This is the time in the week when we scour the news for topics that would make for good discussion on our opinion segment of the show, otherwise known as THE LINE. Here are just a few of the things we’re following right now:
*More details coming out about the resignation of the state’s top election official – AJ Salazar resigned his post last month, because of what he calls some questionable practices within the Secretary of State’s Office. Included in the allegations are the ordering of employees to help gather petition signatures for Secretary of State Mary Herrera’s re-election campaign, and asking employees to solicit sponsorships from private companies. These are all allegations of course, and as of right now, no one knows the full details of Salazar’s resignation letter. Many media outlets are trying to get their hands on the letter, but so far it hasn’t happened. Details are starting to trickle out, though, as Heath Haussamen reports on his blog nmpolitics.net.
*The legislature gives up some of the power of the purse strings – in the flurry to finish up a budget comrpomise, something interesting happened in Santa Fe. Lawmakers gave the Governor more power to adjust individual agency budgets to deal with financial situations that may come up. It seems the move was a way for lawmakers to tell the Governor “if you don’t like our ideas, come up with your own”. This issue may come to a head very quickly, if the Governor decides to line item veto the reimposition of the food tax, which was part of the budget compromise reached last week in the Special Session.
*UNM raises admission standards – The Board of Regents on Monday voted to raise admission requirements to the university. Applicants must now have a minimum grade point average of 2.5, instead of 2.25. This is an idea that has been floated around for years, but was never approved. It will be interesting to see what the impact will be. Will students be better equipped to start their college careers at UNM if they have a higher GPA? Or, will more students end up at CNM and other community colleges around the state?
*War protestors shot down – a federal jury yesterday sided with the Albuquerque Police Department on all counts stemming from an altercation at a March 2003 protest of the war in Iraq. Protestors claim the police department used excessive force at the event and stymied their right to expression of free speech. Police officials claim the demonstrators became unruly, and officers did what they had to do to keep the crowd in order.
What are you paying attention to this week? What would you like to see us cover at the roundtable? Let us know! Leave us a comment, or email us at infocus@knme.org.
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on Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 at 11:25 am and is filed under New Mexico inFocus.
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