Scandals - A Factor?

Gary King

From the Santa Fe New Mexican - When Jim Bibb and Gary King ran for attorney general four years ago, one of the campaign's main themes was corruption. This year, in the race between King, the Democratic incumbent, and Clovis Republican Matt Chandler, the main theme is ... corruption. Chandler says King has done little to stem a tide of wrongdoing in the state during his term. King says he's done more than perhaps any other attorney general. In 2006, the race to become New Mexico's top law enforcer took place against the backdrop of the misdeeds of former state treasurer Michael Montoya.

Matt Chandler

This year's race, which will be decided in the Nov. 2 general election, comes amid other scandals, including controversies involving state investments, in which questions were raised about fees paid and loans provided by figures with political connections, and at the Secretary of State's Office, where former employees have alleged wrongdoing. Observers say the corruption issue dominates partly because that topic is a big component of this year's gubernatorial race. "When you get to those downballot races, if there's not a lot of information, you vote your party," University of New Mexico political science professor Lonna Atkeson said. "The Republicans are trying to resonate with a single message, and they are hoping for spillover from the top of the ticket." Read more here:

Scandals - A Factor?

Van Hollen - Let's Play "Tax Policy Poker"

Chris Van Hollen (D- MD.)

U.S. House Democrat Chris Van Hollen said he would consider extending Bush-era tax cuts for wealthier Americans for a year if Republicans would agree to make the reductions permanent for “middle class” taxpayers. Republicans, including House Minority Leader John Boehner, have insisted that the tax cuts should be extended for all Americans for two years. Taxes are expected to dominate the agenda when Congress returns next week. “If they were to come back and say, ‘hey, let’s just do one year for the top 2 percent, and permanent for the middle class,’ that would be something that obviously people would have to think about,” Van Hollen said in an interview on “Political Capital with Al Hunt” airing this weekend on Bloomberg Television. He said he was speaking “individually” and not on behalf of Democratic leaders. Van Hollen of Maryland, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, predicted his party “will hold onto a majority in the House” even in the face of polling that shows Republicans are poised to retake control. Read more here:

Van Hollen - Let's Play "Tax Policy Poker"

Kudlow - Blame Boehner and Bush

Larry Kudlow

Under pressure from a barrage of bad midterm-election polls, President Obama has gone on the campaign trail to blame Pres. George W. Bush for all our economic problems and to bash House Republican leader John Boehner as nothing more than a Bush retread. In Friday's dreary news conference, Obama acknowledged that economic progress is "painfully slow" and that voters may blame him for the economy. Yet he nonetheless continued to finger Bush "for policies that cut taxes, especially for millionaires and billionaires, cut regulations for corporations and for special interests, and left everyone else pretty much fending for themselves." "Millionaires and billionaires" has become Obama's favorite phrase as he calls for tax hikes on the wealthy and renews his attacks on Bush. In Cleveland last week, Obama actually blamed the Bush tax cuts for the financial meltdown and severe recession. Now that's a reach. A big reach. While Bush made plenty of economic mistakes, his 2003 reductions of marginal tax rates led to more than 8 million new jobs in the next four and a half years. Under Bush, the unemployment rate dropped to 4.6 percent. Read more here:

Kudlow - Blame Boehner and Bush

Calderon Passes the Peso

Pesident Felipe Calderon

From the El Paso Times - MEXICO CITY—President Mauricio Funes of El Salvador said Friday he doesn't blame Mexico's government for the massacre of 72 mainly Central American migrants, and called for a joint effort to fight drug cartels. Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Funes said after their meeting that the two countries have formed a high-level working group to develop joint strategies for combatting the drug gangs. "We have come to have a conversation with the president of Mexico, not to condemn him or criticize him," Funes said. "Rather the opposite, to show him our support and offer our help in this fight." Thirteen Salvadorans were among the dead identified so far in the massacre in late August, a killing blamed on one of Mexico's drug cartels, the Zetas. In a separate interview Friday, Calderon said the migrant massacre doesn't undermine Mexico's moral authority to demand better treatment for its own migrants. "Of course we have the moral authority, because Mexican officials are not shooting Central American youths at the border, but U.S. agents are shooting Mexican migrants," Calderon said in an interview with the Spanish-language Univision network. "If we are talking about responsibility, at the root of this, in the case of immigration, is the lack of immigration legislation in the United States that would recognize this phenomenon," Calderon said. Read more here:

Calderon Passes the Peso

167 Females Murdered in Juarez this Year

From the El Paso Times - Three women's bodies were dumped in Juárez on Sept. 6 in areas of great importance in Mexican history. Claudia Leticia Estrada, 34, was left at a street crossing in the Colonia de Independencia. Claudia E. Tiscareño Hernandez, 22, and an unidentified woman, 20 to 25 years old, were found near 15 de Septiembre and Monte de las Cruces in the Colonia Miguel Allende. All three were killed by gunfire. Then their bodies were tossed in places with names associated with Mexico's War of Independence from Spain. Mexico will observe its independence on Wednesday. The three victims brought to 1,000 the number of girls and women killed in Juárez since 1993. "Between January and August of this year, there were 167 murders of women," said Julia Monarrez, a professor at Colegio de la Frontera Norte-Juárez. The other 2,000 homicide victims this year in Juárez were men. Read more here:

167 Females Murdered in Juarez this Year

Aggies Drop Season Opener 41-21 To San Diego State

bleedCrimson.net Report

LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- The Aggie football team dropped their 2010 season opener 41-21 to San Diego State in front of 16,891 fans on Saturday night in Aggie Memorial Stadium.

The Aggies debuted a brand new offense and the Aggies marched down the field on their opening drive as junior college transfer Matt Christian completed his first pass, a 27 yard completion to Marcus Allen on second and seven giving the Aggies a first down at the 50 yard line. Christian would complete a 20 yard pass to Todd Lee on third and 11 that gave the Aggies a first down at the San Diego State 26. The Aggie drive would stall and junior college transfer Tyler Stampler missed a 37 yard field goal.

The Aztecs would take over on their own 20 and after converting a third and 2 at their own 28 the Aztecs would go for it on fourth and one at the 40. Aggie linebacker Boyblue Aoelua met Davon Brown head on at the line of scrimmage for no gain and giving the Aggies the ball and plenty of momentum.

With momentum and the ball on the SDSU 42, Matt Christian completed a pass to Darrius Preston for 22 yards down to the SDSU 2. Two plays later Christian would pitch the ball to Kenny Turner who turned the corner and raced 18 yards down the right sideline diving in for the first touchdown of his Aggie career and the first touchdown of the 2010 season. Stampler would tack on the extra point giving the Aggies a 7-0 lead.

The Aggie defense would carry that momentum and force SDSU into a three and out and the Aggie offense got the ball back on th e16 yard line. The Aggies would drive down to the Aztec 35 yard line but the drive stalled and the Aggies were unable to convert a 4th and 2 giving the Aztecs the ball.

SDSU would capitalize and on their first play from scrimmage, Ryan Lindley hit Vincent Brown for a 55-yard completion down to the Aggie 10 yard line. The Aggies' red-zone defense would allow just two yards and the Aztecs would be forced to try a 25 yard field goal. SDSU kicker Abel Perez would knock the attempt through cutting the Aggies' lead to 7-3.

SDSU would receive the ball on the Aggie 45 after a 33 yard punt by Tanner Rust. The Aztecs would have a first and 10 at the Aggies' 17 yard line but the Aggie red-zone defense would stiffen forcing the Aztecs to try a 32 yard field goal. Abel Perez would hit the field goal to cut the Aggies' lead to 7-6.

The next Aggie possession ended in a three and out and the Aggies punted the ball back to the Aztecs who would take over on their own 49. SDSU would drive once again getting the ball down to the Aggies' 15 yard line but again the Aggie defense would stiffen and the Aztecs would miss a 37-yard field goal keeping the game at 7-6.

The Aggie offense would once again go three and out and the Aztecs would take over on their own 41 after a 42 yard punt by Tanner Rust. Ronnie Hillman would get the Aztecs to the Aggie 48 with an 11 yard run and on 2nd and 9 Ryan Lindley would complete a 19 yard pass to Gavin Escobar putting the Aztecs on the Aggies' 19. six plays later Lindley would convert on 3rd and 9 from the Aggie 14 completing another pass to Gavin Escobar finding him in the endzone for a touchdown. The extra point put the Aztecs up 13-7.

After an Aggie three and out, the Aztecs would drive down to the Aggie 13 yard line and with just seconds remaining in the half appeared as though SDSU had scored a touchdown, however, offensive pass interference was called on Demarco Sampson and the Aztecs' touchdown was wiped off the board. With the ball now on the Aggies' 28 yard line, SDSU would attempt a 45 yard field goal but Perez would miss his second field goal of the half and the Aggies would take a knee and consider themselves fortunate to go into halftime down just 13-7.

SDSU would get the ball to start the second half and marched down the field for a touchdown on four plays as Ronnie HIllman broke a 44-yard touchdown run to put the Aztecs up 20-7.

The Aggie defense would hold after a three and out by the Aggie offense as SDSU would go for it on 4th and 1 at the Aggie 42. The Aggie offense would capitalize as they had done in the first half as Matt Christian found Marcus Allen for a 58 yard touchdown strike cutting the SDSU lead to 20-14.

However, the Aggie defense would be unable to stop SDSU as the Aztecs would start on their own 41 after the kickoff thanks to an illegal block was called on the Aggies on the kickoff. The SDSU ground game would go to work and behind three rushes from Walter Kazee put SDSU on the Aggies' 26 yard line, Ronnie Hillman finished off the final 26 yards with runs of 22 and four yards putting the Aztecs back up by 13 at 27-14.

The Aggies' next drive would start at their own 20 and would end at the SDSU 33 yard line after eight plays. The two teams would trade punts on the next three possessions and with 12:38 left in the game, the Aggies would get the ball at their own 40. Two 15-yard penalties would aid the Aggie drive as they found themselves on the SDSU 16 yard line with a 1st and 10. Matt Christian would find Todd Lee for the touchdown score and the Aggies would get right back in the game at 27-21.

SDSU once again answered the Aggies' touchdown with a six play, 81 yard drive that ended in a touchdown score to go up 34-21 with 8:46 remaining in the game.

The Aggies would be forced to punt on their next possession. On the next Aztec possession, the Aggie defense would force a punt, however, Donyae Coleman would fumble the return at the Aggie eight yard line. SDSU's Nat Berhe would recover the ball at the Aggie 13. Three Ronnie Hillman rushes later, the Aztecs would find the endzone for the final time going ahead 41-21 with 4:21 left to play.

The Aggies would punt on their next possession and SDSU would get the ball back at their own four yard line with 1:50 left to play. After a 44 yard scamper by Davon Brown put the ball at the Aggies' 49, SDSU would take a knee to run out the clock.

The Aggies were outgained on offense 563 to 328 and the Aggies' backfield duo of Seth Smith and Kenny Turner was limited to 45 yards on 15 carries with 43 of the yards belonging to Turner. Matt Christian finished the game 17-of-34 through the air for 224 yards, two passing touchdowns and no interceptions. He also rushed for 35 yards on nine carries.

Marcus Allen led the Aggies with four catches for 114 yards and a touchdown and Todd Lee hauled in the other touchdown pass and finished with four catches for 40 yards. Kyle Nelson caught five balls for 28 yards.

San Diego State's Ryan Lindley finished 20-for-42 for 319 yards and one touchdown pass. Ronnie Hillman rushed for 150 yards on 22 carries and scored all four of the Aztecs' rushing touchdowns. Walter Kazee finished with 10 rushes for 52 yards as the Aztecs rushed for 244 yards as a team.

Vincent Brown caught five balls for 99 yards, Demarco Sampson had four for 73 yards, Brandon Sullivan caught three for 69 yards and Gavin Escobar caught two passes for 33 yards, both on the same drive and one for the Aztecs' lone passing touchdown.

Boyblue Aoelua finished with 16 tackles to lead all defenders. Alphonso Powell added 14 tackles. Miles Burris and Jerome Long each finished with eight tackles for SDSU. SDSU finished with one sack and neither team had an interception.

The Aggies return to action next Saturday as they take on I-10 rival UTEP at 7:00 p.m. at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, TX.

Aggies Drop Season Opener 41-21 To San Diego State

Aggie Rally Falls Just Short At No. 21 LSU

bleedCrimson.net Report

The Aggie volleyball team lost a heartbreaker to No. 21 LSU in Baton Rouge, LA on Saturday night as the Aggies rallied from down two sets to none to force five sets against the Tigers. The Aggies were manhandled in the first set 25-19 but improved their play in set two falling 25-23. The Aggies then dominated set three before hanging on for a 25-22 victory and then continued their domination in set four winning 25-15. The Aggies fell behind 5-1 in the fifth set but rallied and forced extra points before falling 17-15.

Kayleigh Giddens tied for match-high honors with 22 kills. Ellen Miks recorded a match-high 31 digs

The first set was dominated by LSU as they jumped out to an early 10-4 lead. The Aggies would trim the lead down to four points at 12-8 on a setter dump by Jennah DeVries but the Tigers would respond with a 5-1 run to push their lead to 17-9. The Aggies would cut the lead down to five points at 20-15 after LSU's Brittney Johnson committed an attack error but LSU would score the next three points to push their lead back out to eight at 23-15. They would finish off the set winning 25-19 on a kill by Desiree Elliot.

The Aggies fell behind early again in the second set as LSU jumped out to a 6-1 lead. The Tigers would hold a six point lead at 11-5. The Aggies would still trail by five points at 14-9 but bck-to-back kills by Kayleigh Giddens and Whitney Woods would draw the Aggies to within three points at 14-11. The Tigers would push the lead back out to four points as they led 19-15, however, a kill by Kelsey Brennan was followed by an attack error by LSU's Desiree Elliot and the Aggies would draw to within two points at 19-17. Kayleigh Giddens would get another kill and the Aggies trailed by just one point at 19-18 forcing LSU to call a timeout.

The Aggies would tie the set at 19 after Desiree Elliot would commit another attack error. The Tigers regained the lead at 20-19 but the Aggies would tie the set at 20 behind a kill by Kayleigh Giddens. Back-to-back kills by Angela Bensend gave LSU the 22-20 lead forcing the Aggies to take a timeout. After the timeout the Aggies would tie the set at 22 apiece. LSU would retake a two point lead as Angela Bensend would put down a kill which was followed by an attack error by Whitney Woods to give the Tigers match point. The Aggies would stave off match point on a Rocio Gutierrez kill but the Tigers would take the set on the next set as Angela Bensend would record another kill.

The Aggies came back from intermission recharged from their near comeback in the second set as they would jump out to a quick 9-4 lead. The Aggies would push their lead to six points at 12-6 but the Tigers answered with a 3-1 run to cut the Aggies' lead down to four at 13-9. After trading points the Aggies would score three points in a row to go up by seven at 17-10. The Tigers would trim the Aggies' lead to five at 18-13 but a kill by Amanda Tonga was followed by an attack error by Madie Jones to put the Aggies up 20-13 and forced the Tigers to call a timeout.

The Aggies maintained their seven point advantage at 23-16 and had set point at 24-18 after a service error by LSU's Lauren Waclawcyzk. LSU would hold off the Aggies for four points to draw to within two at 24-22 but a kill from Desiree Scott ended any hopes for a comeback giving the Aggies the 25-22 set victory.

The Aggies would again dominate in the fourth set as they jumped out to an 8-4 lead prompting a timeout by the Tigers. The Aggies would push their lead to seven at 14-7 on a kill by Kayleigh Giddens. The Aggies would maintain the seven point advantage as they would go up 18-11 on an attack error by Angela Bensend. The Aggies would extend the lead to nine points at 21-12 and held a 23-13 lead after a double-block by Kelsey Brennan and Jennah DeVries. The Tigers would score two points in a row to cut the Aggies lead to 23-15 but a kill by Kayleigh Giddens would give the Aggies set point at 24-15 and an attack error by Desiree Elliot would be wide giving the Aggies a 25-15 set victory to force the fifth and deciding set.

In the race to 15 in the final set, the Aggies fell behind 5-1 behind three kills by LSU's Madie Jones. The Aggies would call a timeout to regroup and out of the timeout they would score back-to-back points putting up a block by Amanda Tonga and Whitney Woods on a Mjadie Jones attack and getting a kill from Rocio Gutierrez. The Aggies would cut the Tigers' lead to one at 6-5 but an attack error by Lauren Waclawcyzk tied the set at six points apiece. The Aggies took their first lead of the set on a kill by Kayleigh Giddens forcing a timeout by the Tigers. Angela Bensend would knock down a kill tying the set at seven. The match set would see ties at eight, nine and 10 points before LSU would record back-to-back points to take a 12-10 lead. After an Aggie timeout, the Tigers would go ahead 13-10 on a service ace by Victoria Jacobsen. The Aggies' Kayleigh Giddens would pull the Aggies back to within two at 13-11 and an attack error by LSU's Brittney Johnson would bring the Aggies to within one at 13-12. A kill by Madie Jones gave the Tigers match point at 14-12 but kills by Rocio Gutierrez and Kayleigh Giddens would tie the set at 14. The set would remain tied at 15 but a double contact was called on Kayleigh Giddens giving the Tigers another match point. This time there would be no rally for the Aggies as Angela Bensend would end the match with her 22nd kill.

Kayleigh Giddens and LSU's Angela Bensend tied for match-high kills with 22 each. Kelsey Brennan and Desiree Scott each had eight kills for the Aggies while Whitney Woods, Amanda Tonga and Rocio Gutierrez each had seven kills.

Madie Jones finished with 20 kills for LSU and Michele Williams pitched in 16 kills.

The Tigers had five players finish with double-digit kills as Lauren Waclawczyk led the Tigers with 20, Angela Bensend had 17, Sam Delahoussaye and Meghan Mannari each had 14 and Brittney Johnson had 10.

Ellen Miks led all defenders with 31 digs while Kayleigh Giddens recorded 17 digs to post another double-double. Kelsey Brennan finished with six digs and Madison Hardy and Whitney Woods each had six. Jennah DeVries and Rocio Gutierrez each finished with five digs while Amanda Tonga had four and Desiree Scott had two.

The Aggies finished the match hitting .233 while LSU hit .228. The Aggies had six service aces to LSU's five and committed just 21 attack errors while LSU committed 27 in the match.

The Aggies finish the Tiger Classic with a 1-2 record and are now 6-3 overall. LSU wins the Tiger Classic with a 3-0 record and improves to 9-0 on the season.

The Aggies are back in action on Tuesday, September 14th when they travel to Albuquerque to face in-state rival UNM.

Aggie Rally Falls Just Short At No. 21 LSU

Knights Lose to Cleveland - Fall to 0-3

LAS CRUCES — Playing a competitive football game was the first step for Oñate after two lopsided losses to open the season. For 24 minutes on Saturday against Cleveland, Oñate looked to be the better team. But football games are 48 minutes long and the Storm pulled away to knock off the winless Knights 40-15 at the Field of Dreams. "We feel better about it as tough as the first two losses were," said OHS running back Lawrence Sanchez, who gained 143 yards on the ground and hauled in a touchdown pass. "We came out smiling and having fun. Coaches told us to enjoy the high school experience and that is what we were doing in the first half. We beat ourselves in the second half because everyone was trying to do too much." Despite outgaining Cleveland 196-53 in the first half, the Knights (0-3) found themselves down 7-0 at the break. Read more here:

Knights Lose to Cleveland - Fall to 0-3

Aggie Volleyball Swept By North Carolina 3-0

bleedCrimson.net Report

The Aggie volleyball team suffered their first sweep of the 2010 season as they fell 3-0 to North Carolina in day two of the Tiger Classic in Baton Rouge, LA. The Tar Heels won the three sets by scores of 25-15, 25-17 and 25-16.

The Aggies struggled offensively versus the North Carolina block as the Tar Heels outblocked the Aggies 9-1 in the match.

Set one saw the Aggies fall behind early 9-2 as an overpass by the Aggies on the match's first serve set the tone for the remainder of the match. The Aggies would call a timeout at 7-1, however, they could not cut into the deficit falling behind 17-9 after a kill by Shelbey Bleke. The Aggies would cut the Tar Heels' lead to seven at 19-12 after back-to-back kills by freshman Rocio Gutierrez. The Aggies would get to within six points at 20-14 after a Kelsey Brennan block, however, the Tar Heels would win five of the final six points to take the set 25-15 as freshman defensive specialist Shelby Tamura was called for a double contact on set point.

The second set saw the Aggies hang tough early as the Aggies trailed by one at 5-4 after a kill by Rocio Gutierrez. The Tar Heels would take five of the next six points to build a three point lead at 9-6. The Aggies would cut lead back to two after a kill by Kelsey Brennan, and the set would remain a two point differential after a kill by Kayleigh Giddens made the score 10-8. The Tar Heels would go on a 5-2 run to push their lead out to five points at 15-10.

The Aggies would trim the lead by one point after a setter dump by Jennah DeVries made the score 18-14. A quick 4-2 run by the Tar Heels put the Aggies down 22-16. After the two teams traded points Kelsey Brennan would be blocked on an attack and the Tar Heels would seal the set victory on a service ace by Kaylie Gibson to take the set 25-17.

The Aggies would take their first and only lead of the match in the third set as Kayleigh Giddens would get the team's only block putting the Aggies up 1-0. The Tar Heels would score the next three points to take a 3-1 lead, the Aggies would trim the lead to 3-2 after a kill by Desiree Scott but a 3-0 run would put the Tar Heels up 6-2. The Aggies would be unable to cut the deficit as they were down 10-6 after a Desiree Scott kill. Ellen Miks would keep the Aggies within four after a service ace made the score 13-9 in favor of the Tar Heels.

The Aggies would trim the lead to two points at 14-12 after back-to-back kills by Kelsey Brennan and Rocio Gutierrez. The Aggies would still trail by two after Kayleigh Giddens put down a kill on the pipe set but four straight Tar Heels points would send the Aggies into a six point deficit at 19-13. The Aggies would be unable to close the gap and the match would end on three consecutive hitting errors on the Aggies giving UNC the set 25-16 and the match 3-0.

Setter Jennah DeVries led the Aggies in hitting percentage as she finished with two kills on five attempts. Kayleigh Giddens had a match-high 12 kills on 48 swings with five hitting errors and hit .146 for the match. Rocio Gutierrez added 10 kills but had seven hitting errors in 27 attacks to hit .111. Whitney Woods added five kills while Desiree Scott finished with four and Kelsey Brennan with three kills.

Ellen Miks led all Aggies with a team-high 15 digs.

The Aggies had no answer for Shelbey Bleke who finished with 10 kills on 13 swings and hit .769 on the match with no hitting errors. Courtney Johnston finished with nine kills on 19 swings with three hitting errors and hit .316 on the match. Chrintine Vaughen, Suzanne Haydel and Kayla Berringer each finished with eight kills as the Tar Heels hit .364 for the match.

The Heels' Cayla Shortley finished with 16 digs to lead all players.

The Aggies fall to 6-2 on the season and will wrap up the Tiger Classic tonight at 7:00 p.m. MT when they face host No. 21 LSU.

Aggie Volleyball Swept By North Carolina 3-0

Aggies Two Touchdown Underdog

Aggie Head Football Coach - DeWayne Walker

DeWayne Walker's second season as NMSU head football coach gets underway Saturday night when the Aggies take on San Diego State at Aggie Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6:00pm. Season Tickets are still available at the Pan American center ticket office or by calling 575-646-1420 and start as low as $44. Season tickets save up to 56% off the single-game price, so be sure to get your season tickets before the season starts on Saturday night. Betting lines on the game have San Diego State listed as a two touchdown favorite.

Aggies Two Touchdown Underdog