Sec. of Interior to visit southern NM

Sally Jewell

On Friday, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell will join New Mexico Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich in a visit to the Organ Mountains region of south-central New Mexico. 

While there, Jewell will spend time exploring the area and will attend a public meeting hosted by Senators Udall and Heinrich regarding the community’s vision to preserve, protect and enhance some of the public lands located in Doña Ana County.  

At the invitation of the two Senators, Jewell will join Udall and Heinrich, as well as Principal Deputy Director at the Bureau of Land Management Neil Kornze, for a public listening session on the community’s conservation priorities in the area. 

 The community meeting will take place Friday at 3pm at the Ramada Palms Las Cruces.

Sec. of Interior to visit southern NM

Controversial bills up for debate in legislative session

From KOB.com - By: Nikki Ibarra, KOB Eyewitness News 4 - Tuesday kicks off the 30-day legislative session in New Mexico. A number of controversial bills are set to take the state in the coming weeks.
     First, Gov. Susana Martinez will give her State of the State address, where she's expected to talk about her budget proposal for 2014. She wants $6 billion in spending, with about $100 million in new spending for public schools.
Martinez has been vocal in the past about making New Mexico competitive through education reform. Part of the new funding will go toward raising the starting salaries for new teachers from $30,000 to $33,000.
     The governor is also expected to push the state to stop issuing driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants—something she's fought for in the past four sessions.
     Another bill expected to heat up the legislative session is about legalizing recreational marijuana in New Mexico. The bill is modeled after Colorado's new pot law, and anyone 21 and older would be allowed to possess and use marijuana. The lawmaker who proposed the legislation, Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, said he thinks legalizing marijuana will actually help fight to war on drugs. More

Controversial bills up for debate in legislative session

NM ranks near the bottom for economic job growth

An economic study ranks New Mexico as one of the worst in the nation when it comes to economic and job growth.

The report, authored by the University of New Mexico’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research, shows New Mexico ranks 48 among states when it comes to job growth.

According to the report New Mexico had previously been ranked among the top 15 states for job growth over the last 40 years. The report showed New Mexico has the largest gap of any state when it comes to the disparity between its upper and lower class incomes. There’s also a large educational disparity. The report points out the state ranks fourth in the country with the number of people living here with Ph.D.s, but toward the bottom when it comes to people with bachelor’s degrees. 

The report also shows the state relies heavily on federal dollars and its economy could be badly hurt by any cuts to federal spending. It also said the state could benefit from the Affordable Care Act. 

There are some positives. According to the report, New Mexico does well in the areas of technology, arts and culture, mining, gas and oil production, transportation and tourism.

NM ranks near the bottom for economic job growth

Student shot at Roswell school returns home

Kendal Sanders

One of the students wounded when a classmate opened fire inside a Roswell middle school gym is recovering at home. 

The family of 13-year-old Kendal Sanders says she was released from the hospital Sunday. She had surgery last week to repair damage done to her shoulder. 

The other victim, 12-year-old Nathaniel Tavarez, remained at a Lubbock, Texas, hospital Monday. A family member says the boy is in critical but stable condition and is now breathing on his own. 

Sanders and Tavarez were wounded when the gunman entered the crowded Berrendo Middle School gym last Tuesday and fired three times from a 20-gauge shotgun. 

The seventh-grade suspect has been charged as a juvenile with three counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Police have yet to speculate about a motive.

Student shot at Roswell school returns home

State legislature convenes today

Gov. Martinez

Gov. Susana Martinez will outline her legislative priorities to lawmakers on the opening day of the Legislature's 30-day session. 

Lawmakers convene at noon today, and the governor will deliver her State of the State address to a joint session of the House and Senate. 

Martinez already has unveiled parts of her legislative agenda, including merit pay for teachers and budget increases for programs to help train more health care professionals.

 A Democratic legislator is sponsoring a constitutional amendment to legalize the possession and use of marijuana by people 21 and older. 

Democratic Party officials are urging the Legislature to raise the minimum wage to at least $10 an hour, up from $7.50. The session is limited to budget, taxes and proposals placed on the agenda by the governor.

State legislature convenes today

Is This Any Way to Treat the Job Creators?

Commentary by Marita Noon - It’s no wonder that, as the New York Times (NYT) headline declared: “Growth in jobs slows sharply to 3-year low.” Addressing the Labor Department’s disappointing December Jobs Report, CNNMoney’s headline states: “2013 ends with weakest job growth in years.” USA Today called it a “Big miss” and CNBC’sJim Cramer sees the 74,000 gain in payrolls as “A disastrous unemployment number.”
     USA Today surveyed 37 economists whose median forecast for the December jobs number was a gain of 205,000 jobs. Not only did the report’s 74,000 jobs gain fall far short of the 205,000 jobs forecast, it is not the only number that portends a job market about which CNNMoney believes: “suddenly looks a lot weaker than economists had thought.” USA Today points out: “For the year, employers added 2.18 million jobs, slightly fewer than 2012’s total of 2.19 million.” It adds: “Payroll growth was weak across the board, with education and health services, a reliable source of job growth even through the recession, adding no jobs.”
     The one apparent bright spot in Friday’s Jobs report a sharp drop in the unemployment rate to 6.7 percent from 7 percent was tarnished because it largely resulted from people exiting the work force rather than because they landed jobs. The work force shrank by 347,000 in December, reversing a big gain from November, and returning the proportion of Americans in the labor force to its October level of 62.8 percent, the lowest in 35 years.”

     According to the Associated Press (AP), White House senior advisor Dan Pfeiffer sent out an email Tuesday morning to the White House list of supporters claiming: “The president will use every tool he can to create jobs and opportunities for the middle class.” While I oppose this administration’s fondness for skirting Congress through the use of executive orders, here’s a case where an “executive order or administrative action” could really help “pick up the pace of the jobs message.”
     If President Obama truly wanted to “create jobs and opportunities for the middle class,” he could tell the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to work with—instead of against—people and companies who are ready to risk their capital in the development of our natural resources and create jobs.More

Is This Any Way to Treat the Job Creators?

College prep programs get a funding boost

The college-prep programs in four New Mexico school districts got a big financial boost this week.  

Gov. Susana Martinez has announced each district will receive a $100,000 grant to start or expand on programs that prepare high school students for college. 

The funds are from a Denver-based foundation and are going to districts in Albuquerque, Carlsbad, Gadsden and Hobbs.

Martinez made the announcement on Thursday at Arrowhead Park Early College High School. The Las Cruces program was the first such program in the state. 

Officials in the some school districts say the money will help immensely with purchasing technology and recruiting new students. 

College prep programs get a funding boost

Legislator files pre-bill to legalize marijuana

New Mexico State Senator Ortiz y Pino pre-filed Senate Joint Resolution 10 Friday proposing to amend New Mexico’s constitution to tax and regulate marijuana for adult use. 

SJR10 would allow for the possession and personal use of marijuana by persons 21 years of age and older and for the regulation of the production, sale and taxation of marijuana in New Mexico.

 If SJR10 passes, both the House and the Senate, the amendment will be placed on the November 2014 general election ballot for the voters to decide. 

Harvard University professor of economics Jeffrey Miron concluded that New Mexico could bring in between $19 – $20.82 million annually in marijuana tax revenues alone and by ending marijuana prohibition, the state of New Mexico could save over $33 million on police, courts and corrections costs of enforcing existing marijuana laws.

Legislator files pre-bill to legalize marijuana

Congress withholds funding for horse slaughter to resume

The resumption of the commercial slaughtering of horses was blocked Friday as President Barack Obama signed a budget measure that withholds money for required federal inspections of the slaughtering process.

 The measure provides temporary funding for the federal government, but it stops the U.S. Agriculture Department from spending on horse slaughterhouse inspections. 

The last domestic horse slaughterhouses closed in 2007, a year after Congress withheld inspection funding. Since federal money was restored in 2011, plants in New Mexico, Missouri and Iowa have fought to start slaughtering to potentially export horse meat for overseas consumers.

Meanwhile, on Friday in New Mexico, State District Court Judge Matthew Wilson granted New Mexico Attorney General Gary King’s motion for a preliminary injunction against Valley Meat Company, preventing the opening of a proposed horse slaughterhouse until the AG’s lawsuit is resolved.

 In a statement relased to the press, King said, “The judge’s decision allows our lawsuit to continue while preventing the immediate killing of horses for human consumption. I still strongly believe that Valley Meat’s proposal for commercial horse slaughter posed a serious danger to consumers and to our environment.”

Congress withholds funding for horse slaughter to resume

Lamy residents, energy officials meet over oil dispute

From KOB-TV.com - By: Chris Ramirez, KOB Eyewitness News 4 - The fight is on for residents in Santa Fe County, and they have made it clear that they do not want their town of Lamy to be turned into a crude oil distribution site.
     Residents met with representatives from the company proposing the idea on Saturday evening. As you would expect, things got heated.Lamy is famous for being nothing. Really—that is the draw.
     People move to the town for a rural lifestyle to get away from city life and those who live in the serene town are fighting to protect that.
     Pacer Energy wants to use the town to exchange crude oil from trucks to trains. About 250 concerned people met with representatives from Pacer Energy. It is a lot more than a lifestyle they are trying to protect; they fear the company’s plans may ruin the environment.
     Some fear one bad accident could set their historic town blazing. Representatives from Pacer Energy could not answer all the questions. Many people wanted to know if this deal was already made or if the company was listening before acting.
     "This is still being discussed in our corporate office, there has been leases signed to my knowledge with the Southern Santa Fe Railway," Donnie Talk of Pacer Energy Marketing said. Lamy is proud of its draw, but the oil industry is one new resident the town does not want. More

Lamy residents, energy officials meet over oil dispute