THE PAST 100 YEARS

From the Santa Fe New Mexican: May 20, 1919: Las Vegas, N.M., May 20 — The citizens of Las Vegas are making a special effort this spring to make their city one of the cleanest in the state. Some time ago an order was issued seeking every resident and business man to clean up all rubbish around their homes and places of business, and this week the mayor, city clerk and city marshal will make a tour of inspection to ascertain whether or not the order has been complied with.

May 20, 1969: Gov. David Cargo says he’s getting only light response so far to his questionnaire asking legislators for opinions on a special session to consider medicaid money problems.

As of late Monday only 11 of 112 legislators had returned questionnaires to the governor. Cargo’s office sent out the questionnaires last Thursday.

May 20, 1994: In a tight primary race for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, New Mexico’s Indian vote could swing the election.

At least, that’s the assessment of some political observers who note that almost half of the 48,000-vote margin that allowed President Clinton to carry the state in 1992 came from American Indians.

“About 85 percent of Native Americans voted for Clinton,” said Albuquerque lawyer Kevin Gover, who made a study of 1992 voting patterns in the state’s 83 mainly Indian precincts. “The overwhelming majority are registered Democrat and they had a very significant impact on the election.”