Saying her court lacks jurisdiction in the dispute between Secretary of State Dianna Duran and Santa Fe and Bernalillo Counties regarding advisory ballot questions, U-S Magistrate Judge Karen Molzen is refusing to hear the matter. Instead, it will be decided by the State Supreme Court. Molzen announcing her ruling Thursday. The counties have approved advisory ballot questions to ask voters whether they support decriminalizing marijuana and about taxes. But Duran contends state law doesn't allow ballot questions that don't have the force of law. Duran went to federal court after the counties asked the state Supreme Court to allow the ballot questions. Duran contends the legal dispute will improperly delay the sending of absentee ballots to overseas voters.
The status of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant’s future course of action is awaiting official review in Washington. Officials at the Department of Energy’s nuclear waste dump in southeastern New Mexico were expecting federal feedback on the recovery plan they recently submitted. Instead, local DOE officials told a public meeting that the full plan is still awaiting approval from agency headquarters in Washington. The plan is expected to detail cost estimates and a timeline for cleaning up contamination and resuming operations after a mysterious February leak that contaminated 22 workers. Officials have said it could be three years before WIPP completely reopens. The cause of the leak from a barrel of waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory still isn’t known.
A new poll says nearly two-thirds of New Mexico likely voters believe the state should tap its 14 billion-dollar Land Grant Permanent Fund to expand early childhood programs. The Albuquerque Journal reports the poll conducted for the newspaper found 66 percent said they would support tapping the permanent fund. The fund currently pays out hundreds of millions of dollars each year for New Mexico K-12 and higher education programs. Twenty-four percent of voters said they opposed tapping the fund for more money for early childhood programs. Some Democrats state lawmakers for years have pushed for tapping the Land Grant Permanent Fund to pay for expanding of early childhood programs. The Journal's poll was conducted Sept. 9-11 and was based on telephone calls to 500 likely voters. The margin of error was 4.4 percentage points.
Much of New Mexico remains under a flash flood watch thanks to remnants from Tropical Storm Odile. The storm system's center approached New Mexico on Thursday bringing threats of flooding and possible mudslides in areas previously level by wildfires. The New Mexico Department of Transportation says Highway 152 in the southwestern part of the state was closed indefinitely Wednesday after severe weather damaged portions of the road. Dona Ana County officials say overnight rainfall water-logged several communities and around 250 sandbags were sent to Sunland Park overnight. In Luna County, authorities say deputies saved a 78-year-old motorist Tuesday after his vehicle was swept away by a strong current of flood waters. The National Weather Service says remnants of Odile took a right turn overnight, with a corresponding shift in the heavy rain forecast.
With early voting set to begin in a few weeks, Republican Gov. Susana Martinez and Democratic challenger Gary King are sparring over the economy and taxes. King and Martinez outlined their campaign views Thursday in separate appearances at a public policy conference at New Mexico State University. King said New Mexico has been going down "the wrong path." He pointed to a Census Bureau report showing the state's poverty rate had increased last year. He also said it's unacceptable that New Mexico ranks at or near the bottom nationally in child well-being. Martinez said state government's finances are on "solid ground" because of her fiscal policies and she criticized King for supporting tax increases to close a budget gap two decades ago as a legislator.
Changes are in store for law enforcement in the town of Vaughn. KSFR's Alex Pozo has the story. *****RUNS: 00:37*****
TEXT: It's been several weeks since the lone police officer of the town of Vaughn, resigned. Now, the Santa Rosa Communicator reports, the town is considering asking the Guadalupe County Sheriff to select and supervise the community’s one-officer force.Under the proposed agreement the officer still would be a town employee, wear a Vaughn Police uniform and use town-owned equipment. This means that the officer would not be a sheriff’s deputy and could not be pulled away from his base in Vaughn to cover calls across the county. The proposed agreement will be reviewed by Guadalupe County Commissioners at a meeting later this month. For KSFR News, I'm Alex Pozo.
Santa Fe Weather: Partly sunny today with the high near 74 and a 40-percent chance for showers and thunderstorms, some which may produce heavy rain. Tonight: Mostly cloudy with a 30-percent chance for scattered showers and thunderstorms, the overnight low, 54. Tomorrow: Mostly sunny with a 20-percent chance for showers and thunderstorms, the high tomorrow, 79.