Morning Word: City of ABQ won't help workers who don't make min. wage

And the rest of New Mexico's news

  • The city of Albuquerque says that
  • workers who have been shorted pay will have to seek private attorneys
  • to recoup the lost wages.
  • ---
  • The mental health provider TeamBuilders
  • stopped taking new clients in July
  • according to a company memo. New Mexico In Depth first obtained the memo.
  • The Democratic members of New Mexico's congressional delegation
  • want a public forum on behavioral health disruptions
  • .
  • An Arizona company
  • took over the Counseling Center in Alamogordo
  • .
  • Former Eddy County Sheriff Ray Anaya
  • passed away according to the Carlsbad Current-Argus
  • .
  • Another data point that national Democrats and their allies
  • don't think the Democrats can take back the governor's mansion in New Mexico
  • , as the AFL-CIO omitted New Mexico from a list of targeted gubernatorial races in 2014.
  • As Steve Terrell notes, the AFL-CIO wasn't a big player in the past few gubernatorial elections either.
  • The New Mexico Supreme Court ruled that
  • non-English speakers can serve on juries
  • .
  • An investigation
  • had mixed findings on problems in the Doña Ana County government
  • .
  • Garrett, reading a report cover letter, said the investigation "clearly" showed that "most county managers feel that the organization is being managed and administered in a fair manner that is respectful of all employees." But it also showed "a number of areas where trust has been eroded, personnel processes may not be working as intended and relationships have been strained," he said.Not all residents saw it the same way and were critical of the report for focusing on management.
  • The Weekly Alibi
  • was the latest news organization to write about the out-of-state anti-abortion activists
  • who made a controversial stop at the New Mexico Holocaust and Intolerance Museum.
  • The city of Albuquerque will save an estimated $454,000 in maintenance
  • by switching from an ancient mainframe
  • to a more modern model.
  • The Navajo Nation
  • will not lift its ban on alcohol within the reservation's borders
  • despite the Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota being close to doing so.
  • Cool news, as the Navajo Nation is
  • testing a project that will make wi-fi available to the majority of people on the reservation
  • .
  • Broadband service soon should be accessible to 30,000 homes, 1,000 business and 1,100 community institutions across the reservation. “The Navajo Nation, like most rural areas, faces considerable challenges regarding telecommunications services,” said Navajo Tribal Utility Authority general manager Walter Haase. “With the opening of this facility, we have set the stage to allow high-quality, reliable telecommunications and data center services in the Navajo Nation that will enable information and communication flow throughout the region.”
  • I spent a very small amount of time in the Navajo Nation last month and found that it is a vast, beautiful and isolated land. Cell service is spotty and many houses lack electricity.
  • ProgressNow New Mexico says a letter to Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., showed
  • three more members of ALEC from New Mexico
  • in addition to chair William Payne, R-Albuquerque. The other three are Sen. Lee Cotter, R-Las Cruces, Sen. William Burt, R-Alamogordo, and Rep. Yvette Herrell, R-Alamogordo.
  • The letter was supposed to feature signatures from 300 legislators from across the country protesting Durbin trying to find out who paid for pushing the "Stand Your Ground Laws" that became a hot topic this year after George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin.
  • APS is
  • wading into the issue of guidelines for dealing with transgender students
  • , according to KRQE.
  • Transgender students who want district records to reflect a new name will be asked to get a court-ordered name change first. To change the gender on those records, a birth certificate reflecting the new gender will be needed. Obtaining a gender change on a birth certificate in New Mexico requires a transgender student to get surgery.
  • We haven't had a "Sunland Park Saga" update lately. The former mayor of Sunland Park
  • will be tried for blackmail
  • . KRQE says he has "already pled [sic] guilty to extortion and evidence-tampering charges related to the case."
  • Fourteen hospitals in New Mexico
  • face Medicaid penalties
  • because of provisions in the Affordable Care Act.
  • The Bernalillo County Assessor
  • is planning on reassessing 250,000 properties
  • .
  • Ruidoso Village Councilor Jim Stoddard
  • announced he will resign at the end of August
  • .
  • "This is with a lot of trepidation on my part," he said, the words catching in his throat. "I normally finish everything that I start, but I'm going to retire in August. It's the hardest thing, but looking at birthday 75 in the mirror, and Jean (his wife) is leaving her position as assistant general manager (at Ruidoso Downs Race Track and Casino). We have a wide receiver grandson who I need to see, a cheerleader granddaughter and a fledging dancer in Tennessee. So at the end of August, mayor, you won't have to put up with me anymore. "When we leave Ruidoso, I will carry a lot of memories. I started to serve Ruidoso on Parks and Recreation in 1994, thanks to Rifle (Salas, former parks and recreation director and now a councilor) and then (on the) lodgers tax (committee) and then ... the council. I wish you well. Thank you."
  • Media News:
  • The Santa Fe public radio station KSFR
  • added two new members to its board of directors
  • , Diane R. Karp and John F. Andrews.
  • Sen. Tom Udall
  • went to Eastern New Mexico University, where he said they were doing "groundbreaking research"
  • on converting algae into livestock feed.
  • Rio Rancho now requires voter ID for its municipal elections after a conservative faction took over the Rio Rancho Governing Body.
  • The city clerk has issued just 20 free IDs
  • for those who wish to vote in Tuesday's special election.
  • Although the requirement for voter identification is new to the City of Vision, requiring picture identification at the polls isn’t really a new concept for New Mexico. Albuquerque already requires voters to present identification, according to New Mexico Bureau of Elections spokesman Kenneth Ortiz. He added that many states have begun requiring voters to identify themselves as well.
  • The Mariposa subdivision PID tax issue
  • was finally resolved
  • .
  • Los Alamos
  • likely will not get a minor league baseball team
  • .
  • Andrew Dunn, president of the Pecos League, an independent baseball league with six clubs in New Mexico, told the Los Alamos Monitor Tuesday he’d received an email from Los Alamos County that it would not be interested in housing a team here. The Pecos League, which has eight teams under its umbrella, including teams from Taos, Santa Fe and Las Vegas, had expressed interest in Los Alamos as a potential site for a proposed ninth team, as it geographically it would’ve been a good fit with the teams in northern New Mexico.
  • From the Las Vegas Optic
  • :
  • Governor Susana Martinez announced the appointment of Edward “Eddy” M. Gallegos to fill the vacant magistrate judge position earlier today. Gallegos will fill the vacancy left by Philip J’s Romero whom retired earlier this year.