New Mexico education official seeks $6M budget increase – Cedar Attanasio, Associated Press
State Education Secretary Kurt Steinhaus is expected to release an action plan next month that would address parts of the legal challenge. Nearly $5 million of the budget increase would fund compliance with state court orders related to the lawsuit.
Most legislative funding for education, around $3 billion each year, goes directly to school districts. Additional funding comes from the state’s large endowment fund, which has grown in recent decades thanks to oil royalties and market investments.
The Public Education Department also oversees the distribution of federal funds, including $1 billion this year in pandemic relief. Steinhaus told members of the Legislative Finance Committee that the biggest need is staff to help with the management of the funds.
His request to boost the agency’s budget from $14.5 million to $21 million would include the hiring of at least 33 employees.
“I realize that’s a large request,” he told legislators, adding he believes it’s the “bare minimum.”
New Mexico utility executives tout merger to state lawmakers – Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
Two executives with Public Service Co. of New Mexico testified before a panel of legislators, hoping to win more favor for the contested proposal as regulators prepare to weigh whether the deal is in the best interest of the public. Among other things, they said the merger would result in 150 new jobs, greater purchasing power for the utility and a better credit rating for financing $4 billion in investments that will be needed over the next few years.
Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers on the panel raised questions about reliability and customer service issues in other states where the subsidiary — Connecticut-based Avangrid — operates electric utilities.
In recommending that the merger be rejected as proposed, a hearing examiner with the state Public Regulation Commission recently found that the potential downsides of the deal outweigh the benefits and that regulators would have to include provisions to protect customers and ensure reliability.
Don Tarry, PNM's senior vice president and chief financial officer, told lawmakers Tuesday that the companies would agree to those provisions outlined by the hearing examiner, including penalties if the utility misses benchmarks for providing electricity to customers.
He said reliability is at the core of PNM's mission, and the utility has to balance that with mandates for environmental protection and how the price tag ultimately affects customers.
“We’re very aware we’re not a wealthy state, and so there’s got to be a balance as you transition,” he said, referring to the goal of being emissions-free over the next two decades.
Sayuri Yamada, PNM’s executive director of government and public affairs, said the utility is constantly modeling what sources of electricity it will be able to tap to meet state mandates, remain reliable and limit the cost for customers. She noted that the utility is working on a proposal now to replace the electricity that will be lost if regulators approve the transfer of PNM's share in the coal-fired Four Corners Power Plant to a Navajo energy company.
“It's not a straight line," she said. “People think from here to zero carbon is from A to B, but I think there's lots of different pathways we're going to have to take a look at. This is all new for all of us. It's something that all the states and all the utilities are challenged with.”
Sen. Bill Tallman, an Albuquerque Democrat, said he wasn't buying the executives' promises and pointed to the more than $1 million PNM has poured into television, radio and newspaper advertisements touting the merger. He said he grows more suspicious with each ad he sees.
Tallman also reiterated the concerns of other critics who have suggested that Avangrid and Iberdrola want to acquire PNM as a way to gain a foothold in New Mexico to develop its wind and solar resources and sell that power to larger markets in the West.
Tarry responded that if the merger adds to New Mexico's tax base, boosts renewables and benefits the West, he's supportive. If the merger is approved, Tarry would serve as the utility's new CEO and president.
The latest COVID-19 infection and death stats for New Mexico and the Navajo Nation - Associated Press, NMDOH, KUNM News
The New Mexico Department of Health today announced 1,048 new COVID-19 cases and an additional 12 deaths from the disease.
These bring the states totals to 296, 790 cases and 5,203 deaths from the virus since the pandemic began.
Hospitalizations are also surging in New Mexico, with 542 people hospitalized with the virus and pushing hospitals past crisis standards.
The Navajo Nation today reported 17 more confirmed cases of COVID-19, but no deaths.
The latest numbers pushed the tribe’s total to 38,352 cases since the pandemic started.
The number of known deaths remains at 1,514.
Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez urged residents to be careful when traveling to neighboring cities and states where safety measures aren’t always as strict.
The tribe has maintained a mask mandate through most of the pandemic.
New Mexico agency investigating killing of bear near Taos – Associated Press
New Mexico authorities are investigating the fatal shooting of a bear with arrows along a road near Taos.
Game and Fish Department spokesman James Pitman told the Albuquerque Journal that the killing occurred Oct. 29.
Pitman said bear hunting was in season then but that it's illegal to shoot an animal on the edge of a public road.
Pitman said the department identified a suspect but has not yet filed a case report.
No information was available on the bear's gender or size.
Richardson adds to diplomatic wins with journalist's release – Will Weissert, Eric Tucker, Associated Press
From Iraq to Sudan to North Korea, Richardson has repeatedly proven willing to talk with dictators, military juntas and reclusive strongmen — forging relationships with notorious regimes outside formal diplomatic channels.
“I think there was a certain amount of trust between myself and the commanding general," Richardson told reporters in New York on Tuesday, referring to Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar's ruler. “I treated him with respect, he treated me with respect.”
Richardson's missions have often come with the blessing of Democratic presidents, though their open public endorsement is rarer until after the fact. Striking that balance allows foreign officials to believe they are talking to someone who can be an informal conduit to top U.S. authorities even as the administration says publicly it won't negotiate with rogue states.
White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said Tuesday, “We appreciate efforts by all partners, including Gov. Richardson, who helped secure Danny’s release.”
Before Richardson intervened, Fenster, the managing editor of Frontier Myanmar, spent nearly six months in jail and was sentenced last week to 11 years of hard labor.
The former governor was initially criticized by human rights activists for visiting Myanmar in February, becoming the first prominent Western figure to meet with the country’s ruling military junta since it overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government. He said he was attacked for bestowing legitimacy with a photo-op.
“I plead guilty to photo-ops and getting human beings rescued and improving the lives of human beings," said Richardson, who spent his 74th birthday on Monday flying with Fenster from Myanmar to Doha, Qatar, before traveling on to New York,
Richardson was the Democratic governor of New Mexico from 2003 to 2011. The bilingual son of an American father and Mexican mother, he grew up in Mexico City and pitched for Tufts University’s baseball team.
He's also a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, energy secretary and congressman who served on the House Intelligence Committee. Some of his most prominent global work began in December 1994, when he was visiting North Korean nuclear sites and word came that an American helicopter pilot had been downed and his co-pilot killed.
The Clinton White House enlisted Richardson’s help and, after days of tough negotiations, the then-congressman accompanied the remains of Chief Warrant Officer David Hilemon while paving the way for Chief Warrant Officer Bobby Hall to return home.
The following year, and after a personal appeal from Richardson, Saddam Hussein freed two Americans who had been imprisoned for four months, charged with illegally crossing into Iraq from Kuwait. In 2006, he helped secure the release of Paul Salopek, a then-Chicago Tribune correspondent who was jailed in Sudan.
Richardson has been involved in other high-profile prisoner releases more recently, including the 2014 freeing of U.S. Marine reservist Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi, who had been imprisoned for crossing into Mexico with loaded guns.
“I have chosen to reach out to him on every single case I have worked on," said Jonathan Franks, a consultant who has collaborated with Richardson multiple times on efforts to free wrongful detainees. “Part of that is he is willing to do stuff that the government either can’t or won’t.”
Franks described Richardson as invaluable in representing the interests of Navy veteran Michael White, who was ultimately released by Iran last year in a deal trumpeted by the Trump administration — including by regularly checking in with White’s mother and by passing along messages and requests about his welfare.
In Fenster's case, Richardson said he’d been in “constant constant constant constant” contact with the State Department, which initially urged him not to bring up the jailed journalist because “efforts were being made on other fronts.” Richardson said he respected that at first, but later raised Fenster’s release as a way to help make progress on separate humanitarian matters.
“I made the pitch on behalf of their people — humanitarian issues, vaccines,” Richardson said. “I said, ‘Let’s find ways to help the people and maybe I can help with the U.N. agencies, with member countries, donor countries.'"
Richardson ran briefly ran for president in 2008, becoming the first Hispanic candidate with a legitimate shot at the White House. He produced political ads recalling his 1995 visit to Baghdad and work to help free the two Americans, one of whom was from Iowa, whose caucus kicks off presidential primary voting. In a contest dominated by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, however, Richardson's presidential campaign didn't resonate with voters.
Richardson's informal diplomatic efforts haven’t always panned out either.
In 1995, he left Burma frustrated after its military junta refused to allow him to visit detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. In 2011, Richardson traveled to Cuba to try to see a jailed American contractor. He was denied access to Alan Gross, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison for bringing unauthorized communications equipment onto the island, and left saying he felt the Cuban government wasn’t serious about trying to improve relations with the U.S.
Gross was released three years later on humanitarian grounds.
Still, that Richardson can focus exclusively on the release of a captive American, rather than broader geopolitical considerations, is a particular benefit, Franks noted, especially in places where the U.S. has frayed or nonexistent diplomatic ties.
“If the goal is to bring the American home no matter what, and to do so sort of unencumbered by politics or bureaucracy or any of the other things that kind of fall along with the government," he said, "sometimes it’s just easier, I guess, for some of these folks to chat with him than it is to chat with US government.”
New Mexico governor applauds infrastructure investments -Associated Press
New Mexico's governor is applauding the final approval of a federal infrastructure bill that includes billions of dollars for hydrogen facilities across the country.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham was at the White House in Washington on Monday to applaud the signing of legislation for new infrastructure investments.
The governor's office says the bill includes multibillion-dollar investments in New Mexico for highway programs, bridge replacement, public transportation, electric vehicle charging equipment and more.
The bill also includes $8 billion for hydrogen infrastructure. Lujan Grisham supports state legislation aimed at creating incentives for investment in hydrogen infrastructure.
Most hydrogen production emits carbon dioxide, which means that hydrogen-fueled transportation cannot yet be considered clean energy. But proponents of hydrogen-powered transportation say hydrogen production is destined to become more environmentally safe.
President Joe Biden signed his hard-fought $1 trillion infrastructure deal into law before a bipartisan, celebratory crowd on the White House lawn, declaring that the new infusion of cash for roads, bridges, ports and more is going to make life "change for the better" for the American people.
The signing included governors and mayors of both parties and labor and business leaders. In addition to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, the guest list included Republicans such as Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy and Maine Sen. Susan Collins.
New Mexico spaceport boss seeks funds to keep momentum going - By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
Operations are ramping up at Spaceport America in New Mexico, and the executive director told lawmakers Monday that he needs an additional $2 million in annual funding to keep the momentum going.
Scott McLaughlin testified before a legislative science and technology committee. Without the funding, he warned that he would have to cut staff and limit operations at the desert outpost to just five days a week. Now, the spaceport operates around the clock based on customers' needs.
The current budget is around $10 million, with about 60% of that coming from customers such as anchor tenant Virgin Galactic, which reached the edge of space over the summer with billionaire Richard Branson aboard its winged rocket ship.
McLaughlin told lawmakers that the goal is to grow revenue and that the return on investment will be jobs for the southern New Mexico economy. He pointed to about 460 direct and indirect jobs that stem from activity at the spaceport, saying that activity results in an estimated $2 million in taxes that are returned to the state.
The extra money being requested "would stabilize us and get us to a point where we just could grow and we could service the customers we have and continue to bring in more customers," McLaughlin said.
Investors will be watching for Virgin Galactic to start up commercial flights in late 2022. McLaughlin said that in 2023 there are expectations of about three flights from the spaceport per month, and that's expected to bring in more revenue.
Meanwhile, rocket company SpinLaunch recently tested its launch system from the spaceport and has indicated it will return next year for more tests.
McLaughlin said the idea is to sell New Mexico as a "complete ecosystem" that can accommodate the aerospace industry through competitive tax policies and access to researchers at the state's universities and national laboratories. He told lawmakers that New Mexico doesn't have to lose customers to California, Texas or Florida.
Spaceport officials also plan to start working on obtaining a re-entry license from federal aviation officials. Aside from vertical and horizontal launches, McLaughlin said that could open up a new avenue for customers.
The New Mexico Legislature will meet in January for a 30-day session focused on the budget. Revenue projections have suggested that the state will likely be flush with cash.
Film crew union narrowly approves contract with producers - By Andrew Dalton Ap Entertainment Writer
Film industry crew members have narrowly voted to approve a pair of contracts with Hollywood producers after a standoff that came within days of a strike that would have halted productions across the U.S., union leaders said Monday.
The agreements passed 56% to 44% among delegates from the 36 local unions of the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees in the voting system that resembles the U.S. Electoral College.
But in the popular vote, 50.3% said yes and 49.7% no to the two contracts combined of the 45,000 members who cast a ballot in voting held from Friday through Sunday. And the larger of the two contracts, which primarily covers film and TV production on the West Coast, actually lost the popular vote by a narrow margin.
The razor-thin totals stood in contrast to the last vote from union members, in which 98% approved giving union leaders the authority to call a strike.
"We were very fired up, that really gassed up the membership, we were ready to strike," said Brandy Tannahill, who works as a grip setting up lighting equipment on sets.
A victorious "no" vote would have reopened negotiations and brought back the possibility of a work stoppage.
There was relief among many members when the three-year deal was reached with producers on Oct. 16, two days before a strike deadline.
But many others were disillusioned with the details, saying the contracts didn't go far enough to address issues like long workdays that may lack breaks or lunch, and the debilitating fatigue it causes.
Veteran stagehand Jason Fitzgerald said in an email after the results were announced that he was "Disappointed. Disgusted. Sold out by leadership. Not surprised."
Tannahill said that membership was "left in the dark" immediately after the agreement was reached.
"It was very frustrating to see the strike was called off without us seeing any of the tentative agreements in the contract," she said.
A late series of town halls and other communications methods on what was in the contracts and how a strike and further negotiations would work shifted the momentum, though not in time to change the outcome.
"I think if we had to redo this election, it would be an overwhelming no," Tannahill said.
The vote also took place in the shadow of the shooting that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza on the New Mexico set of the film "Rust."
Alec Baldwin, the film's star-producer who fired the gun, called it a "one-in-a-trillion event," but many felt like the incident was emblematic of the industry's corner-cutting and critical flaws.
According to the union, core safety and economic issues are addressed in the proposed agreements covering workers on film and TV productions.
"Our goal was to achieve fair contracts that work for IATSE members in television and film — that address quality-of-life issues and conditions on the job like rest and meal breaks," IATSE International President Matthew Loeb said in a statement. "We met our objectives for this round of bargaining and built a strong foundation for future agreements."
The agreements include across-the board wage increases and increased compensation paid by streaming services, who had long been allowed lower pay rates, union leaders said.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents Hollywood studios and other production entities, said in a statement that "throughout the negotiations, IATSE leadership advocated changes to improved quality of life" and the "agreements meaningfully reflect the industry's endorsement of those priorities and keep everyone working."
IATSE represents about 150,000 behind-the-scenes workers, including stagehands, cinematographers, costumers and others employed in all forms of entertainment, from movies and TV to theater, concerts, trade shows and broadcasting.
Biden boosts crime fighting efforts on Native American lands - By Darlene Superville Associated Press
President Joe Biden on Monday ordered several Cabinet departments to work together to combat human trafficking and crime on Native American lands, where violent crime rates are more than double the national average.
Speaking at a White House summit on tribal nations, Biden signed an executive order tasking the Justice, Homeland Security and Interior departments with pursuing strategies to reduce crime. Biden also asked the departments to work to strengthen participation in Amber Alert programs and national training programs for federal agents, and appoint a liaison who can speak with family members and to advocates.
The administration also announced plans to pursue a 20-year ban on oil and gas drilling in Chaco Canyon, an ancient Native American heritage site in northwestern New Mexico.
"We have to continue to stand up for the dignity and sovereignty of tribal nations," Biden said at the first tribal nations summit since 2016. The two-day summit was being held virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has affected Indigenous peoples at disproportionate rates.
American Indians and Alaska Natives are more than twice as likely to be victims of a violent crime and Native American women are at least two times more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted compared to other races, according to the Association on American Indian Affairs.
The administration also announced a long-sought action to protect Chaco Canyon, a national park and UNESCO World Heritage site northwest of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said the Bureau of Land Management will study the possible withdrawal for a period of 20 years from federal lands within a 10-mile (16-kilometer) radius of Chaco Culture National Historical Park. Such a move would bar new federal oil and gas leasing and development on those lands. Those lands will not be eligible for leasing while the study is underway, though past administrations had already opted to impose the buffer administratively.
Environmentalists and some tribes have complained that such a move is temporary and that permanent protections are needed. But it isn't so simple; while some tribes have fought for protections, the Navajo Nation, which has more to lose by curbing oil and gas, has asked for a smaller radius around the site, an ancient center of Pueblo culture.
"Chaco Canyon is a sacred place that holds deep meaning for the Indigenous peoples whose ancestors lived, worked, and thrived in that high desert community," said Haaland, the first Native American to lead the Interior Department, the powerful federal agency that has wielded influence over U.S. tribes for generations. Haaland is a member of the Laguna Pueblo.
"Now is the time to consider more enduring protections for the living landscape that is Chaco, so that we can pass on this rich cultural legacy to future generations," she said. The secretary represented New Mexico, where Chaco Canyon is located, in the U.S. House of Representatives before she was narrowly confirmed by the Senate to take over at Interior.
First lady Jill Biden, an English teacher, addressed the summit on the importance of preserving Native languages. Vice President Kamala Harris was set to speak Tuesday, the final day.
The tribal nations summit coincides with National Native American Heritage Month and is being hosted by the White House for the first time, with leaders from more than 570 tribes in the United States expected to participate. The summit was not held during the Trump administration; past conferences took place at the Interior Department.
Since taking office in January, Biden has taken several steps that the White House says demonstrate his commitment to tribal nations.
Among them are naming Haaland to lead the Interior Department. His coronavirus relief plan included $31 billion for tribal communities, and the administration has worked closely with tribal leaders to help make COVID-19 vaccination rates among Native Americans among the highest in the country, the White House said.
Navajo Nation Council Delegate Amber Kanazbah Crotty said she hoped the summit would help eliminate red tape when building critical infrastructure on tribal lands.
Biden also spoke about infrastructure, specifically to note that the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill he was signing into law Monday afternoon would direct $13 billion toward Native American communities to help provide such things as high-speed internet and clean drinking water.
Biden recently became the first president to issue a proclamation designating Oct. 11 as Indigenous Peoples' Day, giving a boost to longstanding efforts to refocus the federal holiday celebrating Christopher Columbus toward an appreciation of Native peoples.
Huge fire forces temporary closure of Walmart in Edgewood - KRQE-TV, Associated Press
A Walmart store in Edgewood is closed until further notice after a massive fire.
Santa Fe County Fire officials say the blaze at the store near I-40 was reported around 8 p.m. Sunday.
It took crews nearly three hours to gain control of it.
KRQE-TV reported flames could be seen shooting up from the building miles away.
Firefighters from multiple agencies including Bernalillo County Fire, Edgewood Fire and Albuquerque Fire and Rescue assisted.
No injuries were reported.
Santa Fe County Fire Chief Jackie Lindsey says investigators suspect the fire may have been arson.
Authorities have not determined the cause of the blaze.
Navajo Nation reports 89 new COVID-19 cases, one new death - Associated Press
The Navajo Nation has reported 89 more confirmed cases of COVID-19 and one additional death.
The tribe released its latest coronavirus-related figures Sunday. Due to a technical issue, Navajo health officials did not have a new total for the number of cases. But at last count, there have been 38,479 new cases. The known death toll is now 1,514.
Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez visited the Indian Health Service COVID-19 vaccination site in Chinle, Arizona, on Sunday. He thanked health care workers who administered vaccines and booster shots to adults and children.
The tribe has maintained a mask mandate through most of the pandemic.
Other vaccination opportunities are available at health care facilities on the reservation that covers 27,000 square miles (70,000 square kilometers) and also stretches into southern Utah.