General Dempsey: Iran Can Block Flow of Oil

NewsNM note - (Spence) According to our highest ranking member of the armed forces (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff), Iran does have the ability to do what President Obama has already done. It can block the free flow of oil. There are differences. Iran might use its navy for the blockade, while the president has managed to accomplish the same thing on the Keystone XL pipeline with the stroke of a pen. And the president can and will use the U.S. navy to free up the free flow of crude oil in the Persian Gulf, while he refuses to do the same in North America.
Bloomberg - Iran has the ability to block the Strait of Hormuz “for a period of time,” and the U.S. would take action to reopen it, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Martin Dempsey said. “They’ve invested in capabilities that could, in fact, for a period of time block the Strait of Hormuz,” Dempsey said in an interview aired yesterday on the CBS “Face the Nation” program. “We’ve invested in capabilities to ensure that if that happens, we can defeat that.” Should Iran try to close Hormuz, the U.S. “would take action and reopen” the waterway, said Dempsey, President Barack Obama’s top military adviser.

Blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic shipping lane linking the Gulf of Oman with the Persian Gulf, would constitute a “red line” for the U.S., as would Iranian efforts to build a nuclear weapon, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on the same program.

The U.S. tightened economic sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program on Dec. 31, and the European Union is weighing a ban later this month on purchases of Iranian crude. Read full story here: News New Mexico

General Dempsey: Iran Can Block Flow of Oil

One-day tour opens Elephant Butte Dam

From KASA-TV.com - SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - Members of the public had not been allowed to walk across the historic and massive Elephant Butte Dam 200 miles south of Santa Fe for more than a decade. On Jan. 7 for one day only, the public can again toured the 25-story, nearly century-old dam that backs up the Rio Grande to form New Mexico's largest water body. The dam has been closed to visitors since Sept. 11, 2001. The American Society of Civil Engineers has designated the dam a National Historical Engineering Landmark. The dam was built in the early 1900s by the then-fledgling U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to control flooding, supply irrigation to hundreds of farmers and to resolve problems over the shared Rio Grande. As farmers and families settled in Colorado and New Mexico, they began using an increasing amount of water. Texas and Mexico complained they weren't getting their fair share. The reservoir was the answer. Originally called Engle Dam, it stood 301 feet high and was 1,674 feet long when it was finished. It holds back more than 2 million acre-feet of Rio Grande water. Read more

One-day tour opens Elephant Butte Dam

Internal Affairs Investigation Launched In Rio Rancho

From KOAT-TV.com - RIO RANCHO, Authorities in Rio Rancho have launched an internal affairs investigation based on at least one citizen complaint. The city won't detail the nature of the investigation, but Action 7 News has learned it centers around a code enforcement officer. A citizen complaint alleges the individual was collecting bets while on duty, perhaps even in a city truck. Still, the city won't confirm much and the officer remained on patrol as of Friday. "Based the allegations, we launched an internal affairs investigation," Rio Rancho Sgt. Nicholas Onken said. "We look at it seriously and review at what level those allegations need to be investigated."Read more

Internal Affairs Investigation Launched In Rio Rancho

Santa Fe Community College mulls lawsuit over higher education center

From the Santa Fe New Mexican.com - by Robert Nott - All sides seem to be digging in their heels on the issue of whether Santa Fe Community College requires legislative approval to open its Higher Education Center on property adjacent to the campus of the Santa Fe University of Art and Design. The state's Higher Education Department maintains that the move requires the Legislature's OK. The community college disagrees and — bolstered by a recent advisory letter from the attorney general and the support of several legislators — is contemplating litigation. The community college has been spearheading an effort to create the center, which would allow Santa Feans to pursue bachelor's and master's degrees without leaving the community. The center, funded with $12 million from a summer 2010 bond election, actually opened in autumn in the west wing of the college's campus on Richards Avenue. It serves some 550 students and has three partnering institutions — The University of New Mexico, New Mexico Highlands University and the Institute of American Indian Arts — which offer courses. The college had planned to build a new, 35,000-square-foot facility to house the center, giving it room to provide enrollment and financial aid offices, computer labs, classrooms, tutorial space and other amenities to handle up to 800 students. But in mid-November, Jose Z. Garcia, secretary of the state's Higher Education Department, told SFCC President Sheila Ortego that his understanding of the state's Learning Center Act indicates the college requires legislative support for the new center. Later that month, Garcia appeared at an SFCC board meeting and told the assembly that Gov. Susana Martinez does not want more colleges or learning centers created in the state until she receives an account of how the existing ones are working. Read more

Santa Fe Community College mulls lawsuit over higher education center

No Work, All Pay at City Hall in Espanola

From the Rio Grande Sun - Each Española resident paid approximately $5.50 for city employees to take a paid week off between the Christmas and New Year holidays. The City Council voted in November to approve City Manager James Lujan’s $56,500 recommendation to pay city employees for not working between Dec. 27 and Jan. 2. The move came in the middle of a fiscal year in which the Council approved 12 mandatory unpaid furlough days for all city employees to trim $368,308 from its budget. Mayor Alice Lucero said the holidays are the most unproductive time of year for city employees, with children being off from school and families to care for. She said the leave also saves the city money because the buildings aren’t in use. However, state Municipal League general counsel Randy Van Vleck said previously giving employees that much paid time off may not be a great idea. He said the public may get angry that employees are getting paid “for work not being done.” Van Vleck also said it wasn’t fair that some employees get the time off while others don’t. Read more

No Work, All Pay at City Hall in Espanola

A district divided: Racial, religious tensions stir up turmoil

From the Farmington Daily Times - FARMINGTON — The Central Consolidated School District still is waiting for resolution from the state Public Education Department regarding the possible discipline of its acting superintendent and a proposed split that would divide the 3,000-square-mile district along the reservation line. But to many, the division already has occurred. The district, part of the public school system since 1931, already is severed along lines of race and religion, not to mention opinions about political control, curriculum, personnel, money and the teachers union. To some, actions within the district since May have permanently fractured an already vulnerable community. To others, the radical changes signal a sign of better times ahead. Regardless of the outcome, the district's players, along with state and legal representatives, have a long road ahead. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as Mormons, settled in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. Shortly afterward, they started moving south, colonizing locations in Arizona, California, Nevada and northern Mexico. Along the way — and continuing into the present — the Mormons interacted with American Indians, converting them to the religion, operating trading posts and transporting roughly 20,000 of their children to foster homes or student placement programs largely in Utah. And so began a relationship between two cultures that are at once similar and disparate. At best, they co-exist; at worst, they lead to an impasse so complete outside entities must intervene. The Mormons also founded Kirtland, home of six of the Central Consolidated School District's 17 schools, in the 1880s, and named the community after Kirtland, Ohio, one of the early headquarters of the Mormon church. The Kirtland Business Office, the topic of recent and emotional debate, is the site of the district's first school. Built after the district formed in 1917, the school represented the consolidation of community schools in Kirtland and neighboring Fruitland. The district expanded to encompass reservation communities in Shiprock, Newcomb, Naschitti and Ojo Amarillo — a 3,000-acre chunk of land that stretches west to the Arizona state border, north to Colorado and south to the McKinley County line. But the Kirtland area, in a move unprecedented in the state, is trying to split from the reservation portion as a reactive measure after the board voted May 17 to close the KBO and move administration to Shiprock. Read more

A district divided: Racial, religious tensions stir up turmoil

Clovis mayor hopeful of federal money for Ute Water Project this year

From the Clovis News Journal - Her own political campaign aside, ensuring a sustainable water source for Clovis, Portales and other eastern New Mexico communities has been and always will be a top priority, Clovis Mayor Gayla Brumfield said Friday. “The need for continued work to secure funding and compromise with the entities involved is obvious,” Brumfield said regarding a rift over the Ute Water Project between concerns in Quay County and those in communities in Curry and Roosevelt counties. Officials in Quay County worry diverting water from Ute Lake would affect what has become a valuable and lucrative recreation resource. But the water is necessary for communities such as Portales and Clovis, which is why the dam was built, creating the reservoir in the first place. In August, Brumfield, three dozen public officials and supporters attended the first phase’s groundbreaking ceremony for an intake held at Ute Lake. While it was a ceremonious step for the project, it was marred by jeers and chants of hundreds of protesters. Their disapproval centered around fear the authority’s pipeline project will drain the lake. “We do not want to drain the lake,” Brumfield said Thursday at a Ute Reservoir Committee meeting. “It is not nor has never been our agenda to drain the lake.” Read more

Clovis mayor hopeful of federal money for Ute Water Project this year

State agency puts the brakes on vehicle use

From the Carlsbad Current Argus - SANTA FE — Jerome D. Block Jr., driven from his elected office by a theft scandal, has left one last mark on the state agency he cheated. Largely because of Block, the 266 employees of the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission now risk their livelihood if they take home a state vehicle without permission from the chief of staff. The state's five public regulation commissioners voted unanimously Thursday to tighten controls on the 101 vehicles in their fleet. Even before the commissioners formally approved the plan Thursday, a crackdown was under way. One taxpayer noticed a PRC employee in a state car at a Walmart one morning last month. The worker, it turned out, had stopped to buy Christmas cards while driving a state car on public business. Montoya said this led to a warning for the employee. Since the publicity about Block, the citizenry is watching how the agency conducts itself, Montoya said. Read more

State agency puts the brakes on vehicle use

Tebow haters hate another overtime Tim Tebow win

29 to 23 in OT - T. Tebow - 316 YDS, 2 TD - John 3:16

Tebow haters hate another overtime Tim Tebow win

Gun Thefts

NewsNM: Swickard - This was sent to me today. January 7, 2012, 1:21 PM - Public service announcement: While I was in a Denver gun store today, my car was tagged on the wheel in the parking lot. The gangs do this on wheels or bumpers at gun stores, shooting ranges, gun shows etc. Later when you are parked at a restaurant, hotel, or other location that’s less well guarded or under video surveillance, other gang members spot the marker and break into the car for a quick gun grab. This is so RAMPANT in San Antonio where we were for a National shoot this summer, the police chief of that county came out to brief the 400 participants of our competition. Too bad three teams had already been victimized the first day.

Gun Thefts