US agency extends comment period on Chaco proposal - Associated Press
Land managers have scheduled two more public meetings and extended the comment period on a proposal that would prohibit oil and gas development on federal land surrounding a national park in New Mexico that Native American tribes consider culturally significant.
The Bureau of Land Management made the announcement Friday, saying the deadline for comments has been pushed back to May 6 to allow more time for people to comment.
U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland traveled to northwest New Mexico in November to announce the plan. She cited the significance of the area to many tribes from the Southwest that trace their roots to the high desert outpost.
A World Heritage site, Chaco is thought to be the center of what was once a hub of Indigenous civilization.
Officials with the New Mexico pueblos and Arizona tribes that are connected to Chaco have said they believe Haaland's actions represent more meaningful steps by the federal government to permanently protect cultural resources in northwestern New Mexico.
The Navajo Nation is among the Native American tribes that support increased protections, but top tribal officials have called for a smaller area around Chaco to be set aside as a way to limit the economic impact on families who rely on revenues from oil and gas leasing.
Many who attended the first public meetings in February had asked that federal officials provide translators and materials in Native languages to ensure those who will be affected by the decision have access to information about the proposal.
Federal officials confirmed Friday that a Navajo translator would be available at the upcoming meetings. One will be April 27 in Farmington and the other is scheduled for April 29 in Albuquerque.
New Mexico coal-fired plant closure causes financing dispute - By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
The upcoming closure of one of the few remaining coal-fired power plants in the southwestern U.S. has generated a dispute over financing and customers rates.
Environmentalists and consumer advocates argue in regulatory filings made Thursday that Public Service Co. of New Mexico plans to continue collecting from customers the costs of running the San Juan Generating Station after it closes. That could amount to as much as $125 million.
The groups also are concerned that New Mexico's largest electric provider plans to delay the use of bonds to recover lost investments in the power plant.
Customers will pay back the bonds through their bills over 25 years, but the amount will be less due to lower interest rates on the bonds and because the utility will forego profit on its investments.
Pat O'Connell, a senior clean energy policy analyst with Western Resource Advocates, said Friday that customers won't benefit from any savings until the bonds are issued.
"Gas is expensive too and we're in a state where people are paying their last dollar for a tank of gas. It would help them to get a reduction in their electric bill now," he said. "Savings delayed is savings denied, so let's have the savings."
The utility denied that its plans amount to double dipping or that customers will miss out on savings.
The $8 million in monthly cost-recovery charges collected through customers' bills after the plant closes will be used as a credit when rates are reconsidered next year as part of a lengthy process before the state Public Regulation Commission.
The revenues collected through rates that covered San Juan will offset the $2.4 billion in investments that Public Service Co. of New Mexico has made in infrastructure, said utility spokesman Ray Sandoval.
He noted that the company agreed to delay asking for a rate increase in 2020 given the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic and again in 2021 as part of merger negotiations that are now the focus of a legal battle before the state Supreme Court.
The environmental and consumer advocacy groups want regulators to order an immediate reduction in consumer rates after the utility abandons the coal plant later this year.
They argued in the regulatory filings that the utility's interpretation of the state's Energy Transition Act — which sets renewable energy mandates and governs financing related to the San Juan power plant's closure — is "absurd and self-serving."
The groups estimate the withheld savings to typical residential electricity customers would be about $9.50 per month.
By holding off on giving that money back, Sandoval said Public Service Co. of New Mexico is preventing customers from having to endure "a rollercoaster of rates."
"There's no ability to double dip by PNM because the rates are set by the PRC," he said.
The other issue is whether interest rates will be as favorable by the time the utility issues the bonds. Consumer advocates have said customers will lose out on some anticipated savings if interest rates climb.
Mariel Nanasi, executive director of the group New Energy Economy, said another option would be for the commission to establish a regulatory liability account that would continue to track costs after the San Juan power plant closes so the amount can be returned to ratepayers when costs are adjusted in the next rate case.
"Requiring PNM to either issue a rate credit or establish a regulatory account will serve to protect ratepayers from PNM's over-collection, is an efficient way of doing so, and is consistent with the commission's ratemaking authority to protect ratepayers," she said.
It's unclear how soon regulators could take up the case.
One unit at the power plant is scheduled to close by July 1 and the other is set to close at the end of September, which will help the utility meet peak demands this summer.
The utility had to ask for an extension because solar and battery projects that were meant to replace the lost capacity have been delayed.
PNM is a financial supporter of KUNM.
Bandelier officials assessing area of fatal rock fall - Associated Press
Officials are assessing the area of Bandelier National Monument in northern New Mexico where an Illinois woman was killed when struck by a falling rock while climbing a ladder to reach a canyon alcove.
Monument officials said Brenda Holzer, 54, of Yorkville was fatally injured Wednesday while climbing the second of four ladders to reach the Alcove House.
Bandelier spokesperson Joanie Budzileni told the Santa Fe New Mexican there was no evidence the falling rock was caused by another person and that the Alcove House hadn't experienced a similar incident in recent history.
Officials were "assessing and investigating the entire Alcove House area," which was closed after the incident, Budzileni said in an email.
Longtime climber Peter Olson of Santa Fe said wintertime snow melting in the cracks of rock formations can expand and dislodge rocks over time. A snowstorm blanketed the area earlier this week.
Olson said people who develop rock climbing routes try to remove dangerous rocks that might fall.
"But places like Bandelier are not really a rock climbing area," Olson added. "It's a historic area with ladders and who knows what type of mitigation they did above it."
The monument is 22.5 miles west of Santa Fe.
New Mexico base to be new training site for attack aircraft - Associated Press
Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico will be the new location for training pilots and other crew members to operate a type of large attack planes flown by the Air Force Special Operations Command, a member of the state's congressional delegation announced Friday.
The establishment of the AC-130J training mission at the Albuquerque base over the next several years will involve up to 372 full-time Air Force personnel plus an unspecified number of additional contract and maintenance support jobs, Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., said in a statement released by his office.
The statement said seven AC-130Js will be assigned to Kirtland for the training mission, which an Air Force report released by Heinrich's office said is part of a relocation from Hurlburt Field, an Air Force installation in Florida.
The report said locating the training mission at Kirtland provides efficiencies because the base already hosts a training mission for MC-130J aircraft, another type of special-purpose aircraft derived from the widely used C-130 transport.
"This training unit would align well with existing missions at both Kirtland and Cannon Air Force Bases, which benefit from New Mexico's unrivaled airspace, our premier testing ranges, and our on-ground expertise," Heinrich said.
Albuquerque Police: Man barricaded in former lawmaker's home - Associated Press
A relative of the former state Rep. Sheryl Williams Stapleton barricaded himself in her home and Albuquerque police were trying to get him to surrender, authorities said Friday.
The incident started when Williams Stapleton called mental health services Friday morning to report that a family member needed help.
"It was determined that he had a felony warrant so APD was called in to try to arrest him. And at that point, he refused to come out of the house," said Albuquerque police spokesman Gilbert Gallegos.
A SWAT team continued negotiating with the man Friday afternoon.
Gallegos said Williams Stapleton was able to leave the house safely.
Police haven't released the man's name or the details of the felony charges against him.
Separately, Stapleton, a Democrat, faces criminal charges stemming from a corruption probe involving some $5 million allegedly used to enrich herself when she was an official at Albuquerque Public Schools. She has previously denied wrongdoing.
Prosecutors can pursue murder charges in Santa Fe crash - Associated Press
Prosecutors presented enough evidence to pursue murder charges in a criminal trial against a New Mexico woman accused of causing a car crash that killed a police officer and a retired firefighter, a judge said Thursday.
Jeannine Jaramillo had a preliminary hearing before Santa Fe District Court Judge Mary Marlow Sommer.
The 46-year-old Jaramillo is facing two counts of first-degree murder along with other charges in the March 2 wrong-way crash on Interstate 25 following a police pursuit.
She originally was thought to be a victim in the multi-vehicle crash, but later was accused of causing the deadly wreck and lying to police about what happened.
Killed in the crash was 43-year-old Santa Fe Police Officer Robert Duran and 62-year-old Frank Lovato, a retired firefighter from the northern New Mexico city of Las Vegas who was driving a pickup truck and not involved with the pursuit.
Authorities said Jaramillo initially told them she had been carjacked at knifepoint.
Jaramillo was arrested days later when New Mexico State Police said evidence showed she was the sole driver of the stolen vehicle involved in the crash.
Jaramillo has been in jail since her arrest. Prosecutors have filed a motion seeking to keep her behind bars throughout a trial.
AG Files Criminal Complaint Against Former Española City Manager – By Megan Kamerick, KUNM News
The New Mexico Attorney General’s Office has filed a criminal complaint against former Española City Manager David Valdez for allegedly stealing over $18,000 from city hall.
In a press release, Attorney General Hector Balderas said he looks forward to presenting the case to a jury.
Valdez served as city manager for four months and was fired on July 9, 2019 after he allegedly stole a bag containing checks and cash from customers for utility payments that were marked for deposit.
According to the complaint filed by Balderas, prior becoming city manager in Española, Valdez worked as city manager for Colorado City, Colo. In September 2019, the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office filed four felony charges of theft and embezzlement against Valdez for fraudulent incidents that occurred while he served as district manager of the Colorado City Metropolitan District. Valdez pled guilty to felony 4 theft and was ordered to pay restitution.
Gallup hospital org names new CEO, a first step to avoid being kicked out - By Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
The nonprofit running a major Gallup medical center has named a new chief executive officer to lead the troubled hospital.
Robert Whitaker, currently the president and CEO of Southwest Medical Center in Liberal, Kansas, will take over at Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital. The Gallup hospital is the biggest in the region, apart from one run by the Indian Health Service, and it serves patients in a 120-mile radius.
In recent months, a group of activists, ex-employees and patients have grown frustrated with the hospital’s direction and the private company contracted to run it, Community Health Consulting.
They have accused the company and the former interim CEO, Don Smithburg, of driving out respected, longtime employees and reducing the quality of healthcare in the area. Smithburg cited the pandemic’s toll and nursing shortage as the hospital’s biggest challenges.
Recently, the McKinley County Commission got involved. It leases the hospital and land to Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services, which runs the hospital. Last week, commissioners voted to terminate the lease unless the nonprofit organization met a series of demands over the next six months.
One of those demands was to get a new permanent CEO by April 15. Others include improving communication and transparency between the hospital’s board of trustees and the community.
McKinley County Commission chair Billy Moore said he is pleased with Whitaker’s hiring, which has been in the works for months, he said.
“Seemed a real nice guy,” Moore said. “I guess we’ll wait and see.”
Whitaker’s top priority will be to help the organization get into better financial shape, according to a news release. The hospital and its associated clinics reportedly have a deficit of $9.4 million.
Community Hospital Consulting also recently brought in a new chief financial officer to the hospital.
The Community Health Action Group, which is leading the charge against Community Hospital Consulting, has continued its weekly protests. A spokesperson said the group did not immediately have a comment about Whitaker’s hiring.
Whitaker was hired as the CEO of Southwest Medical Center in 2020. He also served as the the chief operating officer between 2015 and 2016.
One concern community members had about Smithburg, the former CEO, was that he split his time between Gallup and Kansas City, Missouri. In addition to his role in Gallup, Smithburg is also a senior vice president for Community Health Corporation.
Rhonda Ray, a spokesperson for Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services said Whitaker will live full-time in Gallup.
New rules aim to decide US asylum cases in months, not years - By Amy Taxin And Elliot Spagat Associated Press
The Biden administration on Thursday unveiled new procedures to handle asylum claims at the U.S. southern border, hoping to decide cases in months instead of years.
The rules empower asylum officers to grant or deny claims, an authority that has been limited to immigration judges for people arriving at the border with Mexico.
Until now, asylum officers have only done initial screenings for asylum and other forms of humanitarian relief for border arrivals.
The change could have far-reaching impact, but administration officials said they will start slowly and without additional resources. It will take effect 60 days after the rule is published in the Federal Register, which will occur next week.
The administration estimated last year that it would need to hire 800 more employees for asylum officers to handle about 75,000 cases a year. Without more money and new positions, it is unclear how much impact the move will have at first.
The United States has been the world's most popular destination for asylum-seekers since 2017, according to the U.N. refugee agency, putting enormous strain on immigration courts. The court backlog has soared to nearly 1.7 million cases.
"The current system for handling asylum claims at our borders has long needed repair," said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, whose department includes asylum officers at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said the new procedures will ease burdens on immigration courts, which are part of the Justice Department. Asylum claims for people who are not detained take an average of nearly four years to decide.
"This rule advances our efforts to ensure that asylum claims are processed fairly, expeditiously and consistent with due process," Garland said.
Under the new rules, asylum officers expect to decide cases in 90 days. Rejected applicants will be sent to immigration judges, who also expect to issue decisions in 90 days.
Judges will be able to complete cases faster with detailed documentation from asylum officers, officials said.
Some immigration advocates hailed the changes as a way to ensure people fleeing persecution won't have to wait years to receive asylum or other protections in the United States. Others said it's pushing people through a complex immigration far too quickly for them to get lawyers who can assist them in making an asylum claim.
"(It) risks sacrificing accurate decision-making for its narrative of speed," Eleanor Acer, senior director for refugee protection at Human Rights First, said in a statement. "Imposing unrealistic deadlines will lead to mistaken decisions, additional adjudication to correct those mistakes, and the improper return to persecution of people who qualify for asylum."
Those wanting tougher limits on U.S. immigration said they feared asylum officers weren't as prepared to detect fraudulent claims as immigration judges, something agency officials said wasn't the case.
It was also unclear how asylum officers would be able to handle increased responsibilities without more staff. They already have a hefty workload deciding cases of people who are already settled in the United States.
The new procedures, which generated more than 5,300 public comments after they were proposed in August, may face legal obstacles. Many changes to the immigration system during the Trump and Biden administrations have been successfully challenged, delayed or modified in courts.
US states seek to ease inflation burden with direct payments - By Patrick Whittle Associated Press
With inflation raging and state coffers flush with cash, governors and lawmakers across the U.S. are considering a relatively simple solution to help ease the pain people are feeling at the gas pump and grocery store — sending money.
At least a dozen states have proposed giving rebate checks of several hundred dollars directly to taxpayers, among them California, Kansas and Minnesota. Critics, including many Republican lawmakers, say those checks won't go far enough given the pace of inflation and are pushing instead for permanent tax cuts.
A proposal from Maine Gov. Janet Mills is among the most generous in a state where the cost of food and fuel has skyrocketed in recent months. The Democratic governor wants to send $850 to most residents as part of the state's budget bill.
The rebate "will help Maine people grapple with these increased costs by putting money directly back into their pockets," Mills said.
But Wendell Cressey, a clamdigger in Harpswell, said the soaring cost of fuel for people in his business means the check will provide just temporary relief.
"It might help a little, but it would have to be a lot more because we're paying for gas. Most of us have V-8 trucks," Cressey said. "I just don't think it's going to help as much as they think it is."
In addition to the direct rebates, lawmakers and governors across the country are considering cuts to sales taxes, property tax relief and reducing or suspending state gas taxes.
The proposals come at a time when many states actually have too much money on their hands because of billions of dollars in federal pandemic aid and ballooning tax revenue. It's also happening as the war in Ukraine has compounded soaring prices for fuel and other essentials.
It's also no coincidence that the relief is being floated during an election year, said Mark Brewer, a political science professor at the University of Maine. Maine's governor's race is one of many closely watched contests at the state level this year.
"There's some real policy reason to do this," Brewer said. "But at the same time, it's also clear that this is an election year, and in an election year there are few things as popular as giving voters what voters see as free money from the state."
The states are moving toward sending people money as consumer inflation has jumped nearly 8% over the past year. That was the sharpest spike since 1982.
Inflation boosted the typical family's food expenses by nearly $590 last year, according to the Penn Wharton Budget Model, a project of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton Business School. Overall, the average family had to spend $3,500 more last year to buy the same amount of goods and services as they purchased in previous years.
In New Mexico, some have questioned whether Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's plan for a $250 rebate goes far enough given how much consumer prices have risen.
Wayne Holly and his wife, Penny, were among the small business owners in the state who were forced to shut their doors early in the COVID-19 pandemic because of the governor's public health orders.
Their T-shirt and screen-printing business narrowly weathered that storm but is now feeling the pinch again as the cost of materials skyrockets and customers look to keep their own bank accounts from being drained.
"Do we get customers who are angry and irate because things have changed? Yes, we sure do," Wayne Holly said. "Do we get customers who say 'I never used to pay that before?' I say 'Yeah, I've never paid $4.50 for a gallon of gas.'"
The rebate plan in New Mexico, and concerns about how much it will help, reflects a growing trend among states as they try to find some relief for their residents amid criticism that they could do more.
Many states are awash with record amounts of cash, due partly to federal COVID-19 relief funding. Measures enacted by presidents Donald Trump in 2020 and Joe Biden last year allotted a combined total of more than $500 billion to state and local governments. Some of that is still sitting in state coffers waiting to be spent.
Those federal pandemic relief laws also provided stimulus checks to U.S. taxpayers, which helped boost consumer spending on goods subject to state and local sales taxes. From April 2021 to January 2022, total state tax revenues, adjusted for inflation, increased more than 19% compared to the same period a year earlier, according to a recent Urban Institute report.
"Overall, the fiscal condition of states is strong, and much better than where we thought states would be at the start of the pandemic," said Erica MacKellar, a fiscal policy analyst at the National Conference of State Legislatures.
That's given state officials greater confidence to consider tax rebates or direct payments to residents. But some financial experts are urging caution, noting that inflation also could drive up state expenses and wages.
"State legislatures should not rush into enacting permanent tax cuts based on what very well might be temporary growth in real revenues," Lucy Dadayan, senior research associate at the Urban Institute, wrote in a recent analysis.
The relief plans vary by state. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, released a plan for spending the state's budget surplus that included a proposal for income tax rebate checks of $1,000 per couple. In California, Democratic lawmakers have released separate proposals to send rebates of $200 to $400 to each taxpayer, while Gov. Gavin Newsom said he wants to distribute fuel debit cards of up to $800 to help ease the burden on residents paying the highest gas prices in the nation.
Democratic governors in other states have proposed other approaches. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf is seeking a one-time property tax subsidy for lower-income homeowners and renters. In Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker has proposed halting a 2.2-cent increase in the motor fuel tax, suspending a 1% grocery sales tax for a year and providing a property tax rebate of up to $300.
New Jersey got out front early. Gov. Phil Murphy and the Democrat-led Legislature included cash checks of up to $500 to about 1 million families as part of a budget deal last year, when the governor and lawmakers were up for election.
The state's rosy financial picture, fueled by healthy tax receipts and federal funds -- as well as higher taxes on people making $1 million — has continued this year. But Murphy's fiscal year 2023 budget doesn't call for additional cash rebates.
Proposals for relief haven't gone so smoothly in other states. Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, has proposed returning half of a $90 million surplus in the state Education Fund to the state's property taxpayers with a check of between $250 and $275, but the Democrat-controlled Legislature has shown little interest.
"Typically, when you overpay for something, you get some of that money back," Scott said when he made the proposal earlier this month.
White House releases report on Native American voting rights - Associated Press
Local, state and federal officials must do more to ensure Native Americans facing persistent, longstanding and deep-rooted barriers to voting have equal access to ballots, a White House report released Thursday said.
Native Americans and Alaska Natives vote at lower rates than the national average but have been a key constituency in tight races and states with large Native populations. A surge in voter turnout among tribal members in Arizona, for example, helped lead Joe Biden to victory in the state that hadn't supported a Democrat in a White House contest since 1996.
The Biden administration's report comes a year after he issued an executive order promoting voting rights and establishing a steering committee to look at particular barriers to voting in Indigenous communities. Those include state laws and local practices that disenfranchise Indigenous voters, unequal access to early voting and reliance on a mail system that is unreliable, the report stated.
"For far too long, members of tribal nations and Native communities have faced unnecessary burdens when they attempt to exercise their sacred right to vote," the White House said.
The administration called on Congress to pass voting rights legislation, including the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and another focused on Native Americans. But those bills are going nowhere. Republicans wouldn't support them, and Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona have been unwilling to override the filibuster to allow the legislation to pass.
In the states, Republican legislatures and governors recently have passed dozens of restrictive laws dealing with voting and elections. They have limited the use of mail voting, which proved hugely popular during the pandemic, implemented strict voter ID requirements, eliminated ballot drop boxes and created several penalties for local election officials who could be accused of violating certain laws.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year in a broader case over Arizona voting regulations to uphold a prohibition on counting ballots cast in the wrong precinct and returning early ballots for another person. Native American voting rights advocates saw it as another notch in a long history of voting discrimination.
Bills that Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed last year to codify the practice of giving voters who didn't sign mail-in ballots until 7 p.m. on Election Day to do so and that address voter rolls, also complicate voting, tribal leaders said.
Democrats say the new laws are designed to target their voters, although the mail voting restrictions also tend to hurt Republicans.
In the absence of action, the Biden administration is seeking changes at more local levels while maintaining pressure on Congress. The White House pointed to enhanced safeguards for Native American voters in Nevada, Washington and Colorado and suggested other states follow their lead.
The report recommended further recommended that jurisdictions serving Native voters offer language assistance even when they're not legally required to. And the U.S. Postal Service should consider adding routes or boosting personnel in Indian Country, the report said.
The White House highlighted efforts within federal agencies that include the Interior Department working to designate tribal colleges in New Mexico and Kansas as voter registration centers. The Treasury Department will provide voter education through its income tax assistance centers, the White House said.
And the U.S. Department of Justice has more than doubled its voting rights enforcement to ensure election officials are complying with federal law, senior administration officials said. The administration noted, though, that the protections in the Voting Rights Act to prohibit racial discrimination in voting no longer are adequate.
Tribal leaders in Alaska told the steering committee that despite successful litigation to ensure language assistance, the services haven't reached their communities, according to the committee's report. A tribal leader on the Blackfeet reservation in Montana said a county election official did not comply with a directive to provide drop boxes on the reservation until three days before the election, the report states.
Poverty among Native Americans, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians, hostility between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, and cultural disrespect also impact voting patterns in Indigenous communities, the administration noted.
The White House report will be translated into six Indigenous languages: Navajo, Ojibwe, Cherokee, Yup'ik, Lakota and Native Hawaiian.
The report builds on the work of other groups, including the Native American Rights Fund that outlined the challenges to voting in Indian Country, deepened by the pandemic: online registration hampered by spotty or no internet service, ballots delivered to rarely-checked post office boxes and turnout curbed by a general reluctance to vote by mail.
"It is a strong first step in ensuring that Native American voters have equal access to the vote," the Native American Rights Fund said Thursday.
Despite the challenges, Native American voting rights groups increasingly have mobilized over the years to boost turnout that is about 13% lower than the national average, according to the White House. The states will the largest percentage of Native Americans and Alaska Natives are: Alaska, Oklahoma, New Mexico, South Dakota and Montana.