News New Mexico - Once a statewide radio show providing state news aggregation and commentary, we have evolved. On this site we post political/cultural commentary, both domestic and international. At the top of the right hand sidebar there are links to discussions of the fundamental pillars of our world views. Click on these discussions and gain useful insights into our biases and how many of our views are formed.
The
Santa Fe-based Con Alma Health Foundation, in an effort to address a health
care gap for New Mexico’s
minority populations, secured a national grant recently to help diversify the
state’s nursing workforce.
The project will kick off today with
re-establishment of a New Mexico Hispanic Nurses Association from 3 to 5 p.m.
at The University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center in Albuquerque.
Helen Alarid, a nurse of almost 30 years who has cared
for cardiac patients at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center and now
teaches at Northern New Mexico College in Española, envisions the Hispanic
group providing resources and mentorship.
Alarid said 85 percent of
Northern’s enrollment is Hispanic students, and they come with socioeconomic
challenges and inexperience with academic life. She said they are more likely
to continue their education if they have role models who understand their challenges
and can help them find solutions
Foundation re-establishes NM Hispanic Nurses Association
The Legislative Finance says New Mexico’s agency for licensing drivers
and vehicles continues to struggle with outdated technology and staffing
problems.
The committee
says the Motor Vehicle Division’s old computer system is on the verge of
collapse, the division has a high management turnover, staff is paid less than
the regional average, and frustrated customers have to make multiple trips to
the MVD.
Committee Chairman, John Arthur Smith says the problems continue
despite efforts to revamp major parts of the MVD.
John Arthur Smith
John Arthur
Smith- “We’re talking about a revamp, through and through. This has been an
issue that we have had regardless of which governor is in office. Either the
governor doesn’t ask for enough money in the budget or we don’t fund enough.
When we try to give them additional assistance in the past thinking we’ve fixed
a problem it hasn’t been resolved.”
The MVD isn't
fighting the findings of an evaluation and say they are working to fix some of
the problems.
The
evaluation made recommendations including re-engineering the department's computer
system as soon as possible, however the MVD says that could top $65 million.
The committee
also wants the MVD to figure out a way to start accepting Visa cards. The card
isn't accepted right now because Visa won't allow government agencies to pass
the $1.25 transaction fee onto customers in face-to-face transactions.
A
total of ninety-one offices provide MVD costumer services throughout the state.
These include thirty-two state-run field offices, thirty-nine county and municipal
field offices, seventeen privately owned retail agencies as well as call
centers.
For Newsbreak New Mexico, I’m
Vanessa Dabovich.
State MVD continues to struggle, Finance Committe conducts evaluation
Gov. Susana Martinez has named a businessman from
southeastern New Mexico
to a commission that oversees the state Department of Transportation.
Robert
Wallach of Hobbs
fills a vacancy on the six-member state Transportation Commission, which sets
policies for the department. The 56-year-old Wallach runs a family-owned
concrete business and also owns a ranch. Wallach is a former member of the
Hobbs City Commission.
His appointment is subject to confirmation by the state
Senate. The department is responsible for the state's network of highways and
bridges.
Governor appoints Robert Wallach to state Transportation Commission
An oil refinery in New Mexico will pay a $400,000 fine in a
settlement over safety violations stemming from an explosion that killed two
employees and injured two others.
The New Mexico Environment Department and
Navajo Refining of Artesia entered a settlement agreement for citations issued
by the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The
explosion occurred when employees of Northwest Insulation of Texas were
performing welding operations on top of a storage tank at the refinery on March
2, 2010. A welder ignited vapors from flammable liquids within the tank. The
resulting explosion ripped open the top of the tank and the ensuing fire burned
for more than an hour before being extinguished.
OSHA officials say Navajo
Refining doesn’t admit fault, but agreed to settle for the fine.
NM oil refinery to pay $400,000 fine in settlement
According to an ABQ Journal poll, Democratic
Rep. Martin Heinrich continued to lead Republican Heather Wilson in New Mexico’s U.S. Senate
race with less than two weeks to go before Election Day.
Heinrich, now in his
second term as the 1st Congressional District representative in the U.S. House,
was backed by 50 percent of voters surveyed statewide Oct. 23-25.
Wilson, the
former five-term representative of the 1st Congressional District, had support
from 42 percent of voters in the survey.
Independent American Party candidate
Jon Barrie totaled 3 percent in the new poll. Another 6 percent of voters
remained undecided.
Gunhawk Firearms says people who oppose coyote hunts like the one they're organizing just don't understand what it's like to live in a rural area and want to emphasize they are helping people and the coyotes.
It's an argument that wildlife activists have been trying to shoot down, but the Los Lunas business is picking up where Calibers Gun Store of Albuqueque left off.
Gunhawk launched a coyote hunt of their own. The prize: an assault weapon for the person who brings in the most carcasses. Calibers' Gun Shop got a massive amount of negative comments from those opposing a similar hunt on its Facebook page . That is the reason why Calibers' hunt was called off.
A Las Cruces attorney who says she was handed
an incompletely printed ballot at an early voting site says she's worried the
problem may be more widespread than election officials contend.
Deborah Thuman says
she was handed a ballot that printed on only one side at a DonaAnaCounty early voting site on Oct. 20. She
says a number of judicial races that should have been printed on the ballot's
back side were missing.
She was given a new ballot but says she's unsure if
other voters would catch such problems.
More people are dying on New Mexico highways this
year, with state statistics showing a 25 percent jump in traffic deaths during
the first nine months of 2012.
Deaths from alcohol-related crashes are also up
by 20 percent this year. Alcohol played a role in about 40 percent of the
state's 296 traffic deaths.
Figures compiled by the New Mexico Department of
Transportation show pedestrian deaths and crashes that killed people above age
70 led the increase in fatalities.
The
Santa Fe-based Con Alma Health Foundation, in an effort to address a health
care gap for 
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