New Mexico

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

9 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

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

Governor accuses schools of ‘exploiting’ funds as ‘free’ college program backfires

10 Comments / New Mexico, News, Opinion, Politics / By

After incentivizing New Mexico public colleges to raise tuition rates by subsidizing taxpayer-funded “free” college to the tune of $146 million this year, Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s administration is now complaining about tuition hikes.

Last year, New Mexico State University announced an annual four percent increase in tuition, while the University of New Mexico hiked tuition rates by three percentage points. Western New Mexico University increased its tuition and fees by eight percent, while Eastern New Mexico University’s tuition remains flat. 

Lujan Grisham’s Higher Education Secretary Stephanie Rodriguez urged college regents and trustees “to keep tuition flat this year in the best interest of students and taxpayers. We are witnessing enrollment increases for the first time in over a decade and substantial investments in higher education compared to the rest of the country.” 

“These historic investments are meant to directly benefit students by funding their education and reducing the portion of operational costs passed along to students, not an opportunity to exploit state funding to increase college and university revenues through more tuition and fees.”

This year’s budget passed during the 2023 Legislative Session was a 94.7 percent increase from last year’s $75 million, essentially no strings attached, spending on “free” college programs. 

Gov. Lujan Grisham speaking at the Roundhouse about the Opportunity Scholarship (taxpayer-funded ‘free’ college).

The increases in tuition costs by state universities can be directly correlated to the increase in state funds they are getting through the so-called Opportunity Scholarship. The colleges are very much “exploiting” state funding, as Rodriguez claimed, because there are no safeguards in the Democrat legislation that would cap funding or subsidize only certain fields of study needed in the job market. 

Now, a New Mexico student could get their entire useless “gender studies” degree entirely paid for by the state’s taxpayers despite its ineffectuality.

If the state will pay for even more of the cost of tuition, then it is in the colleges’ best financial interest to raise rates since that would mean more money coming to the institutions on the backs of taxpayers. 

As the state continues its costly multi-million-dollar experiment to fully subsidize state college costs for all residents (without any income caps or requirements, students are in the country legally), the price of a New Mexico degree will be even higher. 

This comes as New Mexico graduates leave the state in droves, now along with their 100 percent taxpayer-funded degrees — another lost investment by the state’s taxpayers. 

New Mexico’s K-12 educational programs remain the lowest in the nation.

WATCH: GOP senator shuts Deb Haaland down after outrageous comment

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On Tuesday, Biden’s U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland, testified before the U.S. Senate Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, where she was pressed on her decision to shutter a Minnesota critical mineral mine, claiming there are too many jobs available to justify closing it down.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) said, “Your decision to trade off our energy security in favor of a radical climate change agenda is making us more and more dependent on China. And, at the same time, you are blocking permits for mines in this country.”

“The jobs for blue-collar workers in this nation are valuable resources. The livelihood and well-being of American families are valuable resources. The ability of America to have our own industry and not be dependent on China is a valuable resource. Why should those things for millions of Americans be sacrificed in favor of your agenda for radical climate change?”

Haaland then claimed there were more jobs than applicants, telling Hawley, “Senator, I know that there’s like 1.9 jobs for every American in the country right now. So, I know there’s a lot of jobs.”

Hawley clapped back, “Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. You’re telling me we’ve got too many jobs in the country?”

The Interior secretary responded, “Well, I’m saying that we don’t have enough people. That’s why we are having a hard time finding folks to work at our department.”

The U.S. Department of Labor shows that there are currently 9.6 million job openings in the United States.

Hawley concluded, “​They are blue-collar workers. And you’re sitting here and telling me that we have too many jobs in this country. Are you serious?” He added, “I want to take the strongest possible exception to that comment and that entire mentality which I think is very honest. I think it reflects the mentality of your administration, which is when it comes to blue-collar workers in this country, ‘you’re on your own. Good luck.’”

WATCH:

Transgender cyclist wins major New Mexico tournament

16 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

Over the weekend, transgender cyclist Austin Killips competed in the women’s Tour of the Gila tournament, a major Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)-sanctioned competition in Silver City, New Mexico. 

UCI is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland.

Killips, sponsored by the Amy D Foundation, ultimately won the race, beating all biological women in the tournament to claim the “queen of the mountains polka dot jersey” and a $35,000 prize. 

According to a press release from Tour of the Gila, “But it was all eyes on the overall race lead, in which only 10 seconds separated leader Killips from Emily Ehrlich (Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24) and Ehrlich’s third stage race win of the year. But Killips put the kibosh on any triple crown for TWENTY24,” referring to the other two competitors’ sponsor. 

“We really wanted to get into a break,” Julie Kuliecza, the team director of Killips’ sponsor – Amy D Foundation – said afterward to Cycling News. “We thought that there was going to be something that would go right after the second sprint point, and we wanted a rider in that break so that when Austin and the other GC riders came up to it, Austin would have someone to help them and protect them, and it worked out perfectly.”

As Fox News reported, “Killips was also the subject of controversy at the UCI Cyclocross National Championships in December 2022, when she was accused of pushing another competitor off course. Killips denied making the move in a statement to the Los Angeles Blade.” 

Watch the video here: 

“In my book, athletes like Austin Killips are thieves – yet those whose prizes they take are being forced to maintain this mortifying charade,” wrote Allison Pearson of The Telegraph after Killips’ win.

Killips’ presence in women’s competitive cycling pushed cyclist Hannah Arensman, just 25, to quit the sport, saying his presence in the competition was an “unfair advantage.” 

Arensman said, “I have decided to end my cycling career. At my last race at the recent UCI Cyclocross National Championships in the elite women’s category in December 2022, I came in 4th place, flanked on either side by male riders awarded 3rd and 5th places. My sister and family sobbed as they watched a man finish in front of me, having witnessed several physical interactions with him throughout the race.”

“Additionally, it is difficult for me to think about the very real possibility I was overlooked for an international selection on the US team at Cyclocross Worlds in February 2023 because of a male competitor,” she concluded.

New Mexicans robbed blind of millions in online dating scams

7 Comments / New Mexico, News / By

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’

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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.”

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,” the 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,” the report concluded. 

Hobbs woman who chucked newborn in dumpster receives sentence

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On Monday, Alexis Avila, 19, of Hobbs, was sentenced after she was found guilty of abuse of a child relating to great bodily harm and attempted murder in the first degree after she chucked her newborn baby into a dumpster and left him to die in 2022.

Fortunately, three people dug through the dumpster to find him, and he was rushed to the hospital in Lubbock, Texas. Baby Saul is “happy and healthy today living with family,” according to reports. 

“Officers with the Hobbs Police Department were called to an alley way in the Broadmoor Shopping Center after three people who had been digging through a dumpster found the hours old boy in a trash bag, alive, and with his umbilical cord still attached but crudely cut,” according to YourBasin.com. 

“Medical staff testified that the newborn suffered from hypothermia, severe anemia, and kidney problem, among other issues after being abandoned and left in 40 degree temperatures for more than six hours.”

Once police found Avila, she admitted she gave birth at home and abandoned the child, claiming to be too young to take care of him.

Avila was sentenced to the maximum mandatory 18 years in prison, suspending two years of the punishment due to mental health concerns.

“You’ve given yourself a life sentence of knowing what you did with your child,” Judge William Shoobridge told Avila. “And you’ve also given your son that same life sentence, and that is probably something that is as hard to deal with as any length of time that you may have in prison.”

“New Mexico lawmakers in 2022 approved a bill to expand the state’s Safe Haven Program and provide funds to build one baby box for every county where an infant can be left. Española has a box and Hobbs will be celebrating the installation of a box in that community next week,” according to the Associated Press.

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NM county clerk seeks technician to handle Dominion voting machines

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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.” 

MLG flaunts opulence with $368 per plate catered meals at the gov’s mansion

10 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is at it again with lavish spending on catering at the governor’s mansion.

According to a report from the Santa Fe New Mexican, Lujan Grisham blew $7,336 in taxpayer money on food, labor, bar supplies, and glass rentals provided by the Santa Fe-based Adobo Catering for a January 18 legislative event, which was one of the less-extravagant gatherings she hosted, presumed for the 112 legislators and one of their guests (coming out to $32.75 per plate if 224 people attended). However, some legislators did not attend, many being Republicans.

A catered event for seven people in January with Sandia Pueblo Gov. Stuart Paisano cost a whopping $2,582, coming out to $368.85 per plate. 

Three other dinners, some with former staffers, her Public Safety Secretary Jason Bowie, and state Sen. Michael Padilla (D-Albuquerque) cost a combined $2,200. 

A February breakfast for freshman legislators cost $1,679, totaling $104.93 per plate, if all 16 legislators attended (or were invited). One Republican freshman legislator told the Piñon Post they never recalled receiving an invitation, so it may have only been for the Democrat freshmen. In that case, the cost of the nine freshmen, including appointed Rep. Art De La Cruz (D-Albuquerque) and returning Rep. Joseph Sanchez (D-Alcalde), would be $167.90 per plate, including the governor.

“While there were a few purchases of wine, none of the expenses is likely to ignite any outrage,” the report noted. Alcohol purchases with taxpayer dollars are prohibited. 

Lujan Grisham’s spokeswoman Maddy Hayden defended the opulent spending, claiming, “The governor does not take her duty as a steward of taxpayer funding lightly.”

The governor previously came under fire for wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars used for $200-per-pound Wagyu beef steaks, ahi tuna, and expensive wines and liquors, all totaling up to around $13,500. This all happened while New Mexicans were forced to stand in long breadlines at grocery stores due to Gov. Lujan Grisham’s restrictive public health orders. 

As we exclusively reported in December 2021: 

According to the documents obtained in the IPRA, the taxpayers paid Abobo Catering $1,057.27 for a party, totaling over $150 for each person’s expensive meal.

The menu included “[s]ous vide and butter-basted beef tenderloin with roasted vegetable Napoleon and rosemary red wine demiglace.” Dessert included a “chocolate pear tartlet with hazelnut crisp.” According to the memo, the bar, bar supplies, and “dinner wine” were provided by the “client,” i.e., possibly the taxpayers in another form.

Dem legislator threatened Edgewood funding over pro-life ordinance

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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
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