Higher Purpose: Voters Approve Tax to Finance Spaceport America

The United States and United Kingdom are abuzz today with news that residents of New Mexico’s Dona Ana County approved a .25 percent increase in gross receipts tax to help fund construction of Spaceport America. The tax is expected to generate $50 million. Without the tax, Spaceport America would not be possible. Spaceport America will be built on high-desert rangeland (pictured above) outside the town of Truth or Consequences.

Read more in the Washinton Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/05/AR2007040501905.html

Read more from the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/6532383.stm

Local Election Creates National Buzz

Today, voters in Dona Ana county go to the polls to decide whether or not to impose a one-fourth of one percent sales tax to help finance Spaceport America and related math and science education. Typically, this sort of thing is a local story, but with the country's eye on New Mexico, it has made national news.

Read more from the Washington Post: http://http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/25/AR2007032501385.html?sub=new

Or listen via National Public Radio: http://http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9269312