Lawrence Rael announces gubernatorial candidacy

From KOAT-TV.com - by Pat Holmes - SANTA FE, N.M. —Joined by his wife, Kim, and their three children, Lawrence Rael announced his candidacy for governor of New Mexico in 2014. Rael currently serves as the president of the New Mexico Green Chamber of Commerce.
     “I’m running for governor because, with the right leadership, I believe we can turn potential and possibility into real opportunity for every New Mexican -- by growing quality jobs, investing in quality education and ensuring access to quality health care for citizens in every corner of our state. I believe I can be that leader for the state that has given me and my family so much already,” Rael said.
     Rael was born in Santa Fe and raised in the town of Sile. He has served in local, state and federal government as well as spending time in the private sector.
     “Over the next year, I am going to fight to earn the vote of every New Mexican -- to win the Democratic primary next June and defeat Susana Martinez next November,” Rael added. “But my promise to the people of New Mexico is that I will fight just as hard for your future if I have the honor of being your next governor.”
     He has been chief administrative officer of Albuquerque, deputy secretary of Transportation for the State of New Mexico and director of the Mid-Region Council of Governments, serving Bernalillo, Valencia, Torrance and Sandoval counties.More

Lawrence Rael announces gubernatorial candidacy

Gov. Martinez proposes $112 million capital investment to NM water infrastructure

Gov Susana Martinez

From KOB-TV.com - By: Jorge Torres - The governor spoke today at the Rio Grande Nature Center to propose a capital investment in New Mexico's water infrastructure.
     The total proposal would be $112 million, which amounts to 60 percent of the outlay funding that will be available when the legislature convenes in January. 

     With many communities in New Mexico on the brink of a water shortage, the governor says the time to act is now.
     "While we cannot dictate the duration or the magnitude of the drought that we face, we can dictate our response. I'm proposing one of the largest investments ever made as a state in water infrastructure projects throughout New Mexico."
     Governor Martinez says the money should be used to improve state watersheds, provide repairs for communities that may go dry, and make critical repairs to dams.
     She considers water security a critical need for New Mexico communities, which is why she says that capital funds should be used to address those needs. More

Gov. Martinez proposes $112 million capital investment to NM water infrastructure

Sec. of Education happy with stipend program

New Mexico Education Secretary Hanna Skandera says the state is "off to a good start" with 15 teachers each approved to receive a $5,000 stipend for transferring from a top-graded school to a low-graded one. 

The teachers worked for the Las Cruces, Taos, Las Vegas City, Espanola, Estancia and Gallup school districts. 

Teachers qualifying for stipends must have worked full-time at schools with A or B grades last year and they must now teach full-time at schools with D or F grades. And they have to stay at the D-F school through the 2014-2015 school year. 

The state began the program in September but Skandera says all the teachers receiving the stipends had transferred before the announcement.

Sec. of Education happy with stipend program

Gov. Martinez in AZ for GOP meeting

Gov. Martinez

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez plans to travel to Arizona this week for a meeting of the Republican Governors Association. 

Martinez political adviser Jay McCleskey said the governor leaves Tuesday for Phoenix and will attend a fundraiser that afternoon to benefit the Arizona Republican Party. 

The meeting of Republican governors ends Thursday, but McCleskey said the governor may stay longer to spend time with her husband, Chuck Franco, and his seriously ill aunt, who lives in Phoenix. 

The governors' group is paying for Martinez's travel. She serves on the executive committee of the organization, which helps elect GOP governors. 

The RGA was the top contributor to Martinez's 2010 campaign, giving about $1.3 million. 

A new RGA chairman will be elected at the meeting.

Gov. Martinez in AZ for GOP meeting

Officials question firing of Lottery CEO

Tom Romero

State lawmakers are questioning the sudden and mysterious firing of state lottery chief Tom Romero – and the golden parachute that seems to be coming his way in the form of severance pay. 

$265,000 is the amount the state still owes Romero under his contract that runs until August 2015. Lottery officials say they don’t owe that whole amount, but they won’t say how much Romero will get. 

Republican State Rep. Bill Rehm of Albuquerque has tried to ban golden parachutes like this one for years. 

Romero ran the lottery for eight years. He is a former police officer with the state Department of Public Safety.

Officials question firing of Lottery CEO

ABQ abortion goes to vote today

Today voters in the city of Albuquerque will decide whether or not to ban late term abortions. 

It’s the first municipal election in the nation on abortion rights, and it's getting plenty of attention all over the country. National leaders on both sides of the issue have their eyes on Albuquerque, because cities may be the next battleground after decades of debate in Congress and state legislatures. 

Voting starts at 7 a.m. today at 50 voting locations around the city. Registered Albuquerque city voters with a photo I.D. will be able to vote at any of those locations.

ABQ abortion goes to vote today

The Fracking Fight Goes Way Left

Commentary by Marita Noon - The fight against hydraulic fracturing has recently ratcheted up. On November 5, one town in Ohio and three in Colorado, passed ballot measures designed to ban or temporarily halt hydraulic fracturing—the brief (3-5 day) phase, often referred to as “fracking”—that is essential to the advanced oil-and-gas extraction processes that have given America the lead in global energy production. 

     A fourth Colorado town awaits a recount. Initial election results showed the moratorium in Broomfield, Co—failed by 13 votes. However, on November 13, after all the overseas, military, provisional and other outstanding ballots were counted, it had passed by 17 votes. A margin of less than 0.5 percent triggers an automatic recount—leaving the final outcome currently unknown. In Bowling Green and Youngstown, Ohio, the opposite happened. Similar proposed bans against fracking were defeated.
     Of the four votes in Colorado, Tisha Schuller, president of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association (COGA) calls the Boulder and Lafayette votes merely “symbolic,” and noted that “Lafayette's last new well permit was in the early 1990s and Boulder's last oil and gas well was plugged in 1999.”
     However, Fort Collins, CO, is near the promising production of the Niobrara shale. The Fort Collins city council passed a resolution encouraging voters to reject the proposed moratorium. And, in Broomfield, the city council, in August, entered into a memorandum of understanding that would allow energy company Sovereign to drill 21 wells—as long as stringent standards are met. In these cities, these five-year bans will bite. More

The Fracking Fight Goes Way Left

Deputy injured in shooting takes pay cut

Deputy Robin Hopkins

From KRQE-TV.com - By Kayla Ayres - A Bernalillo County Sheriff's Deputy seriously injured three weeks ago when a man went on a shooting rampage through Albuquerque is still facing a long recovery time while taking a major pay cut.
     Deputy Robin Hopkins was shot in the leg by Christopher Chase in October. "Some employees get hurt, they're out maybe a week or two, not really a big deal," Kyle Hartsock, president of the Bernalillo County Deputy Sheriff's Association, told News 13. "She's going to be out months, most likely years."
     Hartsock says Hopkins' case highlights a big lapse in the system. He says while her injury is covered by workman's compensation, nothing is being paid into her retirement account and she's taking about a 30 percent pay cut while she recovers.
     Another big blow: Hartsock says in a few more months, Hopkins' insurance premiums won't be covered anymore.  "Her husband and young son will lose their medical insurance  unless she pays about $1000 out of pocket per month to keep the insurance going," Hartsock said.
     Hartsock said the union and county, though, have found a loophole. Other county employees can donate vacation or sick time to Hopkins so she receives her full paycheck and benefits during her recovery.
     Their goal is to secure two years of donated time for Hopkins. Hartsock said they'll start pushing paperwork through next week, but several county employees have already expressed interest.
     The union, Sheriff Dan Houston, and other law enforcement leaders have been in contact with county and state legislators to try to change the system for those gravely injured in the line of duty. More

Deputy injured in shooting takes pay cut

Swickard: Selling losses sells out the program

© 2013 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. Football is a New Mexico passion, like putting Hatch Green Chile on eggs. This is especially so for high school football. Last week’s meeting of two Las Cruces high schools was held in the New Mexico State football stadium because about 25,000 fans always come to that game.
     Then the next day New Mexico State held their own collegiate football game with a crowd of about 10,000 fans. I am a fan of both high school and college football. So I enjoyed the Las Cruces High Mayfield game and then the NMSU/Boston College football game the next day. There was one thing I did not enjoy.
     During a call-in show that followed the Aggie game a listener questioned NMSU selling losses, indicating this practice was not appropriate. Selling losses means taking on national powerhouses for cash which the powerhouses gladly pay to have a week off from their grueling schedule.
     Powerhouse teams pay for a patsy to come get beat up while they rest. The patsy takes the cash and calls it good. The caller was told NMSU selling losses would continue a few more years with NMSU perhaps selling three losses next year for financial reasons.
     I have always opposed the ethically bankrupt practice of selling losses by NMSU. This has been for at least thirty years. In that time I have written dozens of columns of protest. Each time the answer is that NMSU just needs to do it another year or two. But that has turned into three decades of no success for the program.
     But, selling losses every year for thirty years has imperiled Aggie football and not brought any success to the program. It is insane to continue doing what has not worked. Football programs are judged by three criteria: win/loss record, attendance and Bowl Games. Selling losses loses in all three categories.
     NMSU holds the record for how long it has been since going to a Bowl Game. Several of the years that NMSU was selling losses would have been Bowl Game years but for those sold losses. Also know that NMSU did not sell any losses the years they went to the Sun Bowl or they would not have been invited. Read full column

Swickard: Selling losses sells out the program

DNA test at property crime nabs thief

From KRQE-TV.com - By Emily Younger - Hobbs Police are not just swabbing for DNA at major crime scenes, but they are also gathering samples at all property crimes, too. "Fingerprints are a fragile piece of evidence and there is a lot of things that will make them not pliable for evidence like smudges, gloves, things of that nature. But you can't change someone's DNA," said Hobbs Police Detective Robert Blanchard.
     Hobbs police started testing for DNA at all property crimes like burglaries last December. Most recently, Hobbs police were able to use the DNA testing to nab a thief who allegedly stole thousands of dollars worth of electronics and jewelry from a home in 2012. Police say almost one year ago, Donny Garza, 39, broke into a Hobbs home and stole nearly $5,000 worth of belongings, but according to police, he made a big mistake. Investigators say sometime during the burglary, Garza drank two cans of soda and then left them inside the house.
     Police tested the cans for DNA, sent the swabs to the state lab and sure enough. Garza's DNA was a match. Hobbs police arrested Garza for aggravated burglary in late October.More

DNA test at property crime nabs thief