New Mexico wildlife commission left without enough members - By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
A key state commission that guides New Mexico's wildlife agency and oversees a multimillion-dollar budget that includes conservation, hunting and fishing programs won't be able to conduct any business until the governor fills at least one of four outstanding vacancies.
Game Commission Chair Deanna Archuleta submitted her resignation Monday, leaving the seven-member panel short of a quorum. Her announcement that she needed to devote more time to her job with a Washington, D.C.-based lobbying firm came less than two weeks after taking over as chair.
It marks the latest shakeup for the commission during Lujan Grisham's tenure. The previous chairwoman resigned in October, and two previous commissioners were ousted after running afoul of the governor over a stream access fight that was ultimately settled by the New Mexico Supreme Court.
The governor's office confirmed Thursday that it was in the process of making appointments and the commission would have a quorum before a scheduled meeting in April.
Sportsmen's groups and other critics have raised concerns about systemic problems not being addressed while the commission has been shorthanded over most of the past four years. They pointed to turnover among the Game and Fish Department's conservation officers, a lack of maintenance at the state's fish hatcheries and pleas going unanswered to reform the draw process for elk hunting tags.
A report released last fall by the New Mexico Wildlife Federation suggested the state's system of allocating elk licenses was skewed in favor of landowners who often resell the tags to the highest bidder. The sportsmen's group pointed to data from the Game and Fish Department that showed nonresidents obtained over 35% of the total elk licenses issued in 2021.
Other western states, including neighboring Arizona, limit nonresident hunters to a maximum of 10% of licenses.
The group has argued that many of the licenses granted through the landowner program allow hunters to hunt on public lands where they compete with resident hunters who drew tags in the public draw.
Jesse Deubel, executive director of the federation, is among those who have called for changes. He said in a statement that the state needs to insulate wildlife management decisions from politics.
"We've seen game commissioners removed for standing up for the public and we're all suffering as a result. It's time for a change," he said.
Archuleta said she was not aware of the governor's office engaging directly on commission issues.
The commission's seven members are appointed by the governor with the consent of the state Senate. Five of the members represent regions of the state and two serve at large.
Legislation under consideration now would change the way commissioners are appointed by giving the Legislative Council authority to appoint four of the seven members. The measure also would take away the governor's ability to dismiss a commissioner, allowing the state Supreme Court to take action in cases of incompetence or malfeasance.
White House taps Indiana, New Mexico governors for federal-state council on national security - Ariana Figueroa, States Newsroom
President Joe Biden announced Thursday the appointment of Govs. Eric J. Holcomb, an Indiana Republican, and Michelle Lujan Grisham, a New Mexico Democrat, to a special bipartisan board that strengthens the federal and state partnership on matters pertaining to national security.
The Council of Governors consists of 10 members selected by the president to serve a two-year term, with no more than five members from the same political party.
The goal is to “increase coordination around preparedness, resilience, and response between the Federal government and state governments, and strengthen the Federal-State partnership that’s critical to protecting our nation from threats to our homeland security,” according to a White House fact sheet.
The White House said in a statement that this year the council will focus on “supply chain resiliency and Federal-State cooperation to mitigate risks to defense critical infrastructure.”
There have been major supply chain issues due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war that have contributed to inflation and disruptions in the flow of goods.
The White House said that Holcomb and Lujan Grisham will replace former Govs. Kate Brown of Oregon, a Democrat, and Bill Lee of Tennessee, a Republican, both of whom have finished their terms.
The Council of Governors was authorized in 2008 by the National Defense Authorization Act, a must-pass defense measure, and established in 2010 by an executive order during the Obama administration.
The council focuses on homeland security; homeland defense; civil support; state and federal military activities in the United States; and matters involving the National Guard.
“Federal-State cooperation is critical to protecting communities given the evolving challenges and threats facing our country, which range from extreme weather to domestic and international terrorism to a global pandemic,” the White House said.
The other governors sitting on the council include:
- Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, Co-Chair
- Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Co-Chair
- Delaware Gov. John Carney
- Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards
- Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
- Utah Gov. Spencer Cox
- Vermont Gov. Phil Scott
- Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon
FEMA makes first deposit for Las Vegas water supply restoration - Megan Gleason & Shaun Griswold, Source New Mexico
Mayor Louie Trujillo knows he has at least a five-year push in front of him to rebuild water treatment facilities in Las Vegas, N.M., that were contaminated by debris from the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire. And while he’d like things to move at a faster pace, he did get a drop in the bucket on Monday to help.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency deposited $2.6 million with the city to help cover the cost of engineering reports necessary to move forward with building a new facility in the northern New Mexico community that was forced to restrict water use after the wildfire because of the damage.
“I’m very impatient when it comes to this because I want it done like tomorrow,” he said. “Unfortunately, it’s my understanding that the pre-engineering reports take six months to a year, and then that design starts.”
While Trujillo and the rest of residents impacted by the fire wait for billions in relief from the federal government, New Mexico lawmakers also advanced a measure that will provide $100 million to help with infrastructure repair much sooner.
The state Senate unanimously passed the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire Recovery Funds measure on Wednesday. It still has to survive House-side before it arrives at the governor’s desk for signature.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in her State of the State that this legislation a priority, and if she signs the bill, $100 million would immediately be set aside from the state’s General Fund to become zero-interest loans for local communities like Las Vegas until April 2024.
Only local government entities approved for federal public assistance recovery funding are eligible for the state dollars.
Counties can use the state loans on infrastructure repair work. Then, once they get their federal funding, they have a month to pay their loans back to the state.
Lawmakers are pushing this bill quickly through the Legislature because federal funding has been slow to arrive in northern New Mexico.
“We definitely have urgent need within the area that was adversely affected by the fires,” Sen. Pete Campos (D-Las Vegas) told the Senate.
However, it’s not clear yet how quickly the state would get the loans out to the local counties because there is no language in the legislation about how quickly the state will distribute money.
Sen. Michael Padilla (D-Albuquerque) said during discussion of the measure Wednesday that he supports the bill and believes it will lay the groundwork for how to deal with other disasters in the future. Many other senators added that other wildfires, like the Black Fire in southern New Mexico, still need to be addressed, as well.
“This is a move in the right direction,” Padilla said.
FEDERAL DOLLARS ARRIVE IN LAS VEGAS, NM
Campos said the state’s bill could help meet immediate needs, like replacing water filtration systems, specifically mentioning Las Vegas.
After the fire, flooding ash and debris filled up the Gallinas River, the city’s main water supply, officials have been trying to repair or work around destroyed water infrastructure.
Other federal money is coming through to help Las Vegas’ water issues. As part of the congressional spending package that President Joe Biden approved in late December, $140 million is headed to the city for use on water projects specifically.
Trujillo said that Monday’s deposit was the first toward new water treatment facility. To his understanding, he said the engineering reports that will be paid for by this money will make the city eligible to receive more federal dollars. He said he will have a meeting with FEMA representatives later this week to discuss next steps. .
“I’m delighted that things are finally starting to move in a positive direction,” he said.
While this project will take years to get off the ground, Trujillo said previous emergency funding from New Mexico came in swiftly so he’s excited for the money New Mexico is planning to spend on recovery.
He said the state stepped in to cover the costs for a temporary filtration system at Storrie Lake and set up a similar reimbursement agreement.
“So that money is going to be readily available to us in the event that we need it,” Trujillo said. “What we needed, we needed then. We couldn’t wait. And if we would have gone through the federal government for something like that, we’d probably still be crossing our fingers.”
Before state senators sent the bill to their colleagues on the House side, Campos echoed Trujillo’s point that people most affected by the fire need help now.
“There are so many of these aspects of just trying to get people to some level, if you will, of normalcy. Our lives are not going to go back to what they used to be,” Campos said. “We’re willing to go ahead and work through this, but the patience is running out.”
Slain cinematographer's Ukrainian relatives sue Alec Baldwin - By Morgan Lee Associated Press
The Ukraine-based relatives of a slain cinematographer are seeking damages in her death from actor Alec Baldwin in connection with a fatal shooting on the set of a Western movie, under a civil lawsuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles.
The new lawsuit against Baldwin was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on behalf of Hutchins' parents and younger sister, who works as a nurse in Ukraine on the outskirts of the capital city of Kyiv and is married to a Ukrainian combatant in the war with Russia.
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died shortly after being wounded during a rehearsal the movie "Rust" in October 2021 at a film-set ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe. Baldwin was pointing a pistol at Hutchins when it discharged, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.
It alleges negligence and the depravation of benefits, based on the emotional or financial support that Hutchins previously provided to younger sister Svetlana Zemko and parents Olga Solovey and Anatolii Androsovych. The lawsuit also names as defendants a long list of "Rust" crew members, an ammunition supplier, producers of the film and affiliated businesses.
Separately, Baldwin and weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed are confronting felony criminal charges of involuntary manslaughter in New Mexico District Court, with a remote first appearance scheduled later this month in which pleas may be entered. Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed have vowed to dispute the charges, while an assistant director has agreed to plead guilty to lesser charges.
Santa Monica, California-based attorney Gloria Allred described Zemko as a working emergency-room nurse who is raising an infant and 4-year-old child while her husband fights on behalf of Ukraine in the war with Russia.
At a news conference, Allred said that Zemko "had a very close and loving relationship with her big sister, Halyna, and she feels strongly that anyone who is responsible for her loss must be held accountable."
Attorneys for Baldwin could not be reached immediately for comment.
Matthew Hutchins, widower to Halyna Hutchins, reached an undisclosed settlement with Baldwin and other producers of Rust late last year. Part of the settlement calls for Matthew to be a producer on "Rust" as it potentially resumes filming.
Baldwin has sought to clear his name by suing people involved in handling and supplying the loaded gun. Baldwin, also a co-producer on "Rust," said he was told the gun was safe.
In his lawsuit, Baldwin said that while working on camera angles with Hutchins, he pointed the gun in her direction and pulled back and released the hammer of the weapon, which discharged.
The new lawsuit against Baldwin, though filed in California, relies on provisions of New Mexico state law regarding the depravation of benefits, also known as "loss of consortium."
Legislators in New Mexico have proposed 7 new gun laws - Associated Press
Legislators in New Mexico have proposed seven gun laws in a wide-ranging package of proposals.
Members of a House committee want to establish a two-week waiting period for firearm purchases plus prohibit the sale and possession of certain semiautomatic rifles and handguns in the state.
The proposed ban would go into effect in March 2024 with some exemptions for people who already have the prohibited firearms.
Meanwhile, a proposal to ban AR-15-style rifles in New Mexico began moving Tuesday through the Legislature.
Also advancing in the legislative session were proposals to ban firearms at polling places, raise the minimum age for gun purchases to 21 and prohibit the sale of hollow-point bullets.
The proposals passed the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee and head next to the House Judiciary Committee, potentially their final step before reaching the full chamber.
House approval would send the bills to the state Senate.
Lawmakers have until March 18 to grant final passage that would send a bill to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
Democratic legislators are pursuing aggressive new gun-control measures intended to address mass shootings and other crime.
But Republican lawmakers and other opponents said the restrictions would interfere with the rights of law-abiding citizens and do nothing to deter crime.
New Mexico's firearm fatality rate is among the nation's highest with 562 state residents dying in 2021 due to gun-related injuries, according to state Department of Health data.
Black Fire legislation introduced that would send disaster funds to southern NM - By Megan Gleason, Source New Mexico
Dealing with massive wildfire damage many can’t afford to repair, Black Fire victims in southern New Mexico could finally see some recovery money if a new legislative proposal gets passed.
Sens. Crystal Diamond (R-Elephant Butte) and Siah Correa Hemphill (D-Silver City) introduced a Black Fire Recovery bill on Friday, Jan. 3, that would set aside $3 million from the state’s General Fund immediately. Locals could apply for the money, which would cover repair work until late 2025. Anything leftover would go back to the state.
In the several months since the 2022 fire and flooding, public officials, acequia stewards and private landowners have been struggling to get funding to repair costly damage. Diamond said this bill could pull down financial assistance for all of those people.
Correa Hemphill said both local counties and acequias associations would be able to request money. Some of those dollars could even be returned to the fund down the line. Grant, Sierra and Hidalgo Counties are eligible for state reimbursements on recovery work, but it’s been difficult for them to afford all the up-front costs.
There’s a workaround for the state’s anti-donation clause — a hangup for private landowners — baked into the proposal. Local soil and water conservation districts could also use the funding for repairs on private land, Diamond said. That would bypass the clause, which Correa Hemphill said is still making it difficult to get New Mexico dollars directly to people in crisis situations, despite the constitutional amendment that voters approved in November.
The two lawmakers that represent many of the affected southern districts didn’t originally plan to introduce Black Fire-specific legislation. Correa Hemphill said they’re both fairly new senators dealing with unprecedented crises in their districts, and the state has money now to fund this with a $3.6 billion surplus budget
“This is a great opportunity for us to really be able to make a meaningful difference,” she said. “It’ll have a generational impact in New Mexico.”
Diamond said after she learned that the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire bill would only cover that disaster, she realized they needed a stand-alone measure to get communities’ resources. She said counties have already identified damaged areas and necessary repair projects, like fixing roads, fences, water systems and other infrastructure.
“All of our counties have expressed that they’re ready to go as soon as the money is available,” Diamond said.
How quickly that money gets out depends on how fast the bill moves through the Legislature and then how soon the state goes through applications, though the bill doesn’t yet directly lay out that process.
Former Hummingbird Music Camp director linked to three rapes - Albuquerque Journal, KUNM News
The former director of Hummingbird Music Camp in Jemez Springs has been linked to three decades-old rape cases in other states through DNA testing.
The Albuquerque Journal reports investigators with the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office linked Elliott Higgins, who died in 2014, to two rapes in Alabama using his relatives’ genetic tests.
Capt. Jack Kennedy says those rapes occurred in 1991 and 2001 while the International Horn Competition that Higgins founded was being held at the University of Alabama, which he attended.
DNA testing also identified Higgins as the rapist in a 2004 cold case in Colorado Springs, according to Kennedy.
The New Mexico youth camp director has not yet been linked with any other sexual assaults in the other communities that hosted the horn competition or at Hummingbird Music Camp.
In the 1991 case, an Alabama news outlet reports a 19-year-old university student was held at knife point before being sexually assaulted. In the 2004 Colorado case, Kennedy says the rapist, now believed to be Higgins, wielded a handgun.
Walmart closing southeast Albuquerque store – Albuquerque Journal, Santa Fe New Mexican, KUNM
A Walmart Supercenter store that serves as the main shopping source for a large part of southeast Albuquerque is closing.
The Albuquerque Journalreports company officials said the store at 301 San Mateo Blvd. SE will close on March 10 after a review showed it was not performing as well as they would like.
Spokeswoman Lauren Willis told the Journal the 287 employees who work at the location are eligible for transfers to nearby Walmart stores. The Journal reports the chain has 53 Walmart and Sam’s Club locations around New Mexico.
When asked if crime was a factor in the closure, Willis told the Journal the Albuquerque Police Department had been a great partner combating crime issues.
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon toldCNBC in December that the chain was seeing a big uptick in theft and that could lead to higher prices and store closures.
The Santa Fe New Mexicanreports at least two bills in the current legislative session seek to impose tougher penalties for organized retail crime and repeat shoplifters.
A recent multi-agency sting operation in Albuquerque resulted in 16 arrests against shoplifters.
Supreme Court might have easy outs on elections, immigration - By Mark Sherman And Jessica Gresko Associated Press
The Supreme Court soon could find itself with easy ways out of two high-profile cases involving immigration and elections, if indeed the justices are looking to avoid potentially messy, divisive decisions.
Off-ramps in those cases could prove attractive in a term with no shortage of big cases that could divide the court's six conservatives and three liberals. Affirmative action, voting rights, gay rights and student loan forgiveness also are on the agenda for a court that is less than a year removed from overturning nearly 50 years of constitutional protections for abortion and seeing a significant dip in public confidence.
The Biden administration provided one possible way out for the court this week. A legal fight over turning away immigrants at the border because of the coronavirus pandemic, under a provision of federal law known as Title 42, is about to become irrelevant, the administration said in a court filing Tuesday.
That's because the administration recently announced that the public health emergency that justified the quick expulsion of immigrants will expire on May 11.
"Absent other relevant developments, the end of the public health emergency will (among other consequences) terminate the Title 42 orders and moot this case," wrote the administration's top Supreme Court lawyer, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar.
The use of Title 42 began during Donald Trump's presidency and continued after Joe Biden took office. It has been used millions of times to quickly turn away migrants at the border.
Title 42 is at the root of a Supreme Court case that the justices in December put on a fast track, with arguments set for March 1. At issue isn't the use of Title 42 itself but the question of whether a group of Republican states can insert themselves into a lawsuit over the policy. The states support keeping it in place. If it ends, they say illegal immigration will increase and they argue their interests aren't represented in the case.
The court could still rule before May 11, though that would be faster than usual. It's also possible the policy's end date will be pushed back beyond that date. But if the public health emergency ends as planned and the justices do nothing until then, the case could end without a decision.
When the court agreed to take the case in December, the justices were split. Five justices wanted to wade in and four justices — the court's three liberals and conservative Neil Gorsuch — said they would not have gotten involved in the first place.
The other case the court could dodge involves a closely watched elections issue and comes out of North Carolina. Last week the state's top court ordered a new look at the case.
Republicans in North Carolina have asked the justices for a ruling that could leave state legislatures virtually unchecked in making rules for congressional and presidential elections. Such an outcome would for the first time validate what is known as the "independent state legislature" theory, which would dramatically enhance the power of state lawmakers over elections for president and Congress at the expense of state courts.
The justices heard arguments in December in an appeal from Republicans who argued that the state Supreme Court, then with a Democratic majority, improperly tossed the state's Republican-drawn congressional districts as excessively partisan and adopted a new map that produced a 7-7 split in November's elections.
Now a new Republican majority on the North Carolina high court has set new arguments for March. It's unclear how long it might to take to reach a decision.
The justices have been at work on a decision in the North Carolina case for more than two months, but the final word in this and other consequential cases often doesn't come until late June.
So the court could wait to see what the North Carolina court does before reaching its own conclusions.
Vikram Amar, a professor at the University of Illinois College of Law, said the court can always find a way out "if it wants to dodge the case," including if the justices are finding trouble reaching consensus.
But Amar, who filed a brief opposing the Republicans in the case, said it's important for the court to weigh in.
"The fact that they took the case in the first place tells us they think it needs resolution. Better to resolve this between election cycles," Amar said.