Zozobra debate takes to social media

From KRQE-TV.com - SANTA FE (KRQE) – The battle over which day to burn Old Man Gloom in Santa Fe this year is sparking a fight on social media.
     This year, the burning of Zozobra will take place Friday, Aug. 29. That’s sparked a fight between the group organizers, the Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe and downtown business who want the event to take place on its traditional Thursday.
     The merchants have the backing of city councilor Patty Bushee who’s taken the concerns to the city manager and mayor.
     Now the Santa Fe New Mexican is reporting the club plans to put pressure on Bushee with a social media blitz and phone bank. They’re calling on people to pepper Bushee with the message that they support the Friday date.
     An event organizer says if the date is changed, it could hinder the event all together. More

Zozobra debate takes to social media

Swickard: Who is really in charge?

© 2014 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. It is possible for someone in New Mexico to get hurt or even killed. Why? There is an ambiguity among our local, county, state and national agencies as to who has the final police authority in New Mexico. No one knows and each thinks they do. Let me illustrate: it is legal for New Mexicans who comply with regulations to have medical marijuana. There is no ambiguity in New Mexico’s laws.
     However, the federal government considers medical marijuana an illegal substance subjecting the person to the full fury of the federal government. The State of New Mexico says it is legal while the Federal Government says it is not.

     There should never be a time in a nation of laws for something to be legal and illegal concurrently. But that is not as big a problem as the question: who ultimately is in charge in police matters?
The second example came recently when Otero County Commissioners asked Otero Sheriff Benny House to open a gate in Otero County that was shut by a federal authority. The feds insists on a closed gate, Otero County wants an open gate. They told the Sheriff to open it. Neither side intends to give an inch.
     Imagine if I legally possessed medical marijuana. And imagine if Governor Martinez was in my truck as we were stopped by the Border Patrol. They would detect marijuana and attempt to confiscate it even though I showed my paperwork.

     Whether I was with Governor Martinez or my own County Sheriff we would have a difficulty. How would it play out? We do not know because it is not clear who is the final authority in New Mexico. Our New Mexico Constitution says it is the Sheriff of that county. Would the feds listen?

     So let’s say I asked Governor Martinez to protect my legal property. Perhaps she would tell her State Police bodyguards to protect us from the feds. Well, friends, it could get dangerous. Who would back off? The federal government has become a military of their own with tanks, planes and guns galore. Read full column

Swickard: Who is really in charge?

Lawmakers, Bill Richardson near boiling point over Navajo water deal

From KOAT-TV.com - SANTA FE, N.M. —Lawmakers are trying to stop what they call an illegal deal made by a former New Mexico governor regarding water, and the case might make its way to the state Supreme Court. “Water is life,” said Rep. Carl Trujillo, D-Santa Fe. “Every year (the situation) seems to be getting more and more dire.”
     In 2010, Gov. Bill Richardson signed a contract with the Navajo Nation. The contract agrees to give huge amounts of New Mexico’s water to the tribe. The water comes from the same source that reaches the Rio Grande and provides water for places like Albuquerque and Santa Fe.
     “There are many people who are affected here, and as we all know, this drought situation that we're in, we don't know what the new norm is,” said Trujillo. Lawmakers are saying the contract is invalid and illegal because the Legislature didn’t pass it, which legislators say is their constitutional right.
     “Make sure we get this process correct,” said Trujillo. “This is to preserve the people's voice, their right.” Lawmakers are asking the Supreme Court to ban the state engineer from giving away the water.
     Instead they want the Legislature to be able to vet, debate and vote on an agreement with the Navajo Nation. Richardson disagrees with the arguments in the lawsuit. He said he didn’t need the Legislature’s approval for the contract.
     Lawmakers make it clear that they are not opposed to an agreement with the Navajo Nation. They just want to be able to control the deal. The state engineer said the Legislature has supported the settlement by appropriating money over the years and as a result is providing safe, clean water in homes. More

Lawmakers, Bill Richardson near boiling point over Navajo water deal

Big state purchase collecting dust

From KRQE-TV.com - by Kim Holland - SANTA FE (KRQE) – The New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) spent thousands of dollars to replace its older phones with new, high-tech ones but four years later hundreds of them are still in their boxes, collecting dust.
     In 2010 NMDOT purchased 1,384 Internet based Cisco phones for $117,640 so districts across the state could keep connected. According to NMDOT’s Cabinet Secretary Tom Church, the new phones use the Internet for calls eliminating expensive landline long distance costs. “They have a camera feature so you can do video conferencing, other than that they’re just a regular phone, only they use a different wiring system or internet system,” says Church.
     All government entities are required to use the Department of Technology’s phone system but, four years ago when the previous administration purchased the phones for $85 each they didn’t realize the new system violated state statute.Today, 850 phones sit in their original boxes waiting to be installed in the Santa Fe office – more than $72,000 worth of new technology unused.
     KRQE News 13 asked Church what’s taken so long. Church replied that the transferring of all the equipment is complicated, “We just haven’t gotten there yet. Ya know, phones don’t go bad.”
     Others however like Republican Senator Mark Moores of Bernalillo County, say taxpayer money is not being put to good use. “When we spend taxpayers’ money we need to make sure it gets out there and used for taxpayers’ benefit,” he said. “It can not collect dust, if it can’t be used at this department we need to make sure it’s used somewhere else.”
     Unfortunately, NMDOT’s Cabinet Secretary said there’s no timeline when the new phones will be installed. More

Big state purchase collecting dust

Gov. Martinez appears in new Weh ad

From KOB-TV.com - by Stuart Dyson - They are the odd couple of New Mexico politics – old rivals who appear together for a brief but memorable moment in a brand new Republican ad in the race for U.S. Senate.
     It is a warm and fuzzy moment for Susana Martinez and Allen Weh in Weh’s first ad. Up until now it’s been mostly rock salt and rusty nails between these two – and that goes back to something that happened on KOB Eyewitness News 4 four years ago.
     Back in 2010, during the Republican primary for Governor, Martinez crashed a Weh interview with reporter Stuart Dyson. Martinez, then the Las Cruces District Attorney, flourished a manila envelope at Weh and challenged the retired Marine colonel to release his tax information.
     "I’m happy to show you my taxes any day to prove I pay them," Martinez says. "If you’re willing to present yours in an honest way, as early as tomorrow." "Is this part of the interview, Stuart? "asks a clearly confused Weh."No," the reporter replies, equally surprised at the intrusion.
     "Well, I work in the private sector," Weh tells Martinez. "There will be an appropriate time to present our taxes but I don’t think that’s germane at the moment."
     It was a defining moment in the campaign. Martinez whipped the pants off Weh and the rest of the pack in that primary and went on to her historic victory over Diane Denish in November. There was no love lost between Weh and Martinez, to say the least. During rare public appearances at the same events the hostility was palpable. You could cut it with a knife – maybe.
     Now the new Weh ad features just a smidge of a quick embrace with Martinez on some stage at some event somewhere, while the ad narrators says "Allen Weh will protect our federal facilities." Gov. Martinez is not exactly the poster girl for federal government – but what the heck – cue the violins! They’re together again!
     The 30-second ad features Weh’s military record and his commitment to job creation. He faces Las Cruces lawyer David Clements in the primary. The winner will take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Tom Udall in the general election. More

Gov. Martinez appears in new Weh ad

Burrowing Owls delay Aggie Memorial turf installation

From the Las Cruces Sun-News - By Lindsey Anderson - Small avian residents are delaying New Mexico State University's plan to replace Aggie Memorial Stadium's grass field with artificial turf. A family of Western burrowing owls have dug into a corner of the field, while two other pairs nest just below the Stan Fulton Center.
     Officials are waiting for the birds' hatching period to end before fully installing turf, NMSU President Garrey Carruthers said Friday. In the meantime, the university has erected fencing around the birds, and signs — "BURROWING OWL NEST, DO NOT DISTURB" — to warn visitors to stay away while the eggs hatch.
      The birds have nested across town and at Aggie Memorial for more than 20 years, Desmond said. They have been spotted at spring football practices this year, enjoying the quiet that off-season brings.

 Read more

Burrowing Owls delay Aggie Memorial turf installation

Crews battle wildfire north of Silver City

From KOB-TV.com - By: Steve Mieczkowski, KOB.com Crews are responding to a wildfire along Highway 15 north of Silver City in the Gila National Forest. Authorities advise that the Cherry Creek and McMillan campgrounds are being evacuated, and Highway 15 is closed at Pinos Altos north of Silver City.
     Officials said an estimated 1,200 acres are currently burning. Approximately 100 firefighters are responding to the blaze. Aircraft are on order but due to windy conditions in the area they may not be able to fly. More

Crews battle wildfire north of Silver City

Violating the Constitution with Affirmative Action

© 2014 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. The Supreme Court of the United States recently made a bad ruling in a Michigan case, but at least it was not a horrible ruling. By a 6-2 vote the Court ruled that voters in Michigan could decide if Affirmative Action would be used in their universities.
     What makes this bad is that the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution is clear: …nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
     There is no wiggle room, “…the equal protection of the laws.” It does not say that United States citizens can be denied equal protection of the laws for a good cause.
     The creatures of evil in our society immediately started trying to undo the guarantee of this Amendment to the Constitution. In fact, in 1868 when the Fourteenth Amendment was passed the United States nationally and each of the states should have allowed all women of age to vote since they have an equal protection of the laws. Sadly the male citizens of that age did not nor did any court affirm the Equal Protection.
     In the 1896 Supreme Court case, Plessy versus Ferguson, petitioner Homer Plessy, a successful Louisiana businessman did not consider himself African-American since he was an octoroon, which means he had one grandparent who was of African-American heritage.
     Mr. Plessy was one-eighth African-American but considered himself white. He refused to sit in the segregated area of a train therefore he was arrested and fined. This went through the courts in Louisiana to their Supreme Court and then to the U. S. Supreme Court. In the worst ruling by the Supreme Court of all time the Court said that segregation was legal as long as the segregation was separate but equal.
     Further, they did not even rule what percentage of ancestry made someone an African-American which might have been of some use. Finally almost sixty years later a much better Supreme Court undid the harm.
       Things were looking up and then something equally harmful happened. Years later the forces of evil made a ruling that to end discrimination it was imperative to discriminate against some Americans. That is like ruling to end murder we must kill some innocent people. This ruling also ignored the “Equal Protection” afforded all citizens. The idea of Affirmative Action has always been tragically flawed by it being a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. Read full column

Violating the Constitution with Affirmative Action

Is Sagebrush Rebellion 2 Moving to Otero County?

From Errors of Enchantment by Paul Gessing, Rio Grande Foundation - Rather than describing the story at length on my own, this article from the Alamogordo Daily News really explains the situation.
     The key is that a conflict between the Federal Government’s US Forest Service/Department of Agriculture and Otero County, NM. The Sheriff of Otero County, Benny House has been instructed to unlock/open four fences that are limiting access to water by cattle on Forest Service lands in the County. Again, the specific issues and jurisdictions are complex, but it is another disagreement over who should manage resources in the West, the federal government in Washington or state and local governments. 

     Ultimately, we at the Rio Grande Foundation have endorsed state control as per the 9th and 10th amendments to the US Constitution, but it will take the intervention and activism of local government officials to spur the discussion and ultimately drive the shift in land management away from a far-off bureaucracy to the states.

     It will be interesting to see if Sheriff House unlocks those gates and how the Forest Service responds. More

Is Sagebrush Rebellion 2 Moving to Otero County?

Changes planned for next Albuquerque council meeting

From KOB-TV.com - By: Jen Samp, KOB Eyewitness News 4 - Albuquerque City Councilors say they have never seen this happen. “Very disturbed by the protest. I don't think it was appropriate,” Councilman Isaac Benton.
     Protesters took over their meeting. “The word has to be disgusting,” Council Vice President Trudy Jones said, “It’s disgusting.” The protesters waved signs against APD’s officer involved shootings. They shouted at councilors demanding the recall of Mayor Richard Berry and the arrest of Police Chief Gorden Eden.
     Council President Ken Sanchez ended up adjourning the meeting. “This is their forum, this is their venue but they need to respect the people who are there,” Sanchez said.
     David Correia, an Assistant Professor at UNM, was the one who drafted a citizens arrest warrant for Chief Eden. “The families of victims and activists decided it’s time to seize our government back,” Correia said.
     Councilors argue there were two charter amendments on the agenda that addressed how APD's chief would be selected. They say protesters stopped a vote from happening.
     A special meeting is now set for this Thursday. Councilman Sanchez says there will not be any public comment unless it relates to specific agenda items. There will also be penalties for interrupting the meeting. That could include up to a $500 fine and jail time.. More

Changes planned for next Albuquerque council meeting