Enrique Limn
Santa Fe County Clerk Geraldine Salazar poses with Kim Kiel and Rose Griego moments before the couple wed on Tuesday.
- Hey, everyone, Merry Christmas! I'm saying this now because this will be the last Morning Word until Boxing Day. ---
- Thank you everyone for reading, for donating and for being some of the best readers anyone has. I am very thankful.
- The Navajo Nation's same-sex marriage ban
- is still on the books
- . The Navajo Nation is a sovereign nation that is in parts of New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. Utah, you might have heard, had
- some same-sex marriage news as well
- .
- The Roosevelt County Clerk in Roosevelt County
- resigned following the state Supreme Court ruling same-sex marriage legal in the state
- . Her chief deputy clerk also resigned.
- From
- the Clovis News-Journal
- :
- “I felt like I’d be letting down the majority of people who voted for me,” said Carpenter about issuing same-sex marriage licenses. “I don’t mean any ill toward the gay people at all,” Carpenter said, “I just want to follow my beliefs.”
- The Sandoval County Clerk, on the other hand,
- is ready to hand out marriage certificates to same-sex couples
- .
- Somehow did not include this on Friday, but
- Vincent "Smile" Gallegos got probation
- for his role in the housing authority scandal four years ago.
- Teachers unions and some state lawmakers
- want the state Court of Appeals to look at the teacher evaluation program again
- .
- “We don’t think the judge ruled on what we were contending,” said Ellen Bernstein, president of the Albuquerque Teachers Federation, a party in the suit. “She ruled instead they have a right to make rule. We’re not saying they don’t have the right to make rule. What we’re saying is they don’t have a right to make rule that conflicts with existing law.”
PED spokesman Larry Behrens said the issues raised in the appeal have been asked and answered by New Mexico courts. - The Las Cruces Sun-News looks at
- the growing movement of parents opting out
- of having their children take standardized tests.
- Some such as Sanchez-Maes say the tests don't measure the progress of their advanced students. Others argue the tests shouldn't be used for teacher and school evaluations. Some see their young children stress over the NMSBA. (Failing the test primarily affects high school juniors only.) Other parents simply don't believe in standardized testing, at least not this much.
In addition to the NMSBA, students in many districts also take three or more standardized Discovery tests and end-of-course exams, which the state approves. - PNM filed a plan on
- how it will replace coal power
- with two units at a Four Corners-area coal fired power plant being shuttered.
- The recovery from the recession
- isn't going so well in New Mexico
- .
- At the end of October, total nonfarm jobs in New Mexico were 4.9 percent below their pre-recession levels, with private sector jobs off 5.7 percent and government down by 2.2 percent.
“The New Mexico economy has struggled to recover from the recent recession, and has lagged the nation in employment gains over the past four years,” the report said. - The local chapter of AFSCME
- endorsed Javier Gonzalez for mayor in Santa Fe
- .
- A proposal by Gov. Susana Martinez to have $7.5 million to recruit professors and researchers
- has the backing from university officials
- from around the state.
- Nearly 45,000 New Mexicans
- have applied for Medicaid in recent months
- .
- The ex-president of Santa Fe Community College
- made many racial remarks before being ousted by the school's Governing Board
- . The former president says the remarks were taken out of context.
- U.S. Senate candidate David Clements
- made an appearance in Los Alamos
- to drum up support.
- Some landowners
- want to stop a proposed liquid carbon dioxide pipeline
- .
- Mike Mechenbier, one of the largest landowners in New Mexico who would be affected by the pipeline, said he received notice from Kinder Morgan over the summer.
“They wanted to access the ranch to do a [land] survey,” he said. Initially, Mechenbier said he denied the company’s request, but eventually met with company representatives face-to-face. - UNM regents
- approved a building purchase for Innovate ABQ
- .
- New Mexico is the
- third-largest-net energy supplier
- in the country.
- New Mexico is the sixth largest producer of crude oil to the nation and seventh largest producer for natural gas, according to the newest update of New Mexico's profile page by the U.S. Energy Information Administration this week.
- The reports says that New Mexico has potential to have large amount of solar, wind and geothermal energy production.
- Want to speak out to the Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority? It will be tough since
- the board members restrict public comment
- .
- Media News:
- Marisa Demarco
- writes about the one-year anniversary of New Mexico Compass
- .
- We made a decision: The Compass will seek nonprofit status. But our goal is not journalism—it’s the education of a new generation of digital storytellers.
The fuel for the Compass is shared curiosity. On a personal level, I’ve been motivated and sustained by the editors and contributors, particularly Wright and the inspiring Carolyn Carlson. Together, a year ago today, we dove in headfirst. - Important chile pepper news out of the Chile Pepper Institute
- at New Mexico State University.
- They are nearly ready to release NuMex Sandia Select, a new Sandia variety that allows the traditionally red chile pepper to be used as a green chile.
"Growers were wanting a Sandia variety that was better for green use," said Danise Coon, an agricultural research scientist at the Chile Pepper Institute. "But we needed something with a thicker wall and a longer, straighter pod." - A state legislator
- wants to study the widespread use of the Zia symbol
- .
- The Albuquerque Journal
- wrote about Bitcoin
- .
- George R R Martin will have
- free screenings of Game of Thrones
- at the Santa Fe theater that he purchased earlier this year.
