Patrick Hoesly

 

The Bernalillo County Commission has approved a measure boosting the pay of those earning minimum wage in Bernalillo County. County commissioners voted 3 to 2 to raise the minimum wage to $8.50 an hour; workers earning the state’s minimum wage are currently paid $7.50 an hour. The commissioners voted along party lines with three Democrats supporting the measure while Republicans voted against. Workers impacted by the increase will see two 50-cent hourly increases over the next year to earn $8.50 an hour by January 1, 2014.

“Bernalillo County families deserve a fair wage for a hard day’s work,” says Commissioner Art De La Cruz, who sponsored the measure. “I am committed to economic development and creating jobs, as well as livable wages for the workers that are the backbone of many successful companies and businesses here in Bernalillo County.”

But Commissioner Wayne Johnson, who voted against the measure, believes the push for a wage increase was political pandering at its finest.“The only real beneficiaries of this policy are politicians who pander to extreme interest groups and larger businesses that have the ability to survive the arbitrarily imposed costs and benefit once their smaller competitors are forced out of business,” said Johnson.

The new ordinance will apply to about 1,400 businesses in the unincorporated areas of Bernalillo County outside the city limits, and it's consistent with the wage increase approved by Albuquerque voters. Last November, Albuquerque residents approved a minimum wage ordinance that went into effect Jan. 1, 2013, raising the city’s minimum wage from $7.50 to $8.50 per hour.

The increase was met with controversy after Mayor Richard Berry backed City Attorney David Tourek's hesitant stance on stepping in to private sector employer-employee disputes to enforce the increase. More than a week later, Berry's administration changed its tune by filing a lawsuit against a local business refusing to honor the increase.

Tipped employees are also covered by the new county wage ordinance. If a tipped employee’s hourly rate, including tips, doesn't meet the minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference. Tipped employees can continue to pool tips under the new ordinance. As with the city's minimum wage ordinance, the county will adjust the wage according to cost of living increase.

Jamie Phillips

People wore blindfolds and costumes to visually protest the lack of labeling requirements for genetically-modified foods, Tuesday March 26, 2013, at the Center for Spiritual Living

Around 200 people, some wearing blindfolds and vegetable costumes, attended “What’s on Our Plates?” last week, a community forum in northeast Albuquerque.

Organizers say the purpose of the meeting was to inform the public about genetically-engineered (GE) foods and push the city for legislation that would require companies to label genetically-engineered foods.

Yong Jung Cho, field organizer for Food & Water Watch, said the forum is just one of many of an ongoing campaign to make labeling of GE food mandatory by law.

“There are no long-term studies proving that genetically engineered foods are safe for human consumption or for the environment and yet the Federal Drug Administration still doesn’t require labeling. However at the heart of the issue is consumers deserve the right to know what we are eating and what we are feeding our families.”

Genetically engineered crops are created by transferring genetic material from one organism into another to create specific traits, such as resistance to treatment with herbicides… or to make a plant produce its own pesticides to repel insects.

Some of the most common genetically-engineered foods are corn, alfalfa, cotton and soybeans. In 1992, the FDA approved Calgene’s Flavr Savr™ tomatoes making it the first genetically modified food to be sold in U.S. stores.

Earlier this year the New Mexico State Senate voted down a bill that if passed would have made it mandatory for companies to label of genetically-engineered food throughout the state.

However, the city of Santa Fe passed a resolution about two weeks ago making it mandatory to label foods that contain genetically-engineered food products.

 

The Bernalillo County Sheriff's office has charged Albuquerque Police Sergeant Adam Casaus with vehicular homicide and great bodily harm by vehicle for last month's accident that killed a 21-year-old woman and injured her younger sister.

According to the criminal complaint, Casaus operated his police issued SUV in a careless imprudent manner in the moments leading up to the accident, by knowingly entering an intersection against a red light without slowing. It was at this time the much larger Chevy Tahoe driven by Casaus slammed into the Honda SUV driven by two sisters.

The Honda passenger, 21-year-old Ashley Browder, died at the scene and her sister, 19-year-old Lindsey Browder, the driver, suffered a broken back and was transported to University of New Mexico Hospital where she was released a few days later.

Sergeant Casaus first reported that he was attempting to catch a possible drunk driver when the crash occurred. But IPRA request, filed by several media outlets of dispatch records, show that dispatchers didn't advise Casaus that a possible drunk driver was in the area and he never informed dispatch that he was in pursuit of a drunk driver.

Since the complaint has been filed Casaus has been moved from paid administrative assignment to paid administrative leave.

 

A settlement has been reached to clean up thousands of tires illegally dumped in a secluded Northeastern New Mexico arroyo.

State Land Commissioner Ray Powell and Environmental Secretary Dave Martin announced Friday that an agreement with Daniel Ranches and Kansas Equity Investments has been reached to remove the nearly 300,000 tires from the state trust land in Mora County.

Besides paying the estimated $1 million to remove the tires, Daniel Ranches and Kansas Equity will pay an undisclosed amount in fines.

The giant mound of tires has accumulated on the state trust land for several years and was put there by Harold Daniels, a Mora County businessman and owner of the Northeast New Mexico Landfill. He has stated publicly that he diverted the tires from the land fill to the present site in an effort to control erosion.

Commissioner Ray Powell said, “Because of this lawsuit and the action taken by the Environmental Department, the lessee has agreed to clean up the site by the end of November 2013 and to take additional action to restore the land to an appropriate condition after the tires have been removed—all at no cost to New Mexicans.”

The state trust land where the tires are located is about 10 miles southeast of Wagon Mound.

“The Environmental Department is pleased that all of the parties were able to come to an agreement that will restore the land impacted by the illegal tire dump and eliminate a public health hazard,” Martin said.

But Daniels previously told KRQE-TV that he diverted the tires from his landfill to help control erosion.

“With the blessing of the Environmental Department, we started the project down there,” Daniels told the station. “It's not a tire dump. It's an erosion control project.”

Auralie Ashley-Marx, head of the the department's Solid Waste Bureau, said in 2011 that the department did sanction the erosion project but Daniels stopped following the plan for placing the tires neatly to stop erosion.

 

This afternoon, the city of Albuquerque’s Environmental Health Department (EHD) has issued an apology to 13 area restaurants that it improperly tagged with red stickers since the end of January.

The establishments were improperly graded because of a glitch in the software calculations that determine restaurant or other food service facility’s score during health inspections.  In order for an establishment to receive a red sticker it must score below the 79 percent needed to pass inspection.

Food safety inspections are carried out by the Consumer Health Protection Division of the EHD, in accordance with Federal Food and Drug Administration guidelines.

“In most cases, the incorrect calculation did not result in a downgrade, but there were several situations in which the incorrect score lead to a downgrade that was unwarranted,” said Mary Lou Leonard, director of EHD. “We sincerely apologize to the owners and staff of these facilities and to the community.”

The calculation error has been fixed, and all downgrades since the new system was implemented in late January have been reviewed. The 13 food establishments are listed below.

Albuquerque Grand Senior Apartments

1501 Tijeras Ave. NE

Chili’s Grill & Bar

10021 Coors Blvd. NW

China Best ABQ INC

8201 Golf Course Rd. NW  STE B

Godiva Chocolatier Inc.

6600 Menaul Blvd. NE  STE Q-009

Harold’s Laundry

2701 Cutler Ave. NE

IHOP 1550

5221 Ouray Rd. NW

Imbibe

3101 Central Ave. NE

Louie’s Pub & Grill

5603 Menaul Blvd. NE

Phillips 66

1517 Gibson Blvd. SE

Salsita Express

5010 Cutler Ave. NE  STE D3

Subway 34313

6200 Montgomery Blvd. NE  STE D

Sunrise Lotus Group LLC

9109 Galaxia Way NE

Vista Sandia Residential Care Inc.

8604 Camino Osito St. NE