Monahan (Bralley)

Welcome back. Let's change it up and riff on the news this Wednesday. . .

Dubai or Deming? That is the question:

“I don’t know why lobbyists spend so much money on a small handful of legislators,” Viki Harrison of Common Cause said. “It also boggles my mind that a lobbyist can spend $1,700 on a dinner for a small group. This is Santa Fe, not Dubai.”

THE REAL THING

Things go better with Coke. You know that, but it's even better if you're running for mayor of Santa Fe.

REGENT REDO

Perhaps one of the more worthwhile pieces of legislation under consideration at the Roundhouse?:

Senate Joint Resolution 1 seeks to change the constitution to create nominating committees to vet and recommend applicants for seats on university boards of regents. And the amendment would require the governor to nominate regents based on those recommendations.

WHAT'S WRONG HERE?

From a reader:

Jesus, Mary and Joseph and all the Saints in Heaven. What is wrong with this place? Again??:

Authorities say a 13-year-old boy whose body was found buried in a remote area of northern New Mexico had endured years of abuse that included being locked for hours at a time inside a dog kennel and being fed there. Santa Fe County Sheriff Robert Garcia choked back tears as he provided details. . . 

What's wrong with this place, gentle reader, is a combination of widespread poverty and a drug epidemic of unimagined proportions, both of which demand to be addressed in a comprehensive, warlike manner but are not.

DON'T NOD OFF

Please don't nod off while reading this:

As ABQ Dem Senator Daniel Ivey-Soto shared his thoughts for the memorial (dealing with Parkinson's) disease, he said: “. . . I don’t mean to be. . .insensitive… I do have to say I love talking about stuff with the Parkinson’s folks because I get all of this nodding and it feels very affirming as I’m talking,”

Meeting video shows some in the committee room laughed at Sen. Ivey-Soto’s remarks, Governor Martinez’s office didn’t.

ASHES TO SPACE

Reader Larry Gioannini writes from Las Cruces:

As bad as it is, if the ART project on Central Ave. in ABQ were completed at least some local people would be able to use it. I doubt we will ever see a live New Mexican depart from the Spaceport.

If not the living, how about the dead, Larry? They could launch the cremains of all those who paid a quarter of a million dollars for a space ride but passed away waiting.

GO LOGOS! 

From the Red River Miner:

Coming off of a 5th place team finish at the Utah Invitational, the UNM Logos are headed for Red River for the Lobos Invitational set for the Red River Ski Summer Area February 3-4.

Maybe they meant Legos?

ON SECOND THOUGHT

Have we got a great idea! Let's diversify New Mexico's economy! On
second thought. . .

ExxonMobil has announced plans to triple its total daily oil production in the Permian Basin in West Texas and New Mexico by the year 2025. The global oil giant cited recent corporate tax cuts as making possible the investment, which includes more than $2 billion on transportation infrastructure. . .

LONNIE'S RUN

That's a pretty cool headline from the Quay County Sun: "A Life Of Convenience":

Lonnie Allsup first became interested in retail grocery sales when he was 10 years old in his hometown of Morton, Texas. He used to stand on a box to stock and bag. The passion continued for the rest of his life, his name linked to hundreds of Allsup's convenience stores across Texas and New Mexico. Allsup died Sunday at his Clovis home. He was 84. 

FINALLY!

And from the Farmington Daily Times an editorial headline we can all agree with:

A Solution Is Finally On The Horizon

Boy, have we been waiting for that one.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2018