Just Say No
Did you get a call from the New Mexico Narcotic Officers Association (NMNOA) recently, asking for money to help win the war on drugs? Sounds like a worthy cause, so you probably chipped in at least the "minimum" donation of $35. Just don't try to deduct that contribution on your taxes: What the fundraising caller didn't tell you–what you won't find out until you get your pledge statement, and then only if you look closely before writing out your check–is that "the NMNOA is a non-profit organization. It is not a charity and therefore your contributions are not tax-deductible."
Say what? That means the association is not registered with the New Mexico Attorney General's Office and so does not comply with the state's Charitable Solicitations Act. That also means potential donors can't check on the NMNOA in the online GuideStar database of more than 850,000 charitable organizations, where you can see the IRS Form 990 information that real charities must submit. Conveniently for the NMNOA, its off-the-radar status keeps donors in the dark about what percentage of the money they give ever actually goes to "provide narcotic and drug abuse information suitable for distribution to the adult and juvenile public." According to a charitable-giving expert at Consumers Union, such police and firefighter groups that hire professional fundraisers may end up allocating as little as 30 percent of donated dollars to actual good works. The rest goes to fundraising fees and administration.
In the case of the Albuquerque-based NMNOA, a little more fine-print reading reveals that what your donation really goes for–after the professional fundraiser, Midwest Publishing-DN Inc., gets paid–is a magazine, The New Mexico Narcotic Officer. The publication is "distributed to association members, police and sheriff's departments."
Hey, Texas, Wanna Trade Billionaires?
While New Mexico taxpayers are being asked to chip in to help get billionaire Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic space-tourism flights off the ground (see the February 2006 Desert Exposure), over in Texas it seems Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos is willing and able to pay his own way into space. Bezos' private space-launch company, Blue Origin, recently fired off its first test flight–a success, unlike the inaugural launch from New Mexico's Spaceport America. The Blue Origin launch site is in west Texas, near the town of Van Horn, where over the past three years Bezos has bought up nearly 300,000 acres. That's right–this billionaire is buying his own spaceport, not asking the state to subsidize it.
According to papers filed with the Federal Aviation Administration, Blue Origin aims to start commercial operations as soon as 2010, and will eventually have weekly launches from the west Texas site.
Meanwhile, in Virgin Galactic news, the new Neiman Marcus holiday catalog is offering a trip into space aboard the Branson spaceship that will one day blast off from scenic Upham, NM. Price tag? $1.76 million for six suborbital tourists. If that sounds steep, keep in mind that the package also includes a post-flight party at Branson's private island retreat in the Caribbean.
It's not the most expensive gift in this year's Neiman Marcus wishbook, however. That would be a $3.8 million membership in Italy's Castiglion Del Bosco wine estate, including unlimited stays at the Tuscan villas.
Watch on the Potomac
The Washington Bureau of Tumbleweeds likes to kid about Gov. Bill Richardson's 2008 White House ambitions, but after the 2006 midterm elections some pundits think it's no laughing matter. For the first time, Washington Post political reporter Chris Cillizza has included Richardson among the top five Democratic presidential contenders in his blog, The Fix (blog.washingtonpost.com/the fix). Richardson, after all, led the highly successful Democratic governors' effort that picked up statehouses across the country, and he's from the Mountain West region that suddenly seems like the Democrats' best hope to turn a region from red to blue. And of course Richardson was returned to the Roundhouse in Santa Fe with a state record landslide.
Cillizza writes: "As longtime Fix readers know, we have long been skeptical of Richardson's chances of winning his party's nomination. That said, he has perhaps the most impressive resume of anyone on this list–two-term governor, member of Congress, ambassador and cabinet secretary. He is also a Latino American, the quickest-growing voting bloc in the country. That said, Richardson is not the most disciplined of politicians, a trait that could work to his detriment over the long haul of a presidential effort." The item winds up with a link to an online video of Richardson's cowboy-movie spoof ad from his 2006 re-election campaign, which finishes with him ordering milk and then saying, "Next time, let's make a space movie." Cillizza concludes: "Before you write off Richardson, however, ask yourself what other potential 2008 candidate could have pulled off this ad?"
In response to a reader, the Post reporter adds this follow-up: "To Richardson's credit, he has ridden his large personality to considerable political success, but real questions remain as to whether he can stand up to intense national media scrutiny that would come with a White House bid."
Cillizza ranks Richardson below Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Barack Obama, former Sen. John Edwards and Sen. Evan Bayh. Given the dismal record of White House runs by US senators–at least since John Kennedy's 1960 bid–being the only governor in the group might not be bad.
The Post politics blog also spotlights New Mexico in its "Way Early Look at the '08 Senate Races." Perhaps surprisingly, The Fix puts Sen. Pete Domenici's seat among the 10 most competitive races for 2008: "Like Mississippi, the competitiveness of this contest rests on whether Domenici decides to run for a 7th term. Domenici, 74, has been in ill-health for several years and because of the Democratic takeover this year will no longer chair the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Domenici has pledged to run again, but few strategists believe that is the final word. Should he retire it could well set off an extremely competitive Republican primary between Reps. Steve Pearce and Heather Wilson. Pearce, the more conservative of the two, would likely start out as a slight frontrunner. The picture is far less clear for Democrats, as Rep. Tom Udall–cousin of Colorado's Mark–has shown little interest in a Senate bid."
Learning Their Lesson
A posh private school in Los Angeles has learned the hard way that real estate in Southwest New Mexico can be just as much a gamble as in California. The Harvard-Westlake School, an independent co-ed day school for grades 7-12 in LA and North Hollywood, finally unloaded the Los Olmos ranch near Glenwood after two years of trying. According to a report in the school's student newspaper, the school sold the ranch for $620,000 after spending $2 million on the property, including an original purchase price of $1.2 million. The Glenwood ranch had been intended as a remote campus location for summer school, special programs and retreats.
But the project was plagued by construction problems and proved difficult to manage at such a distance. Particularly troublesome was the septic system, which almost killed the sale even after a buyer had been found: State regulations changed so that Los Olmos' balky septic system no longer met the new code. Rather than sink more money into the property and sit on it for another eight to nine months, the school restructured its deal with buyer Domanick Bohnett, knocking $230,000 off the original $850,000 price.
Harvard-Westlake Chief of Campus Operations Jim De Matte told the school newspaper, "I spent two years trying to find a buyer for the property, and with every passing day irritation increased among the people of New Mexico. Deal after deal fell through and it was apparent that the school was going to take an economic hit."
Rob Levin, the school's finance chief, added, "It's hard enough selling a property that's two states away, especially when there isn't that big of a market. It may be the greatest property in the world, but if there are only seven people interested it's hard to find someone who wants to come to a similar deal as you do."
Bohnett, described as an "entrepreneur," took possession in July even though the deal didn't close until several months later.
"I doubt that we will ever make another attempt at a remote campus," De Matte said. "I highly doubt it."
Wanted for Questioning
A Grant County murder will be featured on "America's Most Wanted" this month, and friends of the victim are looking for donations to beef up the reward money the TV program will publicize. In this case, though, authorities believe they have the killer already in custody; the Dec. 9 program on Fox will seek leads on a woman whom authorities hope can help convict James Michael Snyder in the Dec. 30, 2005, ranch slaying of John Timothy Edwards. Snyder was expected to go to trial Jan. 22, but that date may be postponed by District Court Judge Gary Jeffreys because of a delay by the state crime lab in processing DNA evidence.
In the meantime, friends of the Edwards family are hoping "America's Most Wanted" viewers can help locate a material witness known during her time in this area as Tammy Patrick. Her other aliases include Tammy Dyer, Tammy Trapanier, Tammy Van Pool and Tammy Kimball. The woman has eluded law-enforcement for months now as authorities have sought her testimony. A reward fund has been set up through Western Bank in Silver City.
"We believe that a substantial reward announced on 'America's Most Wanted' will entice someone to come forward and reveal her whereabouts," explains L.J. Lundy, who's been helping to coordinate the fund. "It's very critical to the case to find her."
People interested in contributing to the reward fund are asked to act fast, so the total can be announced on the Dec. 9 broadcast. Contact Lundy at Coldwell Banker, 538-2931, or at home, 534-4988, or Ty Banks at Western Bank, 388-3521. All contributions will remain anonymous to the Edwards family as per their request.
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