Piñon Post, Author at Piñon Post

New Mexico ranks at the top of another ‘worst’ list

13 Comments / New Mexico, News / By Piñon Post

A new WalletHub study has ranked New Mexico as the worst state for drug use, beating out every other state with the highest score of 71.26.

According to the study, “In order to determine which states have the biggest drug problems, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia in three overall categories: 1) Drug Use & Addiction, 2) Law Enforcement and 3) Drug Health Issues & Rehab.”

“Those categories include a total of 20 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the biggest drug problem.”

West Virginia came in second with a score of 66.67, and the District of Columbia, although not a state, ranked third in the nation with 62.60.

The state with the least amount of illicit drug use is Hawaii, scoring 22.8.

Regarding teen drug use, New Mexico ranked second only after Vermont. For teenagers being offered, sold, or given illegal drugs on school property, New Mexico ranked third-highest, only after Nevada and California, which ranked at the top.

The study notes, “Data used to create this ranking were collected from U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative, U.S. Department of Education – Office of Postsecondary Education, Guttmacher Institute, OHS Health & Safety Services, Recovery.org and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.”

After Haaland scorns Navajo Nation, council rejects Chaco Canyon buffer plan

9 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By Piñon Post

The 25th Navajo Nation Council voted to reject a plan by the U.S. Department of the Interior led by Secretary Deb Haaland, a former New Mexico congresswoman, that would withdraw 351,000 acres of land around Chaco Canyon, pushing Navajo property owners (allottees) into “greater poverty,” a “contradiction of her professed concern for environmental and economic justice for Native American communities,” according to the Western Energy Alliance (WEA).

The Council wrote, “If the buffer zone is adopted, the Navajo allottees who rely on the income realized from oil and natural gas royalties will be pushed into greater poverty.” It stressed the “detrimental impact to Navajo Nation allottees by preventing the development of new oil and gas resources on allotments as a result of the allotments being landlocked,” exposing the fallacy from DOI that the withdrawal will not impact Navajo lands.

The U.S. Department of the Interior’s (DOI) plan to withdraw 351,000 acres from oil and natural gas leasing would cost Navajo members with allotted property rights an estimated $194 million over the next 20 years. The group notes, “The Navajo Nation withdrew its previous five-mile buffer resolution after DOI failed to even consider the tribe’s compromise alternative to a proposed ten-mile buffer.”

WEA president Kathleen Sgamma said, “Sec. Haaland and Interior Department officials have grossly mismanaged the land withdrawal process since first announcing it in 2021. They have failed to hold adequate tribal consultations and listen to the voices of the Navajo Nation in the immediate vicinity of Chaco while giving preference to Sec. Haaland’s and related Puebloan tribes hundreds of miles away. Interior has exhibited a lack of environmental justice as they work internally to advance this ill-conceived proposal.”

“Recent congressional testimony by Sec. Haaland displayed her lack of understanding of the massive cost to a disadvantaged Native American community. She was unable to answer questions about the costs of foregone oil and natural gas royalties to tribal members. And despite her claims that the energy rights of Navajos would be protected she was unable to guarantee access to those minerals. What good are rights if Interior isolates your lands and you can’t access your resources?”

Sec. Haaland also has several conflicts of interest when it comes to plans to create a buffer around Chaco Canyon. “In a recent letter to lawmakers in Congress, the Alliance pointed out the secretary’s deep connections to a climate activist group in New Mexico lobbying the agency on the withdrawal. Sec. Haaland’s daughter works for the Pueblo Action Alliance, an organization that helped coordinate a violent anti-oil-and-gas protest at Interior headquarters and has aggressively lobbied DOI and Congress to advance the Chaco withdrawal,” WEA concluded.

WATCH: GOP senator shuts Deb Haaland down after outrageous comment

Oregon Sec. of State who was caught moonlighting as pot consultant resigns

Leave a Comment / News, Politics / By Piñon Post

After being caught moonlighting as a marijuana consultant, including work opening dispensaries in New Mexico, Democrat Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan is resigning, effective May 8.

She had come under fire for taking the lucrative $10,000 per month contract with Veriede Holdings, which was being overseen by the state’s marijuana program.

According to the report, “For that work, the secretary was paid $10,000 a month beginning on Feb. 20. She was eligible to receive a $30,000 bonus if La Mota secured licenses in any state besides Oregon and New Mexico.”

“It was not immediately clear on Monday why New Mexico was singled out in the contract, but it may be because the company was already making inroads there. La Mota CEO Rosa Cazares met with New Mexico’s Lieutenant Governor Howie Morales several times. ‘They were here asking questions about doing business in New Mexico, asking about the cannabis industry, the recent changes to our laws,’ said Jim Farrell, a spokesman for the lieutenant governor. Farrell said Cazares did not ask for specific help, but she did contribute to Morales’ campaign fund,” a report noted.

In the summer of 2022, La Mota purchased a small bakery in Deming to convert to a dispensary, as well as two other properties in the state. However, Deming rejected the proposal due to its close vicinity to a nearby daycare.

Fagan claimed to have spent 15 hours per week working on the New Mexico contract, describing it as tedious research.

“Fagan was twice asked whether she would release her tax returns to shed further light on her financial situation. She said she would not release those tax documents. Monday’s press conference concluded as a journalist asked the question again,” one report concluded.

“While I am confident that the ethics investigation will show that I followed the state’s legal and ethical guidelines in trying to make ends meet for my family, it is clear that my actions have become a distraction from the important and critical work of the Secretary of State’s office,” Fagan said in a statement. “Protecting our state’s democracy and ensuring faith in our elected leaders — these are the reasons I ran for this office. They are also the reasons I will be submitting my resignation today.”

Democrat Gov. Tina Kotek will choose Fagan’s replacement.

Lt. Gov. Morales connected to Oregon Sec. of State who ‘broke public trust’

New Mexicans robbed blind of millions in online dating scams

7 Comments / New Mexico, News / By Piñon Post

A recent analysis of FBI data shows that New Mexicans got swindled big time in 2022 from online dating scams, with stats showing the state saw a massive increase from the 2021 numbers.

The online investigative service Social Catfish, which compiled the figures, reported that nationwide, Americans were swindled out of $1.3 billion due to online dating scams, a 138 percent jump.

The report notes that it is “by far the largest this country has ever seen. Despite increased government warnings, pop culture shows like The Tinder Swindler — which aired last year on Netflix — and increased public awareness, romance scams continue to leave an unprecedented number of Americans broke and heartbroken.”

New Mexico ranked 25th-highest for money lost from romance scams last year, totaling $7.2 million with 128 victims, a big jump from the state formerly being ranked 42nd in 2021.

Residents of the Land of Enchantment were ranked third for the most money lost per victim, totaling an average of $57,001.00 each.

It also had the second-highest jump year over year at 268.7 percent, only being beaten by the state of Arkansas, which saw a mind-boggling 398.1 increase.

“One way to recognize that you are dealing with a romance scammer is not only if they ask you for money, but what form of payment they request. Nearly 35% of all money lost to romance scams in 2022 were sent in using cryptocurrency. However, the most common form of payment requested by scammers is gift cards.”

According to the report, the number of reported losses was 34 percent from cryptocurrencies, 27 percent from bank wire transfers, seven percent from gift cards, three percent from payment apps, and 28 percent from all other forms of currency transfers.

A Social Catfish poll showed 75 percent of victims are college educated, 84 percent are middle-class or low-income, 10 percent of victims losing more than $100,000, and four percent losing more than $200,000.

Read more about the Social Catfish report and how you can avoid scams here.

Lt. Gov. Morales connected to Oregon Sec. of State who ‘broke public trust’

8 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By Piñon Post

Oregon Public Broadcasting recently reported that Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan was quitting her lucrative second job as a “consultant” for Veriede Holding, LLC, an affiliate of a marijuana dispensary called La Mota, after it was found she “broke public trust by agreeing to work for a cannabis industry player — and political donor — that stood to gain from an audit the Secretary of State’s Office was carrying out.”

“Clearly, this contract raises questions,” she said. “Upon painful reflection, taking that contract was poor judgment, and for that, I am sorry.”

She offered details of how she obtained the contract from Rosa Cazares and Aaron Mitchell, who gave her the consulting gig after she told them she was going to take a job teaching at Willamette University to supplement her $77,000 secretary of state salary.

“I’m starting over financially after a divorce. I have two young kids. I have student loans and other bills. I’m a renter in the expensive Portland metro area, and I’m the sole income earner in my household,” she said.

“Rosa mentioned that her company was looking to expand outside of Oregon and looking for contractors to do research on the industry and U.S. states and territories,” wrote Fagan, adding, “This opportunity interested me because it was something I was highly qualified to do.”

Fagan claimed to have spent 15 hours per week working on the New Mexico contract, describing it as tedious research.

NM county clerk seeks technician to handle Dominion voting machines

7 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By Piñon Post

A new job posted last week on GovernmentJobs.com from Democrat Sandoval County Clerk Anne Brady-Romero’s office seeks a voting machine technician who will be trained in “certifying, calibrating, and maintaining the County voting machines (ICE) and (ICC) scanners.”

The job, which is salaried at $32,136 annually, lists the requirement of a GED and “six months of office clerical and data processing experience that includes experience with data entry and retrieval and working with and troubleshooting automated program equipment.”

It further notes, “State of New Mexico Certification of Dominion Image Cast Evolution (ICE) & Image Cast Central (ICC) Voter Assist Terminal required within a specified period of time following hire.”

“Programs, certifies, seals and maintains the County Image Cast Evolution (ICE) tabulator voting machines including running pre-printed Test Decks to verify scanners read ballots correctly in all four orientations; calibrates the machines for time, date, and battery status year round; performs preventative maintenance on voting machines including verification of door, key, panel, and wheel operations; provides voter assistance including inserting blank test decks; manually selecting voting positions to verify selections were marked correctly in all four orientations; maintaining ink cartridges; and using required clean sheet for upper and lower scanners,” are among the other duties required.

Qualified applicants will assist the Bureau of Elections staff “with answering phones, printing ballots, stuffing ballots in packets for mailing; printing labels, entering voter registrations in the Secretary of State voter registration system; auditing and filing of current, changed, [canceled], or deceased ID verifications; daily balancing during early voting; assists with qualifying and disqualifying Provisional and Replacement Absentee Ballots; canvasses election results for certification of election; helps scan returned ballots; assist in recount and recheck; runner for absentee ballots; and assist in election school and training election poll officials on ICE.”

The person will assist “in site visits to ensure internet connection; ADA compliance; parking and capacity of poll location” while verifying “all voting materials associated with elections including absentee, early voting, and Election Day; assembles packets associated with absentee voting; stuffs ballot boxes with State required materials for early and Election Day operations.” There are other duties listed in the description.

According to the job posting, it doesn’t appear that any security checks are mandatory for the position. The post indicates that the deadline for applicants to apply is May 10, 2023.

The job application website for the position is linked here. An archived version of the website, if it is removed, is linked here.

According to a previous listing of Sandoval County salaries for the 2019-2020 fiscal year, a person employed at the County under the job title “certified voting machine technician” received a salary of $37,706.66. That person was first hired by the County on July 10, 2006, as reported by Sandoval County.

Despite claims by people such as Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver insisting voting machines do not connect to the internet, NBC News reported in 2020, “The three largest voting manufacturing companies — Election Systems &Software, Dominion Voting Systems and Hart InterCivic — have acknowledged they all put modems in some of their tabulators and scanners. The reason? So that unofficial election results can more quickly be relayed to the public. Those modems connect to cell phone networks, which, in turn, are connected to the internet.”

However, Toulouse Oliver insists, “Our air-gapped counting systems ensure that vote tabulators are never connected to the Internet.”

Dem legislator threatened Edgewood funding over pro-life ordinance

13 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By Piñon Post

On Wednesday morning, the Town of Edgewood passed an ordinance to ensure compliance with the federal Comstock Act, which prohibits the illicit transport of “abortion pills” or “abortion-related paraphernalia.”

During a meeting, state Rep. Matthew McQueen (D-Galisteo) threatened to yank funding from the Town of Edgewood if it passed the pro-life ordinance, according to attendees present and members of the public.

“I’m just going to have to reconsider how I allocate my capital outlay,” said McQueen, referring to funds legislators have for projects in their districts. In 2023, each legislator got $2,510,000 to spend.

Edgewood Commissioner Ken Brennan of District One clapped back at the lawmaker, “Is that a threat?”

McQueen responded, “Well if you want to take it that way.”

The Democrat lawmaker is also reported to have said, “I have 30,000 constituents, and Edgewood is insignificant.”

Present at the meeting were Mayor Audrey Jaramillo, Commissioners Jerry Powers, Filandro R. Anaya, Ken Brennan, Sterling Donner, state Rep. Stefani Lord (R-Sandia Park), and others.

Among McQueen’s capital outlay requests for 2023 were four projects in Edgewood, with one project funded $500,000. That project was to revamp recreational facilities at Venus Park.

During the consideration of the ordinance, Rep. Andrea Romero (D-Santa Fe) testified in opposition to its passage, while pro-life Reps. Lord and John Block (R-Alamogordo) and Sen. David Gallegos (R-Eunice) testified in support. McQueen left the meeting before public comment.

The Town Commission passed the ordinance early Wednesday morning by a 4-1 vote, with Commissioner Anaya being the only vote against it. Edgewood’s move comes after other pro-life localities, including the Cities of Eunice, Hobbs, and Clovis, also passed similar ordinances.

Because the ordinance is based on federal laws and not state laws, it supersedes recent legislation, including H.B. 7, attempting to ban localities from regulating abortion.

In New Mexico, abortion is legal up to the date of birth without exceptions.

Rep. McQueen did not respond to a Friday request for comment. We afforded him the entire weekend to respond, but he has not yet since reached out to comment on the matter.

Edgewood passes pro-life ordinance, dealing blow to pro-abortion leftists

$3 million winning lottery ticket sold in New Mexico

Leave a Comment / New Mexico, News / By Piñon Post

Friday’s winning $3 million Mega Millions lottery ticket was sold in New Mexico.

NorthJersey.com reported, “One ticket sold in New Mexico matched all five white balls and had the Megaplier to win $3 million.”

The winning numbers for Friday’s drawing are 18 – 38 – 53 – 62 – 64 and Megaball 20. The Megaplier was 3x.

“The odds of matching all five numbers and the Mega number are 1 in 302,575,350, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association. The overall chance of winning a prize is 1 in 24,” reported City News Service.

In New Mexico, the lottery winner has 90 days from the date of the announcement to claim the prize.

The next Mega Millions drawing is Tuesday. The drawings occur every Tuesday and Friday at 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

In New Mexico, the lottery winner cannot remain anonymous. A bill sponsored in the 2023 Legislative Session, S.B. 198, by Sen. Pat Woods (R-Broadview), proposed letting lottery winners remain anonymous to claim their prize.

It read that the New Mexico Tax and Revenue Department “shall not disclose a connection between a winner of a lottery game and information about the winner the department is required to reveal.”

The bill passed unanimously in the state Senate but did not reach the finish line in the New Mexico House due to running out of time for consideration during the 60-day session.

Currently, 13 states allow some form of anonymity for lottery winners, with Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, and Wyoming allowing total anonymity regardless of the size of the prize, according to Lotto America.

The usual suspects emerge to oppose NM pro-life sanctuary cities

3 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By Piñon Post

Like clockwork, outside dark money groups, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains are seeking to get involved in attacking pro-life sanctuary cities.

The groups, which are bankrolled by hundreds of millions in donations from billionaires, such as George Soros, are planning on submitting briefs in a state Supreme Court case filed by pro-abortion Democrat Attorney General Raúl Torrez attempting to strike down six pro-life sanctuaries in Clovis, Hobbs, Eunice and Edgewood and Lea and Roosevelt counties.

The Albuquerque Journal reported, “The ACLU and Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains both alerted the state Supreme Court this week they plan to file briefs in the case, which was brought by Attorney General Raúl Torrez’s office and has emerged as a key test to local governments’ ability to restrict access to abortion services.”

The ACLU’s attorney, Ellie Rushforth, said the stakes “could not be higher” in the case and said abortionists would “leave for fear of litigation and civil and criminal penalties.”

“Meanwhile, attorneys for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains said in their notice of intent that other groups would join them in filing a so-called amicus brief with the court. Those groups include the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, a Washington D.C.-based professional membership group, and Bold Futures New Mexico, which has advocated for access to abortion services.”

The pro-abortion groups have for years threatened localities with litigation over pro-life stances, from resolutions to ordinances. Last year when the City of Alamogordo passed a pro-life resolution, the ACLU sent a hostage letter, threatening litigation if the City was to enforce it. Despite the threats, the City passed it, and it remains intact after a failed referendum attempt that fell short.

The ordinances passed by the six localities all are based upon the federal Comstock Act, which supersedes state statutes far-left Democrats have passed, such as 2023’s H.B. 7, attempting to circumvent local control of abortion.

The New Mexico Supreme Court is set to rule on the matter in May.

MLG, AG Torrez furious after Edgewood passes pro-life sanctuary ordinance

KOB poll on financial literacy delivers shocking results

11 Comments / New Mexico, News / By Piñon Post

A poll run by KOB 4 asked viewers, “Should NM schools require students to take financial literacy classes?” as its question of the day.

As of 3:54 p.m. on Thursday, the poll showed that a shocking 96 percent of respondents support mandatory financial literacy classes in schools, with only four percent opposing it.

Screenshot via KOB 4 of financial literacy poll taken 3:45 p.m. on April 27, 2023.

The massive level of support from across the spectrum is another affirmation of financial literacy’s necessity in New Mexico classrooms.

During the 2023 Legislative Session, Republican and Democrat legislators in both the New Mexico House of Representatives and Senate unsuccessfully proposed mandatory financial literacy classes in state K-12 schools.

H.B. 279 from Rep. Cathrynn Brown (R-Carlsbad) would have required financial literacy to be a prerequisite for high school graduation. S.B. 341 from Sen. Moe Maestas (D-Albuquerque) stated that “[p]ersonal finance shall be offered as an elective.” However, those bills did not make it through.

According to the latest scientific nationwide poll done by the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) in late 2022 found that only 44 percent of adult Americans “feel confident making financial decisions because they had prior knowledge. In addition, 40% of adults feel confident because they had made and learned from a similar decision in the past.”

The low confidence number nationwide is alarming and calls on the need for mandatory financial literacy since the same poll also found that 88 percent of respondents say their state should require a semester or year-long financial education course for graduation.

“Some states already require students to take a financial education course, and some states are in the process of instituting this curriculum. Americans overwhelmingly agree that learning money skills at an early age is important. In fact, 80% of American adults wish they had been required to take a semester- or year-long financial education class in high school,” said Billy Hensley, Ph.D., president and CEO of NEFE. “This polling reinforces the national support for personal finance to be a part of learning in all schools.”

In future legislative sessions, the strong support for financial literacy in New Mexico and nationwide may drive a renewed push for legislation to ensure this is a requirement of New Mexico public school graduates.

« PREVIOUS PAGE 1 … 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 … 65 NEXT PAGE »