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New Mexicans should brace for tax increases in 2010, Gov. Bill Richardson warned Monday. "It's inevitable," Richardson told a news conference in the state Capitol. "It's very painful." Richardson ruled out tax hikes during a recent special legislative session called to deal with a projected $650 million state deficit for this year. His remarks Monday represented his strongest words to date on the likelihood of increasing taxes during the regular session that begins in January. Reaction to Richardson's remarks were mixed. Sen. Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque, agreed with Richardson and said tax loopholes should be closely scrutinized. "We should remember that...

Today is Halloween, but Gov. Bill Richardson has been running around as Dr. Doom all week. Richardson is upset the Legislature approved a 7.6 percent cut in funding for most of his agencies as a means to help address a $650 million budget deficit. Day after day this week, in a well-orchestrated public-relations campaign, Richardson and other administration officials warned of dire consequences ... Senior citizens will go hungry, poor children will go without medical care, state parks will be shut, two prisons will be closed and hundreds of criminals will be set loose to prey on you, the administration...

WASHINGTON -- Internal investigations into the conduct of over two dozen House members have been exposed in an extraordinary, Internet-era breach of security involving the secretive process by which Congress polices lawmaker ethics. Revelations of the mostly preliminary inquiries by the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct — also known as the Ethics committee — and a panel that refers cases to it shook the chamber as lawmakers were immersed in a series of scheduled votes Thursday. The panel announced that it was investigating two California Democrats — Reps. Maxine Waters and Laura Richardson — even as its embarrassed...

Early Release for 660 Inmates a Possibility A pair of New Mexico prisons would be closed and as many as 660 inmates released before completing their full prison terms if a budget-cutting bill passed last week   by state lawmakers is signed into law, state officials said Wednesday.    -SNIP-    Richardson told reporters Wednesday that he’s concerned   closing the prisons could raise public safety issues and criticized lawmakers for approving state agency cuts during last week’s special session that average 7.6 percent.   -SNIP-    Between 530 and 660 inmates could be released early, about 10 percent of the state’s...

Health officials have confirmed that a fifth person, a 16-year-old, has died from the swine flu in Dallas County. WFAA-TV reported that the teen was a student at Berkner High School in Richardson. A Richardson school district spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment this morning.

SANTA FE, N.M. - Gov. Bill Richardson spent almost $139,000 for dinners and receptions at the governor's mansion last year, entertaining thousands of guests including movie stars George Clooney and Robert Duvall. A discretionary expense account covers the costs of the events. Spending from the fund was up 63 percent from 2007, when the governor campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination and traveled extensively outside of New Mexico. Expenditures totaled $138,925 in 2008, according to a report obtained by The Associated Press in response to a public records request. That is up from $85,197 in 2007 from $109,486 in 2006....

ELEPHANT BUTTE LAKE, N.M. (KRQE) - One mariner knew a collision with his own boat could not be avoided as a large houseboat with Gov. Bill Richardson aboard and an aide at the helm tried to dock Saturday at an Elephant Butte Lake marina. No one was hurt in the 5:15 p.m. incident that damaged three boats and the marina. However Brian Condit, Richardson's chief of staff, was cited for negligent operation of the houseboat Bloody Mary. Richardson told KRQE News 13 Wednesday that he was napping at the time. "I think it's important that we get the facts out,"...

ALBUQUERQUE - Attorney General Eric Holder avoided reporters seeking comment about his agency's decision not to bring charges against Gov. Bill Richardson and former top aides in an alleged pay-to-play scheme. Holder was in Albuquerque to give the keynote speech Thursday at the Hispanic National Bar Association's annual convention.

For New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, last Friday was long in coming — the day a federal prosecutor announced that after nearly a year investigating alleged corruption in the awarding of state contracts, he had wrapped up the case without any indictments. The investigation had cast a cloud over Richardson, scuttling a job in the Obama Cabinet and putting in doubt his political future. But even as Richardson and his allies proclaimed his “vindication” and predicted it would catapult him back onto the national stage, the prosecutor handling the case wouldn’t let the matter fade. U.S. Attorney Greg Fouratt fired...

For New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, last Friday was long in coming — the day a federal prosecutor announced that after nearly a year investigating alleged corruption in the awarding of state contracts, he had wrapped up the case without any indictments. The investigation had cast a cloud over Richardson, scuttling a job in the Obama Cabinet and putting in doubt his political future. But even as Richardson and his allies proclaimed his “vindication” and predicted it would catapult him back onto the national stage, the prosecutor handling the case wouldn’t let the matter fade. U.S. Attorney Greg Fouratt fired...

The wailing and gnashing of teeth on both sides of the political aisle over last week's nonindictment of Gov. Bill Richardson and two former aides is to be expected in a state lacking the rich tradition of political corruption prosecutions they have in places like Illinois or New Jersey. Here in the Land of Enchantment, we're not used to the sharp elbows and eye gouging that accompany such matters. From comments coming from both sides, we don't even know the rules of these contests. And trust me, there are rules. Republicans are complaining that the Justice Department in Washington, D.C.,...

This much is still certain: Hundreds of political donors to Bill Richardson have received government jobs, contracts and other favorable treatment during his 6 1/2 years as governor. Some of those campaign contributors have been enriched by millions of dollars. Those facts are unchanged by the Justice Department's decision not to pursue criminal charges against Richardson or his aides in the case of one government contractor that made political donations. Acting U.S. Attorney Greg Fouratt said that pressure from the Governor's Office "resulted in the corruption of the procurement process" and that nonprosecution "should not be interpreted as exoneration of...

(English-language translation) HAVANA (AP) — The United States should implement the announced permission for Cuban-Americans to travel to Cuba, and the island should respond by eliminating exit restrictions on its citizens, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson recommended. This was one among a list of suggestions the American devised during his visit to the island, which ended on Friday. "There is a very good environment, the best I have seen in many years," Richardson stated in relation to a possible approach between the two countries. According to the governor, "humanitarian" steps should be taken to stimulate links between people [involved] in...

SANTA FE, N.M. – New Mexico's top federal prosecutor confirmed Friday that no charges will be brought against Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson and his former top aides after a probe of an alleged pay-to-play scheme prompted him to withdraw his nomination as U.S. commerce secretary. But U.S. Attorney Greg Fouratt said the decision not to bring charges "is not to be interpreted as an exoneration of any party's conduct." In a letter sent to defense attorneys, Fouratt said a yearlong federal investigation "revealed that pressure from the governor's office resulted in the corruption of the procurement process" so that state...

Strange end to the Richardson investigation Once upon a time, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson was President Obama's first choice to be commerce secretary. After being nominated in December, he abruptly withdrew a month later when news broke that the there was a federal probe into charges of pay-to-play involving New Mexico officials and companies bidding on state contracts. Richardson said that he did nothing wrong, but thought it appropriate to take his name out of consideration rather than prove a distraction (Obama then went on to pick Republican Sen. Judd Gregg for the post; he accepted then withdrew when...

The federal investigation into allegations of pay to play in one state agency may be over, but that doesn’t mean Gov. Bill Richardson is in the clear, a top New Mexico political analyst said today.In an interview with NMI, Albuquerque pollster and analyst Brian Sanderoff pointed out that federal and state investigators are still looking into allegations in the investment scandal that began in New York and has since spread to New Mexico and other states. That case, which is separate from the probe that has ended, involves some prominent Richardson friends and donors.The probe that we learned today...

8/27/09Sierra Electric Cooperative will build substation and 6.5 miles of power lines at Spaceport America The New Mexico Spaceport Authority has approved an agreement to pay Sierra Electric Cooperative about $5.5 million for the cooperative to build a substation and some 6.5 miles of power lines to provide electricity infrastructure at the state-owned spaceport in southern Sierra County, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported. The newspaper said that according to the contract approved Wednesday, the $5.5 million figure is an estimate only. The following article added by poster:8/14/09 New Mexico’s revenue projections show we’re short $433M, economists say   Revenue estimates...

For obvious reasons, it's unlikely this story will get much media attention. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and former high-ranking members of his administration won't be criminally charged in a yearlong federal investigation into pay-to-play allegations involving one of the Democratic governor's large political donors, someone familiar with the case said.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and former high-ranking members of his administration won't be criminally charged in a yearlong federal investigation into pay-to-play allegations involving one of the Democratic governor's large political donors, someone familiar with the case said.

HAVANA (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is trying to make positive changes in the United States, but is being fought at every turn by right-wingers who hate him because he is black, former Cuban leader Fidel Castro said on Tuesday. In an unusually conciliatory column in the state-run media, Castro said Obama had inherited many problems from his predecessor, George W. Bush, and was trying to resolve them. But the "powerful extreme right won't be happy with anything that diminishes their prerogatives in the slightest way." Obama does not want to change the U.S. political and economic system, but "in...

After rare US talks, NKorean diplomats hit VegasSTAFF WRITER 3:47 HRS IST Washington, Aug 22 (AFP) After holding rare talks with a prominent US governor, a diplomatic duo from the reclusive state of North Korea is off to see another side of the United States -- Las Vegas. A senior US official confirmed on condition of anonymity yesterday that the two North Korean diplomats had told US authorities they planned "personal travel" in America's casino capital as well as in Los Angeles. The US official declined further details on the travel of the pair, who are accredited at the United...

In a further sign of a possible thaw in relations between Pyongyang and Washington, two North Korean diplomats are to meet Bill Richardson, the Governor of New Mexico, today. The meeting is being held at the request of Kim Myong-Gil, a minister at the North Korean mission at the United Nations, and will take place "for most of the day" in Santa Fe, a spokeswoman for Mr Richardson said. She said that the diplomats had expressed interest in clean energy solutions being developed in New Mexico and stressed that Mr Richardson was not representing the administration of President Barack Obama....

Two North Korean diplomats are in Santa Fe and will meet with Gov. Bill Richardson on Wednesday. A spokesman for Richardson said a delegation from the North Korean mission to the United Nations will meet at the governor's mansion for a daylong meeting but the topic was not disclosed. The North Koreans had requested the visit, but the governor's office said Richardson will not be negotiating nor will he be representing the Obama administration. The delegation, which includes Minister Myong Gil Kim and Councilor Jong Ho Paek, also are scheduled to receive briefings on renewable energy initiatives in New Mexico...

While Gov. Bill Richardson's office said the possibility remains that there won't be a special session, key legislative leaders say it's hard to imagine balancing this year's budget without one. Senate Finance Committee Chairman John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, said the state is likely to face a shortfall for the current fiscal year of between $300 million and $400 million. "Personal and corporate taxes are down," he said. "Gross receipts are tanking, and natural gas prices are still very anemic. At this stage, I don't think we can avoid it (a special session)." According to CNNMoney.com, a June study by the...

It might be the start of a New Mexico political campaign season dominated by talk of ethics. With a blast of the icy air from inside the state Supreme Court's front door, Lt. Gov. Diane Denish stepped out into the summer heat Thursday and made it clear that it would take a while to outline her lengthy proposal to revamp ethics laws. "You might want to get into the shade," she told reporters gathered on the front steps. And a while it took. Denish, a second-term lieutenant governor, will seek the state's top executive post in 2010, in the wake...

New Mexico, Colorado and Texas are applying for federal funds to study the viability of a high-speed rail system from El Paso through New Mexico to Denver. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Sen. Tom Udall, DN.M., said Thursday the three states will submit a joint pre-application Friday for up to $5 million to pay for the study. Congress has authorized up to 11 high-speed rail corridors nationwide.

The global-warming debate is shifting from science to economics. For years, the fight over the Earth's rising temperature has been mostly over what's causing it: fossil-fuel emissions or natural factors beyond man's control. Now, some of the country's biggest industrial companies are acknowledging that fossil fuels are a major culprit whose emissions should be cut significantly over time. A growing number of these companies are pushing for a mandatory emissions limit, or "cap." Some see a lucrative new market in clean-energy technologies. Many figure a regulation is politically inevitable and they want to be in the room when it's negotiated,...

Who's talking to North Korea? By: Ben Smith June 10, 2009 05:08 PM EST In the opaque, dangerous days after North Korea sentenced two American journalists to 12 years’ hard labor, the White House faced the challenge of fashioning a response that doesn’t raise the tension level with the volatile hermit nation with a burgeoning nuclear weapons program. But that wasn’t all: The Obama administration also had to get Gov. Bill Richardson off television. At a time when North Korea’s uncertain leadership and bracingly bellicose threat to the stability of the region have put Pyongyang high on the radar of...

The governor was trying to be nonchalant. He didn't quite pull it off. "This morning I was with the president of the United States," he told reporters at a Thursday news conference. "This afternoon I'm with Robert Redford." It was almost like the old Bill Richardson. Back in the early years of his administration, it seemed he was always appearing beside Washington bigwigs and hobnobbing with Hollywood celebrities. Had a few North Korean diplomats dropped by the Roundhouse on Thursday afternoon, the picture would have been complete. President Barrack Obama was in Rio Rancho to talk about credit card legislation...

t looks like Gov. Bill Richardson’s (D-N.M.) troubles might be getting a bit worse. Richardson is currently entangled in a federal pay-to-play investigation in his home state. Today, The New Mexico Independent’s Heath Haussamen reports that Steven Rattner, who is currently overseeing the Obama administration’s auto industry bailout program, has also been a major contributor to Richardson’s gubernatorial campaigns in recent years — donating a total of $20,000 over two elections. The problem? Richardson heads the State Investment Council (SIC), which manages the state’s investments. In October 2005, the SIC voted to invest $20 million with Quadrangle Group LLC, according...

Drumbeat Continues: Administration Enlists Another Soldier for its War on American Energy Production Washington, D.C. - Institute for Energy Research President Thomas J. Pyle issued the following statement in response to Secretary Salazar’s appointment of Ned Farquhar – former employee of the most aggressive of all the anti-energy lawsuit groups, the Natural Resources Defense Council – as the new Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management. “Ned Farquhar’s professional history demonstrates that in the past, he has ascribed to a philosophy right in line with the Administration’s emerging agenda: To artificially increase the price of the energy we use...

The governor's popularity numbers continue their slide.. . 54 percent of New Mexicans don't like the job Gov. Bill Richardson is doing. In January, the governor's approval rating fell below the 50 percent mark and has been dropping ever since.

Gov. Bill Richardson signed legislation Wednesday repealing New Mexico's death penalty, making it the second state to ban executions since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. Richardson, a Democrat who formerly supported capital punishment, said signing the bill was the "most difficult decision" of his political life but that "the potential for ... execution of an innocent person stands as anathema to our very sensibilities as human beings." Richardson said he made the decision after going to the state penitentiary, where he saw the death chamber and visited the maximum security unit where those sentenced to...

The New Mexico Senate voted to abolish capital punishment, a measure already approved by the lower House that Governor Bill Richardson must sign before it goes into effect, the Senate said on its website. The Democratic-controlled Senate voted 24-18 to strike the death penalty from its law books. Democrat Richardson, who last month withdrew as President Barack Obama's pick to be commerce secretary, has not made clear whether he agrees with the repeal measure or plans to veto it, but lawmakers said they expect him to sign it into law. Supporters of the measure argue that replacing the death sentence...

SANTA FE — A House committee approved a controversial bill Thursday that would allow certain ex-cons who have steered clear of trouble to have their criminal histories essentially erased. Over objections from prosecutors and the Albuquerque business community, members of the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee endorsed the bill 3-2. Supporters of the measure, House Bill 866, said that people with criminal histories have difficulty landing good jobs and that the possibility of having their records expunged could encourage good behavior. “These people are marked for life, even if they get a conditional discharge,” said Hugh Dangler, New Mexico's...

The Rail Runner Express commuter train service would get a police force of its own under a bill approved Saturday by the state Senate. The measure from Sen. Linda Lopez, D-Albuquerque, would authorize the Rail Runner transit districts to hire law officers who would patrol rail-line stations, parking areas and at least some of the commuter trains that roll six days a week between Belen and Santa Fe. The certified, armed train officers would wear distinctive badges and uniforms and "have the powers of peace officers on all property, tracks, rights of way, easements, vehicles, buses, vans, railcars, locomotives and...

ABQ Journal video: Ride the Rail Runner with Dan Mayfield(Works only in my IE Browser, not Firefox version 2)

The House approved non-binding measures Thursday requesting the Department of Transportation to study the feasibility of extending commuter rail from Santa Fe to Taos and from Santa Fe to Las Vegas and Raton. Also endorsed was a non-binding measure for a feasibility study of establishing commuter rail service between El Paso, Texas, and Las Cruces, the second largest city in the state.

Who tried to deep-six New Mexico's public records law? It's a Roundhouse mystery with an intriguing cast, including a powerful veteran Democratic lawmaker, a freshman Republican and a behind-the-scenes state lawyer who isn't returning a reporter's calls. Some clues seem to lead back to Gov. Bill Richardson's Cabinet-level agencies, but the Governor's Office said he wasn't aware of the attempted hit. While questions abound, this much is clear: A sweeping rewrite of the state Inspection of Public Records Act was quietly inserted earlier this week into a bill aimed at beefing up the statute. And that rewrite, which now appears...

Governor Richardson is working hard behind the scenes, trying to convince state lawmakers to vote for one of his favorite pieces of legislation; the deeply controversial domestic partners bill. The governor is using his formidable persuasive powers to pull uncertain lawmakers his way, but there are powerful forces at work on the other side too, mainly religious groups, including the Roman Catholic Church. The bill would give unmarried couples, gay and straight, the opportunity to have the same legal rights as married couples. The Senate is where the bill will sink or swim.

Over the span of just three months, Bill Richardson has gone from being on the shortlist for secretary of state to late-night punch line, a breathtaking descent that has tarnished his once-sparkling career. Since withdrawing as the nominee for secretary of commerce in early January amid questions surrounding a federal grand jury investigation, New Mexico’s Democratic governor has seen his political fortunes crater. — numbers that have dropped below 50 percent... “He’s had a pretty rough go of it since he withdrew,” said Timothy Jennings, a Democrat and New Mexico’s Senate president pro tempore. “His popularity has really declined in...

Federal investigators have been looking into the question for months: How did a Beverly Hills company that gave Gov. Bill Richardson's political committees more than $100,000 land a lucrative state financial adviser contract? Joe Gosline has the same question — and he was one of the state officials who judged the contract proposals. Gosline is a former controller and chief financial officer of the New Mexico Finance Authority, which awarded the contract to CDR Financial Products in 2004. -SNIP- He said six firms submitted proposals and recalled that CDR ranked middle to bottom. When he asked what had transpired, Gosline...

A grand jury subpoena in the federal "pay-to-play" probe that ended Gov. Bill Richardson's nomination for commerce secretary sought more than six years of correspondence between the governor's top advisers and the financial firm that won nearly $1.5 million in state business. -SNIP- Specifically, the subpoena sought any correspondence between CDR officials and: • David Contarino, a Santa Fe businessman who is Richardson's former chief of staff and presidential campaign manager. • David Harris, a University of New Mexico vice president who previously served as Richardson's deputy chief of staff and executive director of the New Mexico Finance Authority. •...

-SNIP- Attorney Victor Marshall kicked it off when he held a news conference Tuesday to publicly claim that Dave Contarino, one of Gov. Bill Richardson's closest advisers, pressured State Investment Board and Education Retirement Board members to support a total of $90 million in bad investments. Defense lawyers Marty Esquivel and Sam Bregman took to the podium immediately afterward to attack Marshall's statements. A 30-minute shouting match ensued in which Bregman yelled "liar" and "hypocrite" and Esquivel attacked former investment officer Frank Foy's credibility. -SNIP-The State Investment Council and Educational Retirement Board invested the $90 million with the Chicago investment...

---snip---"Four investment firms contributed to the DGA in 2004, around the same time those firms won lucrative contracts to manage the state's bonds, according to a report in the Albuquerque Journal today. Richardson at the time served as vice chair of the DGA, and would become chair the following year." Last month, Bloomberg reported that investigators had subpoenaed Richardson's office for its correspondence with the DGA, in connection with the probe*.

As political alliances go, the four-year marriage between Gov. Bill Richardson and the Democratic Governors Association was golden. Richardson got prestige, coast-to-coast travel and national exposure that would help fuel his presidential bid, while the DGA basked in his growing notoriety and fundraising prowess. "It's been very beneficial," Richardson acknowledged in late 2006, when his stint with the political group — as federal liaison, vice-chair and unprecedented two years as chairman — wrapped up a month before he launched his unsuccessful quest for the White House. Now, that political shine could be tarnishing. Recent news reports say authorities have asked...

Gov. Bill Richardson has asked state engineers to look into ways to prevent suicides at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge near Taos. Since 1999, about three people a year have leaped to their deaths from the 650-foot-high span. Seven suicides were reported in 2005, and the most recent such death occurred last month. Rescuers who have had to climb into the steep, rocky gorge complain that the job of retrieving bodies puts them at risk. The governor "is very concerned about the problems up there," Richardson spokeswoman Alarie Ray-Garcia said. "It's not a new problem. He's heard of the stories...

CLEAR LAKE, Iowa (AP) - It's been 50 years since a single-engine plane crashed into a snow-covered Iowa field, instantly killing three men whose names would become enshrined in the history of rock 'n' roll. The passing decades haven't diminished fascination with that night on Feb. 2, 1959, when 22-year-old Buddy Holly, 28-year-old J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson and 17-year-old Ritchie Valens performed in Clear Lake and then boarded the plane for a planned 300-mile flight that lasted only minutes. "It was really like the first rock 'n' roll landmark; the first death," said rock historian Jim Dawson, who has...

Weekday Rail Runner ridership has dipped by about 1,000 a day since Jan. 5 — the post-holiday season — but operators say a true gauge of daily use probably won't emerge for some time. Daily passenger boarding numbers provided by the Mid-Region Council of Governments also show, as might be expected, that the stations at Downtown Albuquerque, Los Ranchos/Journal Center, Sandoval County/U.S. 550 and the two in Santa Fe are the most used. The numbers also show that on weekdays this month, there are close to 90 bicycle boardings a day. With the Santa Fe leg of service opening Dec....

The news is full of stories about how Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich attempted to sell Barack Obama’s Senate seat to the highest bidder. But media have been hesitant to show the pattern of close Obama associates involved in scandal. “‘Pay to play’ means you’ve got to give something to get something,” said Alan Lichtman, professor of history at American University. “So, you want a contract, you want a job, you’ve got to give something to the decision maker.” It is an epidemic amongst FOBs – friends of Barack. FOB Bill Richardson recently withdrew his name from nomination for Commerce secretary...