NMSO players and management turn to mediator for help with contract negotiations

Musicians in the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra ended their season this month wearing green armbands and passing out flyers to audience members outside UNM's Popejoy Hall. It wasn't the first time. Nearly six months earlier, the players began their campaign to draw public attention to an impasse in contract negotiations. They wore green armbands on stage to signify solidarity.

According to Mayor Martin Chavez, a 4-4 vote by the City Council means a majority voted to pass a bill. That's what he told Jeff Deal, a reporter for KRQE-TV, who, in an honest to goodness example of investigative journalism, broke the news that the mayor had ordered the city clerk to fabricate a document saying the City Council passed the mayor's request to raise garbage collection rates, when, in fact, the bill failed to get the support of a Council majority required to make it law.

Scott Rickson

Dateline: Scotland—A man who tried to conduct a job interview while naked has been sentenced to three years probation and placed on the sex offenders registry. Saeed Akbar, 35, was interviewing a female job prospect at Alpha Translating and Interpreting Services in Glasgow. At some point Akbar left the interview room and came back in naked and clutching a clipboard. When the 25-year-old woman refused to strip as well, he put his clothes back on and attempted to continue the interview as normal. The victim fled and filed a police report. Akbar initially told police his strip was a consensual “role play” and was part of his “tough interviewing technique.” Glasgow Sheriff Court was eventually told that the offender--who was held in “high esteem” by his company--was only seeking some excitement in his day. “I wanted a bit of excitement that afternoon, that's purely all it was,” Akbar told the BBC News. Passing sentence, Sheriff Brian Lockport noted that Akbar's partner had left him, he had lost his job and his friends refused to associate with him. “On the one hand, I have to take into account the distress which you caused your victim,” Lockport said in court. “On the other hand, I have to take into account the catastrophic effect this incident has had on your life. You have suffered severely as a result of you actions.” The father of one from Dunfermline pleaded guilty to committing a breach of the peace.

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