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TODAY'S TOP STORIES: It was a stormy weekend
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.
McCain in a bind
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.
Independents rising
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.
Immigration raids assailed by mayors
A resolution by Mayor David Coss of Santa Fe calling for a change in the way ICE conducts workplace raids of immigrants has been passed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Miami.
The mayor, who has been an outspoken advocate for tolerance of immigrants, reportedly shepherded the resolution first through the mayor's Criminal and Social Justice standing committee. It was then passed by the entire conference.
TODAY'S TOP STORIES: Democrats rally behind a Green and it's not the presidential race
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.
Obama campaign unveils Spanish-language radio ad
The hidden costs of a 'maquiladora'
Last week ground was broken on the outskirts of Ciudad Juarez in what is set to be Mexico's largest 'maquiladora'. The Taiwanese manufacturing giant Foxconn started construction in Jeronimo, Chihuaha on a facility that will eventually span 500 acres with more than 1.2 million square feet of structures and employ 30,000 people. Foxconn is one of the largest manufacturers of computer components and electronics worldwide.
TODAY'S TOP STORIES: Madrid to help Democrats draft platform
According to the AP, the Obama campaign and Democratic National Committee are expected to announce today that Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano will chair the Democratic Party's Platform Drafting Committee. Patricia Madrid, the former New Mexico Attorney General and congressional candidate, will be a co-chair, along with Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and former Discovery Communications President and CEO Judith McHale. Madrid was long a John Edwards supporter (which couldn't have pleased Richardson much) before he dropped out of the presidential race.
Speaking of the presidential campaigns, John McCain continues to court Hispanic voters today, as he delivers a speech to the League of United Latin American Citizens convention in Washington, D.C., according to excerpts of McCain's speech released beforehand, reported by CBS News' John Bentley.
TODAY'S TOP STORIES
Two Texas women were seriously wounded by gunfire while driving in Juarez, and a Chihuahua state investigator became the fourth police officer killed in three days, as the death toll from drug violence in this border city rose to 410 for the year, the Las Cruces Sun-News.
Parents were camped out in front of Albuquerque schools early Friday morning in an attempt to save hundreds of dollars on summer child care by securing their children spots in summer recreation programs, KOAT Channel 7 reports.
Meanwhile, the city of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County report a shortage of lifeguards, delaying opening of some pools, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
A hundred head of longhorn cattle were to be herded through the city of Roswell Friday as the kick-off event to Old Chisum Days, the Roswell Daily Record reports.
The Las Cruces paper also reports that former Gov. Garrey Carruthers is one of five candidates being considered in a closed session this morning by the New Mexico State University Board of Regents as replacement for NMSU President Mike Martin.
A ghost story involving a severed arm, based partly in fact, is luring trespassers to an abandoned amusement park nicknamed "Tragic Landing" in East El Paso County, according to another story in the Sun-News.
A meadow jumping mouse native to New Mexico -- and the only mammal known to have 18 teeth -- is at the center of a controversy between ranchers, farmers and the state Department of Game and Fish, the Santa Fe New Mexican reports.
Poll: GOP Senate primary a nail biter
Steve Pearce has a lead within the statistical margin of error over Heather Wilson in the Republican U.S. Senate primary, according to the first poll of the race to be released publicly in months.
The new poll, conducted by SurveyUSA for KOB-TV in Albuquerque, has Pearce leading 49 percent to 46 percent. The survey of 439 likely Republican primary voters was conducted Monday through Wednesday and has a margin of error of 4.8 percentage points.
The last polling released publicly was in January, when an internal state Republican Party poll had Pearce up three points, 38 percent to 35 percent.
TODAY'S TOP STORIES: Bern Co discovers potentially fraudulent voter registration cards
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: High school football players suspended for a year
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's tightrope act
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.
When red lights are just a 'suggestion'
Today's Top Stories: Juarez death toll nears 800
'Building Green Economies' a border issue
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?
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
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
Dems Devote $20 Million to Hispanic Voter Outreach
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.