New Mexico Mercury

Provincial Matters, 6-23-2014

V.B. Price's weekly collection of appreciations and observations.

NM Twittersphere: APD, King & Martinez, WIPP

This week we have lots of coverage of the APD march to end police brutality that happened this past Saturday in Albuquerque. Martinez and King both make gaffes in the early stages of the governor's race. Also, concern, funding and the future of WIPP. In NM Twittersphere we curate the firehose of information coming through on Twitter where you can see media, links to informative articles, and viewpoints that happened through the week... 

APD Update: Protest march, Perry questioned, family interviews

A “march to end police brutality” is taking place today in Albuquerque from 11am – 4pm at Roosevelt Park (Coal Ave SE & Spruce St SE). The march is put on by broad coalition of activists, family members of victims of police violence, and concerned citizens. The event will feature longtime Chicano activist and civil rights attorney Kiko Martinez as well as a number of other speakers.  The event will feature music by Albuquerque’s Mala Maña (Mary Hawkes, the 19 year old killed by APD in April worked as their roadie), Sherri Gonzales Blues Trio, L@SOTR@S, and MC Def...

El Machete: La Llorona

La Llorona... more info

Insight New Mexico: David Correia on his arrest

V.B. Price talks with UNM professor David Correia about his recent arrest while demonstrating in solidarity with family members of victims of APD violence, and the importance of academic freedom while working in the community.

Running from the taxman? To what?

Changing tax rates nearly always has consequences, some of which are intended, some of which are not. If we are to believe anti-tax advocates, taxes inhibit economic development, distort our economy, and cause people to “vote with their feet” by moving to a place with lower rates. Most unbiased analyses show that taxes have a negligible impact on economic development and that other factors—such as an educated workforce, access to markets, and quality-of-life considerations—are more important in business location decisions. Could taxes be the reason that New Mexico has seen population growth stagnate in recent years after decades of growth? The answer is a resounding no, according to a new research report...

Advocating for the most vulnerable in Valencia County

Approximately twenty-four miles south of Albuquerque, Los Lunas, the Valencia County seat, has significantly fewer services and resources for children and caregivers then Albuquerque.  Yet it has individuals, agencies and law enforcement doing what they can to help all children in the community.  With one of the highest rates of substantiated child abuse and neglect in New Mexico, Valencia does not have the level of child specific services necessary to respond adequately. Relying on access to services and resources in Albuquerque is difficult, expensive, and can add to stress for law enforcement and others, as well as trauma for the children they are trying to serve.

The 2012 rate of substantiated child abuse for Valencia County was a distressing 28 children per 1,000 compared to the State's rate of 11.4, Bernalillo’s 8.8 and Sandoval’s 7.5...

Gary King: Too nice to win?

In 2002, Gary King made his first run for governor. In the Democratic Party’s preprimary convention, he garnered a bit over 19 percent of the vote, just shy of the 20 percent he needed for an automatic place on the ballot. His failure was due to a typically scorched-earth campaign by Bill Richardson to garner massive support at the convention and prevent any opponent form getting easy access to the Democratic primary ballot for governor.

Twelve years later, King proved he had learned the lesson of that bitter experience. Again running for governor, he didn’t count on support from this year’s preprimary convention, and he didn’t get it...

Susanuh’s Reading Scores

When Susanuh first took office, her reading scores absolutely sucked, but the voters liked her, so through this weird social promotion program called the vote, she assumed the mantle of governor.

Over the past four years, I’m weepingly proud to say, Susanuh has renounced social promotion, and she is now ready to read even the hardest words. She could read the names of each one of her potential challengers emblazoned across five grainy black and white pictures of Pirate Bill Richardson that appeared in her primary TV ad.  That was no sweat for Susanuh...

Insight New Mexico: Don Hancock’s update on recent WIPP leak

V.B. Price gets an update on the WIPP leak from Don Hancock, Director of the Nuclear Waste Safety Program for the SW Research and Information Center.