City replacing traffic circle at cost of over $100,000

NewsNM:Swickard - KOB, my old television station from when I worked there in the 1970s is hinting that there is some influence. Could be. From KOB-TV.com - By: Stuart Dyson, KOB Eyewitness News 4 - The city of Albuquerque has demolished a traffic circle out in front of the Albuquerque Country Club, and now plans to replace it with (trumpet fanfare please) a new improved traffic circle!
     Most neighbors will tell you that the traffic circle was there for six months, maybe eight months. But city officials say nope, make it two years. At any rate it was never intended to be permanent, just a cheap asphalt pin-down job to see how people liked the traffic circle concept, and it seems they did.Price tag? About $16,000. “It’s materials we can save and use at another location, so it’s not a waste of money,” said city Municipal Development chief Michael Riordan. “Then there is some pavement striping, some temporary striping. That will be a lost cost, but most of that $16,000 we’ll be able to use somewhere else in the city.”
     The new traffic circle will be made of stouter stuff – concrete, curb-and-gutter, nice landscaping – with a price tag of about $150,000. “It seems a bit much to me,” said neighbor Gordon Wohlert. “These are difficult times. $150,000? Well, that’s more than I have in my pocket!”
     City officials plan to meet with neighbors next month to get their ideas about landscaping and design. We feel compelled to point out that the Albuquerque Country Club is a well-known hub of affluence and influence. And the surrounding neighborhood is far from shabby! We’re just saying. More

City replacing traffic circle at cost of over $100,000

Valley Meat Co. denied wastewater permit

The New Mexico Environment Department on Monday dealt a new blow to a Roswell company's hard-fought attempts to begin slaughtering horses next month, declining a request to renew Valley Meat Co.'s wastewater discharge permit. 

The denial came the same day that actor Robert Redford and former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson joined the divisive debate, announcing formation of an animal protection foundation to fight a return to domestic horse slaughter. 

The NMED says it won't renew the permit without a public hearing, noting it has received more than 450 comments against letting the former cattle slaughterhouse open as a horse slaughter plant. 

Valley Meat Co. attorney Blair Dunn cried foul, saying the agency was unfairly targeting a small family-owned business. He says the plant can still open, but would have to haul its waste.

Valley Meat Co. denied wastewater permit

State Auditor takes legal action over audit findings

Hector Balderas

The New Mexico State Auditor is taking legal action against Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration after being denied the ability to review an audit commissioned by the NM Dept. of Health and Human Services. 

The audit claims mental health providers around the state defrauded Medicaid by overcharging to the tune of $36 million.  NM State Auditor Hector Balderas asked to review the findings, but Cabinet Secretary Sidonie Squier, NM Dept. of Human Services, denied Balderas. 

Eyewitness News 4 asked Gov. Martinez why the administration refuses to provide the audit to the State Auditor.  She replied "the state auditor himself doesn't do audits." 

Santa Fe District Court judge Sarah Singleton signed off on a court order filed by Balderas’ office to force Squier to release the documents by Monday morning at 10 a.m.  

Squier didn’t comply with the court order.  

State Auditor takes legal action over audit findings

AG gives two answers to same sex marriage in NM

New Mexico Attorney General Gary King says a state prohibition on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. 

King told the state Supreme Court on Monday in written arguments that it should invalidate the gay marriage ban if the justices agree to consider a lawsuit filed by two Santa Fe men who were denied a marriage license. 

However, King also said the lawsuit isn't properly before the high court and the justices should deny the men's request to order the Santa Fe County clerk to issue them a marriage license. 

King said New Mexico law effectively doesn't allow gay marriages although there's no statutory provision that specifically prohibits or authorizes gay couples to be married. But he also said the prohibition on gay marriage violates the state constitutional guarantee of equal protection under the law.

AG gives two answers to same sex marriage in NM

Rain uncovers mystery hole in backyard

From KRQE-TV.com - by Chris McKee - LBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Friday's heavy downpour created a mystery in an Albuquerque backyard. After a lot of rain fell in a short time, the earth opened up revealing a deep underground pit at the home of Alex Sanouvon.
     "I've been here 25 years and I have never seen anything like that," said Sanouvon. "Then suddenly, I just hear this collapse and all of the water rushed down and I came to look at it, and there was that hole.” Sanouvon said.
     The hole is a little less than 10 feet deep and about 3 ½ feet wide. Cinder blocks show the hole was built by someone and a large pipe sits at the bottom. Sanouvon said when he moved in to the house decades ago, the hole wasn't mentioned.. "No, we never knew anything about it," he said.
     His neighbors were just as surprised. "When he pointed this out to me, I was really concerned about this sinkhole here because of all his grandkids that he has come over,” said Efrain Madrid, who lives close by.
     Madrid called the City Planning Department and a water utility authority for answers but had no luck getting answers. On Monday afternoon, a city plumbing inspector went to the house and solved the mystery. Turns out the hole is actually an abandoned septic tank, not some menacing natural collapse of the yard. Now that Sanucon knows that, he said he’ll fill it up.More

Rain uncovers mystery hole in backyard

Flood waters hit Santa Clara Pueblo

From KOB-TV.com - By: Mike Anderson, KOB Eyewitness News 4 - The Santa Clara Canyon got more than two inches of rainfall yesterday, sending a nine foot wall of water downstream toward the Santa Clara Pueblo. Homes weren’t hit and no one was injured, but the water caused major damage throughout the canyon.
     KOB Eyewitness News 4’s Chopper 4 flew overhead Sunday afternoon to survey the damage. Floods knocked down trees and washed away parts of roads near the intersection of Tribal Roads 601 and 602.
     Flash flooding is always a concern in the area because of the Los Conchas Fire burn scar.
     The tribal sheriff says he’ll likely ask Santa Clara Pueblo’s governor to declare a state of emergency. That would allow them to use emergency money for cleanup and damage control.
     On Monday, crews will send heavy equipment into the canyon to clear debris. It is closed to the public until further notice More

Flood waters hit Santa Clara Pueblo

Swickard: Cheating the test, cheating the society

© 2013 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. School grades for New Mexico public schools are out. Here is the problem: the mania for testing has no real value for the students. Further, teachers must stop teaching more of their time and prepare for tests to evaluate the school. This has no educational basis. It supports a bloated school administration and nothing else.
     What is the purpose of education in New Mexico? To create citizens who have the skills, abilities and knowledge to thrive in our society. This is the one goal, the only goal. There is no other legitimate purpose for public school education. Know this: education should not be primarily a jobs program for adults.
     For students their purpose is not to get high scores, attend college or to win academic awards. Again, their purpose is to become productive members of our society. Scores, college and awards may help but they are not the purpose. Graduation rates and college attendance are interim goals, not the purpose.
     Sadly, the purpose of the accountability testing in New Mexico is to label public schools B or D as if it makes any difference for students becoming productive members of their society. Show me the study saying going to a D school keeps students from becoming a productive member of the community. There are none.
     The dirty little secret is that the avalanche of testing is harmful to students and teachers alike. Students will never get a job taking tests and have no lasting need for test-taking skills. Students spend an inordinate amount of time on tasks of no long-term value for themselves.
     For teachers the testing mania is a never ending nightmare. Administrators demand results because their jobs are on the line. Adults are trying to protect their jobs. Whole school staffs have been fired when a school does poorly on the tests.
     But if you swap the entire staff of a low-performing school with the staff of a high-performing school the next year will look essentially the same, it is not the teachers that make the biggest effect. Yes, good teaching is great, but schools have a long history tied to the parents.Read full column

Swickard: Cheating the test, cheating the society

Spaceport America gets private loan

Spaceport America got a green light Wednesday to take out a $20.8 million private loan to build two visitor centers in southern New Mexico, a move supporters described as an important business step for the commercial space flight venture. 

Members of the state Board of Finance, including Gov. Susana Martinez, voted 7-0 to authorize the loan, which spaceport officials said could be completed within 30 days. Construction of the visitor centers could begin soon after. 

However, several Board of Finance members expressed concern Wednesday about the possibility state funds will have to be used to pay back the loan if the spaceport’s visitor estimates prove to be overly optimistic. 

Already, $209 million in state money has been appropriated to pay for construction of the main Spaceport America facilities.

Spaceport America gets private loan

AG says behavioral health audit investigation could take months

 Attorney General Gary King says it could take several months for his office to complete an investigation of overpayments and possible fraud by behavioral health providers in New Mexico's Medicaid program. 

King told the Legislative Finance Committee on Wednesday that his office hasn't made a determination about the allegations forwarded to his office by the Human Services Department. The department froze payments to 15 nonprofit groups last month after an audit found what the agency said was a high rate of billing problems. 

Human Services Secretary Sidonie Squier defended her agency's action in testimony to the committee and assured lawmakers that steps were being taken to prevent an interruption of mental health and substance abuse services to patients.

AG says behavioral health audit investigation could take months

Free roaming cattle creating problems in Rio Rancho

From KOB-TV.com - By: Stuart Dyson, KOB Eyewitness News 4 - A problem straight out of the old Wild West is troubling a Rio Rancho neighborhood these days – free range cattle. Trouble is, these cows take the “free” part of free range pretty seriously. They come and go as they please in the North Hills subdivision, leaving behind frequent and fragrant reminders that they were here. Cow flops.
     North Hills is plastered with them. They’re on the sidewalks. They’re in the parks. They’re even in your front yard! And that’s not the dangerous part about this herd of 8 or 9 cows. “When you’re driving along the road and they just come popping out of the arroyo or something, it’s bad,” said North Hills homeowner Edward Kisner. “There’s cars going both ways. One will swerve into the other one’s lane. I’ve had close calls where I've almost made ground beef!”
     We found the cattle shading themselves beneath a scrawny-looking juniper tree on the open range right next to the subdivision. Open range means the owner of the cattle doesn’t have to fence them in, It’s up to other property owners to fence them out – and North Hills is not exactly a walled fortress.
     For now, Rio Rancho cops keep herding the cattle out of the neighborhood with their patrol cars, and the cows keep coming right back in search of fresh grass and water. Neighbors say police officers tell them they have to tolerate the visitors.
     “It’s a nuisance,” said Kisner, who’s lived in North Hills for 17 years. “I’m sick and tired of it. They’re unpredictable. This is my neighborhood. I shouldn't have to smell cow poop in the morning!” Read more

Free roaming cattle creating problems in Rio Rancho