Morning Word
Well, it is the end of another week. This week was dominated by talk of the U.S. Senate race. Get used to it. --- The only way the U.S. Senate race isn't the major political story in New Mexico for the next few months is if the presidential race tightens in the state. This is unlikely.
With the three congressional races looking like they won't be competitive (the normal swing 1st Congressional District looks like a sure thing for Michelle Lujan Grisham), the Senate race is the only race in town.
But also keep an eye on legislative races. These lower profile races aren't getting the major attention at the moment, but the hibernation will end soon. Republicans think they can take over the House for the first time in years, while Democrats think they can get things back to how they were a decade ago. Interesting times are ahead.
Anyways, time for the Word:
- The state Department of Transportation is
- cutting ties to the New Mexico Finance Authority following NMFA's fake audit
- . Stay tuned for much, much more fallout...
- Pollster Brian Sanderoff says
- the Senate race will likely narrow
- . But he, as with all observers and recently the Wilson campaign, notes that Heinrich is ahead at the moment.
- It looks like in the Senate race it will be attacks from the Heather Wilson campaign saying Martin Heinrich is an extremist on environmental issues while the Heinrich campaign tries to tie Wilson to the economic proposals of the Republicans in Congress. Wilson has spent her time fending off questions about the budget blueprint put forward by Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., in recent weeks. If Ryan, a longshot, becomes Romney's vice presidential candidate, the questions will only intensify for Wilson.
- Interesting news on
- racial profiling in New Mexico
- .
- A large majority of law enforcement agencies in New Mexico aren’t in compliance with a state law intended to combat racial profiling, according to a report released Thursday by civil right groups and an immigrant advocacy organization.
- The AG's office
- responded to the report
- and included an audio file.
- Lost in all the madness of Sunland Park's mayoral situation (they STILL don't have an acting mayor months after the election) is that the town is supremely screwed up. The town is
- doubling its property tax rate and may cut services and city workers because of past financial mismanagement
- .
- The Sangre de Cristo Chronicle notes that
- no city councilors in Eagle Nest, Cimarron or Red River created an official, public email accounts
- . This means that no communication by email from these city councilors could be searched for using the Inspection of Public Records Act.
- The Attorney General's office
- goes after the Albuquerque Journal
- .
- [T]he Albuquerque Journal today editorialized that AG King should drop any investigation into the Governor's Office like a hot political potato. Unfortunately, the paper either cites incorrect "facts" or simply employs its favorite smear-by-innuendo tactic to make its points.
- The AG's office has become more likely to push back at news organizations in the past few months. Attorney General Gary King is now running for governor.
- State Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, as usual, does not mince words in his column in the Weekly Alibi. The progressive Democrat is
- highly critical of Gov. Susana Martinez in his latest
- .
- She's a creature of her campaign publicists—a kinder, gentler conservative leader. But that airbrushed illusion hides an alarming dismantling of the state’s future. Her administration's fiscal and environmental agendas are part of the same multipronged assault we’ve seen in other states (Wisconsin and Indiana, for instance). Neocon Republican governors have set to work demolishing 50 years’ worth of social progress.
- The Clovis News Journal is the latest paper to
- cover the negative response to the school grading system
- . The administration continues to says that more schools are passing than would under George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind program... but do not address the criticism of how complicated the plan is.
- A federal appeals court
- overturned a multi-million dollar judgement against BP America
- related to royalties in northwest New Mexico.
- Cibola County is
- the latest to be added to the USDA's disaster list because of drought
- .
- Currently, the entire state of New Mexico is experiencing drought conditions, ranging from "abnormally dry" to "extreme." View data and maps online at the National Weather Service website.
- Española’s city council is
- struggling with the city's budget
- .
- Among the central issues the Council needs to flesh out are what to do with 23 vacant positions, for which $1,291,357 has been budgeted. Some Councilors questioned whether some of those positions are really worth the expense.
- Turns out there are TWO New Mexicans running for President. Besides longshot Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson, there is
- even more longshot candidate Randy Cook
- .
- Jay Miller says
- the Spaceport will have some competition
- -- in the Middle East.
- Albuquerque's own Breaking Bad
- earned 13 Emmy nominations
- , including for Best Drama, Best Actor for Bryan Cranston and Best Supporting Actor nominations for Aaron Paul and Giancarlo Esposito. Have I mentioned that I love Breaking Bad?
