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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...