Free Republic

SANTA FE – A national trend in favor of so-called “soda tax” initiatives took a hit Tuesday when Santa Fe voters soundly rejected a proposed 2-cents-per-ounce tax on the distributors of sugar-sweetened beverages in a special election unlike anything New Mexico’s capital city has seen before. Santa Fe’s 2-cents-per-ounce proposal would have matched Boulder, Colo., as the highest in the nation and was aimed at financing an effort to make 1,000 pre-kindergarten education slots available to Santa Fe children for free or at affordable rates. The campaign drew intense interest locally and money poured in from outside the state, with...

One of the Sinaloa cartel leaders who launched a struggle for control of the gang following the re-arrest of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was captured Tuesday ... Damaso Lopez, known by the nickname "El Licenciado" — a title for college graduates. Lopez was long considered Guzman's right-hand man and helped him escape from a Mexican prison in 2001. Lopez, 51, is believed to have been locked in a dispute with Guzman's sons for control of the cartel's territories. The head of Mexico's federal detectives' agency, Omar Garcia Harfuch, said Lopez was "one of the main instigators of violence in Sinaloa...

Boulder - Remember that unsuccessful attempt in the legislature to toughen penalties for vandalizing oil and gas equipment? Child’s play. It turns out the author of a letter to the editor in Boulder’s Daily Camera that got a national media mention last week — for appearing to endorse outright violence against fracking operations — is the author of a pending statewide ballot issue to hike Colorado’s severance tax on oil and gas production. Reached by phone today, Andrew O’Connor, of Lafayette, unapologetically reiterated his hardline stance ... “I wouldn’t have a problem with a sniper shooting one of the workers”...

House Majority PAC aims to regain seats for House Democrats. A political action committee that is backed by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) took funds from the co-owner of a website that is linked to underage prostitution. The House Majority PAC, an Alexandria, Virginia-based Super PAC created in 2011 to "answer the barrage of GOP outside spending" and help Democrats regain seats in the House of Representatives, accepted a $10,000 contribution last year from James Larkin, the co-owner of the Backpage.com, a website linked to underage trafficking and prostitution. Larkin, along with Michael G. Lacey, were co-owners of...

Not a single member of Congress who represents the territory on the southwest border said they support President Donald Trump’s request for $1.4 billion to begin construction of his promised wall, according to a Wall Street Journal survey, testing the administration’s ability to reach a deal on government funding next week. Most lawmakers representing the region—both Democrats and Republicans—said they are opposed and many said they have unanswered questions. A few were noncommittal, but not a single member of the House or Senate representing the region expressed support for the funding request. That includes nine members of the House and...

MS-13, a group that was started by Central American immigrants in Los Angeles in the 1980s, is known for its ruthless and violent tactics. Most of the founding members were from El Salvador and fled to the U.S. during the country’s civil war that lasted 12 years, from 1980-92. Since then the gang’s membership has ballooned to at least 10,000 members in the United States and more than 30,000 worldwide, according to the FBI and Treasury Department. “[MS-13] is one of the most dangerous and rapidly expanding criminal gangs in the world today,” Philip Holloway, a legal analyst and former...

Mick Rich, who served as president of Albuquerque-based Mick Rich Contractors for over 30 years, is ready to take his hard hat to Washington. The Albuquerque-based Republican filed his statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission in February and will run against Democratic incumbent Sen. Martin Heinrich.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — As New Mexico’s elected leaders wrangle over raising taxes to plug a budget shortfall, major multinational energy companies have quietly spent more than $13 billion in recent months on assets in the state’s oil and gas hot spots. The new wave of investment bodes well for the industry being able to generate much-needed revenues for the struggling state over the long haul, analysts said. The interest from companies such as Texas-based EOG Resources, ExxonMobil and Marathon Oil started last fall and is carrying into this year despite prices remaining around $50 a barrel. New Mexico also led...

U.S. Border Patrol agents are once again sounding the alarm about miles of border being left wide open and unsecured. Breitbart Texas exclusively obtained a document showing a Havre Sector Border Patrol manager knowingly issuing orders to leave 40 miles of border open and unpatrolled. Obama holdovers in the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency are continuing with the same careless disregard in the Trump Administration that they did under former resident Obama, according to Border Patrol agents. Breitbart Texas has the specific order that was given to the agents signed by the Obama-holdover manager. The order demands that agents...

Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, the two-time Libertarian Party presidential candidate, says he’s lost faith in the electoral process and vowed never to run again. He will now focus all his efforts on legalizing marijuana. Govs. Johnson and Weld became the first ticket of any party to feature two governors since the 1948 presidential election and ended up receiving nearly 4.5 million votes nationally, far more than his 2012 popular vote total. While still not a viable electoral force, the 2016 presidential election marked the Libertarian Party’s most successful presidential run to date and the most successful third-party candidacy...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Immigrant labor is like bread and butter to the New Mexico economy. Without it, according to economists and business owners, key industries – including oil and gas, agriculture, construction, and hotel and restaurant operations – would face major hurdles to keep the wheels turning. “Without immigrants, our labor force would essentially stop growing, making it very difficult to increase our gross domestic product,” said New Mexico State University economist Jim Peach. “I understand the desire to control our borders but, if you disrupt the ecosystem, there are going to be bad consequences.” “If the Trump administration removes...

The state of New Mexico has become the seventh state to impose a ban on conversion therapy, the practice of attempting to force LGBTQ people into changing their sexual orientation, with GOP Gov. Susana Martinez signing into law a bill banning its use on minors. The new "prohibition will apply to licensed physicians, nurses, psychologists and other health practitioners who apply conversion therapy to people under 18," the Associated Press reported. The law also sets up a system of penalties for violations under state licensing boards for those professions.

Navajo Nation Tribal Council officials are reviewing a proposal that would require tribal land residents to register their firearms. The Daily Times reports the proposed bill would require residents to register firearms such as automatic guns, rifles and shotguns to the Navajo Nation Police Department. The bill would allow the police department to maintain a registry which would include the firearm's serial number, registration date and the owner's name and address. If measure is passed, current gun owners would have 180 days from the bill's approval to register their guns with police. New gun owners would have 180 days from...

Wildlife conservation groups are collaborating with a federal government agency to halt construction of the southern border wall by fudging science to claim that unimpeded trans-border corridors are essential to an “endangered species” with 99% of its population in Mexico. Under the plan, large areas of Arizona and New Mexico would be prohibited from erecting a border wall so that jaguars—which don’t even occupy the area—can roam back and forth between the two countries. More than ¾ million acres in Arizona and New Mexico would be designated as critical habitat for jaguars under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA), which...

Democrats’ last-ditch effort to pass a Michael Bloomberg-endorsed ban on private gun sales was rejected on Monday, bringing an end to any chance that such a measure could be passed this legislative session. On March 12, Breitbart News reported that State Representative Stephanie Garcia Richard (D-Los Alamos) sponsored HB 50. It mandated universal background checks on gun purchases throughout New Mexico. The bill failed, and instead of accepting failure, Democrats moved to change the number on the gun control bill, from HB 50 to HB 548, in hopes of getting it through the House Judiciary Committee on Monday. Their efforts...

SANTA FE — Opposition to the shale oil extraction process known as fracking is growing, particularly among minorities, threatening the political viability of the oil industry in New Mexico, an oil and gas industry expert told state lawmakers Thursday. Claire Chase, the government affairs director for Mack Energy of Artesia, said while state government is heavily reliant on oil revenues, New Mexico is the most vulnerable state in the nation to increasing opposition to fracking and fossil fuels in general. She said a new culture of protests and activism has the oil and gas industry in its sights. Chase said...

Shooting / gunshots heard at HWNDU. Will it get shut down again? VIDEO

Mexico’s drug cartels earn billions of dollars in profits as they funnel heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana into drug-hungry countries, including the United States. Crime, death and ruined lives flow right along with those drugs to places as varied as New York City, West Virginia coal country, Albuquerque, Española and western Europe. Despite the efforts of law enforcement, the cartels rival international corporations in size and reach. The drugs they peddle are cheaper and more plentiful than ever before, claiming thousands of victims every year. The Albuquerque Journal today begins a six-part investigative report on a criminal enterprise wreaking havoc...

The truth is being revealed, as we all prayed that it would. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Agent Daniel P. Love has been breaking the law for years. Using and abusing his authority to run his own personal fiefdom. Bullying citizens until they commit suicide. All while believing he was above the law. Or so a report released last month seems to indicate. ... On February 14th, a letter from U.S. Reps. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, named Daniel P. Love and questions an investigation that points to the deletion of hundreds of documents the day before a...

Despite media reports of a massive crackdown by President Trump on illegal immigrants, just a tiny percentage of the nearly 1 million on the government's deportation list have been arrested, according to statistics provided to Congress. The 680 seized in recent sweeps by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement agents represent just .07 percent of the 950,062 with deportation orders as of May 21, 2016. ... There are an estimated 3 million illegal immigrants with criminal records in addition to their illegal status and the administration has said it will make them a priority for removal. The numbers in the ICE...