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Rasmussen shows a tightening race in New Mexico: Obama 46 (-1 vs. 6/23 poll) McCain 41 (+2) With "leaners" (who don't initially express a preference for one of the major candidates) Obama's lead widens to 6 points: Obama 49 McCain 43

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is "overreacting" and "whining" in response to The New York Times refusing to run his editorial about Iraq. Richardson, who supports Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) for president, said in an interview on Fox News on Tuesday that the rejection of McCain's editorial is not surprising because The New York Times turns down many editorials from politicians, including presidential candidates. "Well, look, The New York Times is very fussy. I mean, I've sent many editorials that they've rejected — in fact, most of them," Richardson said.

A surrogate for John McCain made a leftward feint on a campaign conference call today, suggesting that the presumptive Republican nominee might pull troops out of Iraq sooner than Barack Obama. "He’d like troops to come home earlier than 16 months if the conditions allow it," Rep. Heather Wilson, (R-New Mexico), said of McCain.

A company in Massachusetts says it trademarked the name “Rail Runner” in the nineties. And now they want New Mexico to stop using it. "Rail Runner Incorporated filed what's called an opposition to the use of New Mexico Rail Runner on September 2, 2006 with the trademark trial and appeal board of the U.S Patent and Trade Mark Office," said a spokesman for the East Coast company. The company makes a machine that they say makes it easier to move containers from trains to semis. The East Coast company is now waiting for a decision from the patent and trademark...

Plans for a sales tax to support the Rail Runner commuter train and a regional bus system are gaining steam. Bernalillo and Sandoval counties are to consider this week publishing a legal notice needed to put the one-eighth-cent tax on the Nov. 4 ballot. Valencia County might do the same, though perhaps not until next month. "I think the Rail Runner's time has come," said Alan Armijo, chairman of the Bernalillo County Commission. Voters "at least need the opportunity to decide that." The tax proposal must clear one more step before going to the counties — passage by the regional...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Monday that he would not allow a vote on an amendment giving states new authority to seek oil off their coasts when he brings a Democratic energy bill to the floor later this month.Reid criticized President Bush’s announcement earlier in the day to rescind a longstanding executive order banning offshore oil drilling, saying it was a gift to the oil companies that are not exploring for oil in 68 millions of acres available to them. Republicans are now pressuring Democrats to rescind a congressional moratorium prohibiting the practices and give states the option...

Link to ABQ Journal:http://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/14115016state07-14-08.htm

New Mexico Tech chemistry professor Oliver Wingenter and his colleagues believe modest fertilization of the Southern Ocean with iron might help slow some of the effects of global warming. The concept of climate engineering – or geo-engineering – has scientists, activists and politicians debating the ethics and merits of environmental manipulation. Wingenter has conducted ship-board experiments, fertilizing two small patches of the Southern Ocean with iron to study the atmospheric effects. He said small-scale fertilization may abate the loss of Antarctic ice. The general principle involves seeding the ocean with a liquid slurry of iron sulfide. German and Indian scientists...

Washington D.C. - Today, Congressman Pearce responded to Tom Udall's reversal of his position opposing gun rights for individuals in the District of Columbia: "It is breathtaking in its scope and intellectual dishonesty. Tom Udall has consistently opposed the rights of individuals to own guns and it is an outrage and an insult to the people of New Mexico for him to say otherwise. "It is one thing to be wrong. It is another to be untruthful. The election is clearly having an impact and this flip flop is amazing." Udall has voted against overturning DC gun laws and twice...

Appearing before Mexico's drug-fighting Federal Police, John McCain promised Thursday that as president, he would quickly implement a U.S. aid package to give the officers more helicopters, technology and training. Mr. McCain, visiting the federal force's new command center as he concluded a three-day trip to Colombia and Mexico, paid his condolences to the hundreds of officers who have died in the drug fight since President Felipe Calderón took office 19 months ago. Those deaths, Mr. McCain said, "will not be in vain." "I want to thank President Calderón and the people of Mexico for their efforts in making our...

For the first time, the presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is about to get a substantial hand from advertisements by an outside group. Conservative and Republican groups have been largely quiet, leaving McCain heavily outmatched by Sen. Barack Obama's campaign fundraising juggernaut. Next week, Vets for Freedom — a 20,000-member, nonpartisan organization established by combat veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — plans to begin spending more than $1 million on a TV campaign that will include Ohio, Virginia and New Mexico. The group plans to spend millions more and to add other states to the...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- McCain appealed to Hispanic voters Saturday with a message against raising taxes and highlighting his patriotism alongside Latinos during the Vietnam War. McCain told the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials it is a “terrible mistake to raise taxes during an economic downturn” and said increasing business and individual tax rates could hurt Latino businesses.

The rabbit that first struck Jimma Carter goes on to terrorize Nancy Pelosi and Mrs. Obama.

The presidential race in New Mexico has changed little over the past month. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state shows Barack Obama leading John McCain 47% to 39%.

The judge in the Elton John Richards case ruled Friday afternoon to suspend sentencing, giving Richard five years of supervised probation. Elton John Richard, a former Marine, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter after he shot and killed 34-year-old Daniel Romero in December of 2005. Richard says Romero was armed trying to break into his car, threatening his family. Judge Pat Murdoch initially gave Elton John Richard two years in prison and four years supervised probation. The ruling in February caused outcry in the community. An Albuquerque police sergeant said the ruling was too harsh and started a petition to change...

Cartel Targets Americans At least one police officer named EL PASO - The drug cartels are targeting Americans this morning. Police in El Paso say they received a list of 15 to 20 names, all of people living in New Mexico and Texas. The names include at least one police officer. The drug cartels have made good on death threats on police in Mexico. Out of a hit list of 22 police officers in Ciudad Juarez, only one is still on the force. Seven of those officer were killed. The rest quit. Local law enforcement is working with federal authorities...

More than dozen people living in New Mexico and Texas are named in what appears to be a hit list from a Mexican drug cartel, law enforcement officials said. At least one police officer from southern New Mexico is among the 15 to 20 people named in the threat, said Arturo Baeza, a sheriff's captain in that state's Luna County. The list, thought to be a threat from one of Mexico's powerful and warring drug cartels, was provided June 12 to local authorities by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, Baeza said. Drug cartels are waging a bloody fight for...

Promises of a friendlier US position towards Egypt, and the rest of the region, were voiced by a supporter of the Democratic Party candidate. Dina Ezzat heard what might happen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico, a former US presidential candidate and a current key figure in the campaign backing Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate for this year's presidential elections, was in Cairo this week in an advanced attempt to promote Obama as a US president with a will to fortify good relations with the region, including Egypt, which he described as a country with a pivotal role...

Deming, N.M. – On Saturday, El Paso Sector Border Patrol agents discovered that they may have been the target of more acts of violence after discovering an apparent booby trap made of wire on a remote border road near Deming. On June 14, agents assigned to the Deming Border Patrol Station received a call from a local rancher who informed them of a discovery she made of some wires stretched across a patch of dirt roadway. The wires had been pulled tight and set to a height that could have had dire consequences for agents or anyone riding on an...

Here's one one interesting idea for getting water to desert regions. Consider gypsum. There's lots of it in the southwest. The chemical formula for gypsum is CaSO4.2H2O. Notice the H20 on the end? Gypsum is 20% water by weight. Did you know that you can quickly cook the water out of gypsum at 212F degrees 100C . Gypsum occurs in flat planes often not far from the surface--especially in old dry lakebeds. You could cook those planes. Leaving a mineral residue called bassanite--water would percolate up and the earth would subside causing a lake. Think you could find a heat...

The El Paso County Commission today voted 4-1 to approve a resolution opposing any potential oil and gas drilling on Otero Mesa, across the state line in southern New Mexico, the El Paso Times is reporting. Commissioners supported a movement to seek federal protection in the U.S. Congress for the mesa ... The lone vote against the measure came from Commissioner Dan Haggerty, who said the country is currently in a gas crisis, the paper said. Environmentalists told commissioners that Otero Mesa is a potential water source for El Paso County ... The U.S. Bureau of Land Management had proposed...

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Salmonella food poisoning first linked to uncooked tomatoes has spread to 16 states, federal health officials said Saturday. Investigations by the health departments of Texas and New Mexico and the federal Indian Health Service have tied 56 cases in Texas and 55 in New Mexico to raw, uncooked tomatoes. “We’re seeing a steady increase,” said Deborah Busemeyer, the communications director for the New Mexico Department of Health. An additional 50 people have been sickened by the same salmonella infection in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, the federal...

Health department recommends residents take precautions Public-health officials are urging residents to take precautions to avoid hantavirus. Four cases of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome have already been reported in 2008, with one resulting in a fatality. The most recent cases were confirmed last week in Delta and Dolores counties. Two previous cases of hantavirus were reported in Kiowa County in February and Fremont County in early May. The patient in Kiowa County died. "This year's heavy snowpack has provided moisture for ample vegetation that provides food for rodents, and often results in a large jump in both mouse populations and infection...

Steve Pearce won the Republican nomination in the race for U.S. Senate over rival Heather Wilson and will now turn to the challenge of keeping Sen. Pete Domenici's seat in Republican hands. The southern New Mexico representative won Tuesday's primary with roughly 51 percent of the vote, compared to Wilson's 49 percent with 99 percent of precincts reporting statewide, according to unofficial results. Pearce, who ran as a right-wing conservative, will face Democrat Tom Udall, who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary, on Nov. 4. Wilson endorsed Pearce this morning, saying that Republicans have "no time for disappointment or for...

A photo finish appears to be in the works as a Survey USA poll shows Heather Wilson closing in on Steve Pearce in the last weekend of the primary campaign. Pearce is still clinging to a slim lead, but it's well within the poll's margin of error. The poll, conducted Friday through Sunday, shows Pearce ahead by one percentage point, 48 to 47. Wilson closed in on the three point lead Pearce had in the poll two weeks ago. The poll may reflect Pete Domenici's eleventh hour endorsement of Wilson as his choice to replace him in the U.S. Senate....

MEXICO CITY — New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson urged U.S. lawmakers Thursday to resolve their differences over an aid package to help Mexico fight drugs, saying it would be "disastrous" for security on both sides of the border if the Merida Initiative fell through. U.S. President George W. Bush has used a wave of violence in Mexico to push for Congressional approval of the first US$500 million installment of the multiyear aid proposal. But the U.S. Senate approved only US$450 million for the plan, and the House US$461.5 million. The two chambers must agree on a final version before sending...

Ten people were found shot execution style, including three beheaded bodies, in 24 hours of drug-related warfare in northern Mexico, the Juarez prosecutor's office said Wednesday. A local police officer's head was found inside a plastic bag with a note warning the Sinaloa drug cartel: "so you know we're not playing around." It was signed by La Linea, a rival drug group fighting for control of this city on the US border... On a blanket spread over a bridge in nearby Chihuahua, 360 kilometers (215 miles) south of here, were scribbled the names of several local police officers and a...

A group in Santa Fe says the city is discriminating against them because they say that they're allergic to the wireless Internet signal. And now they want Wi-Fi banned from public buildings. Arthur Firstenberg says he is highly sensitive to certain types of electric fields, including wireless Internet and cell phones. "I get chest pain and it doesn't go away right away," he said. Firstenberg and dozens of other electro-sensitive people in Santa Fe claim that putting up Wi-Fi in public places is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The city attorney is now checking to see if...

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will join Governor Richardson when he speaks to veterans and their families in Las Cruces on Memorial Day. But the event will not be open to the public, as the campaign had initially said. The campaign now says veterans and their families will be able to attend the town hall-style event only if they receive invitations. Obama's visit will be his first since the February Fifth Democratic caucus. The candidate's wife, Michelle Obama, will be in Albuquerque and Santa Fe on Tuesday for two fundraisers. She also has no public...

New Mexico voters have never seen this many open congressional seats: None of the state's three House members is seeking re-election, nor is longtime Sen. Pete Domenici. The unprecedented turnover will leave New Mexico with precious little seniority when the next Congress convenes. All three House members — two Republicans and a Democrat — decided against running for another term and instead sought Domenici's Senate seat. The six-term Republican is retiring because of a degenerative brain disease. For Democrats, this year's election offers their best chance to pick up seats that have been in the hands of the GOP for...

This Clovis High School yearbook is out and is raising eyebrows with pictures and quotes from gay couples who attend the school.

Group wants Wi-Fi banned from public buildings A group in Santa Fe says the city is discriminating against them because they say that they're allergic to the wireless Internet signal. And now they want Wi-Fi banned from public buildings. Arthur Firstenberg says he is highly sensitive to certain types of electric fields, including wireless Internet and cell phones. "I get chest pain and it doesn't go away right away," he said. Firstenberg and dozens of other electro-sensitive people in Santa Fe claim that putting up Wi-Fi in public places is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The city...

MSUNuke and ArkPig620, and I are heading to NM for Memorial Day Weekend. We will spend 2 nights with friends in Las Cruces, NM, and 2 in Albuquerque, NM. We are wondering what attractions are in the Albuquerque, NM area and a safe area/hotel to stay? Of course we are in our 30s and want the drinking/shopping district;) All three (3) of us are military and have CHL, but would like to avoid any local criminals and overzealous law enforcement in our celebrations;) Thanks for the Albuquerque, NM area info!

Wildlife officials are still trying to figure out what kind of animal attacked Jose Salazar Jr. in the Sandia Mountains Saturday evening. The 5-year-old suffered a torn scalp and puncture wounds around his neck and arms. He underwent surgery at the University of New Mexico Hospital and is expected to fully recover. Now officials want to know if he was attacked by a mountain lion, bobcat, or bear. Rio Grande Zoo mammal curator Lynn Tupa has a few ideas about what could have mauled Salazar. She said it was most likely a mountain lion. "It was probably an immature cub...

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of New Mexico voters shows Barack Obama attracting 50% of the vote while John McCain earns 41%. A month ago, Obama had a three-point advantage in the state. In February, McCain and Obama were tied. Polling in the state’s U.S. Senate race also provides good news for the Democrats. Nationally, the race between McCain and Obama remains competitive in the Rasmussen Reports Presidential Tracking Poll. One reason for Obama’s growing lead is

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in New Mexico shows that Democratic Congressman Tom Udall continues to enjoy wide leads over potential Republican opponents in the race for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat. Udall now leads Republicans Steve Pearce 53% to 37% and Heather Wilson 57% to 36%. Against both opponents, those figures reflect a very slight improvement compared to a month ago. In February, Udall was ahead by more modest margins.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of New Mexico voters shows Barack Obama attracting 50% of the vote while John McCain earns 41%. A month ago, Obama had a three-point advantage in the state. In February, McCain and Obama were tied. Polling in the state’s U.S. Senate race also provides good news for the Democrats. Nationally, the race between McCain and Obama remains competitive in the Rasmussen Reports Presidential Tracking Poll. One reason for Obama’s growing lead is that the number of fence-sitting Democrats has declined. A month ago, 14% of Democrats say they would vote for a third-party option...

Retiring senator says he'll work hard for winner of Senate GOP primary battle. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said Friday he wasn't making an endorsement in the hotly contested primary race between Republican Reps. Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce for the GOP nomination in the race to succeed him, the Albuquerque Journal reported Saturday.

ALBUQUERQUE — Scores of city officials and environmental policy leaders from across the country will gather in Albuquerque this week to discuss the latest technologies and policies for dealing with climate change at the local level. -snip- - Albuquerque, for example, made a major mistake last year in calculating emissions, an error that prompted the firing of the city's chief environmental health official and forced it to shut down a web site that touted success in reducing greenhouse gases that turned out to be way off the mark.

DEMING, N.M. (AP) - Governor Richardson says he's concerned about violence along New Mexico's border with Mexico. Authorities say seven men have been killed in the Mexican border town of Palomas in a turf war among drug cartels. The Luna County Sheriff's Department says 162 gun shells were found where five men were killed Sunday in Palomas, across the border from Columbus, New Mexico. Another 67 casings were found where a man and his son were fatally shot Friday. A spokesman for Richardson says the governor has directed New Mexico public safety officials to be vigilant to ensure the problems...

DEMING -- Authorities in southern New Mexico are worried American students living in Palomas, New Mexico may get caught in the crossfire of drug cartel-related shootings. "You feel in danger," said a student who crosses the border everyday to go to school in Deming. Monday, was the first day students went back to school since seven people were killed in drug-related shootings over the weekend. District officials in Deming say more than 400 students walk across the border from Palomas into Columbus, where they load into buses and go to schools in Deming. District school buses then return the students...

Kevin Roberts told his parents he was joining the Army two months after 9/11. Soon he was wearing the "Screaming Eagle" patch of the 101st Airborne Division— the same unit his father had served with four decades earlier. On Wednesday, the 25-year-old staff sergeant was killed in eastern Afghanistan when his vehicle was blown up by a makeshift bomb, according to the Department of Defense. A fellow soldier, Spc. Jeremy R. Gullett, 22, of Greenup, Ky., was also killed in the same explosion. "He came home one day and he said, 'I'm going into the service. It's what I want...

Wayne Bent, who has been charged with criminal sexual contact of a minor and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, was released from jail on a $55,000 bond. (AP Photo )SANTA FE, N.M., May 9, 2008 AP) The leader of an apocalyptic sect accused of sex crimes against underage female followers was released from jail Friday after bond was posted, authorities said. Wayne Bent left the city-county lockup in the small northeastern New Mexico town of Clayton about 3 p.m., Police Chief Scott Julian said. "He is no longer in our custody," Julian said. Bent was released after...

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Pete Domenici, ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, today introduced legislation intended to dramatically increase domestic production of oil and natural gas in order to lower prices and make America less dependent on foreign sources of oil. The American Energy Production Act of 2008 (S.2958) was introduced today by Domenici and nineteen co-sponsors from across the country. By expanding production offshore and in Alaska, the legislation will produce up to 24 billion barrels of oil-enough to keep America running for five years with no foreign imports. In addition, billions more barrels of...

CHIHUAHUA, Mexico — New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said Wednesday that he has seen an improvement in security along the U.S.-Mexico border. Problems remain, but increased policing by state and federal authorities has significantly helped, said Richardson, a former U.N. ambassador and former Democratic presidential candidate. "In my opinion, there has been a dramatic improvement in the last two months," Richardson told reporters in the Mexican border state of Chihuahua, across from New Mexico, where he met with Chihuahua Gov. Jesus Reyes Baeza. Richardson said he would ask U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza to reevaluate a travel alert, issued...

The UNM Police Department arrested student Kevin Boyar on Tuesday on charges of unlawfully carrying a gun onto a University establishment. Police said four guns were recovered from Boyar's parents' house, including an AK-47 assault-style rifle, and there is evidence he brought the weapons to his room in the Student Residence Center. Police Chief Kathy Guimond said the department received an anonymous tip at 11 a.m. that Boyar, 19, had guns in his room at the SRC. The informant said Boyar had made threats referring to the shootings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois, she said. Police obtained a search...

CLAYTON— The self-professed Messiah of a doomsday cult went from presiding over his compound to a cell at the Clayton/Union County jail on Tuesday, courtesy of the New Mexico State Police. Wayne Bent, aka Michael Travesser, was booked into the jail— where he turned down an offer of juice and a bologna sandwich— on multiple charges of sexual contact with minors. In an Internet posting before his arrest early Tuesday, he said he had committed no crime and compared his impending arrest to the persecution of Jesus. Bent, 66, had previously admitted having sex with adult followers and acknowledged "lying...

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - New Mexico state police say they've arrested the leader of an apocalyptic church on sex charges. State police spokesman Peter Olson says 66-year-old Wayne Bent was picked up without incident Tuesday at the remote former ranch where he and his followers live. He's facing three charges of criminal sexual contact. Bent goes by the name of Michael Travesser and claims to be the Messiah. State child welfare officials say there have been allegations of inappropriate contact between Bent and children at the northeastern New Mexico compound. Bent has acknowledged having sex with his followers, but...

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - In one corner an aggressive panhandler. In the other a disabled, wheelchair-bound Vietnam veteran who turned out not to be the underdog. When the two met up five days ago in northeast Albuquerque the attacker became the attacked. Gary Gould said the attempted mugging had him fighting for his life reminding him of what it was like fighting for his life in Vietnam. "I can't walk; I'm paralyzed," he told KRQE News 13 today. "I got blown up in Vietnam. "I've been in a chair for 38 years." Gould, 58, is safe at home now miles away...