Today's News

Union Elementary School is bustling as its student population doubled in January to accommodate kids from Don Cecilio Martinez Elementary, where one wing of the school is undergoing a complete renovation.

Principal Delbert Saavedra said children from four classrooms in second, third, fourth and fifth grades made the move on Jan. 6, which effectively doubled the number of kids attending his school.

It is my belief that the Las Vegas City Council voted appropriately in their decision to not make Grand Avenue two lane for a five-block distance. Grand Avenue is an inter-city highway. It serves as a business loop through Las Vegas. It also serves as a route for emergency vehicles to traverse the city as well as to quickly exit to emergency situations on Interstate 25.

As a former member of the Las Vegas Community Water Board, I am thrilled that the city and the Storrie Project Water Users Association are ending their litigation.

It is disappointing, to say the least, that the city lost $1 million in state funds which were intended for the project to pipe water to the Storrie users, due to city officials trying to change the original intent.

I trust the city will actively pursue settlement with the Acequias Association, who in my opinion, have legitimate concerns regarding their share of water from the Gallinas River.

Anyone who pays attention to the Legislature has had this experience: Differing versions of a bill pass the House and Senate; the bills go to a conference committee; the bill that comes out is substantially different from the two that went in.

What happened? Hard to tell.

Why? Because New Mexico is among a handful of states that close conference committee meetings to the public.

So what? Depends on whether you want government to conduct business in the open or behind closed doors.