Politics

Udall Seeks To Protect Service Members From Abusive Loan Contracts

by

Courtesy photo

U.S. SENATE News:

WASHINGTON – Thursday, Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M. announced that he and several colleagues sent a letter to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairwoman Edith Ramirez, urging them to close a loophole in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) that leaves service members vulnerable to abusive loan contracts.

The letter follows a ProPublica report on USA Discounters, a business that appears to be using an FDCPA loophole to sue thousands of service members in a venue where they often Read More

Vigorous Debate Ensues At Thursday’s GOP Forum at UNM-LA Over Proposed DPU Charter Changes

by

From left, moderator Bill McKerley goes over the ground rules with ‘con’ panelists John Arrowsmith and Felicia Orth and ‘pro’ panelists Susan O’Leary and Ed Birnbaum during Thursday’s GOP forum on the proposed changes to the charter for the Department of Public Utilities and its board. Read the full story in this weekend’s edition of the Los Alamos Daily Post. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

Many audience members took notes during Thursday’s GOP Forum at UNM-LA on the proposed charter changes to the Department of Public Utilities. Read More

Senate Majority Whip Requests Audit Results On PED Scoring

by

Tim Keller

ALBUQUERQUE – Senate Majority Whip Tim Keller, D-Bernalillo, sent a letter last week to Public Education Department (PED) Secretary-Designate Hanna Skandera requesting audit results that pertain to the A-F school scoring and teacher evaluation scoring.

Keller’s request comes as the new school year begins for most New Mexican children and following significant public debate surrounding the models for scoring.

“The scores we use to gauge the effectiveness of our teachers and our schools have significant impact over the distribution of education funding and therefore quality Read More

Community Invited to Attend Forum Analyzing Proposed DPU Charter Change Aug. 21

by

GOP News:

The Republican Party of Los Alamos will hold its monthly meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 21 in the UNM-LA Wallace Hall, Room 505.

The program will be a forum on the proposed charter change to restructure the Los Alamos County Department of Public Utilities. Advocates both for and against will present their cases and respond to questions.

Community members are encouraged to attend as this forum will be a great opportunity to learn about this important community issue voters will be deciding in November. 

A regular business meeting will follow. For information, call Robert Gibson Read More

Gov. Announcing New Mexico Certified Chile Program

by

New Mexico red and green chile. Courtesy Justin Bannister/NMSU

STATE News:

BERNALILLO — Gov. Susana Martinez will join leaders of the New Mexico Chile Association today in Bernalillo to announce a new certification program, New Mexico Certified Chile, designed to further cement the status of New Mexico Chile on par with other nationally-renowned state and regional products. Read More

‘Fair Game’ Showing at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Democratic Headquarters in Central Park Square

by

DPLA News:

As a follow-up to Valerie Plame’s visit last week supporting Dist. 43 Rep. Stephanie Garcia Richard for re-election, the Democratic Party of Los Alamos is showing Plame’s movie Fair Game at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Democratic Headquarters (next  to Quizno’s).  

Fair Game is about Plame’s outing as a CIA operative by the Bush administration because of her husband’s report of no uranium in Iraq, thus not justifying the US attack on Iraq.

An information session discussing volunteer opportunities will be at 6:15 p.m. prior to showing Read More

Video: DOE Secretary at Special WIPP Town Hall Meeting

by

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, Sen. Tom Udall, Sen. Martin Heinrich, U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce and New Mexico Environment Secretary Ryan Flynn visited Carlsbad earlier this week, participating in a town hall meeting and an all-employee meeting at the WIPP site. They also toured the above ground portions of the WIPP facility. Photos and a link to a video of the town hall meeting can be viewed at https:////www.wipp.energy.gov/wipprecovery/photo_video.html. PrintScreen photo/WIPP video

PrintScreen photo/WIPP video Read More

Meet the Candidate Event Held For Councilor Rick Reiss

by

Los Alamos County Councilor Rick Reiss, left, and hosts Ann Hayes and Pat Soran at Wednesday’s ‘Meet the Candidate’ fundraiser for Reiss. Reiss and his wife Deborah served as United Way campaign chairs in 1998 and Hayes and Soran are the current United Way campaign co-chairs. Approximately 40 people attended the fundraiser. Photo by Morris Pongratz Read More

GOP Women Meet At Noon Aug. 19

by

LAFRW News:
 
The Los Alamos Federated Republican Women (LAFRW) will hold a meeting at noon Tuesday, Aug. 19 at the Ridgepark Clubhouse, 505 Oppenheimer. 
 
All registered Republican Woman are invited to attend. Members are reminded to bring non-perishable food items and toiletries for the Woman’s Shelter in Espanola. When confirmed, the speaker for this meeting will be announced on our Facebook page.
 
For more information, contact Donna MacDonald 505.662.4001.
Read More

DOE Secretary Addresses Employees At WIPP

by

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz addresses employees Tuesday at WIPP. Also on hand were DOE Deputy Under Secretary David M. Klaus for Management and Performance, second from left, and U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich and U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce. Courtesy/WIPP

WIPP News:

This week, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz visited Carlsbad to tour the site and see firsthand the recovery efforts underway at the WIPP facility. In addition to meeting with local officials, Moniz spoke to area residents about WIPP recovery efforts at a town hall meeting, which also included Sen. Tom Udall, Sen. Martin Read More