US Forest Service sued over flooding deaths in the wake of New Mexico's largest recorded wildfire - Associated Press
Relatives of three people who died last year in a flash flood stemming from the largest wildfire in New Mexico's recorded history are suing the U.S. Forest Service.
The wrongful death lawsuit filed earlier this month alleges the Forest Service was negligent in the management of the prescribed burn and also failed to close roads and prevent access to areas at risk for flooding that followed the Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon Fire.
The three West Texas residents were staying at a family cabin in northern New Mexico in July 2022 when monsoon rains hit the burn scar near Tecolote Creek. That created a flash flood that swept the three victims to their deaths.
According to the Albuquerque Journal, the lawsuit also contends that the Forest Service failed to provide adequate warnings to the victims about the dangers caused by the wildfire and the dangers of potential flooding in the area.
Neither the Forest Service nor its parent agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has formally responded to the lawsuit so far.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture didn't provide a settlement offer or denial of claims initially filed in the case earlier this year, according to the lawsuit.
The blaze burned more than 533 square miles (1,380 square kilometers) in San Miguel, Mora and Taos counties. Authorities said an improperly extinguished pile burn operation rekindled and merged with another prescribed fire that went awry, destroying about 900 structures, including several hundred homes. No deaths were reported while the fire raged for months.
Congress set aside nearly $4 billion to compensate victims. FEMA has said its claims office has paid more than $101 million so far for losses, but many families have complained that the federal government is not acknowledging the extent of the damage or the emotional toll the fire has had on families whose ties to the land go back generations.
Abel Otero suspends Albuquerque City Council campaign - Albuquerque Journal, KUNM News
Abel Otero has been running for the District 6 seat in the Albuquerque City Council race on a platform of sharing lived experience with his constituents who’ve struggled with addiction and who have served time. After the Albuquerque Journal reported last week that there is no evidence Otero was ever incarcerated, the candidate is suspending his campaign.
Otero wrote in a statement published in the Journal on Monday that his explanation for the discrepancy between his memory and corrections records is related to his “trauma-filled history and dark skeletons within my family,” including being a survivor of childhood sexual abuse.
Despite the work he’s done on his mental health, Otero wrote that he was convinced of his “hazy understanding” of his past, including his history of incarceration of which there is no record.
He said he was “angry and upset” to find out the Journal was writing the article about the missing documents, saying he saw it as “a small issue” compared to those his campaign was focused on addressing in the city.
He said his campaign consultants quit after the Journal article came out and that he felt betrayed by them — but more so himself — and will no longer “actively campaign” for the city council seat.
He urged his District 6 supporters who have decided not to vote for him to instead vote for Nichole Rogers.
State Engineer will likely request $30M for Indian Water Rights Settlements Fund - New Mexico Political Report, KUNM News
The Office of the State Engineer is asking the legislature to pump $30M into the Indian Water Rights Settlement fund as four settlements await approval from the Federal government.
According to the New Mexico Political Report, the OSE will likely request the money during the upcoming legislative session to avoid budgetary “crunches” down the line because settlements do not become enforceable until approval.
If approved, the state could be looking at approximately $200 million in legal obligations.
Experts told the Indian Affairs Committee on Thursday last week that the cash will be a “significant down payment and a good first start.”
Included is the Rio Chama and Jemez River settlement with the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, and the Rio San Jose and Zuni Indian Tribe settlements.
When approved, the settlements will bring in billions of dollars in federal money to New Mexico for water infrastructure projects.
A dozen candidates in N.M. running on small donations and public funds - Austin Fisher, Source New Mexico
A dozen people running for local office in New Mexico are paying for their campaigns with small-dollar donations matched by public money.
In interviews with Source NM, nine publicly funded candidates say the system bridges the growing divide between politicians and most people they represent. They also said public financing allows for a more diverse array of candidates to run for office in the first place.
Santa Fe, the state’s capital, and Albuquerque, its largest city, opted into the New Mexico Local Election Act of 2018, allowing candidates in local elections to receive limited public funding to use in their campaigns. The candidates that go this route are not allowed to take in any private donations once they receive their public financing.
Privately funded candidates do not have the same spending limits.
They are the only two localities with public financing of election campaigns, according to a spokesperson for the New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office.
In Albuquerque, when a candidate wins, loses, or withdraws from the race, any unspent public funds must be returned to the city government. All candidates must make a final report of campaign contributions and spending by Nov. 13.
In Santa Fe, candidates must return unspent public funds by Dec. 22. All candidates must report campaign contributions and spending on Oct. 31, Nov. 6 and Dec. 7.
Early voting is already underway for local elections statewide. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 7.
SANTA FE
To qualify for public financing in Santa Fe, candidates must collect signatures and $5 donations from at least 150 people. If they meet the threshold during the time limit, they are given $15,000 initially.
If they can get more contributions, the city government matches them up to a maximum of $22,500 in public funding.
The filing deadline for publicly funded candidates in this election was July 24, while the deadline for privately funded ones was Aug. 29. Several candidates told the Santa Fe Reporter they didn’t pursue public funding because it pays too little.
Two candidates with publicly financed campaigns are running for the District 1 seat on the Santa Fe City Council: Brian Gutierrez and Alma Castro.
Kathy Rivera and Geno Zamora are running privately funded campaigns for the seat.
Castro, a political newcomer and former labor organizer, said publicly financed campaigns allow more candidates from lower socioeconomic classes to run for office.
“Having unlimited amounts of money in political races ultimately leads to political corruption, and having to be beholden to your donors,” Castro said.
Gutierrez ran for this same seat in 2021 and came in second place. He agreed with Castro’s comment about the influence of wealthy donors, and said having a publicly financed campaign means he does owe favors to wealthy donors.
He pointed to the city’s charter, which includes public campaign financing among measures to make elections more democratic, and “to eliminate financing inequities, conflicts of interest, and the potential for corruption.”
In Citizens United v. FEC, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal law that prohibited corporations from spending money to support or oppose candidates. Castro said the decision shows people with financial means will use them to influence politics.
“One thing that all candidates are saying — across the board — is that we need a strong middle class,” Castro said. “Yet, not everyone in my race is publicly financed. They have received donations from developers, realtors, and other folks who have skin in the game.”
Castro said the housing crisis in Santa Fe is part of a shrinking or missing middle class in the city. Some candidates have received money from developers and realtors, Castro said.
District 2 incumbent City Council Michael Garcia initially ran for the seat with a publicly funded campaign, and is doing so again in his reelection bid. He said it insulates him from the influence of special interests.
His challenger, Phil Lucero, is running a privately financed campaign.
“It provides that fair and equitable process,” Garcia said. “I wanted to do everything to ensure that I was keeping special interests out and make sure the priority was that I was focusing on the District 2 residents.”
Louis Carlos is running a publicly financed campaign for the District 3 seat on the Santa Fe City Council. He could not be reached for a phone interview before press time. Pilar Faulkner is running a privately funded campaign for the seat.
Both candidates for the District 4 seat on the Santa Fe City Council, incumbent Jamie Cassutt and challenger Joel Nava, are running privately funded campaigns.
ALBUQUERQUE
In Albuquerque, to qualify for public financing, candidates must collect signatures and $5 donations from 1% of registered voters in their district. They must also collect at least 500 signatures to appear on the ballot.
The amount of public funds a given candidate receives also depends on the population living in their district. At minimum, the city government hands out $40,000.
Loretta Naranjo Lopez and Joaquin Baca are each running publicly funded campaigns for the District 2 seat on the Albuquerque City Council. Moises Gonzalez is running a privately funded campaign for the seat.
Naranjo Lopez said public campaign financing could reduce the political influence of developers, and encouraged her campaign to go door-to-door and ask voters for their support.
“It’s an opportunity to engage more with the community,” she said. “Public financing allows people like me to run for office, people who don’t have the finances to run.”
Baca could not be reached for comment before press time.
District 4 incumbent City Councilor Brook Bassan is running a publicly funded campaign to keep her seat. Challenger Abby Foster is running a privately funded campaign.
Bassan said $40,000 “should be more than enough money to run a campaign for Albuquerque City Council.”
“I believe it creates a fair opportunity and level playing field for candidates,” she said.
Political newcomers Abel Otero, Kristin Greene and Nichole Rogers are each running publicly funded campaigns for the District 6 seat on the Albuquerque City Council. Jeff Hoehn is running a privately funded campaign. Joseph Pitluck Aguirre also ran.
Otero, a small business owner, said he’s not tied to political elites, and that a grassroots community runs his campaign.
“Show me another politician that has face tattoos, gauged earrings and painted nails,” Otero said.
Rogers said she and her friends aren’t independently wealthy and so it would have been harder for her to privately finance her campaign. She is Black and Hispanic and previously worked as a community liaison for Albuquerque mayor Tim Keller.
“There’s never been someone like me on City Council, especially a Black woman,” Rogers said. “It’s long overdue.”
Greene, an Elder Homestead Neighborhood Association board member whose legal name will appear on the ballot but who goes by Raven Del Rio, said her publicly funded campaign means it is transparent.
“Voters have a right to transparency, to know who’s backing a candidate, and how that candidate chooses to spend taxpayer money,” Greene said.
Idalia Lechuga-Tena and Daniel Champine are each running publicly funded campaigns for the District 8 seat on the Albuquerque City Council. There are no privately funded candidates for the seat.
Lechuga-Tena, a former state representative who immigrated from Mexico, said the beauty of running a publicly financed campaign is it eliminates the need to fundraise and allows more time for campaigning on the ground.
The challenge of qualifying for public funding weeds out the less serious candidates, she said.
“You’re not indebted to special interest groups, so if anyone has the opportunity to do public financing, they should,” she said. “It is challenging but it’s worth it. You want to be accountable to the people.”
Champine did not respond to two emails seeking comment for this story.
Do manmade noise and light harm songbirds in New Mexico's oil fields? These researchers want to know - Associated Press
A California research team is conducting a five-year ecological study of six songbird species in northwestern New Mexico oil fields to see how sensory intrusions affect the birds' survival, reproduction and general health.
The Santa Fe New Mexican says the study by avian researchers from California Polytechnic State University will zero in on the specific impacts of noise and light pollution.
As the human population swells and generates more light and sound, researchers are curious about how those multiplying stressors might compound the challenges of climate change in New Mexico's San Juan Basin, the newspaper reported.
Clint Francis, an ecology professor at California Polytechnic, said early studies that examined whether excessive noise and light decreased bird populations were done in more urban settings, where the birds were threatened by prowling cats, toxic chemicals and speeding cars.
The next step is to isolate either noise or light in a rural area to see how one or the other affects the songbirds, Francis said.
He did such research in this same northwestern New Mexico region in 2005. This time the aim is to observe how the two together affect the birds in a locale where the conditions can be clearly measured in tandem.
"We try to hold everything constant, but vary noise and light pollution to try to understand whether there is, perhaps, surprising cumulative effects when you have both of those stimuli together," Francis told the New Mexican.
The research will focus on six types of songbirds: ash-throated flycatchers, gray flycatchers, mountain bluebirds, Western bluebirds, chipping sparrows and house finches.
Francis hopes the study will uncover information that can help people adjust their noise and light to coexist better with birds.
The study is being funded by a grant of almost $900,000 from the National Science Foundation.
Visitors tour New Mexico atomic site in likely record attendance fueled by 'Oppenheimer' fanfare - Associated Press
Visitors lined up Saturday to tour the southern New Mexico site where the world's first atomic bomb was detonated in what officials believe could be a record turnout amid ongoing fanfare surrounding Christopher Nolan's blockbuster film, " Oppenheimer."
Thousands of visitors are expected at the Trinity Site, a designated National Historic Landmark that's usually closed to the public because of its proximity to the impact zone for missiles fired at White Sands Missile Range. But twice a year, in April and October, the site opens to spectators. No attendance numbers were immediately available at midnight Saturday. In a social media post, the missile range said vehicles were lined up for more than 2 miles at the site before the tours started Saturday.
White Sands officials warned online that the wait to enter the gates could be as long as two hours. No more than 5,000 visitors are expected to make it within the window between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Visitors also are being warned to come prepared as Trinity Site is in a remote area with limited Wi-Fi and no cell service or restrooms.
"Oppenheimer," the retelling of the work of J. Robert Oppenheimer and the top-secret Manhattan Project during World War II, was a summer box office smash. Scientists and military officials established a secret city in Los Alamos during the 1940s and tested their work at the Trinity Site some 200 miles (322 kilometers) away.
Part of the film's success was due to the "Barbenheimer" phenomenon in which filmgoers made a double feature outing of the "Barbie" movie and "Oppenheimer."
While the lore surrounding the atomic bomb has become pop culture fodder, it was part of a painful reality for residents who lived downwind of Trinity Site. The Tularosa Basin Downwinders plan to protest outside the gates to remind visitors about a side of history they say the movie failed to acknowledge.
The group says the U.S. government never warned residents about the testing. Radioactive ash contaminated soil and water. Rates of infant mortality, cancer and other illnesses increased. There are younger generations dealing with health issues now, advocates say.
The Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium has worked with the Union of Concerned Scientists and others for years to bring attention to the Manhattan Project's impact. A new documentary by filmmaker Lois Lipman, "First We Bombed New Mexico," made its world premiere Friday at the Santa Fe International Film Festival.
The notoriety from "Oppenheimer" has been embraced in Los Alamos, more than 200 miles (321 kilometers) north of the Tularosa Basin. About 200 locals, many of them Los Alamos National Laboratory employees, were extras in the film, and the city hosted an Oppenheimer Festival in July.
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.
Man gets 13-year sentence for stabbings on Rail Runner train in Albuquerque - Associated Press
A man who stabbing and injuring two people and hurting a third on a commuter rail train in Albuquerque last year was sentenced Friday to over a decade in prison, KRQE-TV reported.
District Court Judge Clara Moran gave Luis Sanchez a prison sentence of 13 years as part of a plea agreement. Sanchez previously pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated battery and one count of being a felon in possession of a destructive device.
In March of 2022, Sanchez got into a confrontation with another male passenger of the Rail Runner while the commuter train was between stations, the company's officials said. Sanchez then stabbed that passenger as well as a security guard who tried to step in. He also slashed an elderly woman in the shoulder. He then fled down the tracks, but authorities arrested him.
New Mexico State Police have said they found a gun in a backpack he dropped.