All Stories

Albuquerque opens new path and bridge, aims to be more bike-friendly

Albuquerque opened a new bicycle bridge this week and it has plans to extend bike trails in coming years. But much more work is needed to make the Duke City the bike-friendly metropolis Mayor Martin Chavez envisions.

Guv jumps into fight for control of governorships

Gov. Bill Richardson is jumping into the fight over how redistricting will reshape the nation’s political landscape in the next few years. Richardson sent an e-mail to supporters of his unsuccessful presidential campaign on Wednesday asking them to contribute to the Democratic Governors Association and help stop the GOP from taking control of the executive branches in a number of states and grabbing greater influencing over redistricting in 2011.

Udall says opponents using push polls

Though Democratic Senate candidate Tom Udall faces no primary opposition, he is still facing some opposition of a different sort in the weeks leading up to the June 3 primary.

According to an e-mail to supporters from Udall campaign manager Amanda Cooper, a group from Ohio is using “push-polls” to spread information about Udall...

"Alaskan Women Reject Palin" rally

This past weekend more than 1,000 Alaskans attended a rally with the theme that Republican vice-presidential nominee and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin didn't speak for them.  This video shows what one local Alaskan blogger said was, "the biggest political rally ever, in the history of the state."

 

 

Conservative talk-show host Eddie Burke has been suspended for giving out the contact information for the women who organized the rally.  In his on-air broadcast, Eddie Burke referred to those at the rally as "socialist, baby-killing maggots".  The women have since received multiple threats.  Here's a video about the Eddie Burke incident. 

 

 

"Bush Legacy Tour" comes to Albuquerque

A bus traveling the nation on a Bush Legacy Tour for Americans United for Change made a stop in Albuquerque Monday morning.

The bus was parked in the Nob Hill area of Central, in front of a Flying Star, and features a large picture of President George W. Bush and the words "Bush's legacy" on the side.

"It’s called the Bush Legacy," said Julie Blust, the press secretary for the tour. "But it’s really a legacy of failed conservative policies and most people when they think about legacy, they think about a good thing and this has not been a good legacy."

"Daily Show" Puts Gov. on Obama's "Black and Tan" ticket

Anyone catch a Gov. Bill Richardson reference in the "Daily Show with Jon Stewart" last night, May 28? The show's "senior Black correspondent" Larry Wilmore explains Barack Obama's running mate choices, and our beloved Guv comes up as the "Black and Tan" ticket. Watch it, it's funny.

With this "fake news" TV outlet giving Richardson a teensy chance as a running mate, who knows, maybe the biggies with the supposed "real" insight will follow. As Jon Stewart would say, "Go on...." 

$200,000 for Ed Tinsley

The National Restaurant Association Political Action Committee is spending $200,000 in the final week before the June 3 primary on TV and radio ads promoting the candidacy of 2nd Congressional District Republican candidate Ed Tinsley.

The independent expenditure further ups the ante in a GOP primary race that has already seen the National Association of Realtors’ PAC spend almost $1 million to promote the candidacy of Tinsley opponent Monty Newman and every candidate help self-finance his own campaign.

$80K for Denish's PAC

Lt. Gov Diane Denish's political action committee, Progress, Vision and Commitment, raised just over $80,000 since this time last year, according to a report filed with the Secretary of State's office. The PAC spent all but $1,307.92 in the same period.

Much of the money raised came from large donations.

$elf financing doesn't mean victory

Having a lot of your own money to invest in a political campaign doesn't always translate to victory. A recent survey of the 2004 and 2006 election cycles showed that 54 of 62 candidates for federal office who triggered the millionaire's amendment lost their election bids. So what does that mean for two New Mexican candidates who've triggered the millionaire's amendment this year?

'A dream come true'

“When I got involved with the campaign several weeks ago, I started doing the things I know best: organizing people and listening to their stories,” Teresa Brito-Asenap told the Independent in an interview on her way back to Albuquerque. In her two minute, fifteen second speech, she emphasized her own story as a way to highlight two of Obama’s education initiatives – and to organize support for them.

'Body of War' hits Albuquerque

A film shown in Albuquerque, a new tell-all book and morning TV show interview all converged this week to cast light on the run up to the Iraq war -- a struggle that still rages five years after the 2003 invasion at a cost of thousands of lives.

'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."

'Clean coal' power: Real or imagined?

There is a lot of talk about clean coal, including from Gov. Bill Richardson, as the country tries to find the right energy mix. But can science make coal clean enough?

'Cracking the code'

Architecture 2030, the Santa Fe non-profit whose 2030 Challenge has been adopted by trade groups and municipalities worldwide as a goals statement for energy efficiency by the year 2030, has followed up with a guidebook for cities, counties and states to achieve those goals. The guide is a white paper entitled "Meeting the 2030 Challenge Through Building Codes."

'Daily Show' illustrates pundit hypocrisy

Jon Stewart took to task some of the pundits on the right in their crying foul over the intense media scrutiny of Republican Vice-Presidential nominee Sarah Palin. 

'Net neutrality' lost?

The world has sped up. Much of this has to do with the Internet, but a looming issue threatens the way it works now. Internet service providers have started floating ideas about charging content providers differing rates in order to connect their products to consumers. So, if you want someone to be able to access your data-heavy content, get ready to pay more.

'Post-racial' triumph hits home

My son Gabriel didn’t care one bit about politics—until the day he first caught sight of a tall brown brother named Barack Obama. “Mom, he looks just like me!” Gabriel said excitedly as he watched him on TV. “And he’s running for president?”

'Should I be on list?' prof wonders

A local research professor is questioning his placement on a list of scientists who do not believe in a man-made effect on global climate change. The Heartland Institute, a prominent conservative think tank, unveiled a list of 500 scientists with “documented doubts of man-made global warming scares” last September.

'What I know about Sarah Palin'

Today in my email inbox I received from a friend my own copy of Wasilla, Alaska, housewife Anne Kilkenny's calm but scorching look at Sarah Palin, which has literally gone viral in the last few days.
Editor's Note: NMI has not independently verified the statements in this letter.

2000 Gold, Part II