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Articles written by Barry Massey The Associated Press


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  • Firefighters battling Tres Lagunas blazes racing against wind, humidity

    BARRY MASSEY The Associated Press

    PECOS — More than 900 firefighters were racing against increasing winds and dropping humidity levels Monday as they fought to contain two wildfires raging in the northern New Mexico mountains. In the Santa Fe National Forest, the Tres Lagunas blaze had burned more than 12 1/2 square miles by midday Monday, and firefighters were working to protect a group of homes in the Holy Ghost Canyon and prevent the fire from spreading east where it could endanger a river watershed that supplies the city of Las Vegas. Some 140 homes, m... Full story

  • NM proposal limits legislative email disclosure

    Barry Massey The Associated Press

    SANTA FE — A House committee approved a proposal Friday that could protect legislators' email from being publicly disclosed through requests made under a New Mexico open government law. The proposed change in legislative rules unanimously endorsed by the Rules and Order of Business Committee will establish a policy for how the Legislature will handle requests under the Inspection of Public Records Act. Some lawmakers use email only through personal accounts rather than a legislative email system. House Republican Leader Donal...

  • GOP fails to force debate

    BARRY MASSEY The Associated Press

    SANTA FE — Allies of Republican Gov. Susana Martinez narrowly failed Wednesday in trying to revive legislation that would stop New Mexico from issuing driver's licenses to most illegal immigrants. A Martinez-backed license proposal has been bottled up in committee by majority Democrats, which dooms the bill as time runs out in the legislative session. Lawmakers will adjourn in 10 days and similar license legislation is stalled in the Senate. Republicans — aided by a handful of Democrats — tried a rarely successful proce...

  • GOP seeks NM tax system overhaul

    BARRY MASSEY The Associated Press

    SANTA FE — Republican lawmakers proposed Thursday to significantly revamp New Mexico's governmental finance system by relying more on taxing people and businesses on what they consume and spend rather than the income they earn. Rep. Tom Taylor and Sen. Bill Sharer, both of Farmington, outlined their proposal Thursday but conceded it's a work-in-progress and not fully clear how the tax burdens of individuals and businesses will change. "It may overtax some areas and we need to understand all of that before we cast this t...

  • NM renewing fight over immigrant licenses

    Barry Massey The Associated Press

    SANTA FE — As other states move to provide driver's licenses to immigrants unlawfully in the country, New Mexico has renewed a battle over a proposal by Republican Gov. Susana Martinez to stop granting licenses to illegal immigrants. A House committee on Tuesday shelved the governor's proposal but the issue isn't likely to go away in the Legislature. The Labor and Human Resources Committee voted 5-4 along party lines to keep the measure bottled up in the panel — a possible way for majority Democrats to try to delay act...