Candidates for NM governor trade barbs in second televised debate - By Shaun Griswold, Source New Mexico
Matters of policy fell by the wayside as personal attacks led during the final televised debate between the two major party candidates vying to be governor in New Mexico.
To summarize their postures as they enter the final leg of campaign season: each is not who the other says they are.
Despite the lengthy back and forth questioning one another’s credibility, the candidates did discuss some plans and policy on topics such as abortion and education.
Republican Mark Ronchetti, a former meteorologist, attempted to position himself as a political outsider, saying his inexperience in government is actually a good thing. He argued that the Democratic incumbent Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is responsible for failures in education and crime but only citing her time in government, not specific decisions, as the root of her mistakes.
It was a strategy that ultimately paved the road for Lujan Grisham to point out Ronchetti’s inexperience as a weakness. “These are all desperate efforts to hide the fact that he has no plan. He has no experience. He’s a TV personality,” she said.
That tone rang through most of the debate going forward.
The debate was hosted by KOAT-TV, The Albuquerque Journal and News Radio KKOB.
Moderator and Journal reporter Dan Boyd pressed Ronchetti for his positions on reproductive rights, asking the GOP candidate for details on how he’d embark on instituting his proposal to ban abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
“There’s only one person in this race who has experience on this issue. It’s the governor. I never called for a ban on abortion because the governor of the state of New Mexico cannot ban abortion. And the governor knows this, but she says it anyway,” Rochetti said.
He reiterated his position that he would want to see the state Legislature pass along a possible constitutional amendment to voters, asking their stance on his 15-week abortion ban. However, Ronchetti is facing a Roundhouse controlled by Democrats who support reproductive rights and didn’t convey how he’d build consensus to make this proposal happen.
Lujan Grisham affirmed her support for reproductive rights but did not express any ideas for how she’d like the Legislature to strengthen the preservation of those rights in New Mexico statute. While New Mexico has no restrictions on abortion services, today there is no state law that explicitly protects the practice.
On education policy, Lujan Grisham brought up the Yazzie-Martinez case, in which a judge ordered the state to boost educational access for students who are Indigenous, learning English as a second language, have disabilities or come from families with low incomes. She said her administration has hired more teachers, and created pay raises and incentives to recruit more educators in school districts with the highest need for reform.
“Yazzie-Martinez was a clear indication that we failed to provide the investments into public education that we were required to,” she said. “We now have the highest-paid educators in the region. We’ve invested billions of dollars in the classroom for small class sizes. We’ve reduced the teacher vacancies to about 34%.”
Ronchetti didn’t address the parameters of Yazzie-Martinez or how the case would impact his education priorities. He did fall in line with Lujan Grisham’s idea about investing more money into schools for teachers and reducing classroom sizes.
“We’ll provide stipends for extra tutoring. Yes, we’re gonna get into the classroom, spend more money, and there’s no doubt there will be no education cuts,” he said.
The candidates briefly disagreed on social studies requirements that are changing in public schools. Ronchetti incorrectly asserted that the new policies “are designed to divide kids by race or gender in any way possible.”
New social studies standards do include curriculum about race and gender, much of which is designed around the Yazzie-Martinez requirement to adapt culturally relevant curriculum. This translates to class assignments that meet the students’ diverse needs and backgrounds.
Lujan Grisham noted that the social studies curriculum updates were necessary after more than 10 years without any changes. “We’re being directed by the courts,” she said.
The conversation about the Yazzie-Martinez lawsuit was the only topic specifically concerning Native Americans in New Mexico that showed up in the debate. Neither candidate was asked or shared their views on government-to-government relationships, language access, land conservation and other topics concerning Indigenous voters. While topics about the economy, crime and substance use, early childhood education and unhoused populations do intersect with Indigenous people’s concerns there was nothing specifically addressed to Native people who are more than 10% of New Mexico.
It’s unclear if the candidates will have any time together to discuss their ideas ahead of the Nov. 8 general election. Early voting started Oct. 11, so many people might already have their minds made up. A recent poll released by KOB-TV shows Lujan Grisham with a commanding 16-point lead over Ronchetti.
Tomorrow, a candidate forum at the Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. is scheduled by the All Pueblo Council of Governors. Confirmed attendees include candidates for Congress, attorney general, land commissioner, secretary of state and treasurer.
Not confirmed to attend: either candidate for governor.
New Mexico Licensing Department subject of cyber attack - Associated Press
The New Mexico agency that oversees professional licenses for thousands of businesses across the state has been the target of a cyber attack.
Officials said Thursday there is evidence of unauthorized access of the Regulation and Licensing Department and that some organizations and individuals had their records compromised.
They did not say how many people had their data accessed or if only certain areas of the department were targeted. Renee Narvaiz, spokeswoman for the Department of Information Technology, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Their cybersecurity office is still investigating. The office says it is also working with experts to ensure protection is in place for staff and customers of the Regulation and Licensing Department.
Those whose personal information was accessed will received data breach assistance and credit monitoring.
State officials say they are confident that it is an isolated incident.
Anyone who believes their data was compromised can call a hotline set up by the department: 1-833-550-4100.
The Regulation and Licensing Department regulates more than 500,000 individuals and businesses in 35 industries, professions and trades.
Idaho resumes radioactive waste shipments to New Mexico - Keith Ridler Associated Press
Shipments of nuclear waste from the U.S. Department of Energy's site in eastern Idaho to a nuclear waste repository in New Mexico have resumed following three episodes that caused New Mexico officials to suspend them.
An Energy Department official told Idaho officials Tuesday that the New Mexico Environment Department last week gave the OK for shipments from the 890-square-mile (2,300-square-kilometer) site that includes the Idaho National Laboratory to resume to the department's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad.
The New Mexico agency suspended the shipments Sept. 14 following problems with three shipments. Officials said a drum leaking liquid in April caused a partial evacuation at the plant, but no contamination was reported. That was followed in July by another drum with a corrosion-like substance that escaped from the bottom, and in August by a shipment that appeared to have droplets on top.
Connie Flohr, manager of the Idaho Cleanup Project for the Energy Department's Office of Environmental Management, told Idaho officials during a Leadership in Nuclear Energy Commission meeting that additional steps are being taken to make sure the shipments don't leak or rupture.
"We've got to make sure that what we're sending down there is safe," she said. "Obviously, it doesn't do any good for any of us to send shipments down that have to be turned back. It's embarrassing for us, it's costly, it wastes time, and it doesn't help Carlsbad maintain their capacity of emplacement."
The commission makes recommendations to the governor regarding policies to support the viability and mission of the Idaho National Laboratory and other nuclear industries in the state. Commission members, appointed by the governor, include state lawmakers, local government elected officials, university officials and others.
The lab, one of 17 Energy Department national labs, is the nation's top advanced nuclear energy research lab and is one of the state's largest employers, with about 5,000 workers. It's a huge economic driver in the state, especially in eastern Idaho, bringing in millions of federal research dollars.
But the lab has a legacy of nuclear waste that the Energy Department is cleaning up. That includes about 40,000 barrels of transuranic waste composed of work clothing, rags, machine parts and tools contaminated with plutonium and other radioactive elements. Some barrels contain Cold War weapons waste generated at the former Rocky Flats Plant in Colorado that produced nuclear weapons.
The waste was exhumed, compressed and put into barrels for shipment. Some barrels weigh 700 to 1,100 pounds. But some of the barrels have been sitting for more than five years in a facility without heat or air conditioning. Flohr said that aging appeared to cause problems with the integrity of some of the barrels.
Ty Blackford, of the Idaho Environmental Coalition — the Energy Department contractor that manages cleanup operations at the Idaho National Laboratory site — said the protective cases used to ship the barrels worked to protect people and the environment from contamination. Workers are examining one of the failed barrels, he said.
"The drum looked good when it left (Idaho)," he said during the meeting. "But somewhere between here and there, bouncing down the road for 1,100 miles, something went wrong. So, we need to understand that in detail."
The Energy Department is required to remove the waste from Idaho following a 1995 agreement that was the culmination of a series of federal lawsuits. That agreement is viewed as preventing the Energy Department from converting the eastern Idaho site in high-desert sagebrush steppe to a high-level nuclear waste repository. The site sits above the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer, which supplies water to cities and farms in the region.
Flohr said the Energy Department could finish shipping the transuranic waste out of Idaho by late 2026 or early 2027. Other types of nuclear waste, including radioactive liquid waste, are also stored at the site.
Ribera teen will be tried in classmate's death elsewhere - Associated Press
A judge has agreed to a change of venue for the trial of a Ribera teen accused of shooting a classmate to death at a New Year's Eve party.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that Judge Michael Aragon, who presided over a hearing on the matter Wednesday, sided with defense attorneys for the 17-year-old suspect.
He will be tried in Guadalupe County instead of San Miguel County for second-degree murder.
Authorities say the teen shot and killed 17-year-old Joshua Vigil after a fight broke out at the party on Dec. 31, 2021. Both boys attended West Las Vegas High School and were on the football team.
Defense attorney Alan Maestas argued it would be difficult to find impartial jurors since the case had drawn a great deal of publicity. He pointed to a "Justice for Joshua" Facebook page and a billboard on Interstate 25.
Prosecutors countered a change of venue was pointless in the face of social media.
Santa Fe Archdiocese files plan for $121M abuse settlement — Associated Press
In New Mexico, one of the oldest Roman Catholic dioceses in the U.S. has filed its bankruptcy reorganization plan to compensate nearly 400 clergy abuse survivors with more than $121 million.
A federal bankruptcy judge in the District of New Mexico will hear the Archdiocese of Santa Fe's plan in a hearing Wednesday, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
The long-anticipated agreement comes nearly four years after the Archdiocese of Santa Fe filed for bankruptcy reorganization to resolve mounting abuse claims that dated back decades.
Under the plan, six insurers will cover $46.5 million of the $121.5 million, according to the court filing, which the newspaper obtained. That leaves the archdiocese responsible for $75 million. The archdiocese has over $69 million in an escrow account, as well as a $5.4 million promissory note that must be paid off by March 31.
The Servants of the Paraclete, which ran a treatment center for Catholic priests with conditions including pedophilia for decades, and three religious orders will contribute $7.85 million.
"It is impossible to overstate the tragedy of the Abuse that was inflicted on the children and teenagers of the Archdiocese," the archdiocese wrote in the disclosure statement with the reorganization plan. "The Abuse was perpetrated by priests or others purporting to do the missionary work of the Roman Catholic Church. Instead of fulfilling their missions, those perpetrators inflicted harm and suffering."
At least two-thirds of the church abuse survivors who filed claims must approve the plan.
Brad Hall, an Albuquerque attorney, has represented more than 235 church abuse survivors in recent years. He says 145 of them filed claims in the bankruptcy case. Having a plan filed now will hopefully lead to survivors receiving allocations before the end of the year, Hall told the newspaper.
The filing "finally represents the possibility of some closure for long suffering people who were badly hurt as children. I see light at the end of the tunnel," he said.
Survivors allege those in power in New Mexico's Catholic Church looked the other way or concealed abuse. They also accused the archdiocese of simply moving abusive priests to new parishes rather than investigate them.
The settlement agreement also calls for the archdiocese to make documents about the abuse scandal publicly available. They will be given to the University of New Mexico Zimmerman Library. Victims' names and other identifying information would be redacted.
Meanwhile, there are numerous other claims or lawsuits in state court — including 80 against the Servants of the Paraclete. Their treatment center was created more than 50 years ago for priests from all over the country. Their facility in Jemez Springs is closed, but they are accused of perpetuating abuse by collaborating with the archdiocese to send supposedly rehabilitated priests to other Catholic churches.
Current Archbishop of Santa Fe John C. Wester is leading an archdiocese that has now promised a zero tolerance policy for abuse or hiding it. The archdiocese website has a list of roughly 80 credibly accused priests and clergy. It lists 29 of them as still alive. There is also a list of priests who have been credibly accused elsewhere but at one time worked in New Mexico.
NM water commission goes into closed session to talk ‘forever chemicals,’ despite transparency concerns — Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
A board tasked with renewing a water discharge permit for the Cannon Air Force Base went into closed session for its deliberations Tuesday amid concerns about how often the public gets looped in on the base’s release of so-called “forever chemicals” into surrounding areas.
The New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission voted 7-3 to discuss the matter beyond the public’s view during its meeting Tuesday afternoon. The board was supposed to vote on an amended permit for the base, but after hours of private deliberation, decided to delay.
Cannon officials are attempting to change the permit that allows the base to discharge waste into water sources. The base filed a petition in early 2021 to waive some state contaminant testing requirements, including for PFAS, arguing that Cannon follows federal regulations anyway.
Members of the public in Clovis, where the base sits, have criticized leadership there for not offering many opportunities to hear from base officials about the release of PFAs.
PFAs are per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals that don’t break down naturally and cause illness, including cancer. The chemical is often present in fire-fighting foams that are used on Air Force bases and can leak into groundwater.
A dairy farmer near Cannon had to euthanize several thousand cows after their drinking water was contaminated with PFAs.
At the meeting Tuesday, members of the commission cited a section of the Open Meetings Act that allows meetings to be held in executive session if they are “administrative adjudicatory proceedings.” Those are proceedings before a public body that are “brought by or against a person” to determine individual legal rights, duties and privileges after a trial-type hearing.
Commissioner Robert Sanchez, in explaining the decision to discuss the issue in private, acknowledged that there wasn’t a “trial-type hearing” before the closed session. But there were oral arguments, he said.
Another commissioner, Larrry Dominguez, said they sometimes vote to go into closed session for particularly controversial hearings.
“Some commissioners tend to lean toward the public transparency aspect for deliberations. Other commissioners have tended to lean towards the side that if this body has really sticky issues before it and want to have an open and frank discussion that typically, people are more willing to speak up in executive session,” he said.
But Commissioner Bruce Thomson said the issue merited being discussed openly.
“I think that we’re a deliberative body that answers to the public, and I would prefer that we keep our comments available to them,” he said.
A board representative did not respond to a request for comment.
About more than two hours into deliberations, the commission came back and voted unanimously to postpone a vote, allowing the New Mexico Water Quality Bureau to review new evidence and report back “promptly” to the board.
Lawmakers fail to amend sexual harassment policy — Albuquerque Journal, KUNM News
New Mexico legislators have failed to pass an update to the Roundhouse’s sexual harassment policy despite broad, bipartisan calls for a culture shift.
The Albuquerque Journal reports the proposal failed to advance after a tie vote Tuesday.
It would have amended how complaints of sexual misconduct are looked into, including adding a fifth member to the committee in charge of the investigations, allowing for a tie-breaking vote. Also, that new member would not be a lawmaker, but an outside legal party, and would serve as chair.
Seven Democrats voted in favor of the proposal. All six Republican members of the panel and Democratic Rep. Patricia Lundstrom of Gallup voted no, thereby defeating the changes.
Republican Craig Brandt told the Journal that he took issue with the idea of having someone who is not an elected lawmaker on a legislative committee. He also said he thought a committee evenly split along party lines would mean only allegations with bipartisan support would proceed, which he saw as a positive thing.
Meanwhile, those in favor of the proposal thought it would help keep complaints against lawmakers move along in the investigation process.
Democratic Rep. Daymon Ely told the Journal that the existing process is broken and should have been fixed.
Hopi curator to lead New Mexico's Native American art museum — Associated Press
An expert in the field of Indigenous art has been named as the executive director of New Mexico's Museum of Indian Arts & Culture.
Pollyanna "Polly" Nordstrand, who is Hopi, will take on her new role next month. She will oversee a team of curators, anthropologists and archaeologists who are responsible for the preservation and interpretation of objects and works of art that represent Native people from the American Southwest and northern Mexico.
"It is an exciting time to step into this leadership position as MIAC envisions its place as a 21st century museum with new exhibitions and expanded partnerships with tribal communities," she said in a statement.
Nordstrand was selected following a national search.
Nordstrand comes from Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas where she was that museum's first curator of Native American Art. She also served as curator of Southwest art at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center Museum at Colorado College and associate curator of Native art at the Denver Art Museum.
In New Mexico, Nordstrand will manage an anthropology library and archives as well as the Center for New Mexico Archaeology, which is the state's archaeological repository.
Nordstrand began working in the museum world around 1990 as the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act came into effect. She said her approach to museums has been shaped by the increasing collaboration between tribes and institutions and she has advocated for more equity and inclusion in museums.
She co-founded the American Alliance of Museums' Diversity Committee after leading the Native Americans and Museums Professional Interest Committee for years. She also maintains an ongoing relationship with the staff at the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office in Arizona to seek advice and advance their participation in museum projects.