In a Santa Fe State courtroom today, Judge T-Glenn Ellington will decide if embattled Secretary of State Dianna Duran's legal team will get more time to mount a defense. Duran’s defense attorney Erlinda Johnson made the request last month, saying she needed time to review information provided by the attorney general's office that include more than three-thousand pages of documents and hours of audio interviews. Prosecutors say the preliminary hearing should proceed as scheduled later this month. Duran has pleaded not guilty to dozens of counts that range from fraud to tampering with state records. She's accused of funneling campaign donations to personal accounts and withdrawing cash while frequenting casinos.
A new report says visitors to the state provided more than six-billion dollars for the state’s economy. Governor Susana Martinez released the report this week during the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. The report, called “the Economic Impact of Tourism in New Mexico,” also says tourism provides for nearly 89-thousand jobs in the state. The New Mexican reports that some ten-percent of those jobs are in Santa Fe- County. The Governor’s office says this is thanks to more than 800-thousand visitors a year. The report also suggests spending last year was up almost five-percent from the previous year.
False, derogatory, and inflammatory—That’s how a Public Service Company of New Mexico official is describing the allegations leveled by the Santa Fe-based clean energy advocacy group New Energy Economy in its latest court filing. The New Mexican reports that PNM and the state attorney general’s office are questioning the allegations. A New- Energy Economy expert suggested that the utility had understated the rate increases that they would be asking for if the plan were approved.
A legislative hearing at the Capitol this week on abusive Children Youth and Families Department practices garnered testimony from concerned New Mexicans. PEOPLE for the Kids, a partnership of parents, early educators, and preschool center owners-and- directors testified about how they feel CYFD is 'routinely violating its own regulations' to deny or turn away eligible parents seeking child care assistance. Preschool owners also testified that centers are incurring huge expenses as a result of unfair CYFD practices. Educators testified that the department's practices are creating chaos in their classrooms.
A witness for the New Mexico Public Education Department said during a hearing that if a judge stops the state's new teacher evaluation system it would negatively impact students and the school system in general. American Federation of Teachers New Mexico and the Albuquerque Teachers Federation are seeking an injunction to halt the use of test scores while their lawsuit against the evaluation system goes through the court system.
A Santa Fe judge is hearing arguments over whether the state should stop its use of test scores in the evaluations. On Tuesday, Director of Educator Quality for the Public Education Department Matt Montano testified that the state could lose federal funding and its waiver for certain federal No Child Left Behind Act mandates if the evaluations stop. The hearing is scheduled to continue today.
A company that gives tours around Albuquerque of sites from AMC-TV's "Breaking Bad" is now including spots from spinoff "Better Call Saul." Breaking Bad RV Tours recently announced it was including "Better Call Saul" locations on its regular three-hour, 75-dollar tours. Officials have cancelled the 20th America's Challenge gas balloon race, marking only the second time in race history that weather has grounded the competition. Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta organizers made the announcement Wednesday. The decision was made in the interest of safety since wet and unstable weather continued to hang over New Mexico. Seven teams from the U.S., Germany, France, Poland and Spain had been set to participate. They were initially scheduled to launch Saturday but unfavorable weather forced a series of delays. Organizers simply ran out of time since race rules called for the launch window to close Wednesday before midnight. The events Director expressed his regret that the race had to be cancelled and said he hopes the pilots will return for the next challenge in 2016.
Santa Fe Weather: Mostly cloudy this morning then become partly cloudy with a 10-percent chance for showers and thunderstorms, today’s high, 67. Tonight: Mostly cloudy with the overnight low down to 47 and a ten-percent chance for precipitation. Tomorrow: Partly cloudy with the high reaching 68.