New Energy Economy has filed a complaint against PNM with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, alleging that the utility created a misleading press release in order to influence regulators and the public. According to the Santa Fe New Mexican, New Energy Economy takes issue with a May 14 release announcing PNM’s signing of a coal purchasing agreement they claimed would save rate-payers 300 million dollars if PNM’s plan for San Juan Generating Station was approved. The environmental group’s complaint says that most of that savings would have occurred whether or not the plan was approved. New Energy Economy says PNM’s news release misled consumers and the Public Regulation Commission. PNM issued a statement in response to the complaint, saying it “strongly stands behind its disclosures and its statements to the public.”
New Mexico failed to pass legislation during the regular session that would have taken a first step toward regulating the use of drones in the state, but the discussion is far from over. The legislative Science, Technology and Telecommunications Committee met Monday in Albuquerque to hear about the advancement of the technology as well as privacy concerns. Republican Rep. James Smith of Sandia Park says future legislation needs to target the uses and issues that stem from those uses more than the technology itself. Some who testified before the committee cited instances where drones have harassed livestock, interrupted hikes and trespassed over private property. Democrat Rep. Carl Trujillo of Santa Fe says other states already have passed drone-specific legislation and New Mexico needs to be proactive in addressing the issue.
A plea deal has been reached in the 2013 case of a woman who was fired at by a New Mexico State Police officer as she fled from police in a van full of children. The state reached the deal with 40-year-old Oriana Farrell Monday. The details of the deal are to be disclosed next Monday, when her trial had been scheduled to start. Farrell had been traveling through New Mexico from Tennessee when she sped away from police twice and was stopped by another officer. Officer Elias Montoya fired three shots toward Farrell's van carrying her five children when Farrell drove away. Montoya was fired from the State Police. Farrell is facing charges of fleeing from police, child abuse and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Santa Fe Police arrested a wrong-way driver on 599 in the early hours of this morning. According to a news release, police received a call about a wrong way driver traveling northbound on 599 South near Airport road. 72-year-old Joe Vigil of Albuquerque drove past officer Mike Rute at about 80 miles per hour. Rute’s lights and sirens were on but Vigil did not slow down. Rute caught up to Vigil and arrested him. Vigil faces charges of Aggravated DUI, second offense; Open container; Reckless Driving; and Driving without insurance. SFPD wishes to thank the citizen who made the call about the reckless driver.
Here’s some better news concerning DWI in New Mexico: the state Department of Transportation will be getting four grants worth more than $365,000 to help prevent drunken driving and improve safety on the state's roads. The funding will be awarded through the U.S. Department of Transportation's State Traffic Safety Information Systems Grants program. The money will be used for sobriety checkpoints, seatbelt safety education and enforcement, and ignition interlock programs. U.S. Sen. Tom Udall says New Mexico's work to combat drunken driving demonstrates that progress is possible but that any number of preventable deaths on the state's roads is too many. U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich says raising awareness and funding preventative efforts are keys to keeping roads and families safe.
A Taos man is suing Facebook, saying he’s received dozens of unwanted text messages. James Hamilton of Llano Quemado, a community in Taos, says he doesn’t have a Facebook account and has no desire to open one, and that the text messages are violating his privacy. According to the New Mexican, Hamilton has filed the suit in District Court, seeking compensation for court costs and between $500 and $1500 for each of 54 unwanted messages he’s received. The messages have subject lines like, “Jim, you have messages on Facebook,” with a link to the social networking site. Hamilton says he tried responding to the texts asking Facebook to stop sending them, to no avail. Hamilton’s is one of several active lawsuits against Facebook over unwanted texts.
In national news:
Members of the Seneca Indian Nation joined Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown as he signed a bill changing the name of Squaw Island. The island park in the Niagara River is now called Unity Island. Monday's bill signing followed a vote by the Common Council last month to change the 336-year-old name following complaints that it was a slur against Native American women. The action continues a nationwide movement toward replacing the names of sports teams and geographical sites whose labels are now viewed as insensitive or outright offensive.
It's something most Democrats and Republicans in Congress can agree on — an update to the Bush-era No Child Left Behind education law is much needed and long overdue. This week, the Senate and House take up rewrites of the 2002 law, with lawmakers seeking to finally resolve a key question they have struggled with for years: how much of a role should the federal government have in ensuring a quality education for children, poor and affluent alike. The White House weighed in late Monday — saying the Obama administration can't support either the Republican-drafted bill in the House or the bipartisan measure in the Senate. The administration wants language in the bills that requires schools to come up with plans to turn around the lowest-performing schools in the country.
A suburban Denver baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple will argue before the Colorado Court of Appeals that his religious beliefs should protect him from sanctions against his business. The case underscores how the already simmering tension between religious-freedom advocates and gay-rights supporters is likely to become more heated in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark ruling last month legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide. At the center of the 2012 case are baker Jack Phillips, owner of Lakewood's Masterpiece Cakeshop, and Charlie Craig and David Mullins, who wanted a wedding cake. Phillips is appealing an order that he make wedding cakes for gay couples or face fines.
Santa Fe Weather: Today’s high, 74 percent, with a 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms this morning and afternoon. Tonight, that chance rises to 60%, with an overnight low of 56. Chance of rain decreases to 30% tomorrow, the daytime high, 81.