THE PAST 100 YEARS

From the Santa Fe New Mexican:

May 21, 1918: Doña Ana County Has Beaten Her Quota the First Day — Hit the Ball, Santa Fe.

May 21, 1968: The House of Representatives voted … at 11 a.m. today to table the bill to provide a new method for distribution of free textbook funds, in effect killing the special session proposal.

May 21, 1993: Gov. Bruce King named his occasionally controversial environmental adviser, Ray Powell Jr., as New Mexico’s next land commissioner Thursday and shrugged off any criticism of his choice.

Powell, 43, was sworn into office within hours of the appointment, pledging to be fair, accessible and independent of King.

But like the governor, Powell said he was not overly concerned about addressing special interests, including those of hard-charging environmentalists. …

Powell succeeds Jim Baca, who resigned Tuesday after being confirmed by the U.S. Senate to become director of the federal Bureau of Land Management.

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