate from a New Mexico high school or get a GED here, and maintain a grade point average of 2.5. In the 60 day legislative session that ended Saturday, lawmakers considered a proposal to raise that grade point average to 2.75, which would reduce the number of eligible students. That bill died in committee. Other proposals included limits on family income for scholarship recipients, and diverting money from the state’s tobacco settlement income. Nothing passed.
     For now, the state Higher Education Department seems to be willing to let the scholarships stagger on, awash in red ink – hoping that next year lawmakers can forge some kind of agreement. Read more

Lottery scholarship program may be in danger

Iraq veteran family awarded $10 million in damages

Kenneth Ellis

Jurors have awarded more than $10 million in damages in the civil case of an Iraq War veteran who was fatally shot by an Albuquerque police officer three years ago. 

Jurors announced the verdict Friday after several hours of deliberation. 

The case stems from Officer Brett Lampiris-Tremba's 2010 shooting of Kenneth Ellis during a standoff in front of a convenience store. 

Ellis suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. According to police, Lampiris-Tremba shot Ellis once in the neck after the veteran pointed a gun to his own head.

Iraq veteran family awarded $10 million in damages

Airline to offer flights from Santa Fe to Phoenix

Great Lakes Aviation says it plans to begin offering flights between Santa Fe and Phoenix starting in May.

 The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that the airline already flies from Santa Fe to Denver and Clovis. However, the flights to southeastern New Mexico will end with the addition of the Phoenix connection. 

The airline's announcement comes as the Santa Fe Municipal Airport waits to find out whether its control tower might lose its federal employees due to automatic budget cuts. Airport director Jim Montman says that decision won't be made until March 22.

 Advertised online fares for the Great Lakes flights between Santa Fe and Phoenix start at $89 for a nonrefundable one-way ticket on a twin-engine turboprop airplane.

Airline to offer flights from Santa Fe to Phoenix

Breaking Bad bill gets second chance

New Mexico's "Breaking Bad" bill will get a second chance at being signed by Gov. Susana Martinez. 

The original bill was vetoed by Martinez, but the original parts of the bill were absorbed into a larger tax package over the weekend. Martinez said she's happy with the proposal. 

Even after a long day of filming one of the last episodes of "Breaking Bad," actor Bryan Cranston kept an eye on the Legislature and the future of the bill. 

The bill increases the amount of return incentives to 30% from the previous 25%.  

Co-star and Albuquerque native Steven Michael Quezada said the bill will help him produce his own independent series, "Duke City." 

Cranston said the issue goes beyond the financial incentives. Additional incentives mean more jobs for New Mexicans working behind the camera.

Breaking Bad bill gets second chance

NCAA: Lobos get West 3 seed, Aggies get Midwest 13 seed

From KOB-TV.com - The Aggies and Lobos men's basketball teams now know where they will be dancing in the 2013 NCAA Tournament. The New Mexico Lobos picked up a No. 3 seed in the West region. The Lobos will face No. 14 Harvard in their first game. The Lobos and Harvard will battle Thursday March 21, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Tip off is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. MDT.
     The WAC tournament champion New Mexico State Aggies will face the No. 4 seed St. Louis Billikins in the Midwest region. The Aggies are the No. 13 seed and will play Thursday March 21, in San Jose California. The Aggies take a No. 13 seed and will play No. 4 St. Louis. The game is Thursday March 21, in San Jose, Calif. Tip off is scheduled for 12:10 MT.
     Both games will be aired on TNT. Read more

NCAA: Lobos get West 3 seed, Aggies get Midwest 13 seed

Bill mandating background checks at gunshows heads to Senate floor as clock ticks

From Capitol Report New Mexico - The only gun control bill left standing in the current 60-day legislative session passed through the Senate Judiciary Committee in a vote that came at 11:23 p.m. Thursday (March 14), with just a day and a half left in the 60-day legislative session. House Bill 77, which requires background checks in an effort to close what gun control advocates call the gun show loophole, passed on a 6-4 vote, with all the Democrats on the committee voting yes and all Republicans voting no. The bill now heads to the Senate floor.
     “This is a good bill that we worked on with representatives on the other side of the aisle,” said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Miguel Garcia, D-Albuquerque. Supporters and critics of HB77 waited well into the night to watch the proceedings and voice their opinions to the committee members who voted on the bill without debate. The bill — which already passed through the House and Republican Gov. Susana Martinez indicated she’d sign — now has to beat the clock.
     If the Senate (where Democrats hold a 25-17 advantage) passes the bill in a floor vote, it would then have to go back to the House for concurrence because HB77 was amended slightly in an earlier Senate committee. Concurrence can happen relatively quickly but there’s no guarantee as the Legislature will adjourn at noon on Saturday. Read more

Bill mandating background checks at gunshows heads to Senate floor as clock ticks

It's battle of the budget as session nears end

From KOB-TV.com - by Stuart Dyson, KOB Eyewitness News 4 - State lawmakers will wrap up their sixty day session on Saturday, but the odds are they will be back in a special session. Gov. Susana Martinez says she will veto the budget bill and call lawmakers back in to come up with another one. Senate Finance Committee chairman John Arthur Smith said talks continue with the Martinez administration, but there is no deal at this point. Martinez can't live with the budget that lawmakers crafted. Among other things, it leaves out $3 million in extra pay for outstanding teachers. Martinez also wants bigger tax cuts for businesses. New Mexico's corporate income tax rate is the highest in the region.
     "What the legislature has to do is have the desire and have the courage to put our kids first and to put our economy first, especially with the federal sequestration cuts looming over us we have to diversify our economy," she said. Democratic lawmakers say they're stunned that they will have to comeback in a special session over a $3 million difference in a budget that totals almost $6 billion.
     "The reality is that we would have to wait a couple weeks at least for people to go home and take care of any business, and then come back," said Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, an Albuquerque Democrat. "I don't think she would try to keep us here beyond Saturday, but I don't know. This is a Governor who doesn't disclose her information to us freely."
     A special session will cost the taxpayers about $40,000 a day, and that's on top of the regular session that's costing New Mexican's more than $8 million. Look for a special session sometime before the middle of May. That's mainly because the public schools will need budgets in place so they can do contracts with teachers and buy books and equipment and supplies for the school year that starts in August. Read more

It's battle of the budget as session nears end

Lawmakers approve change in email disclosure

New Mexico lawmakers have approved a policy that could shield legislators' email from disclosure through public records requests. 

The new legislative rule will govern how the Legislature handles requests under the Inspection of Public Records Act, which grants access to records about public business with certain exceptions, such as trade secrets. 

Legislators contend that much of their communication with constituents and others about legislation should remain confidential. Some lawmakers use email through personal accounts rather than a legislative email system. 

The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government opposes the new records policy and disagrees with lawmakers who contend the state constitution provides special protections exempting legislative email from public disclosure.

Lawmakers approve change in email disclosure

Interior Secretary to settle northern NM water dispute

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will be in New Mexico to finalize the latest settlement of a decades-long water rights battle in northern New Mexico. 

The Interior Department says Salazar will be meeting Thursday in Santa Fe with pueblo leaders from Tesuque, Nambe, Pojoaque and San Ildefonso. 

The water rights settlement was one of four included in legislation signed by President Barack Obama in 2011 that was aimed at delivering clean drinking water to tribes in New Mexico, Arizona and Montana. 

Under the agreement, a regional water system will be built to serve the four New Mexico pueblos and their neighbors. The federal government, the state and Santa Fe County will share the cost of building the system. 

The price tag has been estimated at more than $177 million.

Interior Secretary to settle northern NM water dispute

Tainted heroin prevalent in San Miguel County

Authorities in northern New Mexico's San Miguel County say tainted heroin has caused one death and several hospitalizations among people booked into the county jail in Las Vegas in the past month. 

Detention Center Warden Patrick Snedeker says officials are using medical screenings and other steps to try to detect warning signs of use of contaminated heroin as people are taken into custody. 

Snedeker says symptoms include seizures, hyperventilation, hallucinations and dangerous changes in vital signs. 

He says the first case was when a 41-year-old woman died Feb. 19, a week after she was stricken at the jail and hospitalized.

According to the Las Vegas Optic, jail officials then began seeing the same symptoms in other inmates who were long-term chronic heroin users.

Tainted heroin prevalent in San Miguel County