News New Mexico

More pueblos join firework ban

Two pueblos have agreed to join a fireworks ban amid New Mexico's dangerously dry conditions.

Santa Clara Pueblo and the Santa Ana Pueblo agreed last week to join a ban on fireworks on the reservation after meeting with Gov. Susana Martinez.

The governor recently met with leaders from all 22 pueblos and told them about the effects of the state's extreme drought.

Martinez says this is the worst drought the New Mexico has seen in 118 years. Officials hope to have a list next week of all the pueblos that have banned fireworks.

Gov. refuses to disclose work records

Gov. Martinez

More than six months after the attorney general ruled that the work records of Gov. Susana Martinez’s security detail are subject to public disclosure laws, her administration is refusing media requests for details on past expenses of State Police officers who travel with her and her husband, citing safety.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reported June 20 that the Republican administration says there is only $123.94 in expenses for food for the officers who accompanied Martinez’s husband, Chuck Franco, on a six-day 2011 Louisiana alligator-hunting trip because they were hosted privately.

But it refused to say who was the host and denied the paper’s request to see food receipts the administration said covered the officers’ meals in New Mexico on the first and last days of the trip.

15 NM health care providers fail audit

Fifteen New Mexico providers of mental health and substance abuse services failed to meet standards, overbilled the federal and state government by tens of millions of dollars, and may have taken part in fraudulent activities, according to a new state audit released Monday.

New Mexico Human Services Department officials said the audit found that "errors and overpayments were so widespread that the business and billing practices of every provider (in the audit) warrants careful scrutiny." It also found "mismanagement, fraud, waste and abuse" in the treatment of potential suicide victims, including disregard for follow-up care and basic policies.

Department Secretary Sidonie Squier said that, as a result of the audit, Medicaid payments would stop immediately to all 15 providers and out-of-state managers would be brought to New Mexico to manage behavioral health care services for patients.

New Mexico last in child well-being ranks

From KOB-TV.com - By: Stuart Dyson, KOB Eyewitness News 4 - Thank God for Mississippi” is a phrase well-known to many New Mexicans. That state has historically been dead last on every important quality of life list – but not anymore. Mississippi has moved up to 49th on the national “Kids Count” list, while our state has dropped to 50th.
New Mexico now ranks as the worst state in the nation when it comes to the well-being of our children. The “Kids Count” data-book ranks our state at number fifty, with low scores for things like education, health, and economic security. True, New Mexico never has ranked above 40th, but 50th place really hurts.
It’s not that we’re doing so much worse than we did last year. It’s just that Mississippi has made giant strides in things like the rate of kids attending pre-school. In fact teachers and school administrators say early education is the key to overall improvement in academic performance. 62 percent of New Mexico kids don’t attend pre-school, one of the lowest rates in the country.
“When we receive our kids and we see what it is that they’re lacking, they’re already behind the 8-ball,” said teacher Sonya Romero. “It makes it harder for us as teachers to catch them up in such as limited amount of time and with such limited resources that we have.”
Joan Baker owns and operates “My Happy Place” pre-school in Edgewood. “The amount I’m able to pay my teachers, for the most part they can go make more working at McDonald’s or Arby’s,” Baker said. “At Smith’s being a bagger they can make more money. I have a high turnover and it’s hard for the kids to connect and learn when that teacher is gone in a few months.”
“This state lags behind in early childhood education,” said Albuquerque school superintendent Winston Brooks. In kindergarten we’ve got kids who can read just ten sight words and we’ve got kids who can read a novel. I think we have to really do a much better job with that.”
New Mexico got worse in the last year with almost one third of the kids living in poverty and 43 percent now in single parent families. Read more

Fire burning near Timberon

From the Alamogordo Daily News - By Duane Barbati, Staff Writer - U.S. Forest Service firefighters on Saturday continue to build containment lines around a one-acre fire burning about six miles east of Timberon. Forest Service, Mayhill and Weed firefighters initially responded to the fire around noon Saturday, but Mayhill and Weed firefighters were released from the fire around 8 p.m.
Forest Service spokeswoman Loretta L. Benavidez said no structures are threatened at this time, but firefighters are working on building containment lines around the perimeter of the fire. Benavidez said Forest Service firefighters will have two engines staying on the fire throughout the night. She said the fire was caused by lightning and is burning on Lincoln National Forest land.
The fire is demonstrating low to moderate fire behavior, Benavidez said. She said the fire is located under the Carrisa Lookout in the Lincoln National Forest. Benavidez said the fire is located in an area with varying degrees of slope and fueled by a mix of conifer, ponderosa pine and grass. Read more

Martinez weighs in on Magdalena water situation

From KOB-TV.com - By: Jeffery Gordon, KOB.com - Governor Susana Martinez says the water well in Magdalena was not maintained for more than 45 years. KOB Eyewitness News 4 talked to the governor about the water issues in the town over the weekend.
Engineers think there is a chance they may be able to rehab and re-use an old well that was shut down to fix the issue. Meanwhile the water authority is sending truckloads of water to the town every day.
“This isn't the best way of doing things but we're making sure they have water every day and have plenty of water and that's the truck

loads that are going up there,” says Martinez. Read more

ABQ approves new water conservation plan

A new plan predicts that Albuquerque's water use will rise 21 percent by 2024, as population growth outstrips conservation efforts.

The Albuquerque Journal reports that the new long-range plan was approved Wednesday by the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility board. The new conservation strategy is aimed at reducing per-capita consumption to 135 gallons per person per day by 2024, a 9 percent reduction from the current 148 gallons.

But Katherine Yuhas, the water utility's conservation officer, says because population in the utility's service area projected to grow from the current 640,000 to 810,000 by 2024, overall water use is expected to rise.

Udall and Heinrich want extended port of entry hours

U.S.

Senators Martin Heinrich and Tom Udall have introduced an amendment to S.744, the senate immigration reform bill, that will help increase bilateral trade and improve ports of entry along the Southwest United States border.

The amendment would extend the commercial and private hours of operation for vehicles at the Santa Teresa Port of Entry from 12 hours to 24, help facilitate trade, and enhance national security along the port of entry.

Extending the hours would also enable traffic that currently crosses in El Paso, Texas, to travel through New Mexico, reducing the heavy congestion in El Paso and the strain on Customs and Border Protection in the region.

Fire evacuation lifted for Kingston

An evacuation order for a historical mining town near a raging fire in southern New Mexico's Gila National Forest has been lifted.

Incident Commander Matt Reidy said Thursday that Kingston residents with special entry permits will be allowed to return to the town. Residents were evacuated last week after the lightning-caused fire moved closer to the town.

Officials say the inferno have grown by Thursday to 57 square miles just as firefighters finish setting up protections around a nearby historic mining town. The fire's growth was blamed on persistent hot and dry weather which caused it to expand another 10 square miles overnight.

The wildfire is expected to burn more acreage throughout the week, spilling smoke into nearby towns.

Swickard: A really big big water project

© 2013 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. When is the best time to plant a big old shade tree? It was twenty years ago so we have that shade now. So tell me, when is the NEXT BEST time to plant a shade tree? Plant it now so at least we will have shade in the future.
That is the issue in front of New Mexico about the current water dilemma. We, as a state, are really short of water. When should the leaders of New Mexico have made a plan to deal with the water crisis? That is easy; they should have dealt with this crisis twenty years ago. When is the next best time? Now.
New Mexico has been in a drought for 280 million years come next August, so being short of water should come as no surprise. OK, I exaggerate, but it has been thousands of years. Since recorded time water has been short in our little slice of paradise.
Through good times and bad our politicians complain about the lack of water but what is really lacking are plans to deal with the lack of water. Our state needs water for household use and for use by the various Agricultural industries.
My plan would tie our water needs to the needs of the El Paso valley farmers in Texas. States that border an ocean have a great advantage because they can desalinate sea water and the brine conveniently goes out to sea. The oceans are forever whereas if New Mexico desalinates our own brackish water, it is finite. Yes, it may last longer than the current crop of politicians, but eventually that resource will run out.
The project would be a joint New Mexico Texas project. The atomic plants power both the actual desalinization and pump the clean water to Elephant Butte Lake. Both New Mexico and West Texas Agriculture would thrive. Read full column

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