Trip Jennings starts us off with an update on ethics reform in the legislature.
SANTA FE — Former state lawmakers would need to wait a year after their terms end to return to the Roundhouse as lobbyists under legislation that hurdled a Senate committee late last week.
The Senate Rules Committee on a 4-to-1 vote passed Senate Bill 163 on Friday. The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Eric Griego, D-Albuquerque, would impose a one-year “cooling off period” for lawmakers who want to become lobbyists.
April Gallegos, a senior representative at the West Side Verizon call center, is going to spend her bonus on credit card debt, shopping and maybe a trip to the casino.
Her what? Bonus? In this economy?
At a time when a lot of companies around Albuquerque and nationwide are canceling raises, suspending bonuses and freezing pensions, Phoenix-based Verizon is shaking the hand that bakes its bread.
"Sometimes, companies use the economy to justify not taking care of their employees," said Robyn Lumb, human resources manager for the call center at Coors and Central SW. "That's not the company I work for. There was no conversation about not giving the STIs (short term incentive raises).
"The company is performing very well, and that's because of our employees. They are the foundation of our company. They are the ones out there taking the calls every day. It's a tough job."
On Friday, the call center's 1,270 employees got performance-based bonuses of up to 8 percent of their salaries, Lumb said. Bonuses are based on company and employee performance for 2008.
Starting salaries at Verizon are $27,000; $28,500 for bilingual call-takers. Nationwide, Verizon employs 86,000 people and has 26 call centers. They all got bonuses Friday.
Thornburg Investment Management Inc., is the first part of the Thornburg organization to move into the new campus, located off N.M. 599 at the intersection of Ridgeway Road and Avenida Rincon, with Thornburg Mortgage, Inc., scheduled to follow next weekend.
The move into the new 102,000-square-foot office complex will mark the first time about 400 Thornburg employees from various branches of the financial services group will work under the same roof — staff has been split into three downtown offices on Lincoln, Washington and Marcy streets.
By Jeff Jones Journal Staff Writer Longtime Albuquerque financial adviser and New Mexico National Guard Brig. Gen. Greg Zanetti is eyeing a Republican run for governor — bringing the current number of prospective or confirmed Republican and Democratic candidates for the 2010 race to four.
Zanetti said Friday that he plans to file paperwork next week to establish a "Zanetti for Governor" exploratory committee that would allow him to begin raising money for a potential gubernatorial bid.
Gov. Bill Richardson expressed confidence Wednesday in the investigations conducted by state and local police into a fatal hit-and-run DWI crash involving a former member of his security detail.
Describing the November death of San Felipe Pueblo resident William Tenorio as a "tragedy," Richardson said he expects all DWI suspects — regardless of their political connections — to be held to the same standard.
"Every state employee that works for the government cannot be treated differently than anybody else," Richardson said.
The Shah of Iran went to Italy. Benazir Bhutto went to London. Now that Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf has resigned to ride out his country's political storm, could he be headed to New Mexico?
The famously laid-back US state, where former UN ambassador Bill Richardson serves as governor, is a most unlikely destination for the former Pakistani army chief. But Shuja Nawaz, a veteran Pakistani journalist and former International Monetary Fund official, said yesterday that Musharraf may head to the American west.
"This is my understanding, based on conversations with people in Pakistan, that he's likely … to leave the country, and that a possible immediate destination may be Dubai, and then eventually may be New Mexico in the United States," Nawaz told the PBS NewsHour programme yesterday.
If Musharraf does settle in Richardson's state, it would signify a marked détente between the two men. Richardson, who was America's UN representative under Bill Clinton, called Musharraf a "terrorist" during a January TV appearance - before correcting his characterisation to "tyrant" - and called for the Pakistani's resignation in late 2007.
A US state department spokesman told reporters today that Musharraf has so far not asked for asylum in America but added that the resigned president "has a right to live wherever he wants".
The chairman of the Arkansas Democratic Party was shot and killed Wednesday by a man who barged into his Little Rock office.
The suspect fled, apparently to the Arkansas Baptist State Convention about six blocks down the street, where he threatened a security guard. When he left there, sheriff's deputies gave chase and shot him after a 30-minute pursuit, authorities said. He later died.
Police identified the gunman as Timothy Dale Johnson, 50, of Searcy, The Associated Press reported. Johnson's motive remained a mystery.
The state Democratic chairman, Bill Gwatney, was in his office shortly before noon when a man walked into the party's Capitol Avenue headquarters and demanded to see him, authorities said. Gwatney's secretary refused to let him through, but he pushed past her.
He introduced himself to Gwatney, a well-known former state legislator and a superdelegate to the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Denver. Then he pulled out a handgun and shot Gwatney several times in the upper body, police said. Gwatney died about four hours later at a hospital.
The Environmental Protection Agency has issued an air permit for a 1,500-megawatt coal plant that Sithe Global Power LLC and the Navajo nation plan to build south of Farmington in northwest New Mexico.
Gov. Bill Richardson's administration said it plans to appeal the EPA decision.
Sithe and the Navajo-owned Diné Power Authority have been struggling for four years to get an air permit for the proposed Desert Rock Power Plant -- a $3 billion project that will supply electricity to neighboring states.
Sithe and Diné sued the EPA earlier this year to make a decision on the permit, which, according to federal regulations, should have been issued within one year after the companies filed their permit application in 2003. In June, the EPA issued a consent decree to reach a decision by July 31, at the latest.
Sithe and Navajo officials praised the EPA decision as a major milestone in moving the project forward.
"It's a huge step forward," said Frank Maisano, spokesman for Sithe Global's subsidiary, Desert Rock Energy Co. "The Navajo Nation has been waiting for this a long time. It's a matter of economic opportunity and tribal sovereignty for the Navajos."
VoteBoth.com, a website created by former aides to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) to push her as presidential candidate Barack Obama’s running mate, is shutting down because Clinton is “no longer under consideration.”
ALBUQUERQUE — Eclipse Aviation founder and chief executive officer Vern Raburn has stepped down and has been replaced by the man who heads the cash-strapped jet manufacturer's European partner and is chairman of the company's board.
Roel Pieper, who also is chairman of the European Technology and Investment Research Center Aviation, or ETIRC Aviation, will take over the Albuquerque company immediately as acting CEO, Eclipse announced Monday in a news release.
The company said Pieper's leadership is part of an agreement that brings with it a new round of financing that will give the company a positive cash flow. The amount of the cash infusion was not disclosed.
"It is now time to take the company to the next level of growth and operational excellence and this is what the board has tasked me to do," Pieper said in the news release. "I will work toward this goal in the coming period."
A new potential source of water for the Albuquerque metro has been discovered under the West Mesa.
The deep-water aquifer was discovered on land owned by Atrisco Oil and Gas just north of Interstate 40 between two volcanoes.
An Atrisco spokesman says the water is trapped in a triangular fault block and could be as deep as 7,000 feet below the surface.
Atrisco officials say the company will need to do more testing on the water before they’ll know if it is safe for human consumption.
 Governor Bill Richardson Requests Special Rules for Oil and Gas Activity in Areas of Rio Arriba County  SANTA FE â Governor Bill Richardson today directed the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Departmentâs Oil Conservation Division to propose new rules for portions of Rio Arriba County to protect water resources, human health, and the environment. This decision was prompted by recent oil and gas activity in Eastern Rio Arriba County that demonstrated the need to respect the unique hydrologic and cultural resources of this area.  âI have directed the Oil Conservation Division to develop requirements designed to protect our limited water resources and traditional water uses,â Governor Richardson said. âIt is important that we identify and thoroughly scrutinize proposed drilling in highly sensitive areas like portions of the Chama Watershed.â  Rio Arriba County is no stranger to oil and gas activity with considerable development in the western half of the county. However recent exploration in the Rio Chama Water shed and the eastern half of the county have demonstrated the need to examine exploration and drilling practices as they apply to this area.  The Oil Conservation Division will immediately begin the process of formulating proposed regulations to implement the Governors directive. These proposals will then be presented to the Oil Conservation Commission which will begin the formal rule making procedures.    Alarie Ray-Garcia Office of the Governor New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson State Capitol, Suite 400 Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 Office:505-476-2248 Cell:505-231-7350 -
