Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham will have a live update Wednesday evening at 8:30 p.m. to provide information on the South Fork and Salt Fires— KUNM
The brief will be held at the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell. It will also be livestreamed on the governor’s Facebook page.
New Mexico wildfire claims second life, while rain offers hope of relief– Associated Press
Heavy rain and hail fell Wednesday around an evacuated village in New Mexico threatened by wildfires that have killed at least two people and damaged more than 1,400 structures, offering the hope of some assistance for firefighters but adding the threat of high winds and flash floods.
Air tankers dropped water and red retardant earlier on the pair of fires growing in a mountainous part of the state where earlier in the week residents of the village of Ruidoso were forced to flee the larger of the two blazes with little notice.
New Mexico State Police spokesman Wilson Silver said Wednesday that officers discovered the skeletal remains of an unidentified second in the driver seat of a burned vehicle. It's the second confirmed death in the blazes. The first fire victim was a badly burned 60-year-old man found by the side of the road near the popular Swiss Chalet Inn in Ruidoso.
Weather patterns were shifting Wednesday with moisture arriving from the Gulf of Mexico, said Bladen Breitreiter of the National Weather Service office in Albuquerque.
"It will be a challenging situation going into the late afternoon and evening," said Breitreiter, who has been an incident meteorologist at past wildfires. "The potential for scattered to isolated thunderstorms could help, but it depends on where they hit. If the rain misses the fires, downward winds could cause problems for firefighters on the ground."
He said rain could also lead to dangerous flash flooding in newly burned areas.
It wasn't immediately clear if the rain and hail that started around Ruidoso on Wednesday afternoon was falling on the fires themselves, or if it would slow their progress. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for the area until later Wednesday evening.
The two fires remained at 0% containment Wednesday afternoon as crews used heavy equipment to build fire lines while water and retardant was dropped from the air, authorities said.
Officials said hundreds of firefighters were on the scene and watching to stop any spot fires that could flare up. More personnel from departments from around the region were continuing to arrive.
Ruidoso and much of the Southwest has been exceedingly dry and hot this spring. Those conditions, along with strong wind, whipped flames out of control Monday and Tuesday, rapidly advancing the South Fork Fire into the village. Along with homes and businesses, a regional medical center and the Ruidoso Downs horse track were evacuated.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's office confirmed one fatality as a result of the fire but said it had no further details.
About 1,400 structures have been destroyed or damaged, but it's unclear how many were homes. A flyover to provide more accurate mapping and a better assessment of damage is being organized, Lujan Grisham said.
Ardis Holder left Ruidoso with her two young daughters, her gas tank nearly on empty as she prayed that they'd get out safely. She was sure the house she rented in the village she grew up in is gone, based on the maps she'd seen.
"We were already seeing where all the fire hit, it's everywhere," she said late Tuesday from a shelter in nearby Roswell. "If there's something standing, that's awesome. But, if not, we were prepared for the worst."
Lujan Grisham on Wednesday requested a major disaster declaration from President Joe Biden's administration that would free up federal funding for immediate housing and other assistance for the people affected.
"New Mexico has faced disaster before, but the scale of this emergency requires immediate federal intervention," she said.
The day before, she declared a county-wide state of emergency that extended to the neighboring Mescalero Apache Reservation where both fires started and deployed National Guard troops. That declaration unlocks additional funding and resources to manage the crisis.
Nationwide, wildfires have scorched more than 3,280 square miles this year — a figure higher than the 10-year averages, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. About 20 wildfires currently burning are considered large and uncontained, including blazes in California and Washington state.
Lujan Grisham said the two southern New Mexico wildfires together have consumed more than 31 square miles. The exact causes of the blazes haven't been determined, but the Southwest Coordination Center listed them as human-caused.
Ruidoso and areas around Santa Fe and Española, New Mexico, have served as the backdrop this year for filming of a movie starring Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera about the devastating 2018 wildfire in Paradise, California. That fire killed 85 people and nearly erased the community in the Sierra Nevada foothills.
While many older residents call Ruidoso home year-round, the population of around 7,000 people expands to about 25,000 during the warmer months, when people from hotter climates seek the cool of the leafy aspen trees, hiking trails and a chance to go fishing.
Nestled within the Lincoln National Forest, Ruidoso boasts nearby amenities including a casino, golf course and ski resort operated by the Mescalero Apache Tribe. Horse races at the Ruidoso Downs also draw crowds as home to one of the sport's richest quarter-horse competitions.
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Lee reported from Santa Fe, New Mexico. Associated Press writers Sarah Brumfield in Washington, D.C.; Felicia Fonseca in Flagstaff, Arizona; Anita Snow in Phoenix; Rio Yamat and Ken Ritter in Las Vegas; and Scott Sonner in Reno, Nevada, contributed to this report.
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AP Ruidoso wildfires page: https://apnews.com/hub/ruidoso
Today marks 159 years since the last enslaved people in the U.S. were freed, here's how New Mexico celebrated– Mia Casas, KUNM
With almost 160 years free from physical enslavement, Juneteenth is a day that communities take to commemorate the freedom of their ancestors.
Last week, KUNM hosted its Let’s Talk New Mexico program about Juneteenth and what communities in the state were doing to celebrate.
District 6 City Councilor, Nichole Rogers, joined the panel to discuss how she helped shape the “NM Juneteenth” celebration in Civic Plaza. She has been helping with this community-planned event since 2020.
“I remember being like eight or nine and walking up the stairs of Civic Plaza, and it was the first time in my life I saw that many Black folks in one place. The sounds and the music and the Black joy and the babies running around. It was a memory that I guess that I’m selfishly trying to recreate for my kids,” said Councilor Rogers.
The celebration last Saturday welcomed not only people of color, but the entire community of New Mexico to join and learn about Black culture and liberation.
To listen to the full Juneteenth LTNM program, click here.
Cooler temps and rain could help corral blazes that forced thousands to flee New Mexico village– Associated Press
Air tankers dropped water and red retardant on Wednesday on a pair of growing fires in mountainous New Mexico that killed at least one person, damaged more than 1,400 structures, forced thousands to flee a tourist locale and may now threaten hundreds of firefighters amid high wind risks.
Strong wind on Monday pushed the larger of two wildfires into the mountain village of Ruidoso, forcing residents to flee with little notice. Weather patterns were shifting Wednesday with moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, Bladen Breitreiter of the National Weather Service office in Albuquerque said Wednesday.
"It will be a challenging situation going into the late afternoon and evening," said Breitreiter, who has been an incident meteorologist at past wildfires. "The potential for scattered to isolated thunderstorms could help, but it depends on where they hit. If the rain misses the fires, downward winds could cause problems for firefighters on the ground."
He said rain could also lead to dangerous flash flooding in newly burned areas. Light rain started to fall on some areas outside Ruidoso by early afternoon.
The two fires remained at 0% containment Wednesday afternoon as crews used heavy equipment to build fire lines while water and retardant was dropped from the air, authorities said.
Officials said about 254 firefighters were on the scene by early morning and alert to any spot fires that could flare up. More personnel from departments from around the region were continuing to arrive throughout Wednesday.
Ruidoso and much of the Southwest has been exceedingly dry and hot this spring. Those conditions, along with strong wind, whipped flames out of control Monday and Tuesday, rapidly advancing the South Fork Fire into the village. Along with homes and businesses, a regional medical center and the Ruidoso Downs horse track were evacuated.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's office confirmed one fatality as a result of the fire but said it had no further details.
New Mexico State Police spokesperson Wilson Silver said Wednesday that the department was notified about a 60-year-old man found Tuesday on the side of the road near the Swiss Chalet Inn in Ruidoso, a European-style complex built amid pine trees that was destroyed by flames. Patrick Pearson apparently died from numerous burns he sustained.
About 1,400 structures have been destroyed or damaged, but it's unclear how many were homes. A flyover to provide more accurate mapping and a better assessment of damage is being organized, Lujan Grisham said.
Ardis Holder left Ruidoso with her two young daughters, her gas tank nearly on empty as she prayed that they'd get out safely. She was sure the house she rented in the village she grew up in is gone, based on the maps she'd seen.
"We were already seeing where all the fire hit, it's everywhere," she said late Tuesday from a shelter in nearby Roswell. "If there's something standing, that's awesome. But, if not, we were prepared for the worst."
About 1,500 horses stabled at the Ruidoso Downs were moved in a chaotic scene after authorities ordered an evacuation, said horse trainer John Stinebaugh. He had his clients' 42 racehorses moved Tuesday afternoon to Artesia, a city about 100 miles (160 km) to the southeast, where they were stabled at the local fairgrounds.
"The people here have rolled out the red carpet, provided help with hay and water," said Stinebaugh. "People from all over just showed up with trailers to help move the horses, taking them to ranches all over New Mexico, to Hobbs, Roswell, even El Paso, Texas."
Lujan Grisham declared a county-wide state of emergency that extended to the neighboring Mescalero Apache Reservation where both fires started and deployed National Guard troops. The declaration unlocks additional funding and resources to manage the crisis.
Nationwide, wildfires have scorched more than 3,280 square miles (8,495 square kilometers) this year — a figure higher than the 10-year averages, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. About 20 wildfires currently burning are considered large and uncontained, including blazes in California and Washington state.
Lujan Grisham said the two southern New Mexico wildfires together have consumed more than 31 square miles (80 square kilometers). The exact causes of the blazes haven't been determined, but the Southwest Coordination Center listed them as human-caused.
Ruidoso and areas around Santa Fe and Española, New Mexico, have served as the backdrop this year for filming of a movie starring Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera about the devastating 2018 wildfire in Paradise, California. That fire killed 85 people and nearly erased the community in the Sierra Nevada foothills.
While many older residents call Ruidoso home year-round, the population of around 7,000 people expands to about 25,000 during the warmer months, when New Mexicans and Texans from hotter climates seek the cool of the leafy aspen trees, hiking trails and a chance to go fishing.
Nestled within the Lincoln National Forest, Ruidoso boasts nearby amenities including a casino, golf course and ski resort operated by the Mescalero Apache Tribe. Horse races at the Ruidoso Downs also draw crowds as home to one of the sport's richest quarter-horse competitions.
Ruidoso residents fled Monday through traffic-clogged downtown streets with smoke darkening the evening sky, embers raining down and 100-foot (30-meter) flames in the distance climbing over a ridgeline.
On social media posts, Ruidoso officials didn't mince words: "GO NOW: Do not attempt to gather belongings or protect your home. Evacuate immediately."
Public Service Company of New Mexico shut off power to part of the village due to the fire.
Lujan Grisham said cellphone service was affected in some communities near the fire, and mobile cell towers were set up to restore communications.
Amid highway closures, many evacuees fled eastward toward the city of Roswell, 75 miles (121 kilometers) away, where hotels and shelters quickly filled. A rural gas station along the evacuation route was overrun with people and cars.
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Lee reported from Santa Fe, New Mexico. Associated Press writers Sarah Brumfield in Washington, D.C.; Felicia Fonseca in Flagstaff, Arizona; Anita Snow in Phoenix; Rio Yamat and Ken Ritter in Las Vegas; and Scott Sonner in Reno, Nevada, contributed to this report.
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AP Ruidoso wildfires page: https://apnews.com/hub/ruidoso
Half a million immigrants could eventually get US citizenship under a sweeping new plan from Biden– Associated Press
President Joe Biden ordered expansive election-year action Tuesday to offer potential citizenship to hundreds of thousands of immigrants without legal status in the U.S., aiming to balance his recent aggressive crackdown on the southern border that enraged advocates and many Democratic lawmakers.
The president announced that his administration will, in the coming months, allow certain U.S. citizens' spouses without legal status to apply for permanent residency and eventually citizenship without having to first depart the country. The action by Biden, a Democrat, could affect upwards of half a million immigrants, according to senior administration officials.
"The Statue of Liberty is not some relic of American history. It still stands for who we are," Biden said from a crowded East Room at the White House, filled with advocates, congressional Democrats and immigrants who would be eligible for the program. "But I also refuse to believe that for us to continue to be America that embraces immigration, we have to give up securing our border. They're false choices."
Biden's action, which amounts to the most expansive federal protection for immigrants in over a decade, sets up a significant political contrast with presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, whose hardline stance on immigration includes a push for mass deportations and rhetoric casting migrants as dangerous criminals "poisoning the blood" of America.
On Tuesday, Biden accused "my predecessor" of preying on fears about immigrants as he chastised Trump administration moves, such as a zero-tolerance policy at the southern border that led to the separation of families. But Trump has leaned into his own policies as Biden has faced disapproval of his handling of immigration throughout his presidency. At a rally in Racine, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, Trump proclaimed, "When I'm reelected, Joe Biden's illegal amnesty plan will be ripped up and thrown out on the very first day that we're back in office."
Because the shadow of a second Trump administration looms over Biden's new policy, Tuesday's actions will set off a months-long sprint by Latino organizations to get as many people to apply for the program as possible before next January.
To qualify for Biden's actions, an immigrant must have lived in the United States for 10 years and be married to a U.S. citizen, both as of Monday. If a qualifying immigrant's application is approved, he or she would have three years to apply for a green card and receive a temporary work permit and be shielded from deportation in the meantime.
About 50,000 noncitizen children with parents who are married to U.S. citizen could also potentially qualify for the process, according to senior administration officials who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity. There is no requirement on how long the couple must have been married, but no one becomes eligible after Monday. That means immigrants who reach that 10-year mark after Monday will not qualify for the program, according to the officials.
Senior administration officials said they anticipate the process will be open for applications by the end of the summer. Fees to apply have yet to be determined.
Biden formally unveiled his plans at a Tuesday event at the White House, which also marked the 12th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, a popular Obama-era directive that offered deportation protections and temporary work permits for young immigrants who lack legal status.
The announcement was welcome news to families with mixed immigration status, such as Antonio and Brenda Valle in Los Angeles. They have been married for nearly 12 years and have two sons who are U.S. citizens, but they have lived with the worry every two years that Brenda Valle's status as a DACA recipient will not be renewed.
"We can start planning more long-term, for the future, instead of what we can do for the next two years," she said.
Foday Turay was among those invited to the White House Tuesday for the announcement. He came to the U.S. when he was 10 years old from Sierra Leone, and is now a father to a young son and married to a third-generation U.S. citizen. Although he's enrolled in DACA and working as an assistant district attorney in Philadelphia, his status doesn't provide relief from the constant worry of deportation.
"My wife is tremendously impacted by this," Turay said Tuesday before the ceremony. "You know, every day she talks to me about what's going to happen. What if I get deported? You know, how are we going to raise our son? What country are we going to raise him?"
Republicans were making their own sharp contrasts with Biden's plan. In a likely preview of GOP campaign ads, Rep. Richard Hudson, chair of House Republicans' campaign arm, called the Biden policy a "mass amnesty plan." Other Republicans, such as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, anticipated that this latest directive would be struck down by the courts.
Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican who is under consideration to be Trump's pick for vice president, forcefully advocated for legislation in 2012 that would have offered legal status to young immigrants, but on Tuesday he said "the world is different" now because immigration numbers have risen.
Tuesday's announcement came two weeks after Biden unveiled a sweeping crackdown at the U.S.-Mexico border that effectively halted asylum claims for those arriving between officially designated ports of entry. Immigrant-rights groups have sued the Biden administration over that directive, which a senior administration official said Monday had led to fewer border encounters between ports.
Biden's allies believe that the approach he is taking with his twin actions on immigration this month will resonate with voters.
"The only party that is being serious about border security is the Democrats. The only party that's being thoughtful and compassionate about what to do with people who are living in the shadows are the Democrats," said Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat who helped author a bipartisan border bill earlier this year. "The Republican Party has decided to take a walk on border security."
Among advocates, Gustavo Torres, the executive director of CASA, said Biden's announcement would energize Latino communities to get out and support him.
"This is what our communities have needed to rally behind President Biden for reelection," he said.
Biden also announced new regulations that will allow certain DACA beneficiaries and other young immigrants to more easily qualify for long-established work visas. That would allow qualifying immigrants to have protection that is sturdier than the work permits offered by DACA, which is currently facing legal challenges and is no longer taking new applications.
The power that Biden is invoking with his Tuesday announcement for spouses is not a novel one. The policy would expand on authority used by Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama to allow "parole in place" for family members of military members, said Andrea Flores, a former policy adviser in the Obama and Biden administrations who is now a vice president at FWD.us, an immigration advocacy organization.
The parole-in-place process allows qualifying immigrants to get on the path to U.S. permanent residency without leaving the country, removing a common barrier for those without legal status but married to Americans. Flores called it "the biggest win for the immigrant rights movement since the announcement of DACA 12 years ago."
The same progressives who were infuriated with Biden's asylum order praised the president on Tuesday. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who leads the Congressional Progressive Caucus, commended Biden and said the actions would help keep American families together.
"Many Americans would be shocked to hear that when a U.S. citizen marries an undocumented person, their spouse is not automatically eligible for citizenship," she said. "Imagine loving someone, marrying them, and then still continuing to fear you would be separated from them."
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Associated Press writers Christine Fernando in Racine, Wis., Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen, Texas, and Stefanie Dazio in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
Voters to decide whether City should lower threshold to win an election — Elizabeth McCall, City Desk ABQ
After four hours of discussion Monday night, city councilors finally voted on a series of proposed changes to the city charter, including how many votes a candidate needs to win an election. The meeting — the last until Aug. 5 — wrapped up after 1 a.m.
Three of the four amendments were approved and will most likely be sent to voters in November.
City Councilors Dan Lewis, Klarissa Peña and Renée Grout had introduced amendments proposing changing the city’s majority rules for voting and the process for appointing and removing key officials.
“I am happy to present these proposals to Albuquerque voters,” Lewis said in a press release following the vote. “They should decide how they want the government to run. I trust the voters.”
However, Mayor Tim Keller criticized the proposal for allowing candidates to win without getting the majority of the vote. He said he intends to veto the proposal.
“What city wants its leaders serving with a 10% mandate?” Keller said in a press release. “Our city has no term limits, so I’m very concerned — above and beyond my own self-interest — that this would make it nearly impossible for an incumbent to lose.”
Resident, Rosemary Blanchard, took issue with councilors debating the charter changes late at night. Blanchard said via Zoom only “stay-at-home retirees” like herself can stay up so late to testify.
“I am asking you to put together a reasonable, competent, governmental and professional and private citizen group to look at our charter,” Blanchard said at almost 1:30 a.m. “It shouldn’t happen in the dead of night.”
ELECTION CHANGES
The initial proposal was to change the city’s voting rules to allow a candidate for mayor or city council to be elected with at least 40% of the total vote but after an hour of discussion councilors approved allowing anyone with the majority to win.
Currently, to be elected a mayor or city councilor must have at least 50% of the vote or be subject to a run-off election.
The dozens of speakers Monday and at the council’s June 3 meeting who criticized the proposal as “antidemocratic” did not stop councilors from approving the change on a 6-3 vote. Residents also blasted Lewis for an op-ed published in the Albuquerque Journal, titled “Runoff elections are rooted in racist strategies in the South.”
Carter Bundy, a political action representative for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said Lewis’ op-ed alleges that runoff elections are racist because racists in the south wanted to keep African Americans from winning and used runoff elections to do so.
“If a councilor truly believes runoffs are racist with a 50% threshold, it’s no less racist at 40%,” Bundy said.
In response to Lewis’ op-ed, Peña said “this is history folks.”
She said “everyone keeps saying it is undemocratic,” to change the majority ruling, but she quoted Rock the Vote, which says runoff elections are “undemocratic by design.”
Kevin Morrow, the council’s attorney, said there is no City Council election in 2026, so it would not go into effect until 2027.
OTHER APPROVED CHARTER CHANGES
Councilors also passed a proposal to change the process to remove the chiefs of the Albuquerque Police Department and Albuquerque Fire Rescue on a 6-3 vote.
The proposal would allow the mayor to terminate the employment agreement at any time and allow the council to terminate the agreement at any time with a two-thirds plus one vote of the council.
And councilors approved a proposal to create a process for filling vacancies on a three-member conference committee that resolves disputes between the mayor and the council. That passed on a 7-2 vote.
ALL BUT ONE
While most of the charter amendments were approved, councilors voted down a proposal to adopt a committee composed of mayoral and City Council appointees to recommend candidates for possible appointment as city clerk and city attorney. Currently, the mayor appoints the city clerk and city attorney with “advice and consent” from two-thirds of the council.
After more than an hour of debate regarding the proposal, Fiebelkorn said the discussion was “as clear as mud” with multiple questions and confusion. She said the proposal to create a city charter task force would be a better alternative to answer questions and clear any confusion.
Given that the proposal to create a task force was not discussed until after 1 a.m., councilors deferred it again until Aug. 5.
The proposal to adopt the committee failed on a 5-4 vote.
OTHER DEFERRED ITEMS
Peña introduced two new charter amendments that would change the City Council election cycles, which were also deferred until Aug. 5.
These two amendments would allow all councilors to be elected in the same year and not coincide with the mayoral elections.