Listen here:
New system skews unemployment claims
Three new senate committee chairmen
Gary Smith indicted
Newsbreak New Mexico 8am Webcast 1/18/13
Newsbreak New Mexico 8am Newscast with Vanessa Dabovich
Listen here:
New system skews unemployment claims
Three new senate committee chairmen
Gary Smith indicted
Listen here:
New system skews unemployment claims
Three new senate committee chairmen
Gary Smith indicted
State Senate has three new committee chairmen
Three new chairmen will lead Senate committees,
including ones dealing with education and health care.
Much of the work of the
Legislature is done in committees and chairmen exert considerable influence by
setting the agenda for their panels.
Sen. John Sapien, a Corrales Democrat,
will serve as Education Committee chairman. Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, an
Albuquerque Democrat, will head the Public Affairs Committee. Its
responsibilities include health care measures.
Sen. Peter Wirth, a Santa Fe
Democrat, takes over as chairman of the Conservation Committee, which handles
legislation involving water, energy and other issues.
New system skews unemployment claims
A new computer system is skewing the
data on unemployment claims in
The state's "fully integrated tax and
claims system" launched Jan. 6. But because the switchover was done Jan. 1
to Jan. 6, those collecting unemployment were unable to re-certify or file new
claims for unemployment from New
Mexico
Because of the shutdown, the
number of claims being reported to the federal government is way down.
The
Santa Fe New Mexican it says the data is showing a 75 percent decrease in
claims for the week ending Jan. 5.
Swickard: The history of changing history
© 2012 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. History is a strange subject because it depends on perspective and each of us has a different perspective. Plus, history is dynamic in that it changes with changing perspectives and those changes happen right when you think something so fixed cannot change. Much of what we think is history is not. Example: there is a widespread notion of the warm welcome American fighting men got when they came home from World War Two. In fact, most citizens today will say that the fighting men of WWII came home to thunderous applause and unconditional love. Our history books today proclaim it. They were the greatest generation.
However, this is an example of revisionist history. One of the most revered men in WWII was a sergeant who drew cartoons of the men at the front. Bill Mauldin created his “Willie and Joe” cartoons from the front lines and it captivated America as much as the writings of Ernie Pyle. Both told and showed a side of the fighting men that was funny and tragic at the same time.
Bill Mauldin was born in Mountain Park, New Mexico near Cloudcroft and enlisted in the Army in 1940. He had always liked to draw so he started drawing what he saw in his spare time as a soldier on the front lines. After a while his drawings got more and more compliments. Eventually he ended up on the staff of the military newspaper, Stars and Stripes.
In 1944 his cartoons were put in a book, Up Front, which won the 1945 Pulitzer Prize. Fast forward to the year 1947 when newly civilian cartoonist Bill Mauldin is back home and publishes his next book, Back Home. Among other things it tells about the way returning soldiers were treated by the folks back home. It was not, according to Mauldin, the way we now think of how those soldiers were treated. They were not treated well.
If you are interested in seeing the returning soldiers through the eyes of someone in 1947, get his book. The poor treatment of returning soldiers made Mauldin mad at an ungrateful nation. We have no sense of his and others outrage now. Again, our history books do not tell that story. Rather, we read about how well soldiers were treated. Who are you to believe, the history books now or Bill Mauldin’s book printed in 1947?
While I have an affinity for stories of the past, I recognize the bane of history, modern revision to make the story, “Politically Correct.” Sometimes as more data is available it is appropriate to rewrite history somewhat, but those instances are few and far between. More often history is changed when there is a change of perspective. History is conditional based upon the needs of that generation. Read full column
Janice Arnold-Jones on News New Mexico
Janice Arnold-Jones, former state representative will be on News New Mexico Friday morning at 7:00 a.m. to speak about the upcoming legislative session and politics in the state. She has been on News New Mexico many times in the past and is one of our most valued commentators. Janice served four terms in the New Mexico Legislature and this last year ran for Congress on the Republican ticket. Her husband John had a career in the Navy and after he retired they returned to Albuquerque. She is a graduate of Albuquerque High.
State senator wants smaller class sizes
A New Mexico senator is fighting for smaller class sizes in
New Mexico
Senator Tim Keller has a resolution to reduce class sizes by 10
to 12 over five years beginning in 2015-2016. He said the resolution, if
approved by the legislature and voted on by the public in 2014, would add $60
million to state public education over the five years.
Governor Susana Martinez
gave her State of the State address Tuesday and stated public education would
be a major priority of her administration.
Sen. Keller said his measure has to make it
through several senate committees before it can be approved, then it goes to
the state representatives for their approval.
If that works, the measure would
be voted on by the public in November 2014.
Santa Fe increasing minimum wage
Workers making minimum wage in Santa Fe
The city says the minimum hourly rate that businesses can pay their
workers will increase from $10.29 an hour to $10.51 effective March 1.
Under
the city's Living Wage law, the minimum wage is tied to data from the Bureau of
Labor Statistics. The Santa Fe
Mayor David Coss says the
cost-of-living increase "ensures that we will not leave the lowest paid
workers behind."
Newsbreak New Mexico 12pm Webcast 1/17/13
Newsbreak New Mexico 12pm Newscast with Vanessa Dabovich
Listen here:
NM has unbalanced checkbook
WSMR installs army's largest solar array
NM's unemployement affected by migration
Listen here:
NM has unbalanced checkbook
WSMR installs army's largest solar array
NM's unemployement affected by migration
WSMR installs army's largest solar array
A missile range in southern New Mexico
Army officials
gathered at White
Sands Missile
Range
The system is capable of producing 10 million kilowatt-hours
of electricity each year. That's enough to meet about 10 percent of the
military installation's electricity needs.
Garrison Commander Col. Leo Pullar
says New Mexico
Federal directives call for at least 7.5 percent
of an installation's total electricity consumption to include renewable energy.
The Defense Department has also set a voluntary goal of 25 percent by 2025.
State has unbalanced checkbook
State government hasn't properly
balanced its checkbook for more than six years, and officials in Gov. Susana
Martinez's administration are warning lawmakers that New Mexico's cash surplus
is from $70 million to $460 million less than what been anticipated .
Officials
stress there's no immediate risk of New
Mexico
However, the state will
have a smaller financial cushion in case of unexpected budget problems and less
surplus cash to spend on projects such as capital improvements.
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