NM Stars Offer Terrell Owens a Contract

Terrell Owens

From krqe.com - The New Mexico Stars have offered NFL veteran receiver Terrell Owens a contract. The Stars emailed a contract to owens' agent Drew Rosenhaus. Rosenhaus has not responded to the offer made by the Stars. The New Mexico Stars are the newest expansion team in the Indoor Football League. The Stars will start their season February 26th at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho when the Colorado Ice comes to town. 

NM Stars Offer Terrell Owens a Contract

Governor Increases Transparency

Susana Martinez

SANTA FE – Yesterday, in an address to the New Mexico Press Association, Governor Susana Martinez announced upcoming changes to the official transparency website for state government, the New Mexico Sunshine Portal. The portal will list additional information not previously found, including the names, titles and salary rate of all state employees regardless of their classification. Currently, the Sunshine Portal only lists the names, titles and salary rates of “exempt” employees – those who serve at the pleasure of the governor. The portal will now include this information for classified employees, who work under the rules of the state’s version of a civil service system. These changes are intended to increase transparency throughout state government, and to demonstrate to the public exactly where tax dollars are spent. “I have promised since day one that state government will be more transparent, more accessible, and more accountable to all New Mexicans,” said Governor Martinez. “The Sunshine Portal has been an important tool that promotes open and honest government. These changes will ensure that taxpayers have an even greater idea of how their money is being spent.”

New Mexico’s Sunshine Portal is a website that displays wide-ranging data for state agency budgets, expenditures, employees, revenue, and purchases, along with a number of informational reports including state investment reports and annual fiscal summaries. This summer, the official version of the Sunshine Portal was unveiled after a 6-month beta mode trial, to include additional functions as developed by constituent feedback.

The new changes are scheduled to take place in the coming weeks and will be fully displayed on the website by early December. Earlier this year, Governor Martinez partnered with the New Mexico Press Association to link electronically, via the Sunshine Portal and NewMexico.Gov, to all public notice postings that appear in newspapers throughout the state. NewMexico.Gov is the State's new online portal, which was re-designed and launched at the direction of Governor Martinez to improve access to information about state government. Also available on NewMexico.Gov, and on the Governor's website, are videos of legislative committee meetings and floor sessions, as well as meetings of boards and commissions such as the State Investment Council. Governor Martinez began the first-ever live webcasting and archiving of these meetings in order to better engage people throughout New Mexico in the process in Santa Fe.

Governor Increases Transparency

Obama's Destructive Energy Policies

Townhall - by Austin Hill - Since the days of the Nixon presidency most Americans have recognized the many problems associated with being dependent on foreign oil suppliers. And it was nearly six years ago when George W. Bush became the first U.S. President to proclaim that “America is addicted to oil.” But now President Barack Obama seems to have determined that our problem isn’t so much “foreign oil,” but oil itself. His Administration has sought to force the nation away from consuming all types of oil – both foreign and domestic –and to move us in the direction of his environmentally preferred “green” energy sources.
Unfortunately, the President has approached energy policy just as he approaches most everything else – with the naïve assumption that as long as lots of government programs and mandates are established, the agenda will be accomplished and all will go well. Thus billions of our tax dollars have been handed-out in “loans” and “grants” to everything from solar panel manufacturers to electric car makers in Europe, while nearly all of the recipients have been “personal friends” of the President and people who are working for his re-election. Read full column here: News New Mexico

Obama's Destructive Energy Policies

Bernalillo County Sued Over "Gender Discrimination"

KRQE - ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) — A lawsuit filed by seven women is seeking to represent hundreds more against Bernalillo County on claims county officials failed to stop gender discrimination. The group filed the civil lawsuit in September. That is a whole year after they initially filed a complaint. One county commissioner said now that it's gotten this far it will end up costing taxpayers one way or another. The suit claims at times women working for the county are getting paid less then men for the same work. It also states that the plaintiffs were at times forced to endure crude remarks for being female from two men also named in the suit. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Bernalillo County Sued Over "Gender Discrimination"

Protestors Drive Off Business Customers

KOB TV - (Un)Occupy Albuquerque protesters are back at the University of New Mexico but just for a meeting. They're talking about the University’s eviction, but still haven't decided on a permanent home. There's word they may move to Robinson Park, downtown, on Central Avenue and 8th Street. The city said there's no permit needed and as long as they follow the rules, no one will be arrested. But, business owners near the park have concerns. Dawn Warnack owns a booth at Central Park Hair Studio, right across the street from Robinson Park. Robinson Park is already known as a homeless hangout. Warnacks's concerned the protest will attract even more homeless and detract from business. "I know some of mine; especially older clients; would say, 'you know, I just don't want to go down there. Let me know when it's over,'" said Warnack. She said she respects their right to demonstrate, but wants them to follow the rules. "If you want us to respect what you think you're standing for, then, follow the rules that the rest of us have to follow," said Warnack. Thia Smith owns Silver Springs Floral and Gifts right next door. She's worried the congestion could create traffic and parking problems. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Protestors Drive Off Business Customers

Post Office Closings Hurt Rural America

Jay Miller

Inside the Capitol - SANTA FE – The U.S. Postal Service study on closing some 3700 post offices in the nation poses a real crisis for rural America. The problem is an $8 billion budget deficit. New Mexico has 54 of those target post offices. Hearings currently are being held to determine which offices should be cut. Rural post offices are more than just a place to pick up mail. They are locations to congregate and see your neighbors at the appointed time when the mail truck is scheduled to arrive. Driving to the nearest open post office can take hours and be impossible in the winter. The only thing worse is losing a school house. School closings began in New Mexico in the late 1940s. World War II changed much about our culture. Increased industrialization and a how-do-you-keep-'em-down-on-the-farm syndrome weakened small towns. New Mexico had over 600 school districts at the time. That was pared down to 90 districts over a decade. Since that time, many remaining districts have had to close rural schools. It hasn't been pretty. Read full column here: News New Mexico

Post Office Closings Hurt Rural America

Use Taxpayer Dollars to Glorify Yourself



Sheryl Williams Stapleton

Capitol Report New Mexico - In the summer of 2010, Capitol Report New Mexico started its periodic look at “Monuments to Me,” the practice in which sitting legislators end up getting public buildings named after them. One of the first examples we noticed was how the African American Performing Arts Center in Albuquerque has a wing named after state House representative and Democratic whip Sheryl Williams Stapleton: Last night (Oct. 27), KRQE-TV’s Larry Barker delivered one of his trademark investigative reports, disclosing that for years, Stapleton did not take leave from her job as an administrator at the Albuquerque Public Schools system and received pay while attending legislative sessions. It seems that APS superintendent Winston Brooks is pretty cavalier about Stapleton’s breaking of the rules. At the very least, she should repay the $167,000 she earned when she violated APS policy. After all, taxpayer dollars fund the APS budget. Read full story and see videos here: News New Mexico

Use Taxpayer Dollars to Glorify Yourself

First Major October Snow in New York Since Civil War

Daily Mail - The leaves may still be on the trees but it appears autumn has been bypassed, as the East Coast braces itself for snowstorms which could hit 60 million people. New England has already been struck by a very early snowstorm, while this weekend looks set to see huge amounts of sleet and snow covering the North East, invariably causing power outages and travel chaos. Forecasts for this nor'easter have changed in the last couple of days and the prospect of a snow-free Halloween weekend have now gone. Low pressure will track up the East Coast on Saturday possibly bringing significant amounts of the white stuff across the tri-state area, Pennsylvania and New England. Read full story here: News New Mexico

First Major October Snow in New York Since Civil War

Center for Biological Diversity Takes Shot at Noon

Marita Noon

According to a Center for Biological Diversity press release, four New Mexico conservation groups demanded yesterday that regular News New Mexico contributor Marita Noon, who the release calls a "fossil-fuel industry front-woman," cease her use of “watermelon-smashing” rhetoric in speeches and editorials and on websites. Below is an excerpt of the press release:

"Noon is notorious for whipping up hysteria at pro-industry rallies by chanting “smash the watermelons” after telling crowds that environmentalists are watermelons because they are green on the outside and red on the inside. Noon distributes “Smash the Watermelons” stickers at her anti-environmental rallies and has created a “Smash the Watermelons” Web page.

“Marita Noon’s vitriol pollutes civic discourse,” said Taylor McKinnon, public-lands campaigns director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Inciting violence against your fellow citizens is unacceptable. She needs to stop now.” Read the entire release here: News New Mexico

NewsNM note (Spence) CBD's Jay Linninger has also appeared on the show and has an open invitation to return and make the case for silencing Noon. 

Center for Biological Diversity Takes Shot at Noon

It All Depends on "What Your Definition of Lobbyist Is"

ABC - More than a dozen of President Obama’s top campaign financiers have close ties to the lobbying industry, despite his pledge to remain free from the influence of lobbyists and their cash, according to an analysis of donor lists by the New York Times. At least 15 Obama “bundlers,” or volunteer fundraisers who gather contributions from their deep-pocket friends, are actively involved in the federal policymaking process, working in law firms or corporate offices that focus on lobbying, the Times found. None of the donors are formally registered as federal lobbyists, the threshold the Obama campaign uses to regularly refuse contributions.

But the individuals’ activities, the Times contends, fit the definition. Pfizer executive Sally Susman, for example, chairs the company’s political action committee and leads its “public affairs activities, including relations with governments,” according the Pfizer website. She has bundled more than $500,000 in donations for Obama so far. Comcast executive David Cohen, who oversees the media giant’s government affairs and public affairs, also bundled more than $500,000 and has hobnobbed with Obama on Martha’s Vineyard. And Michael Kempner, whose PR firm MWW Group touts to its clients its “important relationships with both the Democratic and Republican leadership,” has also bundled half a million dollars for Obama. His firm includes seven registered lobbyists, according to the Times. Read full story here: News New Mexico

It All Depends on "What Your Definition of Lobbyist Is"