Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Sorted by date Results 126 - 150 of 381
State Education Secretary Ryan Stewart is leaving “to address family health issues,” the Governor’s Office announced Thursday. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has picked Kurt Steinhaus, who recently retired as superintendent of Los Alamos Public Schools, to lead the Publication Education Department. She also announced that Jason Bowie, deputy chief of the Rio Rancho Police Department, will take over as secretary of the Department of Public Safety. Timothy Johnson has been serving as the acting secretary of the Department of Pu...
SANTA FE — The head of New Mexico’s chief regulatory agency said she fears a lack of access to bank loans and other financing will keep local residents from entering the new cannabis industry and competing with out-of-state companies. Linda Trujillo, superintendent of the state Regulation and Licensing Department, told legislators Monday that her agency is working “behind the scenes” to examine how the state can help ensure startup money is available to New Mexicans who want to launch a marijuana business. But legisla...
New Mexico lawmakers, in the words of Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, “have got ourselves in a really tough predicament.” Richard Anklam, executive director of the nonpartisan New Mexico Tax Research Institute, gave legislators a presentation this month showing what that predicament looks like — and how it is hitting consumers in the pocketbook and making it tougher for businesses to compete. Testifying before the legislative Revenue Stabilization and Tax Policy Committee, Anklam said rising gross recei...
Rep. Marian Matthews, D-Albuquerque, was asking the right question of Brian Blalock, secretary of New Mexico’s Children, Youth and Families Department. Referring to the death of 4-year-old James Dunklee Cruz of Albuquerque, allegedly beaten to death by a friend of his mother despite repeated referrals and warning signs to CYFD he shouldn’t be in his mother’s care, Matthews wanted to know: “How does that happen?” Blalock, predictably, said he couldn’t answer because to do so would be contrary to confidentiality laws to spe...
Work on the results of the decennial census in New Mexico has gotten off to a rocky start, and the members of the newly appointed Citizen Redistricting Committee missed a golden opportunity to boost its legitimacy by demonstrating they are not afraid to be open about how they intend to represent all corners of the state. After committee members were named, criticism came quickly from people with various points of view as well as those who live in the far-flung reaches of the state. It was apparent this group was not going to...
Belen High School has moved quickly to find a new head football coach. Andrew McCraw, 34, who was coaching at Eastern New Mexico the last five seasons, accepted the job Wednesday. McCraw was the offensive line coach and run game coordinator — and, for the past two years, the assistant head coach — in Portales alongside former Greyhounds coach Kelley Lee. Lee departed in March to become athletic director and football coach at Veterans High School in Brownsville, Texas. McCraw served as interim coach before Tye Hiatt was hir...
SANTA FE — You can't legally buy it yet, but cannabis is no longer prohibited in New Mexico when it comes to possession and home growing. After years of debate, New Mexico became the 17th state to legalize recreational cannabis for users 21 and over Tuesday when a new law greenlighting the long illegal drug took effect. But the task of setting up a new weed industry from scratch is far from finished. A virtual rules hearing on the initial batch of proposed state rules governing marijuana licensing and plant count limits s...
Pressed by NBC’s Lester Holt earlier this month about why she hasn’t visited the U.S.-Mexico border to personally witness the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the unforgiving desert, Vice President Kamala Harris tried to make light of a deadly serious situation. “I haven’t been to Europe. I don’t understand the point you’re making,” Harris quipped, her words falling as flat as a TV sitcom missing its laugh track. Holt’s question seemed pretty straightforward: Why hasn’t Harris, who was tapped by President Joe Biden in March t...
The U.S. Air Force has spent more than $31 million to address groundwater contamination at Cannon Air Force Base near Clovis, base officials said Wednesday. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, leaked into the Ogallala Aquifer on and off-base from firefighting foam used in training exercises. A $16.6 million water treatment pilot project at the base's southeast corner is set for construction as early as March 2022, and would likely begin operating in April 2023. Christipher Gierke, Cannon's remedial project manager,...
Albuquerque financial adviser and military veteran Greg Zanetti jumped into New Mexico’s 2022 race for governor on Monday, becoming the third Republican to announce plans to challenge Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. A retired brigadier general in the Army, Zanetti said he would bring a different leadership style to the Governor’s Office and criticized Lujan Grisham’s handling of the COVID—19 pandemic, claiming the governor “overreacted” to the virus by imposing broad business restrictions. “I think we all want a be...
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham opened her re-election campaign Thursday with a short speech and a few fist pumps as rowdy protesters outside shouted through a megaphone and booed so loudly they often drowned her out. The Democratic governor spoke for just four minutes, declaring that “no amount of noise will deter or intimidate” her as she seeks re-election to a four-year term in 2022. She delivered her remarks to supporters in the outdoor theater at the Albuquerque Museum. Just over the wall, dozens of protesters carried ant...
May 22 was a big day for Virgin Galactic, Spaceport America, commercial space flight and New Mexico. After years of delays, Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity successfully shot into space after breaking away from its mothership at 44,000 feet. Unity climbed about 55 miles above Earth before gliding down to Spaceport America, the world’s first purpose-built commercial spaceport near Truth or Consequences. Although Unity had no passengers, the successful launch from Spaceport was a long-awaited achievement. “After so many years and s...
“Wake-up call” is perhaps one of the most over-used phrases in the English language. And one of the most ignored. The recent shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline because of hackers, apparently a criminal gang working out of Russia, is a case in point. The pipeline stretches from Texas to New Jersey and transports half the fuel consumed on the East Coast. When the pipeline was shut down, panic buying ensued with long lines and gas shortages. Hundreds of stations ran out of fuel. The company that operates the pipeline paid rou...
The use of a secure communications app by the Children, Youth and Families Department that routinely encrypts and deletes communications between staffers is more than troubling. One child advocacy organization calls it “outrageous.” The attorney general says it’s “highly concerning.” And an open government organization likens it to shredding public documents, raising the possibility it constitutes a crime. In contrast to standard texts or emails, which can be accessed by attorneys, lawmakers, reporters and the public un...
The settlement between Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and former campaign spokesman James Hallinan, who accused her of inappropriate conduct during a campaign meeting, is right out of the informal PR manual on how to deal with potential fallout from a sordid allegation. First, say the claim is absolutely without merit, even scurrilous and defamatory. Then, open up a checkbook and pay the person making the allegations, with details shrouded in confidentiality. Finally, say the settlement was made only to avoid “the continuing dis...
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday signed off on a $7.4 billion budget plan that will boost state spending and provide 1.5% pay increases to state employees and teachers. However, the Democratic governor used her line-item veto authority to strike down legislative earmarks for more than $1 billion from a federal stimulus plan for various state programs — including a largely depleted state unemployment fund, a popular college scholarship program and highway repairs. The governor also vetoed 17 bills passed by lawmakers, i...
SANTA FE — After years of hitting a brick wall at the Roundhouse, cannabis legalization finally burst through on Wednesday. New Mexico is poised to join a wave of other states in legalizing and taxing recreational cannabis sales, after both the House and Senate voted to approve a special session bill during a marathon day at the Roundhouse that featured lengthy debates and stinging political accusations. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who has pushed for creation of what could be a multimillion-dollar industry, said she would s...
It has been clear for months that COVID-19 poses a higher risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death for seniors. But New Mexico is still playing catchup when it comes to vaccinating older people. The state doesn't categorize people 60 to 74 in their own phase based on age, but lumps them in with thousands of “other essential workers” in group 1C. That puts thousands of New Mexicans between the ages of 60 and 74 who don't have a qualifying medical condition near the tail end of the vaccine priority line — which is sh...
SANTA FE — Legislation to establish a New Mexico Civil Rights Act — a proposal sparked by protests against racism and police misconduct — won approval in the state Senate early Wednesday, pushing it to the brink of final passage. The measure passed the House a month ago, but senators revised the bill, so it will have to go back to the other chamber for agreement on the amendments. It passed the Senate on a 26-15 vote about 10 minutes after midnight. The legislation, House Bill 4, emerged quickly this year as one of the most...
ALBUQUERQUE — Douglas Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, will be visiting Albuquerque this week as part of a trip promoting the American Rescue Plan, the massive coronavirus relief effort. It will be Emhoff's first solo trip as the nation's first Second Gentleman, according to a White House official. Harris and Emhoff are scheduled to be in Las Vegas on Monday and Denver on Tuesday, before Emhoff comes to Albuquerque on Wednesday. Details about the Albuquerque trip haven't been announced....
SANTA FE — Legislation that would waive renewal fees for liquor licenses over the next year won approval without opposition in the House on Thursday, putting the bill on the brink of final passage. The proposal, Senate Bill 2, already made it through the Senate, but a House committee revised the proposal, so it will have to go back to the Senate for approval of the House amendment. Nonetheless, the bill quickly passed the House on a 64-0 vote Wednesday with no debate. The waiver of fees would apply to all liquor license h...
SANTA FE — The state House adopted legislation Sunday that would require private employers in New Mexico to offer paid sick leave to their workers, sending the measure over to the Senate with 20 days left in the session. Supporters said the proposal, House Bill 20, would offer critical protection for low-income New Mexicans who might otherwise have to choose between a paycheck or caring for a sick loved one. It would also, they said, reduce the spread of illness in the workplace. "This is the right thing to do, not only f...
Thanks to some transparency about how the Governor’s Office spends discretionary funds, we recently learned Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham used taxpayer money to buy almost $13,500 of goods and services over a six-month period in 2020. If we hadn’t been under a travel quarantine and a five-person limit on gatherings, that would have made sense — under normal conditions the governor entertains folks interested in investing in New Mexico. In fact $13,500 would be a bargain. But we were in the midst of a pandemic. And as tens of th...
SANTA FE — A $200 million pandemic relief bill aimed at propping up hard-hit New Mexico essential workers and restaurants is headed to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's desk for approval, after breezing through the state House on Wednesday. The 66-1 vote to approve the bill, part of a larger pandemic stimulus package, happened at the end of a long House floor session. Perhaps tired and screen-weary after lengthy debate on several other measures, House members did not offer any debate on the relief bill before voting to pass it. "...
SANTA FE — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's recent suggestion that this might not be the right time for New Mexico lawmakers to pass bills imposing new requirements on businesses — including mandatory paid leave and a higher minimum wage — surprised advocates who say such measures are needed to protect front-line workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. And backers of the bills, which have already drawn fierce debate during the 60-day legislative session, said Tuesday they would keep pushing the measures despite the gover...
