Three GOP senators punt again on redistricting, prolonging pandemic legislative session that can cost $50k or more per day - By Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
Three Republican senators voted to extend a procedural stunt Thursday afternoon, one that will prevent the Legislature from voting on a new state Senate political district map.
The senators – Mark Moores of Albuquerque, Cliff Pirtle of Roswell and Joshua Sanchez of Bosque – voted Thursday afternoon not to lift the “Call of the Senate,” a rare procedural move that requires every senator to be present in the chambers and the doors of the chamber locked. If even one senator is absent, the vote cannot continue.
The Call of the Senate went into effect late last night.
It has historically cost taxpayers an average $50,000 per day to hold special legislative sessions like this, though it’s not clear yet how much this one has cost, said Raúl Burciaga, director of New Mexico Legislative Council Service. COVID-19 protocols add additional costs, he said, though he doesn’t expect this year’s session to be extraordinarily high.
Lawmakers gathered at the Roundhouse this year amid a pandemic and strict COVID-19 protocols, including a vaccine mandate. One senator is absent after testing positive for the virus during the session.
Sen. Craig Brandt (R-Rio Rancho) announced the “Call of the Senate” late Wednesday, and Sen. Crystal Diamond (R-Elephant Butte) could not be found in the Roundhouse. So the Senate went into recess until this afternoon.
It takes at least seven senators to enact a “Call of the Senate,” and all seven must vote to lift it if a senator remains absent without an excuse. Brandt, who initiated the call, voted for lifting it today.
Sanchez, one of the senators who voted to prolong the call, represents District 30, a seat that was redrawn in the proposed Senate map to pair him with another Republican, Greg Baca. This would require one of them to step down, or for them to face off in a coming election.
The bill up for a vote was introduced by State Sen. Linda Lopez (D-Albuquerque), and it reflects the consensus of tribal leaders who proposed a map concept to the nonpartisan Citizen Redistricting Committee, which approved it for the full Legislature’s consideration. The tribal coalition concept map aims to maintain Native American voting power in the state while honoring their rights to self-determination.
Joaquin Romero, a spokesperson for Senate Republicans, said in a brief phone call he could not speak to the motivation of the trio who voted to continue to stall the session. Pirtle declined to comment.
The Senate is expected to reconvene at 5:30 p.m.
New Mexico regulators deny utility's exit from coal plant - Associated Press
New Mexico regulators have denied a request by the state's largest electric provide to divest itself from one of the Southwest's few remaining coal-fired power plants by transferring its shares to a Navajo energy company.
The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission on Wednesday voted unanimously to reject the plan, saying Public Service Co. of New Mexico didn't specify how the lost power would be replaced.
Commissioners also had concerns about investments that the utility known as PNM sought to recover through bonds that would be paid back by customers over a 25-year period.
The utility could appeal the decision or it could come back to the commission with more information.
The decision marked the commission's second major rejection involving PNM in recent weeks. Regulators also denied a proposed multibillion-dollar acquisition of PNM by global energy giant Iberdrola and its U.S. subsidiary, Connecticut-based Avangrid.
Supporters of PNM's exit from the coal plant named Four Corners Power Plant had argued that the move would translate into savings for customers, reduce emissions from the utility's portfolio and strengthen the Navajo Nation's position when it comes to determining the future of the plant.
Environmentalists had criticized the proposed transfer, suggesting it would prevent an early closure. However, there hasn't been any willingness by the plant's majority owner — Arizona Public Service Co. — to end operations before 2031 because doing so could undermine the reliability of that utility's network.
The commission deliberated the power plant issue behind closed doors for hours. Chairman Stephen Fischmann said after Wednesday's vote that the panel lacked information needed to make a good decision and that the commission was open to PNM following up with details.
PNM officials called the vote disconcerting, saying that after months of proceedings that the outcome created uncertainty about the regulatory environment in New Mexico and that it made the company's transition to more renewable energy more difficult.
PNM President and CEO Pat Vincent-Collawn pointed to New Mexico's Energy Transition Act, saying the commission ignored the law's requirements for balancing shareholder responsibility, customer savings, economic aid and environmental benefits.
"We will need to carefully review the order rejecting abandonment to determine next steps, including a possible appeal to the New Mexico Supreme Court," she said in a statement.
Under the proposal, Navajo Transitional Energy Co., known as NTEC, would have taken over PNM's interest in Four Corners, becoming the second largest owner of shares in the plant. PNM shareholders would have paid NTEC $75 million to assume its obligations under a coal supply agreement.
By transferring its shares, PNM could have exited Four Corners about seven years ahead of its previously scheduled departure and would have been closer to meeting New Mexico renewable energy and emissions mandates. The Energy Transition Act requires public utilities to be carbon free by 2045.
Located on tribal land, the Four Corners plant has been a huge economic driver for the Navajo Nation for decades. The plant and the neighboring mine that feeds it provide hundreds of jobs for tribal members and the operations account for nearly a quarter of the Navajo Nation's annual general fund revenues.
Navajo President Jonathan Nez and other tribal leaders spoke in favor of PNM's plan.
"As we determine how to transition to a post-coal economy, we continue to rely on these jobs and revenue for the foreseeable future," Nez said. "This is not going to be an easy task."
New Mexico authorities issue warrant for Baldwin's phone - Associated Press
Authorities on Thursday issued a search warrant for Alec Baldwin's cell phone, saying it could hold evidence that might be helpful as they investigate a deadly shooting on a New Mexico film set that killed a cinematographer and wounded the director.
Baldwin was holding a revolver during rehearsal when it fired. He has maintained that it was cinematographer Halyna Hutchins herself who asked him to point the gun just off camera and toward her armpit before it went off. Director Joel Souza also was wounded in the shooting on the Bonanza Creek Ranch film set near Santa Fe.
Baldwin has said that at Hutchins' direction he pulled the hammer back and that it fired when he let go. He has said he didn't know the gun contained a live round.
Investigators have described "some complacency" in how weapons were handled on the set of the Western "Rust." They have yet to file any charges and have been working to determine where the live rounds found on set might have come from.
According to the search warrant affidavit, investigators are looking for any text messages, images, videos, calls or other information related to the movie production.
Court documents state that Baldwin told investigators during an interview that there were emails between himself and the film's armorer Hanna Gutierrez Reed where she showed him different styles of guns and that he had requested a bigger gun, which ended up being a Colt revolver with a brown handle.
A brief search of Halyna's phone turned up conversations about the production that dated back to July as well as photographs of receipts from businesses in Santa Fe, according to the affidavit.
Suspect charged in hit-and-run killing of child - Albuquerque Journal, KUNM News
A suspect has been charged in the hit-and-run killing of a child who was crossing the street with his family following the River of Lights event at the Albuquerque BioPark over the weekend.
The Albuquerque Journal reports a warrant has been issued for 27 year-old Sergio Almanza of Belen who’s charged with homicide by vehicle, knowingly leaving the scene of an accident and tampering with evidence.
Police say 7-year-old Pronoy Bhattacharya was struck by an off-highway vehicle that ran a red light at Central Ave. and Tingley Dr. on Sunday and drove off. The child and his family were in the crosswalk with the right of way at the time. The child was pronounced dead at the scene. His father was injured, but expected to recover.
The Journal reports police have video of a man they believe to be Almanza drinking at a bar half an hour before the time of the crash.
The warrant for his arrest says the suspect attempted to hide the vehicle at a friend’s house and asked for help cleaning it. The friend told police that a nervous Almanza told him he had “just hit a kid.”
Native Americans wield influence in New Mexico redistricting - By Morgan Lee Associated Press
Leading Democratic legislators introduced a revised state Senate redistricting plan Wednesday that would preserve recommendations from Native American communities, amid an extended stalemate in drawing new political boundaries.
Bill sponsor Linda Lopez, a Democrat from Albuquerque, said the new redistricting proposal adopts essential recommendations from Native American leaders intended to shore up Indigenous voting blocs within five districts in the northwest of the state.
Republican lawmakers immediately rebuffed the plan. The proposed political map would leave Republican state Sen. Joshua Sanchez of Bosque outside the boundaries of his current district, potentially to compete in a neighboring district against GOP Senate minority leader Greg Baca of Belen.
"This map is a travesty to our state," Republican Sen. Craig Brandt of Rio Rancho said. "Promises were made and promises have been broken."
Procedural maneuvers scuttled the Senate floor debate without a vote, with deliberations scheduled to resume Thursday.
The latest redistricting proposal for the Democrat-led state Senate follows several days of private negotiations that brought together lawmakers and leaders from many of the state's 23 federally recognized tribal communities.
Lopez said her new bill avoids some pairings of incumbents in southeastern New Mexico that have rankled legislators.
The revisions drew praise from Sen. Shannon Pinto, a tribal member of the Navajo Nation from Tohatchi, and Sen. Bennie Shendo, a tribal member and resident of Jemez Pueblo. An array of Native American tribal leaders and advocates watched the proceedings from the public gallery.
Tribal leaders are seeking to bolster Native American influence in the political process amid dissatisfaction with public education, access to basic household infrastructure and economic opportunities.
Lawmakers are in a special session to redraw congressional and legislative districts based on new census data.
State Republicans throw down ‘obstructionist’ tactic to stall vote on Senate map - Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
A new state Senate map that would shape the next decade of New Mexico politics remains elusive after a late-night stunt by Republican senators delaying the bill’s passage.
Senators didn’t start their scheduled 6 p.m. session until around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, following days of disagreement on the state Senate redistricting plan. The negotiations remain stalled after the introduction of a map last weekend that ignored some priorities of a tribal coalition. Senators instead redrew the map to prevent two Republican senators in Districts 29 and 30 from being drawn into the same district, among other things, and presented it with little warning on Sunday.
Tribal officials with the All-Pueblo Council of Governors spent months achieving a consensus on the Senate maps, ones they said preserve their voting power in Northwestern New Mexico and honor their right to self-determination.
State Sen. Linda Lopez (D-Albuquerque), who first sponsored a measure that reflected the tribal consensus early in the legislative session, introduced a new map Wednesday, one that continues to draw Republican Sens. Greg Baca and Joshua Sanchez in D 29 and D 30 into the same district. That means one would have to quit or they would run in an election against each other.
Both districts have identical demographics and contain the same precincts, according to a comparison of both bills.
The only difference between the two maps is the shifting of some precincts between Districts 3 and 4 in the northwest corner of New Mexico, out of line with the original tribal consensus plan, though the coalition supports Lopez’s amended bill, according to a tribal coalition member.
Sen. Shannon Pinto (D-Tohatchi) urged lawmakers to support the newly revised map that reflects what tribes and pueblos want.
“As we move forward and see the work that was put into this very judiciously and tediously, we also know that there are people who do have the capacity and the knowledge to help the state of New Mexico with redistricting,” Pinto said.
State Sen. Craig Brandt (R-Rio Rancho) voiced his opposition.
“Today is an unfortunate time in the history of the state,” Brandt said. “This map is a travesty to our state.”
Republicans have expressed frustration with the redistricting process when it comes to the pairing of incumbent senators like Sanchez and Baca.
The maps produced for the Senate and other political districts were created over months by the Citizen Redistricting Committee, a nonpartisan group that evaluated maps based on communities, demographics and district size but did not consider partisan data or where an incumbent lived.
As the measure neared a vote, Brandt issued a rare “Call of the Senate,” which pulls all senators into the chambers. This often means senators — sometimes even corralled by state troopers — are required to be in the room, and the issue at hand cannot proceed unless they’re present or have an excused absence.
It can only be done with approval of seven senators. In this case, all seven were Republican. When it was approved, Senate staff shut the chamber doors and began a search for any absent senators.
State Sen. Crystal Diamond (R-Elephant Butte) was apparently absent without an excuse, which halted the proceedings.
That’s when Sen. Peter Wirth (D-Santa Fe), the Senate’s majority floor leader, announced that the Senate would be in recess until noon Thursday, nearing two weeks of the special redistricting session.
Chris Nordstrum, a spokesperson for Senate Democrats, said the call is often a delaying tactic. He assumes the stunt was used to prevent the passage of the Senate map.
“It’s basically an obstructionist move,” he said. “… I don’t know if this whole thing was orchestrated and she (Sen. Diamond) knew to be in hiding, so to speak, or if she just happened to not be here tonight.”
Bernalillo County bans outdoor cannabis consumption areas – New Mexico Political Report, KUNM
Outdoor consumption areas for cannabis are banned in parts of Bernalillo County that do not fall within the City of Albuquerque’s jurisdiction under an ordinance approved Tuesday by the County Commission.
According to New Mexico Political Report, Bernalillo County Zoning Administrator Nicholas Hamm told the commissioners the goal was to create an environment that is separated from the public because cannabis is still a controlled substance and has intoxicating effects.
An earlier version of the proposal would have made a distinction between consumption areas for medical use versus recreational use, but the final version eliminated that split.
Erica Rowland, a medical cannabis patient who wants to open a country-club type cannabis facility with outdoor smoking on her property, urged commissioners to reconsider the outdoor ban.
While cigars and other types of tobacco are allowed in nearly all outdoor public areas, the Cannabis Regulation Act prohibits smoking cannabis in public unless it’s in a licensed consumption area.
The state Regulation and Licensing Department and the Cannabis Control Division do not have final rules on consumption areas yet, but regulators said they will not be allowed to also serve alcohol.
Meanwhile the City of Albuquerque does not prohibit outdoor consumption areas under ordinances finalized earlier this year.
New Mexico asks federal permission for child spending - By Cedar Attanasio Associated Press / Report For America
Most of New Mexico's congressional delegation has asked Capitol Hill for permission to invest more money into early childhood programs from its resource wealth endowment.
Any changes to the endowment require permission from Capitol Hill, and both of New Mexico's U.S. Senators and two of its Representatives, all Democrats, announced legislation Friday to boost the amount that can be withdrawn from the $25 billion fund. Sen. Martin Heinrich and Rep. Melanie Stansbury are sponsoring legislation requesting that the change be allowed.
As a condition for statehood, granted in 1912, the federal government created the endowment to generate an allowance for the majority-Latino, mostly Spanish-speaking territory. Most of the money comes from oil and gas extraction, as well as taxes from mining and logging.
Law restricts the withdrawals to 5% per year, and virtually all of the fund is earmarked for universities and K-12 schools. Prekindergarten schools and other services for children under 5 can't receive any of the funds.
The bill would grant permission for the state to increase withdrawals to 6.25%. It would add most of the increase to early childhood education programs, including pre-K.
New Mexico voters would also have to approve the measure.
State Legislators have cleared the way for voters to consider the measure next fall. Democratic lawmakers have advocated for years to change how to spend money from the endowment and to spend more of it.
They say growth of the fund has far outpaced inflation thanks to rich oil revenues and profitable market investments, and New Mexico's disproportionately impoverished children need help now.
"Too many of our kids are showing up to kindergarten so far behind their classmates that they can't catch up even over time," said Heinrich, who sponsored the request in the Senate.
Around a third of New Mexico third graders are proficient in reading, according to testing before and during the pandemic. Math proficiency is often lower.
Some State Republican lawmakers have argued against the changes, saying the increased withdrawals could deplete the fund.
They point out that the main source of revenue for the fund — fossil fuel extraction — is under assault by pro-environment efforts at the state and federal levels as the world moves away from the industry to address global warming.
"There's no question that our Land Grant Permanent Fund is funded primarily by revenues that come from natural resource extraction," said Stansbury, sponsor of the legislation in the House.
She wants the state to grow tech, tourism and other industries instead.
A spokesman for the lone Republican in New Mexico's delegation, Rep. Yvette Herrell, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Storm knocks out power to thousands on Navajo, Hopi land - Associated Press, Albuquerque Journal
Residents across the Navajo Nation were without power today after a storm that packed powerful wind moved across the region.
Navajo Tribal Utility Authority spokesperson Deenise Becenti says the outage affected at least 10-thousand homes.
Wind knocked-over power lines in Shiprock in the New Mexico portion of the reservation.
Becenti says crews have been dispatched, but there's no time estimate on when power will be restored.
Crashes and slide-offs on I-40 from Flagstaff to near the New Mexico state line led to some road and lane closures today.
Winds peaked at 77 mph in Lupton on the New Mexico/Arizona state line, according to the National Weather Service. Heavy rain came before the snow, leaving roads slick overnight and into this morning.
The Albuquerque Journal reports the storm also caused damage and power outages across Northern New Mexico today.
The Taos County Commission declared a State of Emergency, setting up a shelter at the Juan Gonzales Agricultural Center.
Evictions on the rise months after federal moratorium ends - By Michael Casey Associated Press
Soon after losing his trucking job amid the pandemic, Freddie Davis got another blow: His landlord in Miami was almost doubling the rent on his Miami apartment.
Davis girded for what he feared would come next. In September he was evicted — just over a month after a federal eviction moratorium ended. He's now languishing in a hotel, aided by a nonprofit that helps homeless people.
The 51-year-old desperately wants to find a new apartment. But it's proving impossible on his $1,000-a-month disability check.
"We live in America, and the thing is, people like me, we got to go to the street if we don't have no other place to go because we can't afford rent," said Davis, who lost a leg to diabetes, suffers congestive heart failure and is recovering from multiple wounds on his other leg and foot. "I really can't do nothing."
The federal ban, along with a mix of state and federal moratoriums, is credited with keeping Davis and millions of others in their homes during the pandemic and preventing the spread of the coronavirus.
There was a brief lull in evictions filings after the ban ended. But housing advocates say they're on the rise in many parts of the country —- though numbers remain below pre-pandemic levels due to the infusion of federal rental assistance and other pandemic-related assistance like expanded child tax credit payments that are also set to end.
Part of the increase is due to courts catching up on the backlog of eviction cases. But advocates say the upsurge also shows the limits of federal emergency rental assistance in places where distribution remains slow and tenant protections are weak. Rising housing prices in many markets also are playing a role.
According to the latest data from the Eviction Lab at Princeton University, eviction filings have been rising in most of the 31 cities and six states where it collects data. They increased 10.4% from the first half of August to the first half of September. In the first half of October, numbers were 38% above August levels and 25% higher than in September. Filings fell around 7% from the first half of October to November and now remain about 48% below pre-pandemic levels.
Among places where eviction filings are returning to normal are Connecticut as well as Houston, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio, according to the Eviction Lab. Florida, too, has seen a significant rise, with filings in Tampa and Gainesville returning to near pre-pandemic levels.
"There was a batch of initial commentary coming out when the moratorium ended and the tone ... was, well, there wasn't a tsunami so we don't have an eviction crisis on our hands," said Ben Martin, senior researcher at Texas Housers, a nonprofit focused on housing issues.
"That initial narrative was somewhat misleading. What we are seeing is a reflection of reality, which is that evictions take time to work their way into and through the court system."
Among the concerns is that some landlords who got federal assistance are still evicting tenants. A survey of nearly 120 attorneys nationwide from the National Housing Law Project found 86% had seen cases like this. They also saw increasing instances of landlords lying in court to evict tenants and illegally locking out tenants.
"In many states, landlord tenant law is antiquated and designed to provide results for landlords," said Shamus Roller, executive director of the National Housing Law Project. "Instead of adjudicating the facts, courts function as conveyor belts, moving tenants toward eviction."
Among those who contend they were illegally evicted is Faye Moore. The 72-year-old returned home from work in October to find her life spread out on the sidewalk.
Behind several thousand dollars rent on her two-bedroom townhouse in an Atlanta suburb, Moore figured she would get the chance to present her case to a judge, including that management refused to take her rent money for months and that she was given no notice before she was evicted.
"I'm devastated. It was a house full of furniture. Everything," said Moore, a retired mental health therapist who is now staying in a hotel with her 61-year-old partner, Garry Betared. "It was like a storm came in and devastated everything. I can't find my important papers or anything."
Cicely Murray, a HUD housing counselor with the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America who is working with Moore, was most upset that the couple was evicted without a court hearing and forced to fend for themselves.
"I'm angry that anyone would put an elderly couple out without trying to figure out what resources are there," Murray said. "We are still in a pandemic. ... You are putting people in precarious situations who are some of the most fragile."
As Christmas approaches, there are plenty of signs that eviction cases will keep rising.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey, those saying they weren't confident of paying next month's rent increased from about 5 million at the end of September to 6.3 million in the latest data.
Landlords, especially smaller ones who own a handful of apartments, have also struggled. They believed the moratorium was illegal and saddled them with months of back rent they may never get back. Others were forced to lay off maintenance staff or sell units as they awaited federal rental assistance that was slow to be distributed.
Some localities have lagged behind in getting out their portion of the $46.5 billion in federal Emergency Rental Assistance. According to a November report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, 28% of grantees — 32 states and 80 localities — spent less than 30% of their first allocation of money and risk losing those funds.
Among them is Nebraska, which spent only 6% of its funding through September and just 7% through October. Some landlords are refusing to take part in the program, said Caitlin Cedfeldt, a staff attorney at Legal Aid of Nebraska, while others have grown tired of waiting and are moving to evict. Tenants, some of whom got initial help but still face economic hardship, are being told they can't yet reapply for additional help.
Missouri only spent 18% of its funding through September but has since improved.
"We have so much more work to do," U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, a St. Louis Democrat, said, citing data showing that evictions during the pandemic "have taken lives."
There are some states and local governments that "feel, 'We don't want this money. We don't want this federal aid," she said. "And, we have some landlords who say that they don't want the money as well. So that makes it harder for the money to be dispersed."
Gene Sperling, who is charged with overseeing implementation of President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus rescue package, said some increase in evictions was inevitable after the ban ended. "But fortunately, because the Emergency Rental Assistance program is now paying full back-rent to about 500,000 renters each month, the eviction tsunami that experts feared has not occurred," he said.
On the flip side are states and cities running out of rental assistance. The Treasury Department expects that upwards of $30 billion, or about two-thirds of the money, will have been spent or allocated by the end of the year. As the law dictates, Treasury is expected to begin reallocating funds from places not spending it to those in need.
Texas has stopped accepting new applicants because it has allocated all its funds, though it continues to process applications received before the deadline. Oregon has stopped taking new applicants for now.
The state of New York has spent or committed nearly all of its money, as has Philadelphia. California will soon exhaust its funds, while Atlanta has closed its program to new applicants. Austin, Texas, also stopped taking applications.
"It's particularly concerning that a number of these programs are now shutting down because all funds have been expended or obligated," said Peter Hepburn, research fellow at the Eviction Lab.
"If that funding gets removed, landlords may have less incentive to work with tenants."
Navajo Nation reports 38 more COVID-19 cases and 7 deaths -Associated Press
The Navajo Nation on Wednesday reported 38 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and seven additional deaths.
The latest numbers pushed the tribe's total to 40,615 cases since the pandemic began with 1,569 known deaths.
Health officials on Tuesday had reported 37 cases and no deaths for the second consecutive day.
Based on cases from Nov. 26-Dec. 9, the Navajo Department of Health issued an advisory Monday for 58 communities due to uncontrolled spread of COVID-19.
Tribal President Jonathan Nez has issued a reminder to get the vaccine or the booster as the Christmas holiday approaches.
"Across the country, the data shows that the large majority of people who are getting severely sick from the virus are those who are unvaccinated," Nez said in a statement Wednesday. "The vaccines don't guarantee that you won't get COVID-19, but they are highly-effective against severe illness and death."
The reservation covers 27,000 square miles and extends into parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
Strong winds in the Midwest whip up dust, blow over semi-trailers - By Margery A. Beck and Margaret Stafford Associated Press
A powerful storm system swept across the Great Plains and Midwest Wednesday, closing highways in western Kansas, spawning reported tornadoes in Nebraska and Iowa and raising concerns about fires because of unusually high temperatures.
The strong winds whipped up dust that reduced visibility to zero west of Wakeeney, Kansas, the state Department of Transportation said, and caused at least four semi-trailers to blow over. Kansas officials closed Interstate 70 from the Colorado border to Salina, as well as all state highways in nine counties in northwest Kansas.
The National Weather Service said there have been 13 tornado reports in the Plains states, scattered through eastern Nebraska and Iowa. Winds topped 70 mph through much of Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa.
"To have this number of damaging wind storms at one time would be unusual any time of year," said Brian Barjenbruch, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Valley, Nebraska. "But to have this happen in December is really abnormal."
The system came on the heels of devastating tornadoes last weekend that cut a path through states including Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Illinois and Kentucky, killing more than 85 people.
The National Weather Service issued a high wind warning for an area stretching from New Mexico to upper Michigan, including Wisconsin and Illinois. Gusts topping 80 mph were recorded in the Texas Panhandle and western Kansas. The weather service said an automated observation site in Lamar, Colorado, recorded a gust of 107 mph Wednesday morning. Wind gusts of 100 mph were reported in Russell, Kansas.
Greg Butcher, the city administrator in Seward, Nebraska, said he was standing in his office at city hall Wednesday when he saw a giant wall of cloud rolling toward him. Butcher said he braced for a major hit but so far the worst damage appears to be a few toppled telephone poles.
"We lucked out," Butcher said. "It came in really fast."
Officials also warned of a dangerous fire risk along the western edge of the weather system, where conditions were dry.
A wildfire prompted Sheridan County officials to evacuate a few homes near Quinter in northwest Kansas. Emergency management director Don Koerperich did not have an estimate of how big the fire was but said "I'm glad it wasn't near any towns." Other fires were reported in Russell and Ellis counties.
Scientists say extreme weather events and warmer temperatures, much like what's happening, are more likely to occur with human-caused climate change. However, scientifically attributing a specific event like this storm system to global warming requires specific analysis and computer simulations that take time, haven't been done and sometimes show no clear connection.
"I think we also need to stop asking the question of whether or not this event was caused by climate change. All events nowadays are augmented by climate change," said Northern Illinois University meteorology professor Victor Gensini. "We need to be asking, `To what extent did climate change play a role and how likely was this event to occur in the absence of climate change?'"
The unusually warm temperatures on Wednesday were due in part to record high ocean temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico, which wouldn't have happened without global warming, said Jeff Masters, a Yale Climate Connections meteorologist who cofounded Weather Underground.
"That record heat is helping feed heat and moisture into today's storms, increasing their damage potential," he said.
Damaging winds were likely to bring down trees and power lines, leading to power outages, the National Weather Service warned. Some schools in Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa either canceled in-person classes or closed early.
Officials in Ashland, Kansas, shut down the town's power supply for a few hours to reduce the threat of fire after multiple power poles were knocked down.
The system blew into the Plains from Colorado, where high winds knocked out power, closed roads and highways and delayed or canceled hundreds of flights. The weather service said a wind gust of 100 mph was recorded on the airfield at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.
Blaire Brush, a spokeswoman for the military academy, said windows on multiple cars and buildings were shattered during the windstorm. She did not know if the windows were smashed by objects flung by the wind or from the force of a gust.
On nearby Interstate 25, more than a dozen semi-trailers blew over in winds that topped 90 mph, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette.
In the Southwest, strong winds took down power lines in Shiprock, New Mexico, knocking out power to residents across the Navajo Nation.
Blowing dust drastically cut visibility in the Texas Panhandle, where Sherman County Sheriff Ted Allen said all roads in and out of the county were closed. In the Oklahoma Panhandle, the state Department of Transportation reported the main road north from Boise City into Colorado was closed because of collisions and downed power lines.
The winds and storms were expected to move quickly east, Thies said. After that, forecasters expect temperatures to plunge, with below freezing temperatures in the northern Plains.
Albuquerque police arrest 1 in vandalism of police station -Associated Press
Albuquerque police officers went to a familiar location, the police department's own headquarters, to respond to a vandalism call early yesterday.
A police spokesperson said officers found "extensive graffiti" covering the southern steps of the building, which also is home to the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department.
Officer Chase Jewell said the graffiti that included racial slurs and "inappropriate verbiage" was written in red spray paint along the stairs, walls, benches and planters.
Jewell said officers arrested one person who was jailed on felony criminal damage charges and crews were being dispatched to clean up the graffiti.
