|
State Headlines
NMPA has moved
We're moving on up...
With a sale of the Silver St building that housed the NMPA office we have moved to Journal Center in what was once the Tribune offices. The NMPA office was most recently the scene of an FBI interrogation room in the movie The Last Stand. They've left behind several interrogation devices that we will use on any late paying advertisers.
Here is our new address:
PO Box 95198
Albuquerque NM 87199
Phone, fax and email all remain the same.
Physical address is 7777 Jefferson NE if you are in the neighborhood and would like to drop by to see the new headquarters.
2013 Legislative session
Bills on the watch list:
SB 261 All party consent (Oppose) Tabled in Public Affairs
HB 21 Relating to OMA (Support) Passed House and now on to the Senate committees. Requires agendas for meetings be made available 72-hours in advance.
HB 390 Notice of sale of Self storage units. Committee substitute for HB 390 (Oppose). Received a Do Pass from HBIC. The sub reduces the frequency of a notice before a sale from 2X to 1X. This bill will reduce the amount of notice the public receives before a sale takes place. The original bill removed all requirements for publishing a notice. NMPA still stands in opposition to the bill even as substituted.
SB 294 Expungement of criminal records (Oppose) passed Senate.
NMPA agrees with Gov Martinez that this bill (vetoed in the past by both Gov Martinez and Richardson) "significantly impedes the public's and media's right to know about information relating to convictions".
HB 403 Disclosure of information on accident reports. (Oppose) With out knowledge of the names of those involved in an accident this bill would severely limit the ability of a reporter to obtain necessary information while providing exceptions to several non-media entities. Received a Do Pass from HHGIC and moves on to House Judiciary.
Former 'New Mexican' reporter dead as a result of injuries
Former New Mexican reporter Mark Hummels, was shot at a Phoenix office building.
Hummels, who left The New Mexican in 2001 to attend law school at the University of Arizona, was shot in the neck and in the back after the settlement conference. Also shot was Steve Singer, 48, a call-center CEO who died hours later, and a 32-year-old female bystander who was caught in the gunfire near the building's entrance and suffered a gunshot wound to the hand. Read more
City answers local complaint about alleged Open Meetings Act violation In a state Attorney General's office investigation, the City of Rio Rancho has responded to a complaint accusing four city councilors of violating the Open Meetings Act. In an October complaint written to the Attorney General's office, Rio Rancho resident Tonya Cantu claimed that councilors Lonnie Clayton, Tim Crum, Chuck Wilkins and Mark Scott violated the Open Meetings Act through a rolling quorum. Read more Taos County violates Open Meetings Act J.R. Logan Taos County Commissioner Joe Mike Durán has filed a formal complaint with the New Mexico Attorney General accusing three of his fellow commissioners of violating the state's Open Meetings Act. In a letter dated Jan. 10, Durán wrote that he believed commissioners Dan Barrone, Gabriel Romero and Tom Blankenhorn "met prior to the regular commission meeting and had discussed and decided bringing Mr. Rick Bellis back to work for Taos County." Read more 'New Mexican' prepares to launch new website The West's oldest newspaper is poised to launch New Mexico's newest media website. The Santa Fe New Mexican will unveil its new website next month, which will include complete content from the newspaper's signature arts magazine, Pasatiempo, Publisher Ginny Sohn said. The 164-year-old newspaper joins the industry trend of charging for digital content and will end unlimited free access to its website, www.santafenewmexican.com. Read more Observer to begin endorsing candidates The Rio Rancho Observer, now in its 40th year, is making an important editorial policy change. Beginning with the Feb. 5 Rio Rancho Public Schools board election, we will offer readers our point of view on whom we feel is best suited to serve in the post they seek. Read more New building signals investment in downtown More than two years after a fire gutted the Sun-News building, Las Cruces' leading media organization has returned to its roots downtown. The newspaper reopened its doors on Feb. 4 at 256 W. Las Cruces Ave., the address where it's operated since 1970. The difference, of course, is the building - a brand new $1.3 million facility. "We are very, very excited to be moving back," Sun-News Publisher Frank Leto said. "This sends a strong message to the community that we believe long-term in the future of downtown Las Cruces." Read more Optic's McDonald leaving post Publisher to start own business Tom McDonald, who has served as the Optic's editor and publisher for more than eight years, has announced plans to resign to start his own business. The resignation is tentatively effective in mid-March. Landmark Community Newspapers Inc., the Optic's parent company, has announced that Optic managing editor Martin Salazar will take over as interim general manager and editor upon McDonald's departure until a permanent replacement for McDonald is selected. Read more Public Notice promotion HB 577 was introduced but after several discussions the legislation is DOA. It is important to continue to let the public know about their access to these notices. We thank you for the support. In the last few weeks we have seen a spike in website visits and subscriptions to the Smart Search function. Keep up the good work. Thanks to Maria Lopez Garcia and the Rio Grande SUN we have new promotional ads letting the public know they now have several options to find notices: in print, the NMPA website, sunshineportlanm.com and now newmexico.gov. The state websites do not upload our content, they only provide a link to the existing website. Please run the ads as space permits. Not only does it let the public know where to find these notices, it will also be instrumental in the upcoming legislative session to make legislators aware of how the newspaper industry has made these notices accessible and a clear message to any outside interests that have thoughts of creating new public notice websites that newspapers already have that covered. No other medium can deliver public notices to the public in print and online like newspapers can. Find the ads online at NMPA Public Notice Ads. Webinar Training There are a series of upcoming webinar training sessions offered through Inland Press. NMPA members are afforded special member prices through co-sponsorship of these convient training sessions. Please take a look at the upcoming topics on the left hand side of this newsletter. Clicking on the title will bring you to the registration page and provide additional information. | 
