Morning Word: Flood cleanup begins

Dinelli says the Safe City Strike Force is only one slice of his working life. He’s also been a workers’ compensation judge, chief deputy district attorney, Albuquerque’s chief public safety officer, assistant attorney general and private attorney.

The strike force “is eight years of a 34-year career,” he said.

Oil production is at a 10-year-high, natural gas is at an all-time high and the Gulf of Mexico is the fastest-growing off-shore market in the entire world, Salazar said at the annual New Mexico State University conference. The United States is also well on its way to surpassing Saudi Arabia in the as the largest oil producer in the world, he said.

The country has also moved from importing 60 percent of oil in the mid-2000s to 40 percent, he said.

"We are at a good place," Salazar said. "Let's celebrate because we are at a good place today, 2013."

Those out-of-staters, Taos County Clerk Anna Martinez said will stay in area hotels, eat at local restaurants and purchase souvenirs, bringing in revenue for local businesses and gross receipts tax money for local governing bodies.

While in town, McCollough and Hamilton stayed at Ojo Caliente and had their post-ceremonial dinner at the Love Apple restaurant.

Morales says he continues to receive encouragement from people who cannot envision the announced candidates providing tough competition for Republican Gov. Susana Martinez.

“The constant feedback I get is that is that it’s not going to work” with Lopez or King as the nominee, Morales said.

Here’s where Citizen’s United entered the picture. North Valley retiree and long-time liberal Jerry Ginsburg was also furious, furious at Isaac Benton and the ongoing public debate about the roundabout. Ginsburg put his own money, some $40,000 behind Meyers. He launched his own PAC that seemed but a front for his own backing of the Republican Roxanna Meyers. The forty grand was equal to or exceeded the amount usually spent on local races. Benton immediately protested saying the injection of money by one citizen was “despicable.”

Dan McKay of the Albuquerque Journal quoted Ginsburg as saying, “He’s (Benton) showing great disrespect for the voters. I don’t think they can be bought.” What would inspire Ginsburg, a long-time liberal who had served as a board member for Opera Southwest, been a delegate for President Obama’s 2008 Democratic convention, and a long-time liberal to come out for the Republican, Rox Meyers? More to the point, what would move the civic-minded Ginsburg to throw all this money (allowed by Citizen’s United) into the campaign and risk tarnishing his reputation by appearing to “buy the election?” According to the McKay article, Ginsburg said he doesn’t “…have much time left on this planet.”

The teachers union contract also included some new, non-monetary provisions. For example, it includes a provision that the district superintendent will have sack lunch meetings with teachers. The new contract will also include language that encourages the use of APS email addresses for work-related email.

Morales, owner of Medius Inc., had been arrested last summer on allegations that she used about $262,000 -- more than half of what Sunland Park, through the contract, had paid her at the time -- for "non-contract purposes," including buying vehicles, home-improvement projects, drinks and meals.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Paul Rubino formally dismissed the charges Sept. 10, more than a year after Morales was arrested.

“That’s not out of bounds,” Houston said. “We’re just trying to make sure that the decisions we make are well-based on the law … and avoid unnecessary litigation to our department.”

Houston said he tries to use county attorneys before going to outside counsel, but county attorneys often can’t help him right away.

The Shaheen-Portman bill would direct the Department of Energy to work with the private sector to encourage research and development of energy-efficient technology and processes.

At a Ute Water Commission meeting last week, Chairman David Lansford raised concerns over a lack of firm yield data since a study was completed in 1993. Lansford asked member communities to contribute funds to complete a new survey of the Ute Reservoir. Lansford says he isn’t sure the lake can satisfy the need for water in Clovis and the other communities across eastern New Mexico that have bought into the Ute pipeline project.

"The village's position has always been that the lawsuit was unnecessary, because Mr. Gavin was offered an opportunity to continue his employment with the village," Village Manager Debi Lee said in the release. "However, his decision to pursue litigation is what brought this matter to this point. We believe it is in the best

"What that means for native wildlife is that there's an increased probability that a feral cat would try to kill or eat or harm or injure native creatures," Shockley said.

Something Shockley said is already happening is an increase in cat-inflicted injured animals being taken to wildlife centers.

Met today with Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook dude, to discuss technology policy. pic.twitter.com/eQvF4UuwLP

— Steve Pearce (@RepStevePearce) September 18, 2013