Urgent Care only from 8 until 5

Yesterday evening I was cleaning in my kitchen and cut myself badly with a sharp knife. After kicking myself for failing to be more careful I called my sister-in-law and went to find an urgent care so that I could get the deep cut stitched up.

Well I and my sister-in-law found out that Presbyterian closes their urgent care offices at 5:00 p.m in our city. I can honestly say this makes no senses to me. Why would you want to overflow emergency rooms in this city and cause people to wait hours just to get treatment that at best only takes half an hour to treat.

Hospital care systems are making huge amounts of money by forcing patients to go to emergency rooms after dark. This is poor management at best and simply cruel behavior at worst.

Now I know that I am one of the luck ones because I am holding on for dear life to my healthcare insurance still I am one of those individuals who is under insured because like many I cannot always afford the co-payments when I need medical treatment.

We pasted the reform bill but I still don’t see reform for the people who need it most. Were are our representatives and why are they no taking the floor in angry defense of the people they represent against the republicans like that congressman in New York? Representatives should understand that the greatest heath care system in the world is no help at all if the doors close at 5:00 p.m while health insurance corporations rake in hugh profits.

Do Kids Count in New Mexico?

Today the rankings came out for the Kids Count and New Mexico fell to 46th in the country. When education is cut down by State Senators like Tim Jennings and John A. Smith on a regular base in the conservative media and public education is cut past the bone then students and parents get the message loud and clear that children in this state just don’t matter to people in power.

Our Governor Bill Richardson has worked hard over the past eight years to try and make things better for our children with little to no appreciation for all of his hard work but he has had to fight tooth and nail just to bring this state along on issues like child and family safety, education, transportation and resources for low income families.

Now with budget cuts thanks to a past republican president and a republican in control of our fair city we have little hope to make things better for our children. Life is getting harder and no one is listening to the people on the front lines any longer. School administrators and coaches are getting million dollar sweetheart deals while teachers are facing layoffs.

Republicans and Red Dog Democrats have pushed charter schools and now the numbers are out and the issues are the same the money goes to administration and not to provide a quality education for our children. When will republicans be stopped from harming our children in this state?

When will what the lobbyists want stop coming before the well being of our children in Santa Fe? How can we possibly put an end to lobbyists buying republican votes in Santa Fe?

If Democrats don’t get out and vote this year our children will only face harder times in the future.

Two New Judicial Candidates for the Metro Court System

Today at 10:00 am Democrats servicing on the Bernalillo County Central Committee met and placed two judicial candidates on the ballot this fall for the Metro Court here in Albuquerque. Yvette Gonzales and Christina P. Argyres are the new appointees.

Judicial candidates must run a contested race in order to win a four year term on the bench in the metro court system.

Individuals go through a bipartisan selection committee and are then appointed by the governor until they run in a contested race after which once they win they are then required to run for retention.

Voters must look carefully at each candidate to see that they will approach the bench with an open mind taking in to consideration only the evidences presented by both the prosecutor and the defense attorney.

In the recent past we have had to remove one judge from the metro court because of her lack of ability to have an open mind and to hand out balanced justice.

Our two new appointed judges will both be hearing criminal cases which include both domestic violence and DWI, just the first three convictions, cases which are both on the record cases. They will be spending a great deal of their time reviewing the files before hearing evidences in these cases.

Judges are not allowed to speak out on issues because they are required to maintain a open mind on all issues but they are allowed to answer questions on education, law practice, family and community contracts which can show a lot about their character and the quality of their judgment when it comes to how they approach issues before them.

I look forward to interviewing these candidates in the future to find out how they approach life’s little roadblocks.

Yvette Gonzales is a mother, wife and a native New Mexican with deep roots in the community. She has already taken to the bench and is devoted to reviewing each of her cases carefully and completely before hearing the evidences. Yvette is a graduate from owe own New Mexico UNM School of Law and is a member of the Hispanic Bar Association.

Christina Argyres has had her own attorney business and has worked for the prosecutor’s office as a contract attorney. She received her law degree from Ohio Northern School of Law.

Don't Forget to Vote for the Judges

New Mexico Appeals Court Judge Rob Robles reminds voters to keep our courts sound and balanced by voting for quality judges.

New Mexico State Senator Tim Keller at the Party Picnic

Just a little reminder call it the International District not the War Zone.

Congressman Martin Heinrich at the BCDP Picnic

Brian Colon and Diane Denish At the BCDP Picnic

Lt. Governor Candidate Brian Colon



Governor Candidate Diane Denish

Speedy Fair Justice--Victim Of State Budget Cuts

New Mexico is facing difficult budget issues in this year due to a short fall in tax revenues which forced the legislature to cut the budget of many law enforcement agencies. Among those cut the most were the court systems and the district attorney’s office.

Judges are required by both state and federal constitutional laws to provide swift justice and fair due process to all individuals accused of a felony crime or for that matter any crime committed in this state.

I was in a courtroom just Friday where the district attorney’s office had failed to notify a lawyer of discovery and the trial set for Monday was postponed even after the judge in the case had set an order for a deadline for the District Attorney’s Office to provide the lawyer for the defense with large amounts of information which the legal system calls discovery. Without that information a defense lawyers have no ability to adequately defend their clients against charges.

In the Albuquerque Journal yet another case was being debated where the district attorney’s office could not afford to bring back witnesses in a case where the individual in question was charged with sexual assault of a child. If information is not given a possible child molester could go free.

I know that the last thing a judge in our state court system wants to do is be forced to free someone who could be guilty of a serious felony crime because of a technicality that is nevertheless very important to the defense of someone accused of a felony in this state.

At the same time District Attorney Kari Brandenburg is being forced to make unacceptable calls when it comes to which cases to fund and which to let drag on to the point where the defendant could end up being released because of a lack of due process. District Attorneys are being shamed in front of judges due to their lack of control over important information that should be given to the defense attorneys. These District Attorneys are doing the best job they can with very limited resources.

Second District Court Judge Bob Schwartz in his clear frustration with the current events in his courtroom has ordered the District Attorney’s office to show cause why the sexual assault case should not go on without the vital evidences needed to either convict or free the accused sex offender.

He also suggested a bake sale to raise the money needed to transport the witnesses back to New Mexico. I would go even further and suggest that they invite the republicans in the state legislature because if you look at State Senator Tim Jennings I would say they could make a huge amount of money off just his appetite alone after all he was in the lead when it come to cutting the state budget in the first place that has caused this problem. So much for Republicans being tough on crime in this state.

State Senator Jennings Wants to Do Away with Retirement for Educators

Yes, our own Red Dog Democrat Senator Tim Jennings who leads the State Senate is suggesting once again that teachers should loss their retirement funds and be forced to count on a market plan that could leave a good number of our teachers on the streets in their old age with no place to live and no food to eat. Maybe Senator Jennings should take a cold hard look at the man in the mirror before he starts suggesting cuts to public education that will drive good teachers out of the field all together.

He calls teacher retirement funds a sweetheart deal but he fails to take into account that teachers are paid well below market value for their services and most good ones will be forced to return to the market place with his cuts. Even with the job market down experienced teacher would most likely not have a problem finding a well paying job in the market place. For these dedicated public servants it is all about the future and student well being but everyone has a breaking point and Senator Jennings has crossed that line far too often when it comes to public education.

He of course will blame teachers for leaving the field and use it as a justification to end public education in our state. Never mind that it is a constitutional right. He like most republicans don’t see the need for a public education system since well educated voters don’t vote for republicans because they are too well informed on the issues.

Senator Jennings has often taking aim at teachers in this state because he has no real ideas on how to fix the budget problems and simply want a group to blame for the state’s failure to develop an active economy that would support government services in our state. You know I once read a study that said morbid obese lowers the I.Q. Make no mistake he is a republican in all but name.

I would suggest that he look at plans for economic development of small businesses in this state as a way to increase tax revenues and that a well educated workforce is our only hope of keeping the state budget balanced through increased tax revenues. People who are well educated often pay more in taxes then people without any education or a poor one due to a lack of a quality educational systems.

Driving good teachers out of the field will only cause our state to loss federal dollars because of a failure to make the grade when it come to the system. I don’t see his plan as a way to improve education for our children or as a successful was to increase tax revenues over the long term. I would give his plan a big

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