Free Republic

The Jewish Federation of New Mexico descended into dysfunction over the past 15 months with staff departures, board member resignations, lawsuits and complaints of volatility lodged against its executive director. Now, the organization's executive director, Rob Lennick, says he is moving on — an impending change that some say gives the Albuquerque-based federation a chance to begin anew. Whether that will happen, however, is far from clear because the problems, many say, run deep. Documents from three lawsuits and two investigations, and interviews with people involved show some staffers have complained Lennick was intimidating and, at times, hostile. And some...

In New York City, the nation’s largest school district has lost some 50,000 students over the past two years. In Michigan, enrollment remains more than 50,000 below prepandemic levels from big cities to the rural Upper Peninsula. In the suburbs of Orange County, Calif., where families have moved for generations to be part of the public school system, enrollment slid for the second consecutive year; statewide, more than a quarter-million public school students have dropped from California’s rolls since 2019. And since school funding is tied to enrollment, cities that have lost many students — including Denver, Albuquerque and Oakland...

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico - At first glance, it may look like a bag of Hot Cheetos. However, if a parent looks closely at the product in the photo, the bag has a white box in the bottom right corner that indicates the product has 600 milligrams of THC, the psychoactive compound found in marijuana. "I was shocked," said Fairacres Elementary parent Santana Rodriguez as she inspected the small differences between the original label and the altered label. "When I saw this, it blew my mind. I couldn’t believe it."

Crews fighting the Calf Canyon-Hermits Peak Fire are up against high winds again, and because of those winds, they won’t be getting any air support. The fire is inching north, jumping the fire line on Highway 518 that firefighters have been trying to hold for weeks. The communities north of Holman are now being told to leave immediately.

New Mexicans will see thousands more electric vehicles available to buy in 2025 when a rule approved by two environmental boards takes effect. Dubbed the clean-car rule, it will require that electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids make up at least 7 percent of automakers’ new sales within New Mexico — adding up to an estimated 3,800 vehicles. The rule aligns with California's current standards and is part of the larger effort to cut climate-warming greenhouse gases as well as ground-level ozone and particulates that can cause respiratory problems. It will undergo a two-year waiting period to allow manufacturers, car dealers...

President Joe Biden’s border chief is making a second effort to cancel the “Remain in Mexico” (RIM) program because it hinders migrants’ ability to ask judges to let them stay in the United States. The United States is a “nation of immigrants,” border chief Alejandro Mayorkas claimed in a 39-page report that was prepared for a federal judge who directed in August that the program be kept going. Mayorkas, who is the secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, ignored the benefits to Americans of the program even as he described the risks and harms to migrants. Mayorkas also ignored...

MORA, N.M.—Firefighters in New Mexico failed on Friday to pin back the flames of the United States’ largest wildfire, which is burning perilously close to a string of mountain villages. The blaze is the most destructive of dozens in the U.S. Southwest that are more widespread and burning earlier than normal in the year. Thousands of people in the Mora valley, about 40 miles northeast of Santa Fe, prepared to evacuate as smoke billowed from a forest around the nearby farming community of Ledoux.

Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Title 42, which limits immigration during the COVID pandemic, was not the solution but part of the problem. Anchor Chuck Todd said, “Quick questions about immigration. Many of your Democratic colleagues are not happy with the decision to rescind Title 42 with what they believe is not an adequate enough plan. You would like to see title 42 ended, I know that, but at the same time, you questioned whether or not we have the resources and commitment to do this. What is the best way to handle...

California and 15 states that want the U.S. Postal Service to electrify its mail delivery vehicles are suing to halt purchases of thousands of gas-powered trucks as the agency modernizes its delivery fleet. Three separate lawsuits, filed Thursday by the states and environmental groups in New York and California, ask judges to order a more thorough environmental review before the Postal Service moves forward with the next-generation delivery vehicle program. Plaintiffs contend that purchases of fossil fuel-powered delivery vehicles will cause environmental harm for decades to come. The lawsuits could further delay the Postal Service's efforts to replace the ubiquitous...

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Albuquerque’s K-12 schools should cut staff and think about downsizing its footprint because of dwindling enrollment and spend more for the education of low-income students who fell further behind their peers during this school year, according to a report from the New Mexico Legislature made public Wednesday. The report from the powerful Legislative Finance Committee recommended that Albuquerque Public Schools let go 400 of the district’s 12,000 employees, but didn’t specify how many of the district’s increasingly empty schools it should shutter. The school district has 144 schools and 73,000 students, down from 85,000 six...

With his livelihood on the line, Rob Lennick texted the wrong Deborah. The CEO of the Jewish Federation of New Mexico, Lennick sent a message asking for support of an extension to his contract. He was also asking for a $30,000 forgivable loan from the federation to pay for the repair of a home he was hoping to purchase. Lennick had meant to reach Deborah Boldt, who was serving on the federation’s board of directors — but he reached Deborah Albrycht, the federation’s human resources officer.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Biden administration on Tuesday outlined its plan to tackle border security, pushing back against criticism that it is unprepared for a late-May deadline to lift COVID-19 restrictions that have blocked asylum seekers and other migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border since early 2020. Many of the elements of a six-point plan presented on Tuesday had been announced before but the outline "memorializes" the administration's ongoing efforts, a senior official who declined to be identified told reporters. The DHS plan focuses on surging resources to the border, speeding up processing of migrants, increasing the use of fast-track deportations, building...

With all eyes on Ukraine, few are noticing how Joe Biden is ruining relations with a critical nation next door to us, which is Mexico. Title 42, which permits the U.S. to reject phony asylum-seekers on COVID concerns, was halted by a federal judge yesterday, but it's a temporary halt, so it may return soon. Whether the Biden administration obeys that order is anyone's guess. There are other judicial orders it's simply ignored as it carried on its open borders policy. It doesn't matter to Joe Biden that his fellow Democrats — at least eight of them — are warning...

On Tuesday, it was reported that scandal-ridden alleged serial groper Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham will have Kamala Harris officiate her wedding on May 21 in Washington, D.C. Lujan Grisham is marrying her fiancé, Manny Cordova. “We’re delighted to celebrate our wedding in front of family and close friends,” Lujan Grisham and Cordova said in a joint statement. “Like so many New Mexicans, we’ve postponed family celebrations over the past two years during this pandemic. We feel fortunate to be with our loved ones in celebration of our marriage.” The couple was initially planning to get married in 2021 but had...

SANTA FE – A state judge in Clovis rejected a motion Tuesday that would have tossed out New Mexico’s new congressional map just days before the first ballots are due in the mail. But District Judge Fred Van Soelen also refused to dismiss the case, leaving it alive with the potential to affect future elections after the June 7 primary. In a pair of rulings Tuesday, the judge said the Republican Party of New Mexico and other plaintiffs had made a “strong, well-developed case that (the new map) is a partisan gerrymander created in an attempt to dilute Republican votes...

A group of 26 Republican governors is launching a multi-state partnership to secure the southern border as the number of migrants being detained and appearing at the border continues to increase. The American Governors’ Border Strike Force will target cartels and criminal groups by increasing collaboration, improving intelligence, combating human smuggling, and stopping drug flow among each of the participating states, according to a group memorandum outing its mission. "President Biden has failed to secure the border, and it has deteriorated into a warzone that is threatening all of our communities," South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem told Fox News. "South...

The White House declined to comment Monday on the results of a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) investigation that reportedly found no border patrol agents were guilty of whipping migrants crossing the Southern border in September 2021. White House press secretary Jen Psaki refused to address reports showing the agents involved with the accusations were cleared of criminal wrongdoing, despite accusations from President Joe Biden and other administration officials that they were guilty of whipping or “strapping” the migrants.

President Biden has been mired in a stretch of disappointing polls, but recent surveys suggest he’s having particular trouble keeping the support of Hispanic voters. A Quinnipiac University poll published this week found that just 26 percent of Hispanic voters surveyed approved of Biden’s job performance, the lowest mark of any demographic group.

I am a Latina and the former Democratic majority leader of the California State Senate. The first woman to ever hold that position. I represented one of the most Latino and Democratic areas in California: East L.A., the birthplace of the Chicano youth walkout over racism in education in the 1960s. Yet I, too, am on the brink of leaving the Party and the roots of my disillusionment run deep. Latinos largely embrace the American Dream. We know how to hustle, to work hard, to believe that 'si se puede.' According to the Small Business Administration, as of 2021 there...

A total of 23 people whose names appear on a U.S. terror watch list were stopped for illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in 2021 The suspects were taken into custody between January 20, 2021 and December 30, 2021 Eight of the arrests were reported by the El Centro Sector and San Diego Sector in California The names of the individuals matched those that appear on the Terror Screening Database but are not released to the public despite Republican pressure