New Mexico's scratch-made school meal mandate comes at a steep cost for districts and workers
– Natalie Robbins, Albuquerque Journal
As of the beginning of this school year, at least half of the food that Albuquerque Public Schools serves its roughly 60,000 students must be made from scratch, under a new state law.
While an objective improvement from the school lunches of yore, implementing the rule has proved expensive and cumbersome for schools statewide. At APS, school food costs are up from 25% to 40% per meal, according to Marie Johnson, the district’s executive director of food and nutrition services.
This school year, the state’s largest district — which serves 25,000 breakfasts and 35,000 lunches daily, all free to students — will spend a projected $95 million on food services, up from around $54 million in the 2024-25 school year.
Cafeteria workers say the new scratch cooking requirement has left them overwhelmed and overworked. Most employees who work in APS kitchens are part-time and can’t work overtime, but now must put together hundreds of meals from scratch in just a few hours, said Paul Aguilar, president of CWA Local 7070, the union representing food service, maintenance and custodial workers at APS.
For more information on this story, visit the Albuquerque Journal website.
BCSO TV return raises privacy concerns from county officials
– Nakayla McClelland, Albuquerque Journal
The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office returned to the limelight last month, patrolling the streets on a reality television show known for highlighting law enforcement agencies across the country.
But an oversight board that reviews BCSO policies and gives recommendations has raised concerns about the agency’s new contract with “On Patrol: Live” — mainly focused on the privacy and consent of those being filmed.
The Sheriff’s Office Advisory and Review Board said those concerns were also raised after the last iteration of BCSO’s participation in the show, which was shelved by Sheriff John Allen. The board’s issue, identified in its 2022 annual report, was that the contract protected deputies from “unwanted exposure” but did not give the public “the right to opt out of appearing on national television.”
“After reviewing BCSO’s new contract with the show, the board identified several concerns that mirror those detailed in our 2022 Annual Report,” said Matthew Ray, chair of the board. “The (board) notified the Sheriff’s Office of our concerns and hopes to have an opportunity to discuss it with BCSO soon.”
For more information on this story, visit the Albuquerque Journal website.
New Mexico AG concludes setting aside hunting tags for outfitters unconstitutional
– Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez on Tuesday released a formal opinion that concludes an existing state policy reserving 10% of hunting tags for hunters who contract with private outfitters is unconstitutional and unfairly benefits wealthy, out-of-state sportsmen over local residents.
The opinion follows a formal request from state lawmakers concerned about a 2011 law that requires the state Department of Wildlife to set aside 10% of hunting licenses in a given year to those who procure professional outfitters, who regularly charge hunters thousands of dollars for a guided hunting tour along with promises of better odds of bagging an elk, deer, bighorn sheep or other game.
Eighteen Democratic state lawmakers, many from rural areas, requested Torrez’s opinion in late April. The lawmakers wrote that they were concerned the “outfitter set-aside” left New Mexico residents “excluded from any opportunity to harvest healthy wild game as big game draw odds worsen year after year for residents.”
Separate from the 10% of tags designated for outfitters, state law requires that 84% of all tags go to in-state residents and the remaining 6% go to unguided nonresidents. Torrez’s office, in an opinion released Tuesday, notes that competition for tags is “intense,” particularly to hunt elk.
In the hunting season that runs between late 2025 and early 2026, for example, more than 102,000 people applied. The Wildlife Department selected approximately one-fifth through a random draw to receive elk tags.
Opponents of the “outfitter set-aside” argue that wealthy, out-of-state residents use the carveout to buy access to 10% of the tags, leaving most state residents, including those who hunt to feed their families or for Indigenous cultural practices, with lower odds to receive a tag.
“For generations, hunting elk on our public lands hasn’t just been a sport in New Mexico. It’s been a way of life,” Torrez said in a statement Tuesday. “That tradition is being sold out from under working New Mexicans. Right now, a broken system lets wealthy out-of-state hunters buy their way to the front of the line while our own families wait year after year for a tag.”
According to a 2024 analysis from the New Mexico Wildlife Federation that Torrez’s office cited, nonresidents received more than 90% of the elk licenses the state issued to those who contracted with outfitters in the hunting season that ran between late 2022 and early 2023.
Torrez concluded that carving out 10% of hunting licenses for outfitters violates the state’s Anti-Donation Clause, which prohibits state and local governments from giving public funds or anything else of value to private parties without a reasonable return on investment.
“We’ve always believed the outfitter set-aside is illegal, and we’re pleased that Attorney General Torrez has concluded that in his legal opinion,” said Jesse Deubel, executive director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, in a statement Tuesday.
Torrez’s determination drew praise from a coalition of New Mexico hunters and tribal leaders, who said the carveout for outfitters has resulted in less food on the table for their families and called on the New Mexico Legislature to increase the share of hunting tags that go to New Mexico residents.
“Hunting has played an important role in Indigenous history and culture for generations,” said Keegan King, an Acoma Pueblo member and executive director of the Native Lands Institute. “It is woven into the fabric of our families and communities, and it remains a living tradition that carries knowledge, responsibility, and connection to place.”
The New Mexico Council of Outfitters and Guides has previously endorsed the carveout and said out-of-state hunters contribute millions of dollars to the state’s economy. Kerrie Cox Romero, the council’s executive director, did not respond to Source NM’s request for comment Tuesday on Torrez’s opinion.
Torrez’s opinion is not binding, but represents the official opinion of the state’s chief lawyer. Torrez also said he hopes the Legislature changes the law at the upcoming legislative session to repeal or reform set-aside.
“My office is not going to let an unconstitutional program keep shortchanging New Mexico families indefinitely. If the Legislature doesn’t act, we will look at every tool available to this office, including going to court to stop it,” Torrez said in a statement Tuesday.
Rep. Nathan Small (D-Las Cruces), who was one of the lawmakers who requested Torrez’s opinion, said in a statement Tuesday that Torrez’s determination “reaffirms what New Mexicans instinctively know: that we deserve fair access to hunting on our public lands.”
He said the Legislature would take up the issue at the 60-day session beginning Jan. 19.
Some councilors frustrated by Santa Fe’s slow pace for hiring city manager
– Santa Fe New Mexican
Santa Fe fire chief Brian Moya is still currently serving as the interim city manager.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that First-term mayor Michael Garci says the city has no plans to hire a permanent city manager until the next budgeting season, which would be next year.
Some would like to see a new city manager come on board sooner. Some city councilors aren’t happy with the slow hiring timeline.
Garcia has confirmed that Moya has been offered the job permanently, but Moya declined, as he plans to retire from the city in the near future.
Las Vegas Robertson head football coach jailed on aggravated battery charges
– Santa Fe New Mexican
The head football coach at Robertson High School in Las Vegas is facing battery charges.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that Lucas Sanchez was arrested Sunday following an incident at a private residence in the city.
Robertson High School athletics director David Gonzales told the New Mexican that this weekend’s game against Thoreau High School will proceed as scheduled.
Sanchez is a Robertson Class of 2006 alumnus and was the starting quarterback on Robertson's first state championship team in 2005.
