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More heartbreaking stats reveal big issues with CYFD: LFC report

8 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

New Mexico’s Children, Youth, and Families Department (CYFD) has been heavily scrutinized for the constant failures in the Department to protect children overseen and in the care of the state.

With no oversight mechanisms in place at CYFD, many children have tragically died or been harmed while in the system. 

A Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) release recently reported by the Albuquerque Journal shows more damning information about CYFD’s failures.

The Journal writes, “More than 40% of children in New Mexico who had a substantiated serious injury from physical abuse or neglect in fiscal year 2022 came from families who had a prior involvement with the state’s Children, Youth and Families Department in the preceding 12 months, according to new state data.”

The LFC report notes that CYFD “continues to underperform on targets for repeat maltreatment, maltreatment of foster care children, and serious injuries after protective services involvement.”

“New Mexico’s rates for repeat maltreatment are among the worst in the nation,” it continues.

Kicking the can down the road and attempting to remain blameless, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s CYFD Secretary Barbara Vigil said of the report, “Our underperformance is a condition of systemic challenges that have manifested over many years.”

The LFC added in the report, “Prevention and early intervention is key to reducing repeat child maltreatment.”

One of the assessments from CYFD’s release noted, “A recent CYFD workforce development plan and survey noted that protective services staff ranked workload, self-care, and compensation as the most pressing challenges facing staff. Another highly ranked challenge was related to organizational factors with many respondents feeling that rules, policies, and procedures are not interpreted and applied consistently.” 

It is unclear in upcoming legislative sessions if there will be meaningful reform made to CYFD. Previous oversight measures carried by Republicans and passed by wide margins have repeatedly failed to pass — leaving children at continued risk due to heavy staff workload, lack of accountability and performance metrics of the department set far too low.

More heartbreaking stats reveal big issues with CYFD: LFC report Read More »

Martinez Johnson releases her first TV ad buy in Third District

4 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

Republican nominee for Congress in the Third District, Alexis Martinez Johnson, unveiled her first television ad in the General Election called “My Abuelos.” 

The 30-second ad was announced as a “significant ad buy” from the campaign, which hopes to unseat vulnerable first-term Democrat Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez.

“Our ad, ‘My Abuelos,’ really goes back to the beginning for me,” Martinez Johnson said in a statement exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital. “It all began with my abuelos in Roswell. We didn’t have much, but I was raised with the values of hard work and self-determination. This spurred me on to eventually graduate college as an environmental engineer. However, with skyrocketing inflation, an unsecure border, and high gas prices, opportunity is further out of reach for New Mexicans than ever before.”

“My abuelos raised me. My grandfather spent his days digging ditches to put food on the table. From there, I worked hard and graduated from college. My abuelos were staunch Democrats. They believed in hard work and self-determination,” she says in the ad, with photos showing her with her family dancing at her wedding and other images from her childhood.

“Today’s Democratic Party has left those values behind,” Martinez Johnson says. “Inflation, gas prices, crime waves — Biden and Teresa Leger Fernandez are setting us back. I’m Alexis Martinez Johnson, and I approve this message because our families deserve so much better.”

WATCH:

Leger Fernandez is endorsed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), having an event with her on Monday.

In her previous run for Congress, Leger Fernandez had the backing of the socialist Working Families Party and socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). The Third District is now much more competitive after Democrats in the state legislature gerrymandered the seats to attempt to boot GOP Rep. Yvette Herrell of the Second District out of her more conservative seat.

Martinez Johnson releases her first TV ad buy in Third District Read More »

Gabe Vasquez outed as cowardly cop hater

13 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

A new report from the Washington Free Beacon exposes Democrat congressional nominee Gabe Vasquez in New Mexico’s Second District for his cowardly anti-cop comments during the Black Lives Matter/Antifa unrest in 2020.

The report notes, “During a June 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Las Cruces, N.M., a local reporter interviewed one attendee who furiously expressed his desire to defund police. ‘We need serious police reform in this country,’ the man said over chants of ‘no justice, no peace.’ ‘It’s not just about defunding police, it’s about defunding a system that privileges white people over everyone else.’ While the interviewee—who shielded much of his face in a hat, neck gaiter, and sunglasses—identified himself as ‘James Hall,’ a ‘Las Cruces resident,’ the facial features he did show bore a curious resemblance to then-city council member Gabe Vasquez.” 

“That’s because the interviewee was, in fact, Vasquez, a former city official who monitored the protest told the Free Beacon. Contemporaneous evidence reviewed by the Free Beacon, meanwhile, supports the assertion. Vasquez tweeted live from the event on June 6, 2020, sharing first-person photos accompanied with the hashtags ‘BlackLivesMattters [sic]’ and ‘Las Cruces.’ Six months later, Vasquez shared a photo that showed him sporting the same distinct, teal-and-orange neck gaiter he wore in the interview.” 

Vasquez “quietly” deleted all the evidence tying him to the cop-hating, police-defunding comments made under a false name. 

The Democrat, who is aiming to unseat GOP Congresswoman Yvette Herrell, did not return the Free Beacon’s request for comment for obvious reasons.

Vasquez, who has often lobbed inflammatory rhetoric toward Herrell, erroneously calling her an “extremist,” has proven to be an extremist himself due to his previous radical statements calling America “AmeriKKKa.” 

As we previously reported: 

​​In June, during the George Floyd protests, Vasquez once again claimed the United States is systemically racist and the “systems” (referring to police) are “built on oppression. He wrote, “Black lives matter. Until we deconstruct and rebuild the systems of oppression that keep black people in perpetual harm, justice will not be served. That includes law enforcement, the economy, and the disgusting wealth inequality that keeps white rich men in power.” 

Vasquez’s campaign is heavily funded by the likes of Nancy Pelosi, other leftist members of Congress, and even DUI-charged state Rep. Georgene Lous, who is retiring due to the politically cancerous scandal.

Trump-hating socialist who thinks America is a racist country running in CD-2
FEC reports: Pelosi, disgraced state Rep. Georgene Louis donate big to Vasquez

Gabe Vasquez outed as cowardly cop hater Read More »

ABQ passes grim homicide milestone

6 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

In Democrat Mayor Tim Keller’s crime-ridden Albuquerque, Keller’s Police Chief Harold Medina confirmed to KOB 4 that Sunday’s homicide near Kathryn and Palomas NE was the city’s 100th this year — a grim milestone for the city. 

With over three months until the end of the year, Albuquerque is on track to surpass last year’s historic high of 117 killings within city limits, making 2022 likely the deadliest year on record in Democrat-run Albuquerque.

KOB’s Giuli Frendak wrote that Medina “doesn’t see the rate slowing down, and we could surpass last year’s number.” 

The tragic news of Sunday’s homicide came after Calvary Church security guard, 61-year-old Daniel Bourne, was killed Friday by 35-year-old suspected murderer Marc Ward. 

KOAT 13 reported, “A spokesperson with APD says Bourne noticed a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot, and notified his supervisor around 9 pm Friday. Bourne then took photos of the vehicle and sent them to the supervisor. Later, the supervisor went to the church to check on Bourne, when he found him in a nearby arroyo.” 

Ward was taken into custody after officers found the victim on the 4000 block of Osuna Rd. NE. He has three previous charges of domestic violence, two charges of aggravated battery, and charges of criminal sexual contact with a minor — specifically a minor under the age of 13. With New Mexico’s lax laws, dangerous criminals like Ward remain on the street and out of jail.

ABQ passes grim homicide milestone Read More »

NM utilities forced to buy out-of-state power, beg customers to ration usage

16 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

New Mexico’s Green New Deal (Energy Transition Act) is continuing to harm New Mexico by creating a vast power shortage. Utilities are buckling for a full-blown power catastrophe next summer as they are forced to “transition” to solar and other “renewable” energy sources. 

During a special Public Regulation Commission meeting Thursday, Public Service Co. of New Mexico (PNM) said it is being forced to PNM executives said the utility will fill “quite a hole” next summer due to “green” replacements taking longer to materialize as the San Juan Generating Station is set to close next week.

According to PNM spokesman Ray Sandoval, PNM “generally has a 2,000-megawatt system with about 500 megawatts provided by the San Juan Generating Station.” 

With the closure of the San Juan Generating Station, it has purged countless jobs, with only around 80 employees able to retire. “For the rest of the employees, though, they’re going to have to go find some other form of employment,” said plant manager Omni Warner. 

The AP reports, “El Paso Electric, a utility that serves customers in southern New Mexico, also is expecting a capacity gap next summer. Like PNM, El Paso Electric will have to buy power from other producers to ensure adequate capacity when customers crank up their air conditioners during the hottest of days.”

The report continues, “PNM officials said they have revamped their plans for alerting customers when it looks like demand will outpace capacity and rolling outages might ensue. The media blitz will include automated calls, television and radio commercials along with social media posts that urge customers to cut back on their use. A special website would go live for tracking outages.”

As for the other effects of New Mexico’s Green New Deal, other than brownouts and lost jobs, electric utilities, including XCEL Energy, are asking to raise rates on their customers because of the Energy Transition Act, passing off large costs back to the consumers.

Eco-leftist company Avangrid continues its attempts to buy out PNM, but its previous attempts have failed at the Public Regulation Commission. However, the takeover remains “very much alive,” especially if far-left Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham gets a second term. Via constitutional amendment, voters gave the governor sole authority to appoint members of the PRC. Lujan Grisham has big campaign donations from the out-of-country company, among other connections. 

As we previously reported:

It is unclear why anyone lobbied the governor by financing the trip or how much New Mexicans paid for her non-publicized private trip abroad. However, the New Mexico taxpayers paid for her security while she was in Spain.

It is also unclear if there were any joiners on the trip other than her staff and security agents. Could the Governor’s close friend and former business partner New Mexico Rep. Debbie Armstrong have joined the trip as well? 

The documents obtained through the IPRA show receipts from Madrid and Gran Canaria, the pay stub to Lt. Gov Morales, showing he was acting in Luajn Grusham’s stead, as well as the Governor’s calendar showing she was gone throughIn 2015, PNM opened a wind farm in Cibola County, which appears to be the wind farm Gov. Lujan Grisham shot her 2018 “Turbine” ad, where she touted her “green energy” proposals while running for governor. AVANGRID has a wind farm called “El Cabo” in Torrence County.

NM utilities forced to buy out-of-state power, beg customers to ration usage Read More »

Dems cry ‘racism’ over mailer hitting them for voting to let pedos touch kids

12 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Thursday, Democrats freaked out over a mailer sent by the Republican Party of New Mexico hitting state Rep. Liz Thomson (D-Bernalillo) over her vote against an amendment to ban sex offenders from getting licenses and being able to cut children’s hair. 

The mailer features a photo of a boy getting his hair cut by a person who is filtered in grayscale reading, “Your state representative Elizabeth Thomson voted to allow convicted sex offenders to receive professional licenses for activities such as cutting hair or working as a nail technician — leaving unsuspecting women and children vulnerable to predators.”

It asks, “Do you want a sex offender cutting your or your child’s hair?”

On the other side, it shows a grayscale picture of Thomson with the words, “Rep. Thomson voted to let violent criminal offenders and sex offenders over the age of 65 out of prison.”

Instead of refuting the claims that Thomson voted against an amendment to ban pedophiles from cutting kids’ hair, the Democrats rolled out so-called “civil rights” activists to cry “racist” about the grayscale image.

“These images leave scars,” the Rev. Charles E. Becknell cried to the Santa Fe New Mexican, adding, “[W]e need to demonstrate to our fellow New Mexicans this is not acceptable.”

The socialist George Soros-funded group ProgressNow New Mexico claimed on Twitter, “What message are we supposed to take away from the @NewMexicoGOP intentionally darkening the skin of the stylist in this photo while having a (fully false) discourse about formally incarcerated people?” The group appeared to defend the convicted pedophiles as “formally incarcerated people.”

State Rep. Stefani Lord (R-Sandia Park) wrote, “The mailer shows a child who is afraid—and the whole background is black and white. You know what else is black and white? The FACT that the democrats voted to let pedophiles cut kids’ hair. I presented the amendment to stop sex offenders from touching your child, dems disagreed.”

The Piñon Post’s John Block wrote, “It’s great how the more people share pics of this mailer erroneously claiming it’s “racist,” the more people know how the Democrats voted to let sex offenders near kids. Also note how no Democrats are refuting that they voted against letting pedophiles near kids. Just saying…” 

The Republican Party of New Mexico shared a quote from New Mexico House GOP Whip Rod Montoya (R-Farmington), writing, “A shadowy, gray figure is not a racial category. What this mailer does depict is the danger in which Democrats voted to put our children. When we voted on this bill, Republicans offered an amendment to restrict sex offenders from being able to obtain professional licenses. The House Democrats voted against that amendment. Charges of racism are simply a smokescreen to distract attention from progressives’ voting records which put the interests of convicted criminals over the safety of law-abiding New Mexicans.”

Dems cry ‘racism’ over mailer hitting them for voting to let pedos touch kids Read More »

Ex-LANL scientists advanced Chinese military efforts: Report

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According to a new report by Strider Technologies, at least 154 Chinese ex-Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) scientists over the last two decades have helped advance Chinese military technology, creating a greater threat to the United States from within.

LANL is the U.S. Department of Energy’s premier research institution, with a mission “to solve national security challenges through simultaneous excellence.”

The report details how many of the scientists were “lured” back to China “to help make advances in such technologies as deep-earth-penetrating warheads, hypersonic missiles, quiet submarines and drones,” according to NBC News. 

“The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is employing a “Talent Superpower Strategy” (人才强国战略) designed to incentivize academics, researchers, and scientists to go abroad, deepen their expertise, and then work to advance China’s strategic interests. What began in the 1980s as policy to encourage young talent to go overseas and enhance their skill set has since evolved to include initiatives and programs that ultimately seek to exploit their efforts in vital technology sectors for China’s gain, whether they return to China or stay overseas,” the report details.

Many of the scientists were paid as much as $1 million for participating in the Chinese government-run “talent programs” that have long been identified as a source of concern to national security. 

The threat to national security is a chief concern in the report, which notes that close interactions between China’s People’s Liberation Army (PRC) universities and “the Ministry of State Security suggests that some postdoctoral researchers and visiting scholars are vetted by China’s security services before going abroad.19 While they do not have access to the most sensitive research at Los Alamos, they still pose risks of technology transfer and economic espionage. The Department of Energy (DOE) has acknowledged instances where researchers elsewhere have passed dual-use and export-controlled research to the PRC via visiting students and scholars.”

One shocking revelation from the report is that the PRC’s success, “along with support for China’s talent programs from Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary Xi Jinping and other top CCP leaders, suggest that similar recruitment efforts may be widespread among U.S. government-funded laboratories, academic research institutions, and major centers of innovation. Moreover, the Los Alamos case shows how China’s rapid advances in certain crucial military technologies are being aided by individuals who participated in sensitive U.S. government-funded research.”

With China becoming an increasingly hostile threat to the United States as Taiwan becomes part of the global spotlight, the gaping leaks in national security from LANL and other institutions appear to be significantly aiding Chinese military efforts.

EXCLUSIVE: Details from Gov. Lujan Grisham’s ‘private meeting’ with communist Chinese official

Ex-LANL scientists advanced Chinese military efforts: Report Read More »

MLG deported illegal aliens to leftist ‘sanctuaries’ before it was cool

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During President Donald Trump’s time in the White House, far-left Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM) did what Republican governors are now being attacked for — busing illegal aliens to “sanctuary cities” that protect criminal aliens.

According to the Associated Press, “When migrants overwhelmed cities and shelters in New Mexico in 2019, Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham moved several dozen of them by bus from border communities to Denver, where Christian congregations volunteered to provide shelter and aid. Fast forward to 2022 and there is little, if any, talk of transporting migrants away from the border by Lujan Grisham — or Republican nominee for governor Mark Ronchetti.”

In 2019, The Washington Post reported, “A busload of 55 migrants who had been arrested by U.S. border authorities and were then released into the United States left Las Cruces, N.M., on Sunday afternoon bound for Denver, where it arrived at about 2 a.m. Monday and left people in the care of three churches, according to the office of New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D), which paid $4,000 for the bus to help ease the burden on cities in the southern part of the state.”

Lujan Grisham said at the time that the Trump administration leaves “states like ours in really precarious positions, and we’re showing folks we can lead and problem-solve. We figured out a way to get 55 folks out of Las Cruces and to Denver. We’re going to continue to do everything like that that we can in the short term.”

Under Joe Biden, there were over two million illegal border crossings just in 2022 alone (2,150,639 to be exact), according to a report from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol released this week.

This comes while Lujan Grisham’s campaign attacks GOP governors for doing what she did just a few short years ago. 

“Gov. DeSantis is using this opportunity to distract Americans from the fact that his far-right colleagues are trying to pass a national abortion ban, a position he supports,” Lujan Grisham spokeswoman Maddy Hayden said in a statement Tuesday.

The smell of hypocrisy from Lujan Grisham can’t be overstated, especially since her campaign is now criticizing governors like DeSantis and Greg Abbott (R-TX) when she is the original “deporter” of illegal aliens from her state.

MLG deported illegal aliens to leftist ‘sanctuaries’ before it was cool Read More »

Free speech org. lauds UNM’s response to Antifa’s attack on Tomi Lahren event

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Following Antifa radicals’ attack on Tomi Lahren that forced her Turning Point USA event at the University of New Mexico to be tormented following a violent leftist mob breaching the building, UNM released a response.

“We are deeply disappointed in the actions of those individuals who intentionally chose to disrupt a scheduled speaker and infringed upon the rights of the speaker and those who attended the event to listen and engage, vandalized University property and unlawfully pulled a fire alarm,” the university said in a statement reported by Breitbart News. 

UNM noted that the extent of the damage included “A hole” that was “found in the drywall of one of the Student Union Building walls.”

“The University of New Mexico is committed to the principles of free speech and values its role as a public square for debate, a marketplace of ideas, and a place to test and challenge competing viewpoints and opinions. In this context, allowing speakers invited by a student organization on campus in no way implies an endorsement of the content of their speeches or their opinions. And those who disagree with the ideas expressed are encouraged to respectfully voice their perspectives,” UNM wrote.

The university continued, “Additionally, several UNM departments will be meeting to discuss improving the environment in which a speaker’s right to conduct their scheduled programming is ensured along with the public’s right to free speech, especially when our facilities are in use for multiple events at the same time.”

Following this statement, the First Amendment-focused group Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) wrote, “FIRE commends UNM for getting it right — unlike many universities in the past,” adding: 

UNM took action — calling in more security, barricading the door, and ensuring Lahren finished her speech — before escorting Lahren out for safety reasons. The institution also made clear that it will not tolerate students who infringe on others’ expressive rights regardless of any legitimate complaints regarding the speaker or host organization. 

In keeping with the First Amendment, UNM must make sure to limit any sanctions it may impose to those who disrupted the event, and not punish non-disruptive and non-violent protesters who remained outside expressing their own First Amendment rights. So long as it does so, UNM’s actions here should serve as a model to other institutions that will face the substantial disruption of events in the future.

Free speech org. lauds UNM’s response to Antifa’s attack on Tomi Lahren event Read More »

Lawyer responds after Dems launch ‘egregious’ attacks against pro-life group

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On Monday, following a rhetoric-filled press release from the Democrat Party of New Mexico (DPNM) attacking the pro-life group, Abortion Free New Mexico, the group’s founders, Bud and Tara Shaver, had their attorney write a letter to DPNM demanding a retraction.

The press release labeled the Shavers as “fanatical extremists” with “ties to domestic terrorism,” among other accusations to belittle the pro-life group, which had a fundraiser with Republican nominee for Congress in the Third Congressional District, Michelle Garcia Holmes.

DPNM also accused the group of sending out “ illegal mailers to Albuquerque voters” and promoting “doctored imagery on a large truck,” among other untruths. 

Democrat Party of New Mexico Chairwoman Jessica Velasquez claimed, “The New Mexican Republican Party has an open door policy for fanatical extremists, like Bud and Tara Shaver. Michelle Garcia Holmes consistently aligns herself with the most dangerous MAGA zealots in Republican Party and if elected, she promises to ban all abortions nationwide, without exception for rape or incest.” 

Abortion Free New Mexico wrote in a press release of its own, “Never in our pro-life missionary journey have we ever condoned violence of any kind, in fact, we are working to end the ultimate violent act that leads to the exploitation of women through abortion.”

“The Democratic Party of New Mexico (DPNM) are the extremists because they support abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, even when babies could survive outside the womb. According to a recent poll released by the Associated Press, 80% of Americans oppose late term abortions. The fact that New Mexico is the late term abortion capital, is a hard truth that New Mexicans must grasp when considering who to cast their vote for this November,” wrote the group.

The Shavers’ attorney, Angelo Artus, wrote in a statement, “By publishing false statements of fact either knowing them to be false or in reckless disregard for whether they are true or false, you have exposed yourself and New Mexico Democrats.org to potential legal action. On behalf of the Shavers, I demand that you and New Mexico Democrats.org print and publish an immediate retraction of these falsehoods.”

Artus also argued that the mailers accused of being “illegal” were “a constitutionally protected” act of free speech, while the claim of “doctored” imagery was shot down by explaining the true and undoctored images were “the very real consequences of abortion.” 

The Shavers added, “We love and value pregnant women from all walks of life and desire to protect them and their pre-born children. We will never waver from proclaiming the truth about the atrocity of abortion and will always stand up for the, ‘least of these’ among us. Our prayers go out to those who support abortion and we hope that those especially in Democrat Party of New Mexico would come to conversion and see how beautiful the gift of life truly is.” 

Lawyer responds after Dems launch ‘egregious’ attacks against pro-life group Read More »

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