ROCK THE EX-CON VOTE:
In the 2004 presidential election, the youth vote was courted. The Hispanic vote was courted. But the ex-con vote was largely a source of confusion. Many ex-cons weren't sure if they could vote in New Mexico (they can) and the ones who attempted to often found that no one was sure how to register them. "We made a round of phone calls to the Department of Corrections, Probation and Parole, County Clerks, the Secretary of State. Everyone we hoped would know [how to register ex-felons] didn't," recalls Reena Szczepanski, director of Drug Policy Alliance New Mexico. The registration confusion came as a blow to Szczepanski, who celebrated the passage of a bill just three years earlier that allowed individuals convicted of a felony to vote in certain elections. "Before 2001 you had to receive a pardon by the governor to vote. The best estimates are 80,000 New Mexicans could not vote," Szczepanski says. Despite the change in the law, the State did not establish a clear procedure to register ex-felons, according to Szczepanski. Last month, however, Gov. Bill Richardson signed a bill that requires the New Mexico Corrections Department to inform ex-felons about voting eligibility and give them a certificate of completion upon ending a prison sentence, probation or parole. Also, Szczepanski says, the Corrections Department and the Office of the New Mexico Secretary of State will maintain a centralized system containing data about which ex-felons are eligible to vote. "I think it's really important for people who have been disenfranchised for so long to be able to express their voice," she says. (NK)
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE:
June 30 may not be the day the music dies after all. Two weeks after it was revealed that the owners of The Paramount Nightclub-arguably Santa Fe's pre-eminent live music venue-were planning to cease operations at the end of this month, local barflies can find solace in the fact that negotiations are underway to save the nightclub. Will Adams confirms that he and Lee Pack-co-owners of WilLee's Blues Club-have had preliminary discussions about managing the club. "It hasn't gone through at any stretch of the imagination," Adams tells SFR. "There's nothing legal yet, we've just talked. Our idea is simply to take over the management of the club." Adams admits the process is still ongoing but says that "things would stay pretty much the same" if he and Pack eventually take over managing the Paramount. Tom Hnasko of Dogleg LLC and landlord of the Paramount verified discussions with WilLee's: "We have not made any decisions as to what we're going to do." There are other options, Hnasko says, and "until we learn something more concrete and get more details on a variety of other possibilities we won't be making any decisions in that regard." (ND)
WHEN THE SAINTS COME MARCHING IN:
Ladies and gentlemen, let's hear it for your Albuquerque Santos! Three cheers for the New Mexico Jackalopes! How about those Albuquerque Aztecs!?!
Okay, we may be getting ahead of ourselves. But it's been difficult for many New Mexico sports fans to keep a level head after the New Orleans Saints recently dangled the possibility of relocating to Albuquerque after the upcoming NFL season.
Granted, The Land of Enchantment has a snowball's chance in Las Cruces of luring the Saints. Particularly considering the fact that Saints owner Tom Benson has repeatedly said he wants to keep the team in New Orleans. But negotiations between the team and the State of Louisiana broke down at the end of April when a long-term agreement couldn't be reached.
The Saints' current contract runs through 2010 but there is a 90-day exit clause after this season that allows the team to break its contract and relocate. And when Albuquerque was name-dropped-along with San Antonio and Los Angeles-the local crowd went wild.
Albuquerque radio station 106.3 KAGM has spearheaded the drive to coax the Saints to New Mexico, setting up a Web site (
) complete with faux season-ticket orders, corporate sponsorship pledges and prospective mascots for the pipe dream team.
Matt Rader, the KAGM Promotions Manager, reports the station has received more than 1,000 season ticket orders and more than $1 million in corporate pledges since Albuquerque and the Saints were first uttered in the same breath early in May. Meanwhile, an informal poll on the New Mexico NFL Web site has seen mascot proposals ranging from the Santos and the Aztecs to the Jackalopes and-a personal favorite-the Motherfuckers.
Don't break out that foam number-one hand just yet. LAGM Program Director Doc Thompson acknowledges in a press release that the NFL in New Mexico "is a long shot at best," but says, "We have to show the Saints and the NFL that Albuquerque is ready to support a professional team." (ND)
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