New Mexico recorded near normal amounts of rain and snow in 2014, and officials say forecasts are pointing to the drought easing up by May. A panel of state and federal weather forecasters and water managers met Tuesday to discuss the drought. They say the latest map shows nearly two-thirds of New Mexico is dealing with moderate drought conditions or worse. That's better than the 80 percent reported at this time last year. The state received 95 percent of its normal precipitation last year. The most rain fell in far southeastern New Mexico near the Texas border. In the last month, snowpack levels have increased significantly in the southwestern mountains and only slightly in the high elevations of north-central New Mexico. Another winter storm is expected to bring more moisture later this week.
Republican Governor Susana Martinez urged state lawmakers to put aside their politics and come together to focus on improving the lives of New Mexico's children. Martinez outlined her legislative priorities in a State of the State address shortly after lawmakers returned to work Tuesday for a 60-day session. Early on in her address, she brought up the contentious so-called “right to work” issue: *****012115-RTW :24***** Martinez also touched on education reforms and the need to attract more industries to the state and support homegrown small businesses to ensure children have good jobs when they finish school. But the Governor’s emphasis on children brought a question in the Democratic response from Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez. Sanchez on the Governor’s proposal to end the issuance of driver licenses to undocumented immigrants: *****012115-Sanchez-immigrantlicenses :27***** Members of the House of Representatives—in a vote before the Governor’s address—elected Socorro Republican Don Tripp as Speaker of the House.
Two groups that agreed to support Public Service Company of New Mexico's plan to shut down half of the coal-fired San Juan Generating Station near Farmington are withdrawing from the deal. The Albuquerque Journal reports the Renewable Energy Industries Association and New Mexico Independent Power Producers say they can no longer support the agreement. They were two of the six organizations that signed a pact last year to back the plan to replace the lost electricity from coal with a mix of nuclear, natural gas and solar power. The groups say the cost of the plan appears greater now than originally reported by PNM. They also say a co-owner at the plant is withdrawing from a tentative deal to acquire an extra 65 megawatts of capacity at San Juan.
The U.S. Justice Department and the city of Albuquerque have agreed on an independent monitor to oversee the city's troubled police force. Federal officials announced Tuesday that James Ginger — an expert on police reform — will lead a team to monitor a settlement agreement to overhaul the Albuquerque Police Department. Ginger and his team will be responsible for independently assessing progress on the agreement and to report on changes to a federal judge. The reform blueprint calls for new training and protocols for investigating officer shootings. It also calls for the agency to dismantle some troubled units. The Justice Department and Albuquerque officials signed the agreement last year following a federal reporting faulting Albuquerque police over excessive force.
A federal judge has overturned a northeastern New Mexico county's effort to ban oil and natural gas drilling. District Judge James Browning's 199-page order released Tuesday declares Mora County's ordinance invalid. The ordinance was enacted in April 2013. It cited environmental concerns and put the county's decision-making rights ahead of business interests and federal and state permits. A Shell Oil subsidiary challenged the ordinance in court, contending that the ordinance effectively destroyed the value of the company's one-million dollar drilling leases. Mora County is far from the oil and gas hotspots in southeastern and northwestern New Mexico, but the county's ordinance sparked industry concern. Browning had said previously that parts of the ordinance were unconstitutional, but his ruling Tuesday invalidated the entire ordinance.
Santa Fe Weather: Cloudy with snow likely today through tonight—today’s high will reach 37 while the overnight low will dip down to 20. The chance for snow is at 70-percent today, 60-percent tonight. Tomorrow, expect partly sunny skies and a high of 31, with a 50-percent chance for snow.