Free Republic

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The Circle K clerk who shot an accused armed robber, says she was suspended for two weeks. Reporter Megan Cruz spoke with the clerk Tuesday afternoon. Jennifer Wertz said she's upset. She claims robberies happen all the time and yet workers are told they can't defend themselves. Wertz said she had her gun with her Monday because she was supposed to work until 10 p.m. She said she feels uncomfortable walking to her car at night. Wertz put her gun in her pocket after she heard that another nearby convenience store was just robbed. She said she...

State regulators have approved the largest health insurance premium increase in the four-year history of New Mexico’s subsidized exchange, Superintendent of Insurance John Franchini said Wednesday. About 55,000 New Mexico residents sign up each year for federally subsidized insurance through the state’s exchange, known as beWellnm. Average premium increases for 2018 will range from 36 percent to 41 percent for midlevel insurance coverage, according to an analysis by the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance. The full range of premium increases runs from 17 percent to just over 49 percent. “This is the largest increase in the last four years,”...

New Mexico residents enrolled in Medicaid may have to cough up more money for their health care costs by the end of the year or early next year under a proposal that aims to offset state spending on the program. New Mexico’s Medicaid rolls have swollen since Gov. Susana Martinez expanded low- or no-cost health insurance in 2014 to cover adults with incomes slightly above the federal poverty level, up to about $16,600. As of July, more than 250,000 New Mexicans had enrolled in Medicaid under the program expansion. A single patient earning $12,060 a year could end up having...

In 2001, Colorado electricity consumers enjoyed some of the lowest electric rates in the country. The 15 years since haven’t been so kind to ratepayers. For more than a decade, elected officials, PUC commissioners, industry and advocates have told Colorado ratepayers that they could transform the state’s electricity generation away from coal and toward industrial wind, solar and natural gas with little cost to ratepayers. However, the actual numbers tell a much different story. Colorado electricity rates have risen sharply – 62.1 percent – across residential, commercial and industrial sectors, despite a slight decrease in recent years. Colorado electricity rates...

Pete Domenici, former New Mexico GOP senator, dead at 85 FOX News FOX News FoxNews.com 2 hrs ago Pete Domenici, who became a power broker in the Senate for his work on the federal budget and energy policy, has died. © AP2010 Pete Domenici, who became a power broker in the Senate for his work on the federal budget and energy policy, has died. Pete Domenici, the longest-serving senator from New Mexico, died on Wednesday, Fox News confirmed. He was 85 years old. The former longtime Republican senator recently underwent abdominal surgery and was placed in intensive care after a...

CLOVIS, N.M. — New Mexico state police say there has been a shooting at a public library in the eastern New Mexico community Clovis. The Eastern New Mexico News reports that multiple people were killed and several others were injured in a shooting. Officer Carl Christiansen said Clovis police responded to the library this afternoon in response to a report of an active shooter. He could not immediately confirm whether there were any fatalities or injuries.

Those who wish to aid Native Americans may want to think "outside the box," or at least outside the public school system. "Charter schools have played a growing role in Native peoples' efforts to gain control over their children's education," Tiffany Lee of the University of New Mexico and Teresa L. McCarty of UCLA wrote in a paper which appeared in the book, Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies. They looked at one in particular--the Native American Community Academy (NACA) in Albequerque. "At NACA, students take the state-required courses in math, English reading and writing, science and social studies," Lee and McCarty report....

This New Mexico man's booking photo shows just how dangerous a life of crime can be. Angelo Martinez, 21, was arrested after police say he tried to carjack three football players in Albuquerque with a fake gun. The men were leaving football practice when they say Martinez was "acting sketchy" near their vehicle, according to KOAT 7. Martinez asked the men for a ride and they agreed, but when they arrived at the location Martinez directed them to, he pulled a gun and demanded they get out of the car. The men complied, but when Martinez fumbled with the gun,...

BERNALILLO, NM (KRQE) – Parents are concerned a teacher is pushing her political beliefs instead of teaching world history. Bernalillo Public Schools Interim Superintendent Keith Cowan said the school district would take the appropriate action after a teacher’s political rant was recorded by a sophomore Bernalillo High School student on Thursday. It’s unclear what action is being taken against the teacher. “If you have a history teacher teaching you that Trump is good then I feel really scared for you,” the woman said in the recording.

A top Republican Party official in New Mexico’s second-most populous county stepped down Tuesday, two days after making social media comments about “violent, leftist protesters” that sparked outrage. The Doña Ana County Republican Party announced on Facebook that it has accepted the resignation of its former chairman, Roman Jimenez, who had previously said the comments were taken out of context. The county party’s new interim chairman, Victor Contreras, said Tuesday that he and other county party officials stand in opposition to acts of violence and racism that occurred in Charlottesville, Va., when a large group of white nationalists gathered to...

TAYLOR, Ariz. (3TV/CBS5) — Health officials are urging people to take precautions after a second Arizona county in two weeks confirmed that fleas in the area have tested positive for plague. The announcement by Navajo County Public Health officials on Friday comes one week after Coconino County officials found prairie dogs in the area to be carrying fleas with the plague -- the infectious disease infamous for killing millions of Europeans in the Middle Ages. The fleas in Navajo County were found near the town of Taylor. Health officials have notified the residents whose property will be treated. The area...

A quick update from three "battleground" states. Realize that after an election the secretaries of state in most states engage in purge of dead voters (i.e., Democrats---joke) or people who have moved, etc. This continues at a regular pace. So the totals in all states fall some but the trend and direction is the key. NH (from Dec. 16-Ap 17) Rs net +7,000 FL (from Dec. 16-July 17) Rs net +49,000 NM (from Dec. 16-July 17) Rs net +10,000

ell Middle School teacher Shane Parmely was detained for over an hour by Border Patrol agents at a checkpoint in New Mexico because she refused to say whether she was a U.S. citizen. Parmely’s family helped her film the incident, which she posted Friday evening on her Facebook account in several segments that were widely shared. Parmely told Border Patrol agents that she believed she did not have to answer their questions. One agent showed her a card listing immigration law and a Supreme Court case decision that give Border Patrol agents authority to operate checkpoints within 100 miles of...

[snip]confirmation of the demise of Joule Unlimited. “We had a lot of prospects last year,” former CEO Brian Baynes told The Digest, “but those new investor prospects walked away, particularly post election. ....Baynes was responding to reports that the technology and the Hobbs, New Mexico pilot facility would be auctioned shortly.The news from Joule closes out an extraordinary period of silence for a company that we once described as The Sultans of Stealth for their secretive approach to development.

The Albuquerque Tea Party has been granted tax-exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service after applying eight years ago. The Albuquerque Journal reports Graham Bartlett, president of the local Tea Party, says he was informed about a month ago that the group's request was going through. Bartlett says the Albuquerque Tea Party requested tax-exempt status because it relies on donations and people tend to donate more when they know they can write it off on their taxes.

WASHINGTON – Rep. Steve Pearce, a Republican who has represented New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District for over 12 years, will announce his campaign for governor today. Pearce, 69, will become the second member of New Mexico’s five-member congressional delegation to shift political ambitions from Washington to Santa Fe. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, announced her 2018 campaign for governor of New Mexico in December. Incumbent Gov. Susana Martinez, a Republican, is term-limited and will leave office at the end of 2018. Pearce’s announcement makes him the first Republican to jump into the 2018 New Mexico governor’s race. Albuquerque Mayor...

The Obama-holdover chosen by DHS Secretary John Kelly to direct Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for the Trump Administration helped author Obama’s controversial immigration priorities and executive orders, and he also publicly praised them. ... Trump’s campaign largely centered around opposing former resident Barack Obama’s executive orders on immigration and the release of criminal illegal aliens into U.S. communities. Acting ICE Director Homan was the Enforcement and Removal Director (ERO) for resident Obama and even received an elite award from the former resident for his efforts on immigration. Homan has come under fire from the ICE Council for being Obama’s...

As many of you know, I've been tracking voter registration changes since November in 11 battleground states. In some rust belt states, the population is decreasing, so both parties may see a decline, but the numbers represented below, whether actual increase or decline are the NET gains of Republicans over Democrats since November. PA Rs +104,000 (this is one of the states in decline, but Ds are falling much faster. This represents an additional net R gain of 2k in just a month. NM Rs +11,218 NC (these numbers only came up recently) Rs +61k AZ Rs +9,200 (this is...

One of Albuquerque’s shining high-tech startups has put the city on notice that it may leave Downtown and potentially the state if something isn’t done about the “marked deterioration in the safety and security of the downtown Albuquerque area.” Lavu, which launched in 2010, sent a letter to Gov. Susana Martinez and Mayor Richard Berry earlier this week decrying the crime and “consistent and ongoing verbal harassment by homeless and recently released inmates” that his employees have been having to endure. “I cannot stress enough to the both of you how serious the lack of safety in downtown Albuquerque has...

A local television news crew in New Mexico became the story when someone stole the station’s SUV as staffers gathered footage for a segment on crime in the area.