News,government Videos

A group of new billboards across the state are turning a lot of heads, at least for drivers who aren't looking down at their cell phones. It says, in true texting form, "Don't drive and text". Newman Signs put up the billboard because that is a policy for their company... and workers say it's a good public service message, as well as good advertisement. We asked high school juniors and seniors their opinions on whether people should text and drive. (Reese Paulson/Junior) "I do it all the time, no matter where I'm going, I know it's a bad habit but I don't know but it's a habit." (Sadie Berger/Senior) "When I drive on the highway I try not to do it, but in town I'll do it just because I need to say something and I try not to do it, but it happens." (Josh Romans/Senior) "I try not to look at my screen while doing it but it takes your eyes off the road for a second and that's all it takes." Right now, there is no law against texting and driving... but police say if it's a factor in an accident drivers may get an extra citation for careless driving.

Former President Bill Clinton speaks at the funeral for former New Mexico governor Bruce King

The European Union is heading into a new era with unknowns named to the bloc's new presidency and foreign policy post. Early reaction Friday seems to show EU residents taking the selection in their stride. (20 November 2009)

Albuquerque- mayor elect richard berry will be faced with a budget shortfall when he takes office. Some say it could be as high as 30-million dollars. Berry has been making a lot of new hires lately. We looked into how much money those new employees will be making -- and if they'll save the city any money. Jeff maher is live in the newsroom with what he learned. Jeff. A spokesman for richard berry says the soon to be mayor has appointed more than a dozen employees so far - most of whom make less than one-hundred thousand dollars per year. Compare that to what their predecessors were making - and it comes out to be 212,587 dollars in savings. But some say that comparison is misleading. ? Is mayor-elect richard berry being as fiscally conservative as he promised to be during his campaign ? His people gave us a comparison -- showing that the majority of his appointees are making less than their predecessors, even though most still make more than 90-thousand dollars per year. But they're comparing many of their new-hire salaries to previous employees who had been working under mayor martin chavez for several years and had gotten raises during that time. And two of the department heads are actually getting a salary increase, including family and community services -- --going from 97-thousand dollars under chavez to 107- thousand under berry: "i think that's going to come under more scrutiny as we go forward, if we start raising the spector of furloughing city employees, everything this mayor does in terms of how much he pays people and who he's hiring, there's going to be a higher bar because now people's livelihoods aron the line" City councilor brad winter says there were a lot of positions created under mayor chavez that berry should look at cutting. One position that the city council has questioned before is chief public safety officer -- the position berry gave to darren white after pete dinelli resigned. "i don't understand the reason for it, but then again i'm not the mayor" "i think he's been very cautious, his new directors are coming in at a lower salary, and there may have been some people that have been turned away or didn't accept the job because they weren't willing to work for 95-96 thousand dollars per year" A spokesman for berry says they've still not decided whether to fill the position of chief operations officer, which is typically a high- paying position.

City park board finds it's far more expensive to treat the trees than to remove

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says she is encouraged by Afghan President Hamid Karzai's pledge to battle corruption and get his security forces sufficiently trained to take the lead within five years. (Nov. 19)

Afghan President Hamid Karzai was sworn in for a second term in office Thursday. In his address, he pledged to fight corruption and ensure that Afghanistan takes control of its own security. (Nov 19)

take time to sort your recyclable items every week but we've learned they don't always make it to the city of albuquerque's recycling facility right away.. a former city solid waste manager is among a group of former city employees that asked us to check into this massive pile of material sitting near the city's dump. investigative reporter jeremy jojola started asking questions... and found it may be violating state environmental laws: thanks to your thanks to your nobel efforts the city takes in more thanks to your nobel efforts the city takes in more than 20-thousand tons of recyclable materials every year. it all goes minute thumbnail 10:15 pm here to the city's sorting facility on the west mesa that was built in the early 1990's. at least it's supposed to go there.. some material has not been sorted for months----and it's turned into....this. a massive pile just south of the facility surrounded by trailers, old tires and barrles. tarps on top have shredded away---the pile of cardboard, paper and plastic has been exposed to rain and the elements for who knows how long. "i think it's time to come clear withhe public." frank ortega who worked in solid waste for 25 years and retired as a maintenance manager in 2007 says much of the material might as well be thrown into the dump because mold and mildew has likely ruined its recycling potential. "jojola: so all of this stuff was meant to be recycled, and now it's contaminated ... "ortega: it's contaminated" ortega says he was routinely trained in recling during his time at the landfill and believes without a doubt the city is trying to hide the pile from public view because it proves there's a problem. "they can't keep up with what's going on. the facility can only do so much." ortega blames the city for not upgrading the sorting facility since it was built as a pilot program. inside, the same baling machine minute thumbnail 10:16 pm that was first handling all recycling material in the early 90's is still handling all the material coming in today, even more so as more people "think green" the old baler has repeated break- downs, ortega says, costing the city tens of thousands of dollars in repairs and that those break-down leads to back-ups. and even when it is working there is a bottle neck effect. "jojola: ortega is not the only former city employee to make these claims, but he is the only one willing to go on camera. he's among a handful of city employees that approached us with this issue months ago claiming the city's recycling program is garbage." "i don't know if i would use the word overwhelmed...we are definitely nearing capacity." the city reffered us to jill holbert, deputy director of solid waste, in charge of recycling. we asked her about ortega's claims---especially about that massive pile. "do you know how long this has been sitting there for? " "it's from this year. i don't know the minute thumbnail 10:17 pm exact date." "jojola: can this still be recycled, this material?' "yes" "jojola: it's not contaminated by the rain or anything like that?" "uhm, there might be a little bit of problem ...no...no not really. we get very little rain fall in albuquerque, and snow cover..so certainly you'd want to cover it the best you can and keep it out of the elements." hollbert says this pile is a very small fraction of what's actually being recycled at that it's just a storage area. but she admits it's proof the city has a problem with so much recycling material coming into an out-dated, slower system. "jojola: would you characterize this as a spill over effect." "over flow, it's definitely overflow. oh i would definitely love to have the capacity to process that tomorrow, and like i said, we've been very forth comming in saying we need a new facility. we need the ability to process all the materials." hollbert says the city is pushing hard for a new recycling facility that would cost 20 million dollars...but she stresses, everything that is coming in is minute thumbnail 10:18 pm eventually recycled, and not contaminated. "jojola: is it smart to encourage people to recycle, but at the back end, we have what appears to be a spill- over effect?" "i would say....i know what you're getting at. this is something, unfortunately again, we have this backlog ...but for the most part though, we are able to process everything that comes in." new mexico's environment department- says the sorting facility was last inspected back in april of 2008. a spokesperson says the agency is looking in several complaints about it.. and if any violations are found, the city could be slapped with fines.

It has gone from one of the biggest environmental messes in the state to a huge success story. Every one of the nearly 12 million tires in the old Fortino Tire Dump in West Monroe are gone.

Two years after they discovered they were drinking treated sewage water, several Chula Vista business owners are still waiting to hear about a lawsuit they filed against the Otay Water District and the city of Chula Vista.

PLAINVILLE -- A gas leas in Plainville lead to some evacuation on Wednesday morning.

(11/12/09) - A gas leak disrupts the day at a Metro middle school, landing students and teachers in the hospital.