Border from New Mexico Independent

TODAY'S TOP STORIES: Bern Co discovers potentially fraudulent voter registration cards

Gwyneth Doland — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:53:48 GMT

The Bernalillo County Clerk's Office reported yesterday that it has found more than 1,000 voter registration cards that may be fraudulent. The Farmington City Council is considering a ban on high-alcohol beer and fortified wine. In Roswell, a Catholic priest told KOBTV that he's heard from parishoners that local police are terrorizing illegal immigrants and that they're afraid even to go to Mass. And if you've been watching local TV this week then you might have seen Steve Pearce's new ad hitting opponent Tom Udall on late-term abortions. Also this week, local stations began airing a national ad targeting Obama with a disturbing and confusing ad from an anti-abortion group on a similar subject.

TODAY'S TOP STORIES: It was a stormy weekend

Marjorie Childress — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:59:24 GMT

It was a stormy weekend on the national front. While Ike taught Texas a lesson, Wall Street banks “faltered.”. New Mexico’s congressional delegation views with skepticism John McCain’s pledge to veto earmarks. Meanwhile, there’s been a 30 percent drop in applications for drilling permits. Doña Ana County is in the top tier of small metropolitan areas for job growth and retention. Last but not least, the Albuquerque police chief has fired Daniel Guzman, the police officer who attacked and arrested a TV reporter for doing his job back in May.

TODAY'S TOP STORIES: High school football players suspended for a year

Trip Jennings — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 15:08:09 GMT

Three of six high school football in Las Vegas were suspended for a year for hazing and a physical assault on other students, reports the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Mesa del Sol president is playing hardball with Albuquerque Public Schools, the Albuquerque Journal reports today. President Mike Daly told the district's school board that if the district can't guarantee the development's funding for school buildings, then he couldn't guarantee that Mesa del Sol would be a part of APS.

The number of Dona Ana County residents who carry concealed weapons has doubled in less than a year, the Las Cruces Sun-News reports. Department of Public Safety figures show that, as of Friday, 951 people in Dona Ana County have a license to carry a firearm compared to the 455 residents who had a license in late September of last year.

The Las Cruces City Council will consider a five-year contract with a company that installs red light cameras, the Las Cruces Sun-News reports.

McCain in a bind

Marjorie Childress — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 19:14:34 GMT

On the eve of the Republican National Convention, leading Hispanic national organizations sent a bluntly worded letter to Sen. John McCain about his party’s platform positions on immigration. The groups urged McCain to ”...lead your party’s platform away from the deportation and detention path” which repudiates McCain’s past positions on immigration.

McCain's tightrope act

Heath Haussamen — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:25:41 GMT

John McCain’s town-hall meeting today in Las Cruces was obviously aimed at attracting Hispanic, Democratic and independent voters. And in trying to attract all three he walked a tightrope as the Republican presidential candidate asserted independence from his party and its special interests while at the same time he sought to reassure Republicans by pledging to pick a vice-presidential nominee who shares his values. You can listen to the 25-minute interview conducted on McCain’s campaign bus by clicking here.

TODAY'S TOP STORIES: Democrats rally behind a Green and it's not the presidential race

Trip Jennings — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:30:00 GMT

Democrats disgruntled with their own party's candidate in the Public Regulation Commission race are forming a political action committee to help Green Party candidate Rick Lass, the Santa Fe New Mexican reports. Apparently a few Democrats aren't smitten with Jerome Block Jr., who is the Democratic nominee.

Journal investigative reporter Thom Cole takes on a Los Lunas Municipal Court Judge who denied him access to a public court file last week in a doozy of an open letter that's one part chastisement and one part defense of the state's Public Records Act.. Click here to read Cole's open letter. Give 'em what for, Thom!

New Mexico State University police issued a warning to returning students to not travel to Juarez due to the spike in drug-related violence in the Mexican city, the Las Cruces Sun-News reports.

When red lights are just a 'suggestion'

Denise Tessier — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:05:45 GMT

Upon being chided by a backseat passenger after rolling through a traffic light just as it was about to turn red, the driver of a car I was riding in recounted that one of his childhood friends -- who still lives in Mexico City -- never fully stops at a red light at night. She taps the brake, looks both ways and keeps going.

In Mexico City, he explained, red lights are a "suggestion" to stop, because if you actually stop at night, you risk being kidnapped or killed by those who might pull up alongside you at traffic lights, guns drawn.

This terrifying scenario is not so far-fetched, as this horrifying story in Thursday's New York Times reflects.

Today's Top Stories: Juarez death toll nears 800

Denise Tessier — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 17:31:01 GMT

The homicide count is up to nearly 800 for the year in the border city of Juarez, Mexico, where 15 people were killed this week, the El Paso bureau of the Las Cruces Sun News reports.

In what has been described as the deadliest attack this year, eight men were slain and another five were injured when a commando-style group attacked a rehab center where people had gathered for a religious service, the paper reports. Among those slain was a pastor.

Seven others were killed in separate attacks this week, the paper said.

'Building Green Economies' a border issue

Denise Tessier — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:00:00 GMT

For the first time in its history, the 26th Border Governor's Conference has been combined with a Green Technology Expo that opens today at the "Building Green Economies" conference being hosted by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Ten border governors, including New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, were among those scheduled to attend the invitation-only conference. The Green Tech Expo today and Friday is open to the public at no charge.

An official conference press release said Schwarzenegger's decision to hold the conference at Universal Studios, to incorporate the Green Tech Expo and to give the conference its overall environmental theme "is resonant of his desire to raise awareness among the general public that cross-border issues are about much more than illegal immigration."

Progressive national security?

Marjorie Childress — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 20:00:00 GMT

If you'd like to get a feel for what foreign policy might look like under a Democratic administration, especially as it relates to national security, you might want to attend one of two National Security Network Town Halls happening this week.

The National Security Network was formed in 2006 by Rand Beers, who famously quit the Bush administration in protest just days before the invasion of Iraq, and then proceeded to sign up with the campaign of John Kerry. Since then he's been an informal adviser to both Clinton and Obama. The NSN website provides a brief overview of positions held by Beers during his tenure in government:

Post-9/11 intelligence goes local

Trip Jennings — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Day in, day out a handful of analysts sit in a nondescript building at the National Guard Center off Highway 14 south of Santa Fe taking in raw data from an alphabet soup of federal, state and local agencies. New Mexico's program -- also known by the more friendly moniker "fusion center" -- is one of several dozen facilities to have opened, often quietly, across the country in the years following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

NM chile growers feel burned

Gwyneth Doland — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 19:05:34 GMT

New Mexico jalapeño farmers are beginning to harvest their crops this week, and although the recent Salmonella scare pinpointed the cause as Mexican-grown peppers, local growers and processors are feeling bruised and anxious after a rough few months.

Dems Devote $20 Million to Hispanic Voter Outreach

Gwyneth Doland — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 08:00:00 GMT

The Democratic National Committee and the Obama campaign announced Tuesday that they will spend $20 million to on outreach to Hispanic voters. During a conference call with reporters, Obama for America National Hispanic Leadership Council Chairman Frank Sanchez and DNCVice-Chair Linda Chavez Thompson described a huge grassroots effort that will mirror Howard Dean's 50-state strategy, but focus resources on what they called "critical" states such as New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada and Florida.

Independents rising

Heath Haussamen — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Apparently Doña Ana County is a fairly independently minded place -- at least when it comes to politics. Currently 18 percent of the county’s registered voters have declined to state a party affiliation, and that number is growing: Some 33 percent of people who registered to vote from January to June in the county are “independents.” Doña Ana County’s percentage of registered independents is greater than the state average of 15 percent, and only Los Alamos County has as high a percentage. In addition Doña Ana County’s independent voter population is growing faster than that of any other county in the state.

Mexico Notebook: Going places

Denise Tessier — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 18:00:00 GMT

While the American airline industry is cutting dozens of routes from its schedules, it appears the Mexican industry is doing just fine.

The Mexican airline Aeromexico announced this month it is buying more planes and adding destinations.

An article in El Sol de Zacatecas says Aeromexico is buying 12 new Embraer 190 jets, configured the same as its current Aeromexico Connect line, each with 11 first-class seats and 88 in tourist class.