There's a new player in the race to secure the license for the state's sixth and last racino. Actually, the new player is quite familiar. It's My Way Holdings, controlled by the family of the late racing kingpin Stan Fulton and longtime owner of Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino in southern NM.

Insiders report the Fultons have joined the competition for the racino which has already attracted a number of groups, including one that wants the new racetrack and casino in Tucumcari and another that wants to build it in Clovis.

Applications for the final racino are being taken until the end of July and the process is starting to draw close scrutiny, Memories of the 2011 Martinez administration deal that awarded a 25 year lease for the Downs at ABQ Racetrack and Casino and which critics said stunk to high heaven, are still relatively fresh. That deal was so mired in politics and accusations of corruption that it became known as the Down and Dirty Downs Deal. The FBI investigated but no charges were brought.

The Downs lease came under the purview of the board of Expo NM and the State Board of Finance, but the new racino must be approved by the State Racing Commission and the state Gaming Control Board. Interestingly, the time frame for awarding the prized racino is the end of the year which happens to coincide with the end of Gov. Martinez's tenure. Also interesting is the fact that Laguna Development Corporation, which lost the competition for the Downs lease, is an applicant for the new racino.

Where the final racetrack and casino will go is yet to be determined (probably on the east side) but with the Fultons joining the chase there will be an extra set of eyes watching the process.

DATELINE TAIWAN

Maybe it's her summer vacation?

Gov. Martinez is traveling to Taiwan for a week at the expense of Taiwan's foreign affairs ministry. A Martinez spokesman said that the governor departed Thursday and will return June 30. The governor's office says travel expenses are being paid for by Taiwan. The purpose of the trip was unclear, with no immediate response to requests for more information.

THE BORDER

It seems every politician who has ever had an anti-Trump thought is flocking to the border for a photo op over the latest immigration flap. But syndicated columnist Diane Dimond points out few of them appear to be talking about the fundamental cause of the problem:

Sadly, we hear next to nothing about trying to tackle the two-fold root cause of the illegal immigration problem. First, citizens of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico are fleeing ruthless, murdering drug gangs that often conduct business right under the noses of bribery-blind law enforcement officials. Around $2.6 billion of our tax dollars go to aid programs every year that are supposed to help restore peace and prosperity in Central America. Yet, the violence there seems never-ending. Where has all that money gone?

Maybe the politicos need to visit those countries to find out more, but then they would miss out on the TV studio that seems to have been set up on the border.

NOT SO FAST

We blogged last week of the oil gusher in the Permian Basin and how it's creating a cash gusher for state government, but the punch bowl could be pulled in the months ahead. take a look:

The biggest U.S. shale region will have to shut wells within four months because there aren’t enough pipelines to get the oil to customers, the head of one of the industry’s largest producers said. The worsening bottleneck in the Permian region that straddles west Texas and New Mexico offers an unexpected fillip to OPEC and other oil producers outside the U.S., who’ve seen rampant production from America’s shale producers grab market share. "We will reach capacity in the next 3 to 4 months," Scott Sheffield, the chairman of Pioneer Natural Resources Co. said in an interview at an OPEC conference in Vienna. "Some companies will have to shut in production, some companies will move rigs away, and some companies will be able to continue growing because they have firm transportation."

It's the same old story when it comes to New Mexico and oil booms--enjoy it while it lasts because it never does.

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