New Mexico Archives - Page 78 of 222

Hobbs woman who chucked newborn in dumpster receives sentence

7 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By John Block

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.

Hobbs woman who chucked newborn in dumpster receives sentence Read More »

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.”

NM county clerk seeks technician to handle Dominion voting machines Read More »

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

10 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By Renato Costa

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.

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

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

Dem legislator threatened Edgewood funding over pro-life ordinance Read More »

Pastor takes legal action after county commission blocks Nat’l Day of Prayer

24 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By John Block

Last Tuesday, the Doña Ana County Commission voted 4-1 to ban the National Day of Prayer from being held at the County Government Building. Commissioner Christopher Schaljo-Hernandez brought the motion forward.

After the move by the Commission, Pastor Gene Pettit filed a request for an injunction in the U.S. District Court for the District of Las Cruces against asserting that the Doña Ana County Commission had violated the Constitution of the United States by denying “the right of the people to peaceably assemble” and by restricting the free exercise of religion on public property.

It also claims the Doña Ana County Commission has violated the 11th Amendment by infringing on the people’s “sovereign immunity.”

According to the group, “The National Day of Prayer is an annual observance designated by the United States Congress. Since 1952, the President of the United States has been required by law to sign a yearly proclamation encouraging all Americans to pray on this day. The National Day of Prayer has been held at the Doña Ana County Government Building every year since 2015 (with the exception of 2 years during COVID).”

Pettit wrote regarding the injunction, “The County Commission is infringing on the rights of the people of Doña Ana County to peaceably assemble and to practice their religion. We have a right to assemble on taxpayer-funded County property for this observance. I filed this Injunction to assert the rights of the people of Doña Ana County. Our National Day of Prayer event will still happen just as it has for many years prior. As written in Hosea 4:6 – ‘My people perish for lack of knowledge.’”

The National Day of Prayer event is scheduled to proceed on May 4, 2023, from 10:00 am to noon at the Doña Ana County Government Building located at 845 N. Motel Blvd., Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Contact information for the commissioners who voted to disallow the event is as follows:

Christopher Schaljo-Hernandez – schaljohernandez@donaanacounty.org – (575) 525-5808 (This is the Commissioner who made the motion to amend the Proclamation to disallow this event on County property. He also is the ONLY one who voted against the National Day of Prayer Proclamation even once it was amended.)

Diana Murillo – dmurillo@donaanacounty.org – (575) 525-5804
Shannon Reynolds – sreynolds@donaanacounty.org – (575) 525-5807
Manuel Sanchez – msanchez@donaanacounty.org – (575) 525-5809

Chair Susana Chaparro was the one commissioner to oppose Schaljo-Hernandez’s motion.

Pastor takes legal action after county commission blocks Nat’l Day of Prayer Read More »

$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.

$3 million winning lottery ticket sold in New Mexico Read More »

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

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

Columnist calls Sanger a ‘hero’ despite her mission to decimate Black population

8 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By John Block

A Friday column by Milan Simonich that appeared in the Santa Fe New Mexican praised racist Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger, a supporter of eugenics, who called for the extermination of the Black population.

Simonich, in attacking the Edgewood Town Commission, which passed a pro-life ordinance on Tuesday based on the federal Comstock Act, praised Sanger as a “hero,” writing:

The Comstock Act was weakened and then rendered toothless through a series of court rulings. The long fight had a hero.
Margaret Sanger, mother of three and a nurse in Brooklyn, opened the country’s first birth-control clinic in 1916. Sanger the next year served 30 days in jail for violating the Comstock Act.

*Margaret Sanger’s arrest at Brownsville Clinic for violating the Comstock Act via Wikimedia Commons.*

She said in a December 10, 1939 letter, “We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population.”

Even Planned Parenthood rebuked Sanger, writing in 2021, “The difficult truth is that Margaret Sanger’s racist alliances and belief in eugenics have caused irreparable damage to the health and lives of Black people, Indigenous people, people of color, people with disabilities, immigrants, and many others. Her alignment with the eugenics movement, rooted in white supremacy, is in direct opposition to our mission and belief that all people should have the right to determine their own future and decide, without coercion or judgement, whether and when to have children.”

Alexis McGill Johnson, the president and chief executive of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, wrote in the New York Times, “Sanger spoke to the women’s auxiliary of the Ku Klux Klan at a rally in New Jersey to generate support for birth control. And even though she eventually distanced herself from the eugenics movement because of its hard turn to explicit racism, she endorsed the Supreme Court’s 1927 decision in Buck v. Bell, which allowed states to sterilize people deemed “unfit” without their consent and sometimes without their knowledge — a ruling that led to the sterilization of tens of thousands of people in the 20th century.”

McGill Johnson concluded, “Margaret Sanger harmed generations with her beliefs.”

However, Simonich is now propping up Sanger as a hero, despite her ties to the KKK, support for eugenics, and racism against Black people and those with disabilities.

Columnist calls Sanger a ‘hero’ despite her mission to decimate Black population Read More »

New Mexico’s 4/20 pot sales grew like a weed

8 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By Renato Costa

On April 20, marijuana smokers, dispensaries, and advocates celebrated the “420” holiday that praises the consumption of pot. In New Mexico, the formerly contraband drug was legalized beginning on April 1, 2022.

In 2022, New Mexico pot sales on the unofficial stoner holiday hit $1.12 million, according to Albuquerque Business First. However, in 2023, those numbers grew exponentially.

New Mexico sales of marijuana on April 20, 2023, rose 86 percent from last year to hit $2.82 million.

“This year’s 4/20 average transaction total was $50.28, up from the March average of $44.60. Hobbs recorded the highest average transaction size at $94.96,” reported the outlet.

The sales increase may also have something to do with the jump in dispensaries in the state, with 1,421 retail licenses in 69 towns in 2023 versus 681 stores operating in 37 towns in 2023.

The massive jump in sales also meant a 124.72 percent jump in transactions from last year to now, with 22,402 transactions in 2022 versus 50,342 transactions in 2023.

Software company Akerna noted that nationwide, 420 pot sales ballooned to $154.4 million in 2022, with that number rising to over $192 million in 2023, according to Cova.

New Mexico’s 4/20 pot sales grew like a weed Read More »

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.

KOB poll on financial literacy delivers shocking results Read More »