In a surprise, Mora County’s status as the only county in the nation to ban on fracking remains intact today. County Commissioners voted two-to-one Tuesday in favor to keep the ban on oil and gas drilling in the county, although its future is in doubt. The New Mexican reports Commissioner Alfonso Griego, who’d indicated plans to vote against keeping the ban, changed his mind and voted to keep the ban in place. Mora County’s ban on fracking has led to two lawsuits against the county for interfering with corporate and property rights.
Republican Governor Susana Martinez has spent nine times more than Democratic challenger Gary King in the past month as she flooded the airwaves with hard-hitting television advertising. Campaign finance disclosures filed Tuesday show Martinez with cash-on-hand of two-point-seven million dollars with Election Day less than a month away. King had less than 124-thousand in his campaign account as of last week.
Meantime, a Republican group has raised 400-thousand dollars in the past month to help the GOP gain legislative seats. A finance report on Tuesday showed Advance New Mexico Now spending a good deal of that total on mailings, polling and radio advertising in State House races. Advance New Mexico is a “super PAC” that can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to independently advocate the election or defeat of candidates. A Democratic super PAC, Patriot Majority New Mexico, raised more than one-million dollars in the last month to help Democrats retain their legislative majority.
Executives at WGN America have ordered another season of the TV drama "Manhattan." The announcement came Tuesday as the cable network prepares to air the first season's finale this weekend. The network's president and general manager, Matt Cherniss, says he's thrilled with the show's success so far. Cherniss says writer-producer Sam Shaw and director Thomas Schlamme have brought to life the World War Two-era Manhattan Project in a brilliant way. The drama follows a group of scientists and their families as they attempt to navigate a world of secrets and lies while developing the first atomic bombs. The drama is set in a makeshift, desolate community in northern New Mexico. At its peak, the Manhattan Project employed 130-thousand workers, but it was kept largely secret and out of public view.
Albuquerque recently hosted the Southwest Regional Socialism Conference. The Party for Socialism and Liberation sponsored the gathering. The New Mexico PSL’s Joel Gallegos says the meeting sought to re-kindle the socialist movement in the United States. *****101514-Gallegos-3 :18****Gallegos says the PSL was founded in 2004 to popularize and revive socialism in the United States. He says its recent involvement protesting Albuquerque police brutality broadened its membership.
The University of New Mexico has canceled a student trip to Africa partly out of concern over Ebola. KOB-TV reports that school officials recently told nursing students the planned "Project Helping Hands" to a remote village in Kenya was called off. The university cited as reasons the unpredictable spread of Ebola and the growing political and economic turmoil in parts of Africa. Cristina Beato, who is in charge of the school's International Health Policy, says World Health Organization also has labeled Kenya as high-risk for Ebola since it is a major transportation hub. Nursing student Yeshemabet (YEESH'-mah-beht) Turner says she understood the school's decision but was devastated. Turner says she and her classmates had been collecting medical supplies and shoes since March.
Albuquerque City Council President Ken Sanchez says it's time to take a serious look at traffic congestion at the city's International Balloon Fiesta. KRQE-TV reports that traffic this past weekend at the fiesta was backed up for miles and caused frustration among a lot of drivers. Some people were turned away Saturday morning as parking lots filled up. Then Saturday evening, drivers were at a standstill with some waiting hours to get out of Balloon Fiesta Park. Sanchez says he wants the city to add more roads into the park and more parking lots, though land around the park may be expensive. Currently, there are seven designated parking lots for the park that hold 12-thousand cars.
Santa Fe Weather: Sunny today through tomorrow with highs in the low-70s. Tonight, mostly clear with the overnight low, 44.