New Mexico governor heads to Australia to talk with hydrogen businesses - Associated Press
New Mexico's governor is traveling to Australia to attend a hydrogen summit in hopes of meeting with manufacturing companies that might have an interest in expanding to New Mexico.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's trip comes after New Mexico and its partners missed out on a $7 billion federal program meant to kickstart development and production of hydrogen fuel across the United States.
New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah had formed a coalition last year and jointly applied for $1.25 billion in federal awards to help finance eight different hydrogen projects in the region, including four in New Mexico. The Biden administration instead selected projects based in California, Washington, Minnesota, Texas, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Illinois.
Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, has vowed to move ahead with her plans for building infrastructure that would support hydrogen for power generation and transportation, despite some opposition from environmental groups.
The governor said in a statement Friday that hydrogen-related investments in New Mexico would bring higher paying jobs and more economic stability.
The governor's husband, top Cabinet officials and business leaders will be part of Lujan Grisham's delegation for the Asia Pacific Hydrogen 2023 Summit.
US judge unseals plea agreement of key defendant in a federal terrorism and kidnapping case - By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
A U.S. district judge has unsealed a plea agreement for one of the key defendants in a terrorism and kidnapping case that stemmed from a cross-country search for a missing toddler that ended with a 2018 raid on a squalid compound in northern New Mexico.
The documents were made public Thursday, just days after a jury convicted four other family members in what prosecutors had called a "sick end-of-times scheme."
Authorities said it was under Jany Leveille's instruction that the family fled Georgia with the boy, ending up in a remote stretch of the high desert where they conducted firearms and tactical training to prepare for attacks against the government. It was all tied to a belief that the boy would be resurrected as Jesus Christ, and he would then explain which corrupt government and private institutions needed be eliminated.
Leveille, a Haitian national, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and being in possession of a firearm while unlawfully in the United States. She never appeared in court during the three-week trial, but prosecutors did present as evidence some of her writings about the family's plans.
Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, the boy's father and Leveille's partner, was convicted of three terrorism-related charges. Wahhaj's brother-in-law, Lucas Morton, also was convicted of terrorism charges, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, and kidnapping that resulted in the boy's death. Wahhaj's two sisters — Hujrah and Subhanah Wahhaj — were convicted only on the kidnapping charges.
In a case that took years to get to trial, jurors heard weeks of testimony from children who had lived with their parents at the compound, other family members, firearms experts, doctors and forensic technicians. The defendants, who are Muslim, argued that federal authorities targeted them because of their religion.
Authorities raided the family's compound in August 2018, finding 11 hungry children and dismal living conditions without running water. They also found 11 firearms and ammunition that were used at a makeshift shooting range on the property on the outskirts of Amalia near the Colorado state line.
The remains of Wahhaj's 3-year-old son, Abdul-Ghani Wahhaj, were found in an underground tunnel at the compound. Testimony during the trial indicated that the boy died just weeks after arriving in New Mexico and that his body was kept for months with Leveille promising the others that he would be resurrected.
An exact cause of death was never determined amid accusations that the boy, who had frequent seizures, had been deprived of crucial medication.
Under the terms of her plea agreement, Leveille faces up to 17 years in prison. The other defendants — who each face up to life in prison for their convictions — will remain in custody pending sentencing, which has not yet been scheduled.
N.M. has ‘long way to go on’ to give Yazzie/Martinez students a quality education - Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
Five years after a judge mandated public school education reform, New Mexico still has a long road ahead before it will come close to meeting its constitutional obligation.
At Taos Pueblo Wednesday, lawmakers on the interim Indian Affairs Committee heard from state education officials, attorneys and researchers on their views of what’s needed to provide an equal education to disabled, low-income, English learning and Native American students.
While the state’s outlook was rosier than four other presentations, there was agreement that many of the issues identified in the landmark case, Martinez-Yazzie vs. The State of New Mexico, remain.
Even as “once-in-history” money flows from the state’s coffers from oil and gas revenues, the state is still failing to meet the needs of Native American students, said Candice Castillo, a deputy secretary at New Mexico’s Public Education Department.
THE CASE
The case, often shortened to Yazzie-Martinez, was a watershed moment in education.
In 2018, a district court determined a lack of equal education violated the constitutional right of low-income, Native American, African American, Hispanic, Asian American, English language learners and students with disabilities.
In addition to failing to provide an adequate system of education, New Mexico District Court Judge Sarah Singleton also found the state failed to provide proper funding for programs and services for those students to learn.
The order required New Mexico to reform schools to ensure these students are college and career ready and fix the inequities they face in public education.
“Native children continue to suffer from deep educational disparities, language loss, and poor life outcomes,” Castillo said.
Attorneys representing the plaintiffs in Yazzie-Martinez said the state is failing to present a plan for making systemic changes, is not enforcing how districts spend money and is facing staffing shortages of its own.
“There’s a lot more work that the state has to do to comply with the order,” said Melissa Candelaria (San Felipe), the education director for the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty.
Regis Pecos (Cochiti), the chair of the Tribal Education Alliance – a think tank researching and advocating for reform for Pueblo and tribal students – said the current actions have been “piecemeal.”
He advocated for establishing a Tribal Education Trust Fund, which supporters view could sustain funding for any reform.
In the past legislative session, Rep. Derrick Lente (D-Sandia) agreed to pull the bill to create a fund of $50 million, telling New Mexico In Depth, he’d ask for a larger amount in the 2024 session.
Pecos also urged adoption of the Tribal Remedy Framework, which has support from 19 Pueblos, Apache Nations and the Navajo Nation.
The plan, created by tribal members and Native American education experts, would be an attempt to reverse the product of racist policies that placed Native children in boarding schools to eradicate Indigenous language and culture.
Pecos said the trust fund would treat tribally-run schools as local education education agencies, similar in structure to local school districts.
“Because unless we make that investment, we’re not going to affect the governance of public schools K-12. Because there’s so few of us represented on local school boards, to then hold them accountable,” he said.
NEW BLOOD AT PED
Since the order was handed down five years ago, five secretaries have run the state’s public education department. The agency currently has a 24% vacancy rate, according to the New Mexico Sunshine Portal.
Under secretary Arsenio Romero, appointed in May, is in the wave of new people that are coming into the agency’s top spots.
Two of the newly minted deputy secretaries presented to the committee, the first being Castillo, the other was KatieAnn Juanico (San Felipe) who oversees the Indian Education Program, Indigenous language and culture projects.
Castillo outlined the four key areas she expects the public education department to focus on: building the “educator ecosystem;” emphasizing student’s social, emotional and physical health; creating options for after high school and having more community support for programs.
More than 40,000 students in New Mexico public schools are Native American, just over 12% of all students statewide. However, only 3% public school teachers are Native American and there have been only small gains to hire more.
Juanico noted that 163 of the 728 Native American teachers received 520 certificates, which are issued by Pueblos and tribes to indicate fluency in their native languages but also culture and values.
State education officials completed 15 tribal visits, Juanico told the committee, with another seven scheduled through November.
Many of the Pueblo’s needs for education support from the state remain the same, Junaico said. She asked lawmakers to consider three recommendations for the 2024 session.
The first is multi-year funding, allowing for grants that can continue beyond two years.
In the second request, she asked for more funds to support the salaries of 163 teachers with their certificates in Indigenous languages and culture – which is being paid for with carryover funds.
Finally, she said there would be more requests for capital outlay funding on Native libraries, and other programs such as childhood centers.
ACTION IN YAZZIE-MARTINEZ NOT OFF THE TABLE
Candelaria said that after two years of discovery, including reviewing thousands of documents and deposing 17 of state public education leadership staff, the plaintiffs made three key findings.
First, she said, the state failed to adequately plan how to enact reforms, noting the public education department has still not released a comprehensive education plan, which was promised in September 2022.
She said the state is watching how increased funds are spent, and asked lawmakers to consider establishing a better mechanism for tracking dollars to programs and services for students.
“PED doesn’t exercise its authority over districts to ensure funding is spent on the students who generate it,” Candelaria said.
She said PED’s lack of capacity continues “to be a barrier,” noting that of the 17 staff who were deposed, all but one have left the agency.
Attorneys for the Yazzie-Martinez parties said they are weighing their options for enforcing the order, possibly bringing the case before the court again.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced in September that his office would resume control of the case.
“We are eager to see where this goes,” Candelaria said about Torrez resuming control. “We’ll see how we can move the case along and to get the state to full compliance with the court’s order.”
STILL LITTLE DATA UNDER QUESTIONS
New Mexico public education officials often had little additional data to offer under questions from Sen. Bill Soules (D-Las Cruces), the long-time chair of the Senate Education Committee.
Three of the questions he directed at the agency – asking about $2 million in spending on a specific training program, how many Native American members sit on school boards across the state, and how many Pueblos have education-specific programs – were all met with the same response:
“I don’t have the exact numbers for that,” Castillo and Juanico said to the different questions.
Soules also asked for clarifications on what “the goal line” looks like for equitable education.
Anja Rudiger with the Tribal Education Alliance replied that “closing the gap” between Native students and their peers on proficiency rates, graduation rates should be a goal.
Candelaria agreed, but cautioned that standardized tests were not culturally relevant or the best measure for multilingual and multicultural goals.
Soules said the data is clear that much of academic achievement is rooted in the community’s health, which are policies and programs outside of the public education department’s purview.
“We have huge amounts of new money,” Soules said. “We are a wealthy state that allows half of our people to live in poverty, and we let it happen. This is just reflective of that, that very central problem we’ve got in a state right now.
New Mexico county official could face a recall over Spanish conquistador statue controversy - Associated Press
A New Mexico County official is the subject of a recall petition following controversy over a Spanish conquistador statue.
The Santa Fe New Mexican said a county resident filed a complaint last week to begin the recall process, alleging Rio Arriba County Commission Chairman Alex Naranjo committed "malfeasance or misfeasance in office and/or violation of the oath of office."
The newspaper said Antonio DeVargas would have to gather just more than 1,200 signatures to force a recall vote in a special election.
Among the accusations Naranjo is facing is that he violated the state Open Meetings Act by unilaterally deciding to place the statue of Juan de Oñate at the Rio Arriba County Office Complex.
Chaos erupted and a single shot was fired at a Sept. 28 outdoor gathering in Española over canceled plans to install a bronze likeness of de Oñate, who is both revered and reviled for his role in establishing early settlements along the Upper Rio Grande starting in 1598. A New Mexico man is facing an attempted murder charge in the shooting and wounding of a Native American activist amid confrontations about the aborted plans.
Naranjo told the New Mexican he had not yet been served with the complaint and he "would never be in violation of the Open Meetings Act."
Process moves forward to determine proposed New Mexico Gas Company rate increase - Megan Gleason, Source New Mexico
As temperatures start dropping and New Mexicans start turning up their heat, they may have to think about more expensive gas prices at their homes and businesses in the coming years.
New Mexico Gas Company wants to bump rates for gas prices by 11.2%, increasing the average residential bill by $6.71, according to the utility.
The company filed its application to increase service prices in September. Its request is to start the new rates in October 2024.
Before that happens, the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission will hold a public hearing to make sure the new rates are fair and reasonable.
Commissioners ordered this last week on Oct. 11.
On Thursday, commissioners advanced the process and ordered that a hearing examiner be assigned to the rate increase case. Hearing examiner Elizabeth Hurst will hold the public hearing.
A few of the reasons behind the proposed higher rates are inflation, staff retention, employee recruitment and regulatory demands from state and federal agencies, according to the company’s application.
The gas company’s application says the utility also wants to invest about $278 million in infrastructure and technology upgrades. The company also wants $48.97 million more to cover future costs.
No agencies or organizations have formally intervened in this rate case yet, according to the PRC e-docket. Intervening gives parties a chance to voice any concerns they have about the proposed price hike during the public hearing.
The interveners in New Mexico Gas Company’s last price increase request in 2022 included the New Mexico Office of the Attorney General, the Coalition for Clean Affordable Energy, New Energy Economy and Western Resource Advocates.
It’s not clear yet when the upcoming hearing will take place.
