Study: Base closures would strain economy
The economies of some of New Mexico's largest cities would be hard hit by base closures, according to a recent study.
The study, prepared for the New Mexico Military Base Planning Commission by a team led by New Mexico State University professor Chris Erickson, supports assertions by local and state leaders fighting to keep New Mexico military bases and installations alive.
The commission, created by Gov. Bill Richardson in 2002, is mobilizing as the federal government prepares for the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure round.
"If any of these bases close down, it will be absolutely devastating to the local economy," Erickson said.
More than 24,000 military and civilian personnel work at Kirtland, Cannon and Holloman Air Force bases and the Army-run White Sands Missile Range, plus thousands of contract workers.
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Governor would not have signed ignition bill
SANTA FE (AP) - Gov. Bill Richardson said Friday he doesn't like the idea of ignition interlocks for all New Mexicans, but they ought to be used by more drivers.
The governor said he will name a 10-member committee that includes House Judiciary Chairman W. Ken Martinez, D-Grants, to explore how to increase interlock use and make them less expensive.
He said Martinez's bill requiring ignition interlocks in every vehicle in the state was "interesting," but that he would not have signed it.
The state "shouldn't penalize those drivers who don't have the problem," Richardson said.
Martinez's bill passed the House, but not the Senate, before the 30-day session ended Thursday.
The breath-analyzing devices prevent intoxicated drivers from starting their vehicles.
Under current law, they are mandated for repeat drunken drivers and those convicted of aggravated DWI. Other convicted drunken drivers can get special driver's licenses if they install the devices in their vehicles.
Martinez's bill would have required the devices on all vehicles sold or registered in the state by 2009.
Bush camp attacks Kerry campaign
George W. Bush's presidential campaign told John Kerry it "does not condone" any effort to impugn his patriotism but asserted the senator's voting record on national security and defense issues is a valid target of political scrutiny.
Responding Sunday to a letter in which Kerry accused President Bush of using surrogates to attack his military service in Vietnam and his subsequent opposition to the war, Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign chairman Marc Racicot said, "I ask you to elevate the remarkably negative tone of your campaign and your party over the past year."
Hundreds honor newly married gay couples
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Hundreds of people gathered Sunday to honor San Francisco's newly married same-sex couples as politicians continued to debate whether the mayor overstepped his authority in allowing the unions.
Nearly 1,800 people registered to attend the celebration at the Hyatt Regency Hotel's Grand Ballroom, which was decorated with purple and white balloons.
Well-dressed couples wearing heart-shaped red, white and blue stickers that said "Freedom to Marry" arrived before the event.
