NM Attorney General sues shuttered solar company - Albuquerque Journal, KUNM News
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez has sued a solar energy company alleging it collected large deposits from residential customers but failed to install their systems before shutting down.
The Albuquerque Journal reports the AG filed suit against the New Mexico Solar Group for consumer fraud in First Judicial District Court.
The company, based in Albuquerque, shut down on Aug. 11 — but not before some customers had paid thousands in partial or full payments for solar systems.
The lawsuit alleges the company was aware its finances were rocky and that it would likely shutter, but continued taking deposits.
The Journal reports that it’s aware of at least 10 customers who paid the company without getting their system installed. All say they have been unable to contact the company since its closure.
Torrez’s office is attempting to identify all affected New Mexico consumers.
APS hires driving service for students with no other option - Albuquerque Journal, KUNM News
Albuquerque Public Schools students with no way to get to school now have more options.
The Albuquerque Journal reports the APS school board Wednesday unanimously approved a contract with transportation company First Student.
The company deploys drivers in passenger vehicles to pick up students who won’t get to school otherwise. The district estimates it has around 30 students in that situation, including unhoused and foster youth.
Before a student is eligible for the service, APS says it will first exhaust any other options, like its school bus system.
Executive Director of Student, Family and Community Supports Kristine Meurer says the district too often loses students who bounce from school to school. She says the service can help provide stability by allowing students to stay at their school of origin.
The four-year contract will cost the district $1.2 million, which it says it will pay for using federal funding.
Water conservation model built on the Rio Grande may be a template for rest of US - Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
A program built on the Rio Grande to preserve groundwater could become a national model.
Last month, Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) alongside Sen. Michael Bennett (D-Colo.) and Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) introduced a federal program to mirror local efforts in the San Luis Valley in southern Colorado to reduce the strain on aquifers and the river.
Nonprofit land trusts in the San Luis Valley banded together in 2022 to pay farmers to keep water in aquifers, through programs that maintain wetlands and tie water rights to lands. These voluntary legal agreements help landowners preserve natural characteristics on private lands. It is often used to preserve wetlands habitats for birds, fish and other wildlife.
These deals often limit some types of future development on the land. Any restrictions on the property carry forward, even if the land is sold.
Landowners are compensated if they are selling the property rights, and they also receive tax incentives for entering easements.
Colorado Open Lands and other trusts went astep further in 2022, by paying farms to limit water usage by leaving some water in the ground, instead of pumping it for growing food.
Sally Weir, a conservation manager, who worked with Colorado Open Lands described the unique deals.
“The idea is that landowners are compensated for the value of the water that they’re not using, and essentially leaving in the aquifer for sustainability,” Weir said in a 2022 interview with Source NM.
Keeping aquifers filled prevents the rivers from drying and lowers the draw on non-renewable resources.
“It’s all connected, the rivers and the aquifers,” Weir said.
Heinrich plans to wrap the measure into the Farm Bill – the massive legislation rewritten every five years which determines how billions of dollars are spent in agriculture, food aid, forestry, and other programs.
In an interview with Source NM Heinrich said areas across the U.S. are facing dropping aquifers, and dwindling rivers.
“There are a lot of places with similar challenges where it would be a benefit,” he said.
He nodded at efforts to make a groundwater bank in eastern New Mexico, on the precipitously dropping Ogallala Aquifer.
“[We’re] setting that up so that communities have that as one more tool in the toolkit, especially given the increasing scarcity that we’re seeing with freshwater,” Heinrich said.
Heinrich chairs the Senate Appropriations Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, which oversees funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
If the measure is included in a new Farm Bill, it would establish a new program through the USDA to encourage voluntary reductions in groundwater pumping by compensating less pumping on agricultural lands. A USDA program would pay farmers based on the market value for water rights, instead of (usually lower) per-acre lump sum, under the proposal.
In addition, the bill allows farming on the land, and choices for reducing water use, as long as farmers meet the committed amount of water they agreed to conserve.
New Mexico sees unprecedented revenue boom bringing $3.5B in new money –Albuquerque Journal, KUNM News
State officials Wednesday announced the highest general fund revenue forecast in New Mexico history.
The Albuquerque Journal reports an ongoing boom in oil and gas production, combined with strong consumer spending, is behind the windfall. Recurring revenues for the budget year that starts next July are estimated at around $13 billion. That’s 3.5% more than projected for this current fiscal year.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham told lawmakers there will be almost $3.5 billion more money in the next budget. It’s a far cry from seven years ago when lawmakers relied heavily on reserve accounts just to pay the bills.
Secretary of Taxation and Revenue Stephanie Schardin Clarke said the state is building a bridge from “peak oil” to income that grows through investments such as permanent funds.
Oil production in New Mexico has surpassed North Dakota, making the state second only to Texas. But the chief economist for the Legislative Finance Committee told lawmakers these surpluses will not be around forever. Oil production is expected to peak in 2031.
The revenue forecast is used by the committee and the governor’s office to develop their budget recommendations, which are usually released in January ahead of the legislative session.
Veteran Services secretary latest to depart Lujan Grisham administration - By Nash Jones, KUNM News
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Wednesday that she is losing another member of her cabinet. Department of Veterans’ Services Secretary Donnie Quintana is the next in a long list of departures throughout the governor’s second term.
Sec. Quintana will officially step-down next Friday.
In a statement, the governor expressed her appreciation for the secretary’s work, but “also his decision to step aside to allow for new leadership to accelerate the work of the agency.”
Quintana was confirmed to lead the department earlier this year.
Lujan Grisham said the next Secretary of Veterans’ Services “must deliver on that mission.”
Brig. Gen. Jamison Herrera of the New Mexico National Guard will serve as acting secretary as the executive office takes on a “broad search.”
So far this year, the Lujan Grisham administration has seen the departure of at least eight other cabinet members. Those include from posts atop the Public Education Department, Human Services Department, General Services Department, Finance and Administration Department, Indian Affairs Department, Information and Technology Department, Economic Development Department and Aging and Long-term Services Department.
Jeffrey Epstein's New Mexico ranch is sold for an undisclosed price to a newly registered company - Associated Press
Known as the Zorro Ranch, a high-desert property once owned by disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein has been sold after two years on the market.
An attorney for Epstein's estate, Daniel Weiner, confirmed Tuesday that the ranch had been sold for an undisclosed price, and the proceeds would be used to administer the estate and pay creditors. The property was listed in 2021 for $27.5 million. That price was later dropped to $18 million.
Weiner told Albuquerque television station KRQE that the estate would disclose the sales price in its next quarterly accounting that will be filed with the probate court in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Records kept by the Santa Fe County assessor list the new owner as San Rafael Ranch LLC, which registered with the secretary of state's office in late July, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.
Epstein was found dead in August 2019 in his Manhattan jail cell, where he was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Federal watchdogs have said negligence, misconduct and job failures had enabled him to take his own life.
In New Mexico, Epstein built a 26,700-square-foot mansion with a sprawling courtyard and a living room roughly the size of the average American home. Nearby was a private airstrip with a hangar and helipad. The property also included a ranch office, a firehouse and a seven-bay heated garage.
Epstein purchased the Zorro Ranch in 1993 from former Democratic Gov. Bruce King.
While Epstein never faced charges in New Mexico, the state attorney general's office in 2019 confirmed that it was investigating and had interviewed possible victims who visited the ranch south of Santa Fe.
Fake Arizona rehab centers scam Native Americans far from home, officials warn during investigations - By Anita Snow Associated Press
Hundreds of Native Americans have been recruited to addiction treatment centers in Phoenix from states including New Mexico and as far away as Montana. It’s a widespread billing scheme that’s mostly targeting Medicaid's American Indian Health Program.
The fee-for-service program allows for direct payment of services rendered to tribal members. Fraud exploded after rules were relaxed during the pandemic.
Arizona's Medicaid program has now suspended payment to more than 300 providers pending investigations. TheFBI and the U.S. Attorney General’s Office have joined Arizona prosecutors in the probe.
New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez announced a campaign called “Don’t be taken for a Ride,” warning people not to accept transportation from strangers to go to Arizona rehab centers.
The Navajo Nation has declared a public health emergency and launched a program called Operation Rainbow Bridge to help members get into legitimate programs or back to the reservation.
Judge clears the way for a civil case to proceed against Alec Baldwin and 'Rust' producers - By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
A New Mexico judge on Wednesday rejected a request by Alec Baldwin 's attorneys to dismiss a civil lawsuit by three "Rust" crew members who allege cost-cutting endangered the cast and crew as the actor-producer skipped his own safety training.
Chief District Judge Bryan Biedscheid also declined to delay proceedings despite arguments by Baldwin's legal team that doing to so would put their client at risk of self-incrimination since prosecutors have yet to decide whether to refile criminal charges against him over the fatal on-set shooting of a cinematographer.
Attorney Robert Schwartz told the judge there would be nothing to prevent prosecutors from using evidence gleaned from discovery in the civil case against Baldwin in the criminal case, if charges are refiled. As an example, he pointed to any interpretation of Baldwin's production contract and what authority he had over decision making.
Schwartz said the court is putting Baldwin in an "unfortunate position."
"No protective order can protect him against that. It just can't happen," Schwartz said. "So what's going to happen is Mr. Baldwin is going to assert his 5th Amendment rights and the plaintiffs are not going to get any discovery in the meantime."
The judge disagreed, saying he would be mindful of Baldwin's rights.
Prosecutors have been mum about when a decision will be announced, but in asking for the civil case to be delayed, Schwartz indicated Wednesday that it could some within the next few weeks.
Baldwin, a coproducer of the film, was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal on the film's set outside Santa Fe when the gun went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza.
The 2021 shooting resulted in a series of civil lawsuits centered on accusations that the defendants were lax with safety standards. The cases have including wrongful death claims filed by members of Hutchins' family. Baldwin and other defendants have disputed accusations they were lax with safety standards.
The plaintiffs in the case heard Wednesday say Baldwin and the other producers cut corners, ignored reports of multiple unscripted firearm discharges and rushed to finish the film while being understaffed. They also say they suffered mental anguish and emotional distress by witnessing the shooting.
Baldwin's attorneys argue that none of the plaintiffs were physically injured and should not be allowed to recover any damages. They contend that gun safety was the responsibility of others — not Baldwin — and that his authority as a producer was limited to making suggestions on the script and casting.
A separate settlement to resolve allegations of workplace safety violations was finalized in March by New Mexico workplace safety regulators and Rust Movie Productions. Following its review, the state issued a scathing narrative of safety failures in violation of standard industry protocols, including testimony that production managers took limited or no action to address two misfires on set before the fatal shooting.
Regulators also documented gun-safety complaints from crew members that went unheeded and said weapons specialists were not allowed to make decisions about additional safety training.
Deadly heat wave in the central US strains infrastructure, transportation and the Texas power grid - By Acacia Coronado and Juan Lozano Associated Press
Deadly heat that has gripped Texas for much of the summer has spread into other parts of the central U.S. this week where it is forecast to stay for days, with triple-digit temperatures buckling roads, straining water systems and threatening the power grid of the nation's energy capitol.
With heat warnings and advisories stretching from New Orleans to Minneapolis, the unyielding weather is stressing the systems put in place to keep resources moving and people safe. Just this week, a 1-year-old left in a hot van in Nebraska died, and Louisiana reported 25 heat-related deaths this summer — more than twice the average number in recent years.
The heat is expected to become "dangerous to the average person" if they don't have air conditioning, said Alex Lamers, a warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center.
It has felt hotter than 110 degrees (43.3 C) in cities in Texas and Louisiana more often than at any time since World War II, Lamers said. The brunt of the enduring heat has hit states from Florida to New Mexico, he said.
Texas' grid — which failed during a deadly winter storm in 2021 — has so far held up with no outages in the face of unrelenting heat.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which oversees the grid, asked residents twice last week to conserve energy because of high demand and low reserves. The agency issued a weather watch that's in place through Aug. 27.
But there are risks the longer this drags on, said Alison Silverstein, a Texas-based independent energy analyst and former adviser to the state's energy regulator. She compared it to a car overheating as the system tries to keep up with weeks of record-breaking demand.
"At least your car on a long trip has a chance to rest overnight and cool off," she said. "A lot of these plants have been running nonstop, or pretty close to it, since June."
Experts have warned that infrastructure can be damaged under the extreme strain of enduring and recurring heat waves brought on by climate change. Union Pacific has imposed more speed restrictions this summer across its network of more than 32,000 miles (51,499 kilometers) of Western track as a "precaution to reduce the impact on the rail when it gets hot," spokeswoman Kristen South said Tuesday.
Costs in the U.S. for road maintenance and replacement due to rising temperatures could reach $26.3 billion by 2040, with most of the damage expected to hit Texas, California and Illinois, according to a 2017 study by University of Arizona and Arizona State University researchers.
The heat has already caused an unusual number of Texas water line breaks and roadway issues.
Texas officials are monitoring the heat, roadways and tips from residents to address issues as quickly as possible, said transportation department spokesman Danny Perez. Houston officials learned of likely heat-related damage to a road Sunday after about 10 other similar reports in June, he said.
And though water pipes burst last winter when a deep freeze set in across much of the Deep South, cites are being reminded that heat poses similar problems.
Houston's high temperatures and a lack of rain have caused the ground to shift and damage the city's aging pipes. Residents' top service request is for water leaks, according to city data. Reports of water leaks from the past month were up 25% from the same period last year.
Demand and leaks are both increasing, and the city is using emergency purchase orders to add contractors for repairs, said Erin Jones, Houston Public Works spokeswoman.
San Antonio Water Systems has already tallied more breaks this month than in all of July, said the agency Wednesday. Customers need to cut back on outdoor watering, the agency said.
Cooling systems are also under strain. Missouri firefighters helped remove 117 patients from a Kansas City nursing facility Tuesday after the air conditioning failed in temperatures that felt as high as 115 degrees (46.1 C). Most Parkview Healthcare nursing facility residents were taken to other facilities, but seven who had COVID-19 were taken to hospitals, authorities said.
Students across the U.S. are learning in roasting classrooms or having their days cut short, including over a dozen in Denver on Wednesday. Chicago-area schools delayed classes or ending them early. Milwaukee Public Schools, Wisconsin's largest, closed campuses through Thursday.
An estimated 36,000 schools across the U.S. need to update or install HVAC systems, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office report in 2020.