Mountain lion hit and killed by car on Albuquerque Westside street

(NewsNM Swickard) Advice on how to deal with a Mountain Lion at the end of the story should include a pistol. What is this "hopefully, the big cat will walk away? If it attacks you or your loved ones, shoot it! Or you can try saying, "Nice kitty." From KOB-TV.com - By Stuart Dyson, KOB Eyewitness News 4 - A young mountain lion met an untimely death on a busy street near residential neighborhoods on Albuquerque's Westside Tuesday. State Game & Fish officer Ross Morgan said the yearling female was prowling neighborhoods all along Unser Boulevard, south of Volcano Vista High School. Morgan said officers planned to track her down and shoot her with a tranquilizer dart and relocate her, but a car found her first. She wound up dead in the median strip on Unser Boulevard, just south of Montano Road. Morgan said. "It probably would have stuck around the neighborhood because of the easy food source, maybe little cats and dogs and then also the rabbits that come into yards. Mountain lions are fierce predators that grow big and ornery. If a mountain lion is seen in residential areas, Game & Fish advise not to approach it, but don't turn and run either. They recommend talking to it in a loud voice, sticking your arms out to the sides to make yourself look bigger and meaner. Hopefully, the big cat will walk away. Read more

Mountain lion hit and killed by car on Albuquerque Westside street

Bill English: Unelectable? That’s up to the people to decide

From NM Politics.net - By Bill English - As you know, I am running for the U.S. Senate here in New Mexico. While it may seem that this is not the case, since my name recognition is on a level with a pet rock named Seymour, it’s true that I am running. Not too long ago I had the honor to be invited to the Santa Fe Republican Party’s Lincoln Day Dinner, where I had the opportunity to meet Heather Wilson, among other pundits of the party. Politics aside, she seemed like a very nice person. During the event I had the occasion to be interviewed by Capitol Report New Mexico. During the interview, which can be seen on my website by clicking here, I was asked if “it was fair to say that I was the farthest to the right of all of the candidates.” I answered that I thought it was fairer to say that I was an American. I was also asked what I would say to those who “thought that some of my ideas were good, but that I was unelectable.” As for being unelectable – maybe, maybe not. But in the end it’s going to be up to the people of New Mexico to decide that. Read more

Bill English: Unelectable? That’s up to the people to decide

Union Leaders Laid Off: Claim They Were Targeted By Governor

From therepublic -The head of one of New Mexico's largest state workers unions got a pink slip last weekrepublic.com, prompting allegations labor is being targeted in state layoffs. Michelle Lewis, president of the Communications Workers of America Local 7076, was among 44 state workers who was told Friday she will lose her job because of budget cuts. "I do believe it was retaliation," said Christine Trujillo, president of the New Mexico Federal of Labor, AFL-CIO. All but 11 of the layoffs announced Friday came from the Public Education Department, whose budget was slashed by more than 20 percent this year. Lewis is an education technology coordinator in the department. She said she thought that the decision to cut her position "was intentional, but I can't validate that." More News New Mexico

Union Leaders Laid Off: Claim They Were Targeted By Governor

Solar Event That Caused Last Ice Age Happening Again?

Pulaski note: Where is that darn "global warming" when you need it? From International Business Times -New data released Tuesday at the annual meeting of the solar physics division of the American Astronomical Society in Las Cruces, New Mexico, may suggest that we are headed towards a solar event that hasn't happened in hundreds of years. There are some scientists at the conference believe that the current findings from the studies mean that we are at the beginning of a Maunder Minimum, a decades long period of low solar activity. The last time such an event occurred was between 1645 to 1715. That solar event is thought to have caused the Little Ice Age that struck Europe and North America. Temperatures in those regions dropped by 1.8 to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit(1-1.5 degrees Celsius. More News New Mexico

Solar Event That Caused Last Ice Age Happening Again?

Effort to End Tax Credit for Ethanol Fails in Senate

(NewsNM Swickard) Both New Mexico Senators voted to continue the ethanol subsidy effectively costing each New Mexican more money each time they fuel their vehicle. Shuckins! Graphic on left is from the Mother Jones story: The Ethanol Effect: When Alternative Fuels Go Bad.

From the New York Times - The Senate beat back a challenge to ethanol fuel subsidies on Tuesday in a demonstration of how the drive to cut the federal deficit can run headlong into a favored interest on Capitol Hill. On the ethanol subsidy, critics wanted to eliminate, as of July 1, the 45-cent-per-gallon tax credit offered to refiners for using the corn-based fuel at an estimated cost of nearly $6 billion a year. Most Democrats banded together with farm-state Republicans to defeat the effort by Senator Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma, who along with his allies charged that federal ethanol supports are wasteful and unnecessary and are increasing the cost of food by inflating the price being paid for corn. Read more

Effort to End Tax Credit for Ethanol Fails in Senate

Feds ditch rule that foiled Indian tribes’ plans for off-reservation casino in Catskills

(NewsNM Swickard) Not good news from those who see bad outcomes from these sorts of actions. It is about 300 miles from the Jemez Pueblo to Anthony, NM the proposed site. Perhaps Governor Martinez will protect New Mexico from bad ideas. From the Washington Post - (AP) - ALBANY, N.Y. — The Obama administration announced Tuesday it has rescinded a rule that blocked Indian tribes from building casinos far from their reservations, reviving hopes among local officials for casino gambling in the Catskills. The change overturns the so-called commutability rule, created in 2008 by then-Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne. According to the rule, a casino beyond reasonable commuting distance from a tribe’s reservation was damaging to life on the reservation because its residents would move to follow the new jobs. Under existing federal regulations, tribes must satisfy several requirements to operate an off-reservation gambling facility, including having land acquired in trust by the Department of the Interior for the benefit of the tribe; having agreement from the state’s governor; allowing public comment; and entering a tribal-state gaming compact. Read more

Feds ditch rule that foiled Indian tribes’ plans for off-reservation casino in Catskills

Richardson's Judges Donated "Much More"

Bill Richardson

New Mexico Watchdog - By an investigator’s account, Judge Mike Murphy in 2007 brazenly explained to other judges the way he thought judicial appointments worked under then Gov. Bill Richardson. It was simple. You pay to play. To believe otherwise was “old fashion,” Murphy reportedly told another judge who thought it improper that political contributions would have anything to do with the selection of new judges. A review of campaign-finance records confirms at least part of the claim. Campaign contributions have been the fashion among some judges recently enrobed in New Mexico.

When an investigator earlier this year interviewed another 3rd District judge, the judge pronounced a counterpoint that resonates with the brazen pay-to-play refrain. Investigator Dan Blair, working for the 9th Judicial District Attorney’s office, quoted 3rd Judicial District Judge Jim Martin as saying Richardson picked judicial candidates who were active in a political party. The 9th District office, led by unsuccessful 2010 Republican Attorney General candidate Matt Chandler, took over the case after then District Attorney Susanna Martinez’s office stepped aside from the investigation to avoid a conflict of interest that might arise from prosecuting a judge in a court where they bring other cases. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Richardson's Judges Donated "Much More"

Pearce to Hold Townhalls Appear on NewsNM

Note - Steve Pearce will appear on NewsNM Wednesday morning at 7:30am. Las Cruces, NM (June 14, 2011) Congressman Steve Pearce will hold two town hall meetings in New Mexico on Saturday, June 25th, 2011. At 10:00 am, he will visit with constituents at the Cineport 10 Theater in Las Cruces, located at 700 South Telshor. At 1:00 pm, he will meet with residents of Silver City at the Grant County Business and Convention Center, located at 3031 Highway 180 East. Congressman Pearce plans to discuss his top priorities, jobs and the economy in New Mexico. He also plans to speak about the ongoing debate in Congress over the national debt limit. Congressman Pearce will also answer questions from attendees. Mr. Pearce will be home in New Mexico during the week following the 25th, meeting with constituents and providing updates on his work in Washington. For more information about the meeting, telephone 1-855-4-PEARCE, (1-855-473-2723), or visit www.pearce.house.gov.

Pearce to Hold Townhalls Appear on NewsNM

More Transparency on June 17th

Veritas New Mexico - On June 17, state, city, and county agencies in New Mexico will be required to provide digital copies of electronic public records upon request, and copy fees will be limited to the actual cost of downloading and sending the records. “Our freedom-of-information law was stuck in a paper-based world, especially when it came to copy fees,” New Mexico Foundation for Open Government (FOG) Executive Director Sarah Welsh said. “These changes should go a long way toward facilitating the free flow of information between government and its constituents.” Read full story here: News New Mexico

More Transparency on June 17th

Democrats losing favor with some Latinos

Susana Martinez

L.A. Times - Early this year, Brian Sandoval and Susana Martinez made history. He became Nevada's first Latino governor. In New Mexico, she became the country's first Latina governor. Just as striking as their breakthrough is their party affiliation: Both are Republicans. For many in the GOP, the twin victories last November, along with the election of Sen. Marco Rubio in Florida, marked an important step in efforts to mend the party's frayed ties with Latino voters, which have suffered over the last several years of hard-line talk on immigration. For Democrats, the election of the three was something else: a warning sign at a time when Latino support has grown increasingly vital to the party's success, especially in the battleground states of the Rocky Mountains and desert Southwest. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Democrats losing favor with some Latinos

APD On Receiving End of Protest

KOB - TV - Family and friends of those shot and killed in a recent string of officer-involved shootings will rally in front of APD headquarters Tuesday afternoon. The group says they plan to call on the mayor and police chief to actively work towards a training system that will help prevent another fatal shooting. Last week several of these family members packed a City Council meeting, calling for new policies and training procedures for APD officers. This year alone there have been four fatal APD officer-involved shootings. Read full story here: News New Mexico

APD On Receiving End of Protest

Rail Runner Losing Subsidies, Cutting Services

NM Rail Runner

Santa Fe New Mexican - The Rail Runner Express is considering curtailing weekday train service to save money. Changes could force early birds to take a bus instead of a train between metropolitan Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and eliminate some stops at the year-old Kewa Pueblo station, if one proposal is adopted. The loss of $1.2 million in federal funding prompted the Mid-Region Council of Governments, which operates the Rail Runner for the state of New Mexico, to rethink the passenger train schedule, spokesman Jay Faught said. Among the proposals, he said, are to use bus service to replace the earliest northbound and southbound trains on weekdays. That proposed change would affect mostly commuters headed to Los Alamos, who comprise the majority of riders on the earliest trains. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Rail Runner Losing Subsidies, Cutting Services

Fewer College Degrees at Roundhouse

Capitol Report New Mexico - The New Mexico legislature has one of the lowest percentages of lawmakers with degrees in higher education … but that may not necessarily be a bad thing. The Chronicle of Higher Education analyzed the state legislatures of the 50 states and determined that 74.7 percent of all state lawmakers in the US had bachelor’s degrees or higher, compared to just 59.7 percent of New Mexico legislators, putting New Mexico 47th on the list. Take a gander: News New Mexico

Fewer College Degrees at Roundhouse

"Not as Shovel Ready As We Expected"

Fox News - President Obama's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness met today in Durham, NC at Cree Inc., a company that manufactures energy-efficient LED lighting. One of the Council's recommendations to President Obama was to streamline the federal permit process for construction and infrastructure projects. It was explained to Obama that the permitting process can delay projects for "months to years ... and in many cases even cause projects to be abandoned ... I'm sure that when you implemented the Recovery Act your staff briefed you on many of these challenges." At this point, Obama smiled and interjected, "Shovel-ready was not as ... uh .. shovel-ready as we expected." The Council, led by GE's Jeffrey Immelt, erupted in laughter. The Obama administration promised the Recovery Act ("the stimulus") would prevent the jobless rate from going over 8%. It now stands at 9.1%. Read full story here: News New Mexico

"Not as Shovel Ready As We Expected"

U.S. Military Bases Around the Globe

The Nation - by Katrina Vanden Heuvel - As we debate an exit from Afghanistan, it’s critical that we focus not only on the costs of deploying the current force of more than 100,000 troops, but also on the costs of maintaining permanent bases long after those troops leave. This is an issue that demands a hard look not only in Afghanistan and Iraq, but around the globe—where the US has a veritable empire of bases. According to the Pentagon, there are approximately 865 US military bases abroad—over 1,000 if new bases in Iraq and Afghanistan are included. The cost? $102 billion annually—and that doesn’t include the costs of the Iraq and Afghanistan bases. In a must-read article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Sciences, anthropologist Hugh Gusterson points out that these bases “constitute 95 percent of all the military bases any country in the world maintains on any other country’s territory.” He notes a “bloated and anachronistic” Cold War-tilt toward Europe, including 227 bases in Germany. Read full column here: News New Mexico

U.S. Military Bases Around the Globe