US bankruptcy court approves $121M clergy abuse settlement — Associated Press
A federal bankruptcy judge on Thursday approved a $121 million reorganization plan for one of the oldest Roman Catholic dioceses in the U.S. as it tries to stem financial losses from clergy abuse claims that date back decades.
The Archdiocese of Santa Fe in New Mexico said U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David T. Thuma confirmed the agreement during a hearing in which he commended the parties for working through what had been an arduous process.
In a statement, Archbishop John C. Wester thanked the panel of abuse survivors who represented fellow survivors in their claims against the archdiocese. He described it as challenging work as the group continued to deal with the aftermath of their own abuse.
"While I hope and pray that the bankruptcy outcome will bring a measure of justice and relief to the victims of clergy sexual abuse, I realize that nothing can ever compensate them for the criminal and horrendous abuse they endured," Wester said.
He also pledged that the archdiocese will remain vigilant in upholding its zero tolerance policy by promptly responding to allegations and cooperating with local authorities.
The global priest abuse scandal has plunged dioceses around the world into bankruptcy and has cost the Roman Catholic Church an estimated $3 billion or more.
Aside from providing monetary payments to nearly 400 claimants, the terms of the settlement in New Mexico require the establishment of a public archive of documents showing how decades of abuse occurred around the state.
The result of nearly four years of legal wrangling, the reorganization plan effectively halted more than three dozens civil lawsuits in state court that alleged abuse of children by clergy and negligence by church hierarchy. Court records show the accusations dated from the 1940s to the 2010s.
The plan calls for the archdiocese, aided by contributions from parishes, to put up $75 million toward the total settlement fund, the Albuquerque Journal reported. Insurance companies agreed to pay $46.5 million.
In a side agreement, five religious orders that faced pending lawsuits will pay an additional $8.4 million to be shared by certain claimants. The orders include the Servants of the Paraclete, which ran a now-defunct treatment center for troubled priests and was accused of furnishing the archdiocese with priests and other clergy who preyed on children and teens.
Archdiocese attorney Thomas Walker said that of 376 survivor claimants who cast ballots on the plan, four voted to reject and three did not indicate acceptance or rejection. At least two-thirds of the abuse survivors who filed claims had to approve the plan.
Albuquerque attorney Brad Hall said his legal team has dealt with more than 250 clergy abuse survivors over the decade leading up to the bankruptcy filing in December 2018 and have talked with family members of others who had heart-wrenching stories.
"As for the actual survivors, it is our hope that some small compensation, however inadequate it might feel like to some of them, will help with a sense of closure and some accountability," Hall said.
The archdiocese sold numerous properties to come up with the final negotiated contribution, including the archbishop's house in Albuquerque. The archdiocese also took out a mortgage on the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Santa Fe.
Terence McKiernan, president of the nonprofit BishopAccountability.org, told the Journal that other dioceses in similar bankruptcy actions have had more survivor claimants and paid out less. He described settlement amounts during the mid-1990s as "terribly unfair."
McKiernan said a key part of the settlement plan is the disclosure of documents, with redactions, by the archdiocese that will help the public understand how the clergy sexual abuse crisis occurred in New Mexico.
The archdiocese has said the document disclosure to a special library archive at the University of New Mexico will be unprecedented.
"It is highly significant that documents are included in such a massive way to be made available to everyone who wants to read them. It's utterly remarkable," said McKiernan, "It's going to change our understanding (of the crisis) in a major way."
New Mexico seeks changes to US rules for wildfire claims — Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas is asking that changes be made to rules proposed by the U.S. government as it processes damage claims from a historic wildfire sparked by forest managers.
Balderas filed comments on the Hermit's Peak-Calf Canyon Fire assistance regulations this week, outlining concerns over limitations on damages, the lack of a clear appeals process and leadership of the team that will oversee the claims process.
Numerous missteps by the U.S. Forest Service resulted in prescribed fires erupting this spring into the largest wildfire in New Mexico's recorded history. The blaze forced the evacuation of thousands of residents from villages throughout the Sangre de Cristo mountain range as it burned through more than 530 square miles (1,373 square kilometers) of the Rocky Mountain foothills.
The fire forced the Forest Service to review its prescribed fire polices before resuming operations in the fall, and experts have said the environmental consequences will span generations.
Balderas, who is term limited and will be leaving office at the end of the year, is requesting the Federal Emergency Management Agency appoint an independent claims manager who has experience practicing law in New Mexico to oversee the review of claims.
Claims for damages will be assessed under state law, and a background in New Mexico law will be imperative to properly assessing and compensating residents, he said.
"We're taking action today to begin recovery from a tragic wildfire that never should have occurred, and we are fighting for the federal government to acknowledge the gaps in the FEMA process that have historically ignored the unique needs of communities," Balderas said in a statement issued Wednesday.
Many residents were either uninsured or underinsured and have complained that FEMA workers don't understand northern New Mexico. They have described the claims process as overwhelming.
A final public meeting to comment on the proposed FEMA regulations will be Jan. 5 in Mora.
Top state officials have said the regulations need to account for the uniqueness of the region — a mountainous rural expanse where culture and tradition are intertwined with the landscape.
The fire resulted in what the attorney general's office called significant tree and erosion losses. Balderas said New Mexico law has previously allowed for recovery of the full value of any trees destroyed on a person's property and this should be no exception.
Congress has approved nearly $4 billion in assistance for the wildfire victims, including $1.45 billion that was part of the massive spending bill passed last week.
U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, whose district includes the fire-ravaged region, said the latest funding marks another step in the right direction while acknowledging that recovery will be challenging.
"This additional funding is what justice looks like — the federal government is taking responsibility for the harm it caused and answering the stories, voices, and calls for help to rebuild," she said in a statement. "My promise has always been to pursue every possible opportunity to seek justice."
The latest federal measure also includes separate streams of funding for forest restoration and watershed protection work.
The New Mexico attorney general's office also has filed a notice of loss that seeks compensation for billions of dollars in damages suffered by local and state government agencies as a result of the wildfire.
New Mexico settles mine spill claims with contractors — Associated Press
New Mexico has reached a $5 million settlement with two contractors involved in a 2015 mine spill that polluted rivers in three Western states.
Thursday's announcement marks the end of all litigation involving the state of New Mexico related to the spill at the inactive Gold King Mine in Colorado. About 3 million gallons of wastewater were released, sending a bright-yellow plume of arsenic, lead and other heavy metals south to New Mexico, through the Navajo Nation and into Utah.
In all, New Mexico has won $48 million in settlements, including $32 million from the federal government and $11 million from mining company defendants.
"Today marks the conclusion of years of hard work to hold accountable those responsible for this spill, which was devastating to the communities and environment in northwest New Mexico," Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a statement. "As a result of our efforts, the state and the communities affected are receiving the resources and compensation they deserve."
Under the latest settlement, Environmental Restoration, LLC and Weston Solutions, Inc. will each make cash payments of $2.5 million to the state. Of that, $3 million will be allocated to the state attorney general's office to cover costs associated with the litigation, to address damage and to enhance law enforcement efforts to prevent and prosecute environmental contamination.
The remainder will go to the Office of the Natural Resources Trustee for natural resource damage claims arising from the spill.
Natural Resources Trustee Maggie Hart Stebbins said the office has been working with communities in northwestern New Mexico to identify and fund restoration projects as well as efforts that will benefit farming and outdoor recreation.
The office is evaluating 17 proposals that have been submitted for funding from the settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and expect to have a plan available for public comment by March 1.
On Aug. 5, 2015, contractors attempting cleanup work on behalf of the EPA triggered a release of millions of gallons of acid mine drainage and tons of toxic metals. The release forced communities along the river to close intakes for drinking water systems, prompted many farmers to stop irrigating crops and curtailed recreation.
Although state officials say the rivers are now safe for irrigation and other uses, the stigma associated with the event has had lasting effects on the region's economy.
TikTok video shows Albuquerque nail salon calling out theft — Associated Press
An Albuquerque nail salon has been getting praise from the internet since the posting of a TikTok video of a manager dealing with two customers who tried to get out of paying.
KRQE-TV reports the video shows Courtney Huynh, the manager of Nini's Nail Salon, clipping off the freshly done manicures of two young women before booting them out of the salon.
The video was posted Tuesday and has since been viewed over 7 million times. Most of the comments are complimentary of Huynh and how she handled the two women.
Huynh told the TV station that both walked in and asked for manicures and pedicures. One employee recognized them as matching the description of women who ran out on other area salons. But they continued with the services anyway.
When the two women tried to leave, a nail technician locked the door and Huynh confronted them.
The women offered to pay $90 for the $230 worth of services.
Huynh accepted the cash but plans to press charges.
2 pedestrians killed by SUV near downtown Las Vegas casinos — Associated Press
A man from Minnesota and a woman from New Mexico were struck and killed by an SUV while crossing a busy street against a "don't walk" signal at the downtown Fremont Street Experience casino mall, Las Vegas police said Thursday.
The driver, Mykael Terrell, 28, of Las Vegas, left the scene of the 7:40 p.m. Wednesday crash before she was stopped, arrested and jailed on suspicion of driving under the influence, reckless driving and leaving the scene of an accident, police said.
Terrell was scheduled for an initial appearance Thursday before a judge, according to court records. It was not immediately clear if she had an attorney who could speak on her behalf.
Police said a 44-year-old man from Monument, Minnesota, and a 51-year-old woman from Hobbs, New Mexico, were on Fremont Street crossing 4th Street when they were struck by a burgundy colored GMC Acacia.
The pedestrian crossing is a marked walkway beneath traffic signals on a three-lane, one-way street. It is often crowded with people making their way between casinos, stores, kiosks, entertainers, bars and restaurants beneath a four-block-long lighted video canopy and a zip-line attraction.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene and the woman was pronounced dead at a hospital, police said. Their names were not provided by police and the Clark County coroner's office did not immediately respond Thursday to messages from The Associated Press.
Cameraman hurt on New Mexico film set gets $66M in lawsuit - Santa Fe New Mexican, Associated Press
A Los Angeles cameraman who suffered a spinal cord injury while on a New Mexico movie set has been awarded more than $66 million in a lawsuit, among the largest settlements in the state's history, a news outlet reported.
The Santa Fe New Mexican quoted Jame Razo as saying that the jury's decision Friday was "a huge emotional relief."
"I can finally begin my healing journey," he said in a phone interview Tuesday, the newspaper reported.
The 55-year-old was a cameraman on the set of "Only the Brave," a film about elite firefighters starring Josh Brolin and Jeff Bridges, in June 2016. He was driving a mobile camera crane unit, which weighs over 3,000 pounds when fully loaded, up a steep road on Pajarito Mountain in the Pajarito Ski Area near Los Alamos, when the unit tipped over and fell on him, the newspaper reported.
Razo suffered crush injuries that left several areas of his body severely damaged. Since then, he has had over 1,000 medical appointments and nearly a dozen surgeries, according to the report.
In the suit, Razo says producers were negligent by denying him time to scout the terrain first or install tank treads on the vehicle.
It took a jury four hours to decide that Razo should receive $24.6 million in damages and his wife $6 million. In addition, production companies Black Label Media and No Exit Film are liable for $27 million and $9 million in punitive damages, respectively.
Attorneys for the California-based production companies did not respond to messages from the newspaper seeking comment.
Thriving network of fixers preys on migrants crossing Mexico - By Edgar H. Clemente And María Verza Associated Press
When migrants arrive to the main crossing point into southern Mexico — a steamy city with no job opportunities, a place packed with foreigners eager to keep moving north — they soon learn the only way to cut through the red tape and expedite what can be a monthslong process is to pay someone.
With soaring numbers of people entering Mexico, a sprawling network of lawyers, fixers and middlemen has exploded in the country. Opportunists are ready to provide documents to migrants who can afford to speed up the system — and who don't want to risk their lives packed in a truck for a dangerous border crossing.
In nearly two dozen interviews with The Associated Press, migrants, officials and those in the business described a network operating at the limit of legality, cooperating with — and sometimes bribing — bureaucrats in Mexico's immigration sector, where corruption is deeply ingrained, and at times working directly with smugglers.
The result is a booming business that often preys on a population of migrants who are largely poor and desperate.
Freedom from detention, permits, visas: All are available for a price via the network. Although the documents are legal and the cost can be several hundred dollars or more, migrants are at risk of arrest or return to entry points, thanks to inconsistent enforcement and corruption at checkpoints.
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This story is part of the Associated Press series "Migration Inc," which investigates individuals and companies that profit from the movement of people who flee violence and civil strife in their homelands.
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Crossing through Mexico has long been a risk. Free government channels that can mitigate danger are available, but the record number of migrant arrivals has wreaked havoc on the system.
In the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, U.S. authorities apprehended people crossing the southwest border 2.38 million times. That's up 37 percent from the year prior.
In response, the Mexican government loosened criteria for some temporary and transit permits, especially for migrants from countries where it would be difficult for Mexico to return them.
Now, it takes months just to get an appointment to begin the process. Amid waits and tension, it's tempting to pay fixers and lawyers.
In the south, migrants can choose from different packages — transit permits, temporary visas — promoted on social media and adapted to various scenarios and budgets. Farther north, options are scarce; paying specific operators may be the only way out of a detention center.
Migrants rarely report questionable practices. Most assume payments and time are part of the price of getting to the U.S. Authorities seldom take action, citing lack of evidence.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has declared the National Immigration Institute one of Mexico's most corrupt institutions. Yet in the past four years, only about one in every 1,000 internal investigations opened by the agency made it to the prosecutor's office, data show.
The National Immigration Institute didn't reply to requests for comment about efforts to combat corruption. Officials there refused to be interviewed. This month, the agency said it had followed up on every recommendation issued by the internal control office.
Lack of accountability has made it easy for fixers to operate and exchange payments and information with officials.
The Federal Institute of Public Defenders has denounced arrangements between immigration agents and private lawyers. In response, some of its officials have been harassed and intimidated, according to the agency.
For one Dominican man, getting papers took three days and $1,700 to get a permit to travel through Mexico, he told AP. He said a lawyer brought the government-issued transit document to a house where a smuggler took him after he crossed into Mexico.
While waiting for the lawyer, he said he suddenly feared he'd been kidnapped — nobody told him how long the documents would take. But once payment was transferred by a friend, papers arrived and he took a bus to Mexico City, he said.
The man insisted on anonymity to remain safe as he traveled.
He and others who cross the country use "safe-passage" permits — common language for some temporary documents issued by Mexico. Most allow exiting the country through any border.
Lawyers and brokers advertise prices for various papers largely via WhatsApp messages. In one seen by AP, options ranged from $250 paid in Mexican currency for a simple document allowing transit to $1,100 in U.S. money for more sophisticated humanitarian visas.
The broker guarantees real government-issued documents, not forgeries. He showed AP the message on condition of anonymity because of the illegal nature of some of the work and fears for his safety and livelihood.
Much of the money goes toward paying officials at the National Immigration Institute, according to the broker. A lawyer who independently spoke with AP confirmed details about bribes. He also spoke on condition of anonymity to protect his business and avoid legal issues.
The immigration agency didn't answer AP's requests for comment. In previous statements, it has said officials try to avoid bribery and corruption by installing surveillance cameras in offices and encouraging people to report problems.
The broker who spoke with AP said his contact at the National Immigration Institute is a senior official who always comes through with documents, except when transactions freeze temporarily — often when the agency is in the spotlight. The broker didn't identify his contact to AP.
Generally, when corruption is alleged, officials demand that employee's resignation or simply don't renew the contract, since most are temporary workers, according to a federal official who insisted upon anonymity because the official wasn't authorized to speak to AP.
Tonatiuh Guillen, who led the immigration agency at the beginning of López Obrador's term, told AP he requested the resignation of some 400 officials suspected of wrongdoing. After he left in 2019, some were rehired, he said.
Andrés Ramírez, chief of the Mexican Commission for Refugee Aid, the government's agency responsible for asylum seekers and refugees, said corrupt practices such as selling documents have been on the rise since last year. At that time, he said, his office was "on the verge of collapse" after receiving 130,000 asylum applications in 2021, four times that of 2018.
Last April, the sale of documents inside the COMAR office in Tapachula became the subject of an investigation when two complaints were filed. Four officials left; the investigation is ongoing.
Ramírez told AP anyone else implicated will be fired: "Zero tolerance."
Even when migrants buy travel documents or visas, they aren't guaranteed safe transit. Papers may be disregarded or destroyed by the very agency that issued them.
A 37-year-old Cuban man who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect himself and others who may be crossing Mexico described buying documents last year in Tapachula for $1,800, including transportation to the U.S. border.
A few days later, he was arrested, he said, as immigration agents boarded his bus and tore up safe-passage documents.
When he reached the detention center, he said, an official told him how things work: He could pay $1,500 to get out and be put on a bus to the border.
The man said he refused and went on hunger strike with others. Through the intervention of United Nations officials who visited, he contacted a public defender who helped get him released.
New Mexico State to begin search for next chancellor - Associated Press
New Mexico State University is searching for its next chancellor.
The Las Cruces campus announced in a news release Wednesday that the university's Board of Regents has approved the administration to start looking for a new leader.
Current Chancellor Dan Arvizu's five-year contract is set to expire in June.
In a memo, the regents said it's crucial the process of finding a new chancellor start as soon as possible.
They also paid tribute to Arvizu for helping NMSU achieve increased enrollment and spending on research and development.
Clovis man arrested after allegedly putting feces through mail slot — The Eastern New Mexico News, KUNM News
New Mexico State police have arrested a Clovis man for allegedly putting feces through a mail slot at State police headquarters.
The Eastern New Mexico news reports Christian Cook was confronted by police while he was walking away from the building shortly after the unwelcome delivery was made, but was allowed to leave without incident at the time.
Police allege Cook made 14 calls to police within an hour, in which they say he threatened and harassed dispatchers, challenging them to fist fights, and threatened to throw dog feces.
Cook is charged with several misdemeanors, but records do not indicate what initially spurred Cook’s alleged actions.
A Marine came home for the holidays. Now he’s in jail charged with rape — The Albuquerque Journal, KUNM News
A marine who came home to New Mexico for the holidays walked off the plane to find police and handcuffs waiting for him — along with charges of criminal sexual penetration of a child, among others.
The Albuquerque Journal reports the father of a 13-year-old girl reported to Albuquerque Police that Derek Stanley, 20 years old, had had sex with his daughter and had been communicating with her online, exchanging sexually explicit messages.
Detectives interviewed the girl, and gained access to her online conversations, during which she and Stanley allegedly discussed the illegality of their relationship, and she mentioned how she was too young mentally and physically for a sexual relationship — but Stanley said she was not too young physically, according to a criminal complaint.
Stanley then reached out to the girl again in November, and detectives worked with the attorney general’s office to reply to Stanley using a fake email address he thought belonged to the girl.
Stanley had gone to the same charter school as the victim and had acted as a mentor in a sport she played, though it’s unclear what sport that was.