Free Republic

A New Mexico restaurant generated controversy -- and profits -- this summer with a play on "Black Lives Matter." Now it's coasting on the uproar that began with its sign and has printed hats and T-shirts with the phrase, jumping straight into the seemingly never-ending national conversation on race. Rick Camuglia, owner of Paisano's, an Italian restaurant in Albuquerque, put the phrase "black olives matter" on his sign last month to help sell a new tuna dish with black olive tapenade. It worked like a charm, bringing in more business, with some people adding black olives to every dish they...

Republican Mayor Richard Berry was driving around Albuquerque last year when he saw a man on a street corner holding a sign that read: “Want a Job. Anything Helps.” Throughout his administration, as part of a push to connect the homeless population to services, Berry had taken to driving through the city to talk to panhandlers about their lives. His city’s poorest residents told him they didn’t want to be on the streets begging for money, but they didn’t know where else to go. Seeing that sign gave Berry an idea. Instead of asking them, many of whom feel dispirited,...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sheriff’s deputies are answering all calls in Hatch so the small, now 7-person department can mourn the loss of 33-year-old officer Jose Chavez, who was gunned down in a traffic stop Friday. “We’ve lost one of our best, our finest,” Doña Ana County Sheriff Enrique ‘Kiki’ Vigil said at a mid-day press conference in Las Cruces. “We’re mourning with the rest of law enforcement here in the county.” Chavez died at the University Medical Center in El Paso, TX, Friday night after authorities say he was shot and killed by 38-year-old Jesse Hanes, who was wanted for...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —For the past three months federal agents worked undercover with local cops and made more than 100 arrests for everything from drug trafficking to murder. “Statistics tell us that our state has one of the highest violent crime rates in the nation,” New Mexico District U.S. Attorney Damon Martinez said. Special agent Tom Atteberry said Albuquerque is especially violent. Atteberry is from Phoenix, Arizona, and brought a team to New Mexico because crime has gotten so out of control. He said New Mexico's justice system allows repeat violent offenders to get released as quickly as police arrest them....

ALAMOGORDO, N.M. (KRQE) – There are some upset people in one New Mexico city after a fundraiser for the United Way was shut down because the well-known charity wanted to raffle off guns. “As Americans of freedom and liberty we have to remember we only have the rights that we stand up for,” said Kerry Maupin, local business owner. The United Way of Otero County received a letter from United Way World telling them to cease and desist with their fundraiser that would raffle off 108 firearms.

The ex-wife of a man who died while searching for a cache of gold and jewels says she believe he lost his life chasing a hoax. Linda Bilyeu told The Albuquerque Journal she's disappointed that Randy Bilyeu, the father of her two daughters, died while searching for treasure Santa Fe author Forrest Fenn says he's hidden in the Rocky Mountain region. Although 54-year-old Bilyeu was reported missing in January, his remains weren't found until July. Bilyeu was visiting Santa Fe from Broomfield, Colorado, to search for Fenn's antique treasure chest. It's said to contain more than $1 million worth of...

The woman from New Mexico, Delores Huerta, just threatened Donald Trump. She stated "Donald Trump, you need to get out of the way, and if he doesn't, we need to take him out of the way." The time line is 5:44 in the DNCTV presentation. Just before Joyce Baty from Ohio

On Tuesday, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) formally announced the removal of the lesser prairie chicken from the endangered species protection list. They did not take this step voluntarily; FWS lost a court case last year which ordered the agency to remove the bird from the list. However, even as they complied with the court’s order, the FWS issued a threat that the agency’s land grab under the guise of conservation was not over. In the words of Director Dan Ashe, “Responding to this court ruling by removing the bird from the Federal List does not mean we are...

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) - The FBI in New Mexico wants you to give them a call. The agency wants anyone who suspects that a government official is using public office for private gain to call in a tip. A spokesman says the FBI is conducting an outreach campaign in southern New Mexico that encourages people to report government corruption....

In the ideal world imagined by some of our friends, Hillary Clinton would have been indicted and knocked-out of the race for President and Donald Trump will be replaced at the Republican National Convention by an as yet unidentified perfect conservative candidate whom the voters will anoint as the next President of the United States. Of course none of this ever was, or is, going to happen, but some of our conservative friends can’t seem to stop wishing for the election they want, instead of concentrating on winning the election they have. However, despite this lack of ability to focus...

He hasn't updated his Twitter account in 2 days. He hasn't said anything about the Democrat's nominee getting away with this, but he's attacked Trump throughout this campaign. It's unfortunate that he was our candidate in a very winnable election. The Republican Establishment caused the Trump movement. https://twitter.com/MittRomney?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

DENVER – Once a swing state in presidential elections, Colorado has teetered on becoming solidly Democratic. Donald Trump may have pushed it over the edge. Trump’s disparaging words about Mexicans, negative comments about women and weak campaign organization have punctuated the state’s shift from a nip-and-tuck battleground to one that’s Democrat-friendly. ... And it’s not just Colorado. Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric and weak campaign structure could ensure that perennially competitive Nevada and New Mexico are out of reach as well.

Curiosity discovered high levels of manganese oxide minerals in rocks investigated at a location called “Windjana” during the spring of 2014. Manganese-oxide minerals require abundant water and strongly oxidizing conditions to form. “Researchers found high levels of manganese oxides by using a laser-firing instrument on the rover. This hint of more oxygen in Mars’ early atmosphere adds to other Curiosity findings — such as evidence about ancient lakes — revealing how Earth-like our neighboring planet once was,” NASA reported. The newly announced results stem from results obtained from the rovers mast mounted ChemCam or Chemistry and Camera laser firing instrument....

Health officials have reported a fourth New Mexico death from Hantavirus this year, making 2016 among the deadliest since the viral illness first appeared here in 1993. A 20-year-old Torrance County woman has died of Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome – the state’s sixth reported case this year, the New Mexico Department of Health announced Thursday. “The messaging is, (Hantavirus) is still here and you still have to take precautions,” said Dr. Paul Ettestad, the department’s public health veterinarian. Hantavirus infection is transmitted by infected rodents through urine, droppings or saliva. People can contract the disease when they breathe in aerosolized virus....

CHILILI — U.S. Forest Service officials on Friday confirmed Journal reports that the cause of the Dog Head Fire in the Manzano Mountains was tied to a federally funded wildland brush and wood clearing effort designed to prevent fires. Specifically they said the 18,000 acre blaze was started by a masticator, a forest thinning or brush cutting machine. The clearing effort — known as the Collaborative Landscape Restoration Project — is a joint effort of Isleta Pueblo, Forest Service and Chilili Land Grant. An Isleta crew was working the masticator in the area the day the fire started and members...

In one of the most disturbing pieces of evidence yet, a U.S. Congressional panel found that an abortion facility may have provided aborted babies’ brains to a summer camp for youth in New Mexico. The horrific detail was part of a larger body of evidence that the U.S. Congressional Select Panel on Infant Lives sent to the New Mexico Attorney General this week. The evidence indicates that the University of New Mexico and the Southwestern Women’s Options abortion clinic may have broken a state law that prohibits the gifting of aborted babies’ body parts. Included in the evidence were sections...

Mitt Romney still can’t see himself voting for presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. However, he can’t bring himself to vote for the Democratic counterpart, Hillary Clinton, either. But the 2012 GOP nominee has a solution: putting his own wife’s name on the ballot. “It’s a matter of personal conscience,” Romney told CBS News’ John Dickerson Wednesday at the Aspen Ideas Festival. “I can’t vote for either of those two people.” Romney explained that he simply cannot get behind Trump’s divisive character. “Our nominee is saying, ‘Hey look it’s these people here. It’s these Mexicans coming across the border... it’s...

Brad Thor dropped a major bomb-shell on Glenn’s radio program Thursday, saying he’s committed to running for president of the United States. Glenn introduced his friend by reminding listeners about the author’s courage in the face of controversy. “I believe Brad is one of the most courageous people out there. Because — he is in business. You’re selling a book. And what you said — I shouldn’t say what you said — because what you said was not controversial,” Glenn said. Some may recall the flak Glenn received following Thor’s fiery remarks about Donald Trump in his previous interview on...

On a cool spring day at the Capitol, Toni Atkins delivered a series of blows unlike anything the tobacco industry had ever felt in California. Then speaker of the Assembly, the San Diego Democrat had been a lame duck for the last six months since the house elected Anthony Rendon to replace her. It was a Thursday morning in March and her final session as speaker, a tenure that lasted just shy of a year and 10 months. In a series of quick votes, the Assembly passed six smoking bills, the most significant of which raised the age to buy...

Utah is certainly not turning out to be friendly territory for Donald Trump. A new UtahPolicy.com survey gives the presumptive GOP nominee a 9-point lead over Democratic foe Hillary Clinton. The survey, conducted by Dan Jones & Associates, finds Trump with 36% of the vote in Utah. Clinton would get 27%. Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson has 10%, while Green Party nominee Jill Stein pulls in 2%. 18% said they would prefer another candidate while 2% were undecided. Trump's share of the vote is virtually unchanged from a recent Salt Lake Tribune poll that showed Trump and Clinton tied at...