News New Mexico

Rio Rancho: no funding for construction impact-fee study

From the Rio Rancho Observer - BY BRAD BUCK Observer managing editor - The City of Rio Rancho has nixed an idea to pay for a study to see whether suspending impact fees is a good idea. In a 4-3 vote, the Governing Body decided against the study. The idea was for the consultant to help councilors determine whether to eliminate impact fees completely or cut them by half. Councilors Tim Crum (pictured left), Kathy Colley and Steve Shaw voted for the study, while Patricia Thomas, Mike Williams and Tamara Gutierrez voted against it. Mayor Tom Swisstack cast the deciding vote against the study. Construction of new homes has dipped dramatically in the past six years; thus stimulating the impact fee discussion. Meanwhile, current impact fees will remain unchanged, according to a resolution adopted by city councilors Wednesday night. Tim Crum said the city has to get home and commercial construction jump-started somehow. He said he hopes suspending impact fees would create not only more construction but more gross-receipts tax revenue. Read more

State Seeks Lawyers To Fight Child Abductions

From sfgate.com -Peter Thomas Senese and the International Child Abduction Research & Education Foundation (I CARE Foundation) have launched a recruitment campaign urging attorneys located in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada to join the United States Department of State's Hague Convention Attorney Network - and help protect innocent children victimized or targeted by international parental child abduction (IPCA). Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada are hotbeds for IPCA due to a significant increase in reported and unreported parental kidnapping cases to and from Mexico and remaining Central America. More News New Mexico

How Rumors Get Started: Governor's Grandparents Not Illegals

Gov. Martinez

From biggovernment.com -. The attacks on Martinez are much subtler than those on Sen. Rubio, but no less dangerous if left unanswered. They come in the form of a pervasive rumor about her family origins; a rumor that has been reported uncritically by the mainstream media, including the New York Times. Here we have a popular and successful Latina politician with a bold, conservative agenda in an important swing state. As far as the mainstream media is concerned, there has to be a catch. More News New Mexico

The Higher Education Bubble

From sunshinestatenews.com -Student loans are more than fire traps for millions of American families. Trust me, they're the next subprime mortgage crisis. They're the easiest loans out there. Enrolled in a couple of classes? Congrats, your loan application is accepted. Fiscally mismanaged colleges and universities that should have been out of business long ago? Propped up by mediocre-at-best students paying their tuition with easy-peesy student loans. Now all of a sudden, here's what we've got: Student loan debt that surpassed total credit card debt in the U.S. This year’s graduating class of college seniors had the highest average debt to date, and that total just jumped above the $1 trillion mark. And by the way, of that $1 trillion, approximately 80 percent was federal student loan debt and 20 percent was private student loan debt. More News New Mexico

NM Applies for No Child Left Behind Waiver

From currentargus.com -The U.S. Department of Education has announced that 11 states — New Mexico among them — have formally submitted requests for waivers from key provisions of the No Child Left Behind law. The states submitted to the Education Department curriculums and plans catered to their localities in exchange for flexibility from federal education mandates. In September, President Barack Obama said that states wanting relief from the Bush-Era No Child Left Behind Law could apply for a waiver from the law's tough-to-meet requirements for student achievement in reading and math. More News New Mexico

Cartel Activity Likely to Rise in NM

From daily-times.com - Mexican drug cartels are operating at increased levels within San Juan County, and they steadily are becoming more violent, according to Region II Narcotics Task Force Director Neil Haws. Speaking to the Bloomfield City Council on Tuesday, Haws outlined recent trends within the cartels and warned that unless aggressive measures such as securing a federal magistrate in the area are taken, the picture looks bleak for stemming drug-related crime and violence. "Drugs and Mexican cartel activities are a real issue in Bloomfield," Haws said. "The cells are already here, and all of the problems that U.S. cities bordering Mexico are now dealing with are going to come this way. It's only a matter of time." More News New Mexico

Duran Report: Many Foreign Nationals Registered

NMPolitics - A report the secretary of state sent to lawmakers Thursday claims that her office has found 105 registered voters who may not be U.S. citizens, and 19 of them have cast ballots in New Mexico elections. That is on top of the two foreign nationals who recently came into Duran’s office to self-report that they were illegally registered to vote. That’s fewer than the 117 potential non-citizen registrants – including 37 voters – that Secretary of State Dianna Duran claimed during a legislative hearing in March to have identified. Duran’s office is referring information about the 105 registrants who may be foreign nationals to the attorney general. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Environmentalists Fracking Disappointed

Capitol Report New Mexico - The lady with the hand-puppet left disappointed. During a break in the hearing of the Oil Conservation Commission on Thursday (Nov. 17), an environmental activist approached the members of the commission who were about to vote on adopting rules requiring oil and natural gas producers in New Mexico to disclose what fluids they use during hydraulic fracturing operations. “Do the right thing,” the woman said to the members while the puppet that looked like Lamb Chop flapped its mouth in a style reminiscent of Shari Lewis. (If you’re under the age of 50 and have no idea who the hell Shari Lewis or Lamb Chop were, click here.) A few minutes later, the commission members did do something — but they didn’t go far enough for the environmentalists who sat through the day-long session. All three commissioners adopted a disclosure rule requiring the industry to file with the state’s Oil Conservation Division (OCD) if an operator drills a well using hydraulic fracturing and mandating they file a form within 45 days of the completion of the well listing what fluids were used. Hydraulic fracturing, often called “fracking,” is a frequently-used procedure to extract oil and natural gas from below the earth’s surface. In recent years the practice has come under harsh criticism from environmentalists who say the procedure can contaminate groundwater and potentially lead to other ecological damage. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Judge Samuel Winder Sworn In

Samuel Winder

New Mexico's newest district judge is Sam Winder, is a former criminal defense attorney and prosecutor who practiced law in the state for more than twenty years. Winder’s career as an attorney includes 12 years as a federal prosecutor where he handled cases in Federal District Court, State District Court Metropolitan District Court, and Tribal Courts. In recent years Winder performed defense work for various insurance companies. Appointed by Governor Susana Martinez, Winder takes the bench with extensive experience as a litigator. Judge Winder was sworn into the New Mexico District Court on Friday and holds the disctinction of being the first Native American member of the Republican Party to ever become a state district court judge.

News New Mexico

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