Firefighters slow growth of massive New Mexico wildfire - By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
Firefighters have been able to slow the growth of a massive wildfire burning in the mountains of northeastern New Mexico as they prepared Wednesday for another round of red-flag weather that has the potential to push the flames through more unburned territory.
Forecasters warned that hot, windy and dry conditions have prompted warnings for high fire danger from southern Nevada through parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado starting Thursday.
Most of the large fires so far this spring have been in Arizona and New Mexico, the largest of which has raced across more than 471 square miles of forest that many fire managers have described as "ripe and ready to burn" due to a megadrought that has spanned decades and warm and windy conditions brought on by climate change.
While the fire encompasses an area more than 1.5 times the size of New York City, fire managers said there are pockets of green within the perimeter that could still burn.
"We're trying to go all the way around the edge of the fire and we want to keep the fire where it is right now," Jayson Coil, an operations chief assigned to the blaze, said Wednesday of using bulldozers to cut wide lines that can block flames.
Fire managers also said not all areas have been burned severely, and crews have been able to protect many homes and structures by clearing out vegetation and using sprinklers and hose lays to knock down the flames as they approach populated areas.
Still, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has said damage estimates for homes and structures could reach more than 1,000 by the time all the assessments are done.
She spoke with President Joe Biden on Tuesday and underscored the impacts of the fires on communities and the need for ongoing partnership with the federal government as the drought-stricken state recovers and rebuilds from some of the most devastating wildfires on record in New Mexico.
Biden reaffirmed the support of the federal government and said every effort will be made to provide immediate help to people in the impacted communities. He also expressed his gratitude to the first responders, firefighters and other personnel who are battling the blazes and have come to the aid of residents.
Evacuation orders remain in place for residents near a handful of large blazes in New Mexico, Colorado and Texas, where three large fires were reported Tuesday, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
Lujan Grisham has warned that many New Mexico residents, depending on where they live, should be ready for potential evacuations all summer given the likelihood for higher fire danger due to strong winds, warmer temperatures brought on by climate change and forecasts for little to no precipitation.
Another fire burning in the Gila National Forest in southern New Mexico had grown more than 57 square miles in one day, causing concern among state officials. Forest roads and trails in the area were closed, and crews were bracing for more wind.
Right to film cops weighed by US court overseeing 6 states - By Colleen Slevin Associated Press
U.S. government lawyers on Wednesday asked the appeals court overseeing four western and two midwestern states to recognize that the First Amendment guarantee of free speech gives people the right to film police as they do their work in public — a decision that would allow officers to be sued if they interfere with bystanders trying to record them.
Six of the nation's 12 appeals courts have recognized that right but the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has not and justices heard arguments in the case of a YouTube journalist and blogger who claimed that a suburban Denver officer blocked him from recording a 2019 traffic stop.
Natasha Babazadeh, an attorney for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, urged a three-judge panel from the court to rule in that filming police is a constitutional right and said there has been an increase in the number of lawsuits filed against police by people saying they could not record them in public. The appeals court has over Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and Utah and the parts of Yellowstone National Park that lie in Idaho and Montana.
"This issue is timely and would give guidance to district courts," Babazadeh said.
The First Amendment issue intersects with the controversial legal doctrine called "qualified immunity," which shields police officers from misconduct lawsuits unless their actions violate clearly established laws. If the appeals court decides people have a right to record police, police departments and officers who work in the court's region would be put on notice that they could be sued for violating that right.
In the Colorado lawsuit, Abade Irizarry said he was filming a police traffic stop in the city of Lakewood when he claimed Officer Ahmed Yehia stood in front of the camera to block Irizarry from recording. The officer was on foot shined a flashlight into Irizarry's camera and the camera of another blogger. Then Yehia left the two, got into his cruiser and sped the cruiser toward the two bloggers, the lawsuit said. The cruiser swerved before reaching the bloggers and they were not hit, according to the lawsuit.
The case was heard in federal court in Denver, where a magistrate judge sided with lawyers for Yehia and dismissed it last year, agreeing with Yehia's lawyers, who contended the right to record police was not clearly established by the time of the incident in 2019.
Irizarry appealed and U.S. government lawyers joined the case to support the public's right to record police.
Alex Dorotik, the lawyer for Yehia and the city of Lakewood, said in court documents that the appeals court panel should uphold the lower court ruling.
Pointing out that Yehia allegedly drove towards Irizarry, appeals court Judge Carolyn McHugh said officers can be held liable for actions which are so egregious that all officers should should know that they violate people's rights.
Dorotik told the appeals court panel that the motivation for why Yehia drove toward Irizarry would have to be considered but later acknowledged that it would be fair to infer it was motivated by Irizarry's efforts to film the traffic stop.
The Justice Department lawyers did not take a position on whether Yehia should be granted qualified immunity.
But they said the appeals court can rule on the constitutional question of whether people have the right to record police regardless of whether the lawsuit against Yehia is reinstated. L egal documents filed by the Justice Department lawyers stressed the importance of eyewitness video in its investigations of police departments and for the investigative hunt for suspects who attacked police during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Alan Chen, a University of Denver law professor and one of the First Amendment experts who have also urged the appeals court to rule on the right of people to record police, said courts tend to address cases narrowly instead of weighing in on constitutional issues.
But the video of the killing of George Floyd brought national attention to the importance of people having the right to record police as they work, he said.
"The more uncertainity there is, the more people might be afraid to pull out their phones and record the police," Chen said.
$121.5M settlement in New Mexico clergy sex abuse scandal — Associated Press
One of the oldest Catholic dioceses in the United States announced a settlement agreement Tuesday to resolve a bankruptcy case in New Mexico that resulted from a clergy sex abuse scandal.
The tentative deal totals $121.5 million and would involve about 375 claimants.
The proposed settlement comes as the Catholic Church continues to wrestles with a sex abuse and cover-up scandal that has spanned the globe. Some of the allegations in New Mexico date back decades.
The chairman of a creditors committee that negotiated the agreement on behalf of the surviving victims and others said it would hold the Archdiocese of Santa Fe accountable for the abuse and result in one of the largest diocese contributions to a bankruptcy settlement in U.S. history.
It also includes a non-monetary agreement with the Archdiocese to create a public archive of documents regarding the history of the sexual abuse claims, committee chairman Charles Paez said.
"The tenacity and courage of New Mexico survivors empowered us to reach a recommended settlement that addresses the needs of the survivors on a timely basis," he said in a statement Tuesday.
The Archdiocese of Santa Fe filed the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case seeking protection from creditors in 2018.
The settlement still must be approved by the abuse victims. It includes funds from sales or property and other assets, contributions from parishes and insurance proceeds. It does not include settlement of any claims against any religious orders, lawyers for both sides said.
"The church takes very seriously its responsibility to see the survivors of sexual abuse are justly compensated for the suffering they have endured," John C. Wester, archbishop of Santa Fe, said in a statement Tuesday.
"It is our hope that this settlement is the next step in the healing of those who have been harmed," he said.
In New Mexico, some 74 priests have been deemed "credibly accused" of sexually assaulting children while assigned to parishes and schools by the Archdiocese, which covers central and northern New Mexico.
Established in the 1850s after the Mexican-American War, the Archdiocese of Santa Fe filed for reorganization in late 2018 to deal with a surge of claims. An estimated $52 million has been paid in out-of-court settlements to victims in prior years.
"No amount of money can undo the pain and trauma that our clients and their families have suffered," Dan Fasy, a lawyer who represented some of the victims, said Tuesday. "But we hope this settlement can bring some form of closure and healing to the abuse survivors we were privileged to represent."
Court weighs clash on online publication of voting records — Morgan Lee, Associated Press
A conservative-backed foundation that aims to post online registration records for voters across the country urged a federal judge Tuesday to override objections by New Mexico election regulators who say the initiative violates state law and would discourage people from registering to vote out of privacy concerns. The VoteRef.com website does not list details of how people voted regarding candidates or initiatives.
The Voter Reference Foundation has posted voter rolls from at least 20 states that can be searched by names or addresses to verify where people live and view whether they voted in various past elections.
A companion website highlights the difference between the number of ballots cast according to certified election results and the number of people listed as having voted on registration rolls at various points in time as local registrations are added and purged.
Eddie Greim, an attorney for Voter Reference Foundation, urged a federal judge to intervene and ensure voter rolls can be published online to provide direct accountability and allow people to vet the accuracy of most registration records submitted by others.
"The entire purpose of this is for voters to take control of their own records and become responsible," Greim said during a hearing Tuesday at U.S. District Court in Albuquerque. New Mexico voters already can look up their own registration online by providing a date of birth.
New Mexico election regulators say the unprecedented efforts flouts state statutes that limit the acquisition and sharing of voter registration rolls to governmental activities and political campaigns.
Democratic Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver in December referred the group's effort for possible prosecution to the state attorney general. No charges have been filed.
On Tuesday, an attorney representing the secretary of state's office warned that many residents will be reluctant or unwilling to register to vote if they know that required personal information is distributed openly.
"People will simply not register if they think we will sell their data or make it available to the world," said Olga Serafimova, an attorney for the state attorney general and secretary of state. "The system will unravel."
She said election regulators in several states see flaws in the foundation's methodology for highlighting "discrepancies" between voting tallies on Election Day and registration records that are updated continually.
Tuesday's hearing included testimony from Voter Reference Foundation Executive Director Gina Swoboda, a former official with the Arizona secretary of state's office, and the state elections director for New Mexico.
Federal District Court Judge James Browning peppered attorneys with questions and said the hearing would be extended to another day to allow more testimony. He took no other immediate action.
Voter Reference Foundation, created by former Republican Senate candidate Doug Truax of Illinois, removed New Mexico registration records from its website in March and filed a lawsuit arguing that the state's restrictions on voter registration data violate free speech guarantees of the U.S. Constitution.
New Mexico fires prompt forest closures; governor seeks aid — Susan Montoya Brown, Associated Press
New Mexico's governor said Tuesday that given the ferocity and swift movements of a record-setting wildfire burning in the northeastern part of the state, the damage will be significant with estimates of burned homes and other structures likely to range between 1,000 and 1,500.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham stressed that was only a rough estimate but likely not an exaggeration, saying it's clear to state and federal officials that there are many victims who have lost their homes and have had their businesses affected.
"And their families are suffering," the governor said during a news conference with Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell and top state officials. "And that's my takeaway, the number of families that we have to help."
The fire has charred more than 468 square miles (1212 square kilometers) over the last 42 days to earn the distinction of being the largest fire in the arid state's recorded history. It's also the largest fire currently burning in the U.S.
Evacuation orders remain in place for some villages. Crews have been working on multiple fronts around the fire's massive perimeter to herd the flames around homes by building more dozer lines, clearing brush, raking pine needles and setting up sprinkler systems.
A fraction of an inch of precipitation fell over parts of the fire Monday, but a meteorologist assigned to the blaze said those places along the perimeter that needed it most missed out on the moisture.
Fire managers said during a briefing Tuesday evening that they were concerned about potentially erratic winds that could result from thunderstorms that will cross the area.
Lujan Grisham warned that many residents, depending on whether they live, should be ready for potential evacuations all summer given the likelihood for higher fire danger due to strong winds, warmer temperatures brought on by climate change and forecasts for little to no precipitation.
Officials with three of New Mexico's five national forests announced that closure orders will take effect Thursday, prohibiting public access because of active wildfires and extreme fire danger. All of the Santa Fe National Forest will be off limits along with the Cibola National Forest that borders Albuquerque and the Carson National Forest in far northern New Mexico.
Another fire burning in the Gila National Forest in southern New Mexico had grown more than 57 square miles (148 square kilometers) in one day, causing concern among state officials. Forest roads and trails in the area were closed.
Near the community of Los Alamos, crews made progress on keeping another fire within its containment lines. That blaze was behaving differently given that it was moving through the burn scar of a 2011 wildfire.
Federal officials acknowledged during Tuesday's briefing that recovery for northern New Mexico will be a long process and that the initial aid provided through emergency programs was not meant to make people whole but rather provide reimbursements for lodging, medical expenses and emergency home repairs. More than 2,000 people already have registered with FEMA.
Lujan Grisham recognized the emotions that many people are feeling after losing homes and property that have been in their families for generations — and in some cases for centuries. She said the goal of state and federal officials is to save all lives and as many properties as possible.
"We have lives to put back together," she said, adding that she was hopeful Congress would approve pending legislation that would allow additional damages to be paid to New Mexico residents and business owners.
Officials with the U.S. Forest Service announced Tuesday that a special team will begin assessing the cooler areas of the fire to determine what needs to be done to protect against post-fire events like erosion and flooding.
The team will use ground and aerial surveys, satellite imagery and computer models to evaluate conditions and recommend emergency treatments.
Similar work is underway in southern New Mexico and in northern Arizona where early-season wildfires burned homes in forested communities.
Nationwide, more than 2,140 square miles (5,542 square kilometers) have burned so far this year — the most at this point since 2018, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
Man convicted in fatal shooting of a Santa Fe star athlete —Associated Press
A man has been convicted of first-degree murder in the shooting of a Santa Fe High School basketball star nearly two years ago.
A jury on Tuesday returned the verdict against Estevan Montoya in the August 2020 shooting of Fedonta "JB" White.
Prosecutors said Montoya was 16 at the time of the incident and the 18-year-old White was shot at a house party in Chupadero in front of numerous witnesses.
According to the Santa Fe New Mexican, Montoya took the stand in his own defense Monday and said he shot White in self-defense after a two argued.
Prosecutors said Montoya went to the party armed and lured White into a fistfight before shooting him point blank and running away.
Jurors also convicted Montoya of counts of tampering with evidence, unlawful carrying of a handgun and negligent use of a deadly weapon, based on allegations he disposed of the murder weapon and the clothing he wore the night of the shooting.