Here’s a look at today’s headlines:
Senator Martin Heinrich on Friday joined 26 other senators in support of updating overtime rules to ensure more middle-class workers are paid fairly for overtime hours. The senators urged the Obama administration to increase the income threshold to $56,680 per year to strengthen overtime protections for millions more middle-class workers. The current annual salary threshold to receive time-and-a-half pay for overtime hours is $23,660, and affects only 11 percent of salaried workers nationwide.
Students from eight schools recently competed in the annual regional Science Olympiad on the WNMU Campus over the weekend. Events included wheeled vehicles, rockets, bridge building, and model airplanes. The top eight teams in Division B for Middle School will compete at the state level in Socorro, and all nine teams in Division C for High School will go on. The top three teams this weekend included Sierra Middle School, Vista Middle School, and La Plata Middle School in Division B, and Socorro High School Las Cruces High School, and Silver High School in Division C. Congratulations to all teams who participated in the event.
Deming Police, Luna County Sheriff, and New Mexico State Police responded to an incident around 8 pm Saturday evening on Pine Street in Deming. Witnesses reported a possible shooting incident after shots were allegedly fired. It is unknown if anyone was injured or why shots may have been fired. Authorities had taped off a two-block radius of the area and continue to investigate the matter.
School Board Candidates Trent Petty and Frances Vasquez of District 3 and Mike McMillan and Anthony Gutierrez of District 5 recently answered press and public questions in a forum held last Thursday. Candidates began by citing their experience and qualifications for the position on the School Board. After informing the public of their qualifications, and hopeful changes for their time on the board, candidates answered questions regarding immigrant testing, teacher evaluations, student testing, and the three priorities for the schools planned by Governor Martinez: Performance-based evaluations, retention of third-graders, and school grades of A through F.
In the Legislature, a New Mexico House committee this week approved a right-to-work bill after hearing hours of impassioned appeals from speakers. Tom Trowbridge reports from Santa Fe. The House Business and Employment Committee voted 8-5 to move forward the bill that prohibits requiring workers to join a union or to pay dues as a condition of employment. Opponents told lawmakers the bill would hurt workers by lowering wages and allows big business to bully them. Supporters say the law would attract businesses to the state and keeps people from leaving to find work elsewhere.
And, an effort to repeal a New Mexico Law that allows immigrants suspected of being in the country illegally to obtain driver’s licenses has cleared its first hurdle. The House Safety and Civil Affairs Committee voted to move along the proposal aimed at revamping the state driver’s licenses laws.
