NM Democratic Party adopts Gaza ceasefire policy - Austin Fisher, Source New Mexico
An overwhelming majority of the New Mexico Democratic Party’s membership this month voted in favor of a ceasefire in Israel’s war in Gaza, an end to the blockade on aid, a pause on U.S. military aid to Israel and the release of hostages on both sides.
After more than four months of back and forth between the party’s base and its leadership, and nine hours of debate on March 9, the statewide Pre-Primary Convention vote makes these policy positions part of the Democratic Party of New Mexico’s 2024 platform, and calls on the state’s congressional delegation and President Joe Biden’s administration to follow suit.
The State Central Committee, a group of about 500 grassroots party members elected by neighborhood precincts across New Mexico, are counted as delegates to the full Democratic Party convention, which passed the resolution with a 527-185 vote, or 74% in favor. Ninety-two delegates abstained.
“The majority of Democrats throughout the country support a ceasefire, but our political leaders are lagging behind,” Samia Assed said Monday at a news conference about the vote. “It’s past time for a political solution that leaders have ignored for too long. Over 13,000 Palestinian children have died, and 800,000 are starving. Enough is enough.”
Assed, a Palestinian-American, SCC member and head of the Southwest Coalition for Palestine, formally introduced the resolution to the state party in October. She and other SCC members said it took more than four months to get the ceasefire resolution to a SCC vote because of procedural delays.
“30,000 people have died in Gaza since we introduced the resolution,” Assed said.
The resolution is the Democratic Party of New Mexico’s final word for its 2024 election platform and there is no higher authority than the Pre-Primary Convention, SCC member Jane Yee said.
Yee is also chair of the Bernalillo County Democratic Party’s resolutions committee and helped write and carry the resolution through the state party’s policy platform process.
“What the United States government is standing for is settler colonialism,” Yee said. “There’s more in common with those of us in the grassroots of the Democratic Party — on the SCC and in the precincts and the wards — with the Native American people that also suffer from settler colonialism, than with the higher-ups, than with the governor or with the representatives.”
DPNM POLICY ON WAR IN GAZA
The resolution calls on the party’s members, specifically the state’s congressional delegation, to demand the Biden administration do four things:
1. Urgently call for and facilitate negotiations for a de-escalation and ceasefire.
2. Immediately send and facilitate the delivery of adequate humanitarian aid including fuel, water, food, medical supplies, and medical personnel into Gaza.
3. Pause all U.S. military aid to Israel and call upon all combatants’ allies to stop shipping weapons into the war zone.
4. Secure the release of Israeli civilians being held hostage, and Palestinian political prisoners being detained, and allow foreign nationals freedom of movement.
“Hundreds of thousands of lives are at imminent risk if a ceasefire is not achieved and if humanitarian aid is not delivered immediately,” the resolution states. “The federal government holds immense diplomatic power to save Israeli and Palestinian lives.”
State Central Committee members were joined Monday by faith leaders and state lawmakers from Albuquerque, including Rep. Patricia Roybal-Caballero and Sens. Linda Lopez and Harold Pope, to support the resolution.
“To dispel the Israeli government’s rhetoric: this is not a war, it is a genocidal attack aimed at another land theft and the annihilation of the Palestinian people,” Roybal-Caballero said.
As a lawmaker, tribal member and Indigenous woman, Roybal-Caballero said she knows too well how settler colonialism steals lands, erases culture, language and traditions. She called for federal lawmakers and international decision makers to impose sanctions on Israel.
“I have an obligation to call out this inhumane genocide, intentionally killing innocent families, women, children, men, and medical personnel, all while justifying this genocide by calling it a war,” she said
A spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández said she has “pushed for more than a ceasefire,” including accountability for Israeli settler violence in the West Bank and a two-state solution. Leger Fernández said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to allow aid into Gaza and indiscriminate bombing of civilians are “immoral and unconscionable.”
“I oppose a military incursion into Rafah and decry the starvation that is imminent due to Netanyahu’s action,” Leger Fernández said. “The United States must continue to push for a ceasefire, and the House Republican leadership must allow us to vote on legislation to provide more humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.”
Requests for comment on the state party’s resolution sent to the other four members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation were not returned by Monday evening.
New Mexico’s entire congressional delegation voted in favor of the spending bill Biden signed on Saturday which defunds UNRWA, the primary U.N. aid agency for Palestinians, for the next year during what the World Health Organization calls an “imminent famine.”
A WARNING FOR NOVEMBER
The ceasefire resolution also exposes a rift between the New Mexico Democratic party’s base and its leadership. Yee said the resolution is just a first step taken by a grassroots group within the party.
“We have to lead our leaders to come to these kinds of realizations that we have reached ourselves in the last five months of debate in the grassroots,” she said.
Assed said her fellow Democrats who voted for the ceasefire resolution make up the party’s core, and elected officials must reflect their wishes.
“We represent the voters, and our representatives must hear our voices, our asks, our demands, and our warning for this vote in November,” Assed said.
State Central Committee member Mitchell Friedman, who also voted in favor of the resolution, encouraged people to vote “uncommitted” in the June Democratic primary. New Mexico law and the party’s rules requires the presidential ballot to include the option beneath the presidential candidates’ names. Uncommitted vote results are prominent in other state Democratic primary races, with some of the biggest showings in Michigan and Minnesota.
“This is a state with collective memory of genocide. This is a state with collective memory of apartheid conditions.” Friedman said. “The DNC knows, the media knows, that people who vote noncommitted right now are making a statement about this.”
Ceasefire proponents, Assed said, are not trying to disrupt or divide the Democratic Party, and do not want to see Donald Trump in office. Yee and SCC member Scotti Romberg, who helped write the ceasefire resolution, agreed that Biden would be a stronger candidate if he changed course.
“What President Biden and our congressional delegates have done has pushed away many Democrats, many Americans, many of our youth,” Assed said. “We want to make sure we win the election because we do not want to see Trump in office, we don’t want to see fascism.”
Editor note: This story has been updated to correctly attribute statements to Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández.
New Mexico regulators worry about US plans to ship radioactive waste back from Texas — Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
Federal officials gathered Tuesday in southern New Mexico to mark the 25th anniversary of the nation's only underground repository for radioactive waste resulting from decades of nuclear research and bomb making.
Carved out of an ancient salt formation about half a mile (800 meters) deep, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant outside Carlsbad has taken in around 13,850 shipments from more than a dozen national laboratories and other sites since 1999.
The anniversary comes as New Mexico raises concerns about the federal government's plans for repackaging and shipping to WIPP a collection of drums filled with the same kind of materials that prompted a radiation release at the repository in 2014.
That mishap contaminated parts of the underground facility and forced an expensive, nearly three-year closure. It also delayed the federal government's multibillion-dollar cleanup program and prompted policy changes at labs and other sites across the U.S.
Meanwhile, dozens of boxes containing drums of nuclear waste that were packed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory to be stored at WIPP were rerouted to Texas, where they've remained ever since at an above-ground holding site.
After years of pressure from Texas environmental regulators, the U.S. Department of Energy announced last year that it would begin looking at ways to treat the waste so it could be safely transported and disposed of at WIPP.
But the New Mexico Environment Department is demanding more safety information, raising numerous concerns in letters to federal officials and the contractor that operates the New Mexico repository.
"Parking it in the desert of West Texas for 10 years and shipping it back does not constitute treatment," New Mexico Environment Secretary James Kenney told The Associated Press in an interview. "So that's my most substantive issue — that time does not treat hazardous waste. Treatment treats hazardous waste."
The 2014 radiation release was caused by improper packaging of waste at Los Alamos. Investigators determined that a runaway chemical reaction inside one drum resulted from the mixing of nitrate salts with organic kitty litter that was meant to keep the interior of the drum dry.
Kenney said there was an understanding following the breach that drums containing the same materials had the potential to react. He questioned how that risk could have changed since the character and composition of the waste remains the same.
Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque were contracted by the DOE to study the issue. They published a report in November stating that the federal government's plan to repackage the waste with an insulating layer of air-filled glass micro-bubbles would offer "additional thermal protection."
The study also noted that ongoing monitoring suggests that the temperature of the drums is decreasing, indicating that the waste is becoming more stable.
DOE officials did not immediately answer questions about whether other methods were considered for changing the composition of the waste, or what guarantees the agency might offer for ensuring another thermal reaction doesn't happen inside one of the drums.
The timetable for moving the waste also wasn't immediately clear, as the plan would need approval from state and federal regulators.
Kenney said some of the state's concerns could have been addressed had the federal government consulted with New Mexico regulators before announcing its plans. The state in its letters pointed to requirements under the repository's permit and federal laws for handling radioactive and hazardous wastes.
Don Hancock, with the Albuquerque-based watchdog group Southwest Research and Information Center, said shipments of the untreated waste also might not comply with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's certification for the containers that are used.
"This is a classic case of waste arriving somewhere and then being stranded — 10 years in the case of this waste," Hancock said. "That's a lesson for Texas, New Mexico, and any other state to be sure that waste is safe to ship before it's allowed to be shipped."
Soon-to-open Pallet shelter community aims to offer a path to stability — KUNM News, Santa Fe New Mexican
After less than two weeks of construction, A church in Santa Fe yesterday celebrated the grand opening of a new transitional housing program which should be move-in ready in about two weeks.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reportsChrist Lutheran Church is working with The Life Link, a non-profit organization, to run its new Pallet village. The project will have 10 Pallet shelters, or tiny homes, communal bathrooms, laundry facilities inside the church itself and 24/7 security.
The Life Link will be managing services and security as well as selecting residents.
The goal is to provide temporary transitional housing while residents secure a permanent place to live within six months of moving into the village.
Last year Santa Fe purchased 25 of the Pallet shelters and set aside $1 million of federal coronavirus pandemic relief funds for a “safe outdoor space” to provide such services.
The first 13 residents have already been selected and will be able to move in as soon as a gate is constructed and they receive approval on their new electric meter and coyote fencing.
Court records detail arrests of three Albuquerque Fire Rescue employees - Michael Hodock, Sandoval Signpost via City Desk ABQ
In the past two weeks, three Albuquerque firefighters have been arrested and charged with driving under the influence.
In a press release, AFR Fire Chief Emily Jaramillo said, “Albuquerque Fire Rescue takes off-duty incidents seriously. These actions are not representative of the mission of AFR and do not align with the standards and expectations the department holds for the members of Albuquerque Fire Rescue. The department is conducting an internal investigation and are fully cooperating with law enforcement.”
Last Friday, AFR Firefighter Mateo Keyohara was charged with aggravated DWI. According to a criminal complaint, around 11:45 p.m. on March 22, an Albuquerque police officer saw a gray Toyota Tacoma “driving at an extremely high rate of speed” on Rio Grande Boulevard and Indian School Road in Albuquerque. The officer says Keyohara hit a curb trying to make a right turn, prompting him to make a traffic stop for speeding and failing to maintain traffic lanes. When pulling into a gas station, Keyohara allegedly drove up the curb several times and almost hit other vehicles before parking.
Keyohara failed field sobriety tests, according to the complaint, and was arrested for driving under the influence. He was given a breathalyzer test and blew at or above double the legal limit, according to the complaint.
On March 17, around 9:44 p.m., AFR Driver Rane Wade Arlang Haddi was accused of making an improper turn onto the train tracks to avoid a sobriety checkpoint around Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. and Commercial Street in Downtown Albuquerque. According to the incident report, Haddi failed field sobriety tests and was charged with an aggravated DWI for refusing to take a breathalyzer test.
Earlier this month on March 13, the Rio Rancho Police Department officers were dispatched to Cleveland High School in Rio Rancho for a welfare check. AFR Driver Angelo Abeyta allegedly left the scene in a gray Toyota Tundra and showed signs of impairment when stopped by RRPD Officers shortly afterward. Abeyta failed field sobriety tests and was transported to the RRPD for chemical testing. Two breath samples were taken and both samples showed a B.A.C. over 0.16 (twice the legal limit), according to a criminal complaint. Abeyta was booked at Sandoval County Detention Center for Aggravated DUI.
Keyohara, Hanni, and Abeyta have been placed on administrative leave pending a full investigation.
The three cases come on the heels of DWI arrests of officers from other agencies.
Last month, The Signpost reported that on February 5, Albuquerque Police Officer Isaiah Ortiz y Pino was arrested by RRPD and booked on misdemeanor charges of battery on a household member. Ortiz y Pino is accused of getting into a physical argument with his girlfriend that involved throwing beer at the kitchen wall.
On February 14, Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Deputy Daniel Vasquez-Moreno was arrested by RRPD and charged with one count of aggravated battery of a household member, and driving while intoxicated.
Dairy cattle in New Mexico, Texas and Kansas test positive for bird flu - By Mike Stobbe and Jonel Aleccia Associated Press
Milk from dairy cows in New Mexico, Texas and Kansas has tested positive for bird flu, U.S. officials said Monday.
Officials with the Texas Animal Health Commission confirmed the flu virus is the Type A H5N1 strain, known for decades to cause outbreaks in birds and to occasionally infect people. The virus is affecting older dairy cows in those states, causing decreased lactation and low appetite.
It comes a week after officials in Minnesota announced that goats on a farm where there had been an outbreak of bird flu among poultry were diagnosed with the virus. It's believed to be the first time bird flu — also known as highly pathogenic avian influenza — was found in U.S. livestock.
The commercial milk supply is safe and risk to people is low, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Dairies are required to only allow milk from healthy animals to enter the food supply, and milk from the sick animals is being diverted or destroyed. Pasteurization also kills viruses and other bacteria, and the process is required for milk sold through interstate commerce, the agency said.
"At this stage, there is no concern about the safety of the commercial milk supply or that this circumstance poses a risk to consumer health," the USDA said in a statement.
The federal government said its tests in the cattle did not detect any changes to the virus that would make it spread more easily to people.
Dairy farmers in Texas first became concerned three weeks ago when cattle started falling ill with what officials called "mystery dairy cow disease," Texas Department of Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said. Milk production fell sharply and the cows were lethargic and weren't eating much.
"We hadn't seen anything like it before," he said. "It was kind of like they had a cold."
The state's animal health commission began an investigation that included tests for bird flu, spokeswoman Erin Robinson said. Based on findings from Texas, USDA officials think the cows got the virus from infected wild birds.
Experts say livestock appear to recover on their own within seven to 10 days. That's different than bird flu outbreaks in poultry, which necessitate killing flocks to get rid of the virus. Since 2022, outbreaks in have led to the loss of about 80 million birds in U.S. commercial flocks.
So far, the virus appears to be infecting about 10% of lactating dairy cows in the affected herds, said Michael Payne, a food animal veterinarian and and biosecurity expert with the University of California-Davis Western Institute for Food Safety and Security.
"This doesn't look anything like the high-path influenza in bird flocks," he said.
Bird flu was detected in unpasteurized, clinical samples of milk from sick cattle collected from two dairy farms in Kansas and one in Texas. The virus was also found in a nose and throat swab from another dairy in Texas.
Officials called it a rapidly evolving situation. The Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are involved, along with officials in the three states. Another dairy-heavy state, Iowa, said it is monitoring the situation.
Dairy industry officials said that producers have started enhanced biosecurity efforts on U.S. farms, including limiting the amount of traffic into and out of properties and restricting visits to employees and essential personnel.
Bird flu previously has been reported in 48 different mammal species, Payne noted, adding: "It was probably only a matter of time before avian influenza made its way to ruminants."
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
New Mexico’s elections ranked best in the nation — Daniel Montaño, KUNM News
New Mexico leads the nation when it comes to running elections according to a non-partisan index managed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
MIT’s Election Performance Index examined a variety of indicators from the 2022 midterms including voter wait times, disability access, voter turnout and registration rates, as well as security measures, post-election audits, and much more.
The land of enchantment achieved an overall rank of 88%, tying with Michigan for the no. 1 spot, and up from 83% in the 2018 elections, when it ranked ninth overall.
Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver said in a press release that it’s “an honor” to have the work of New Mexico’s election administrators recognized on a national stage.
She said the state’s success lies in striking a “critical balance between voter access and election security.” She commended the work of the various county clerks and their staff in working to improve and modernize New Mexico’s election systems and procedures, including a robustonline voter information system.
Election administration across the nation improved in the 2022 election compared to previous terms, according to MIT. The average score on the index was 63 % in 2010 and rose to 80% in 2022. MIT’s Election Lab said the major drivers of this trend has been better data collection and handling, and more effective online voter resources.
More data and information on methodology is available on theEPI’s website.
State orders insurers to help health care providers after cyberattack – Santa Fe New Mexican, Associated Press
Following cyberattacks on a health care technology giant, New Mexico officials are ordering insurance providers to streamline claims processes for small New Mexico health care providers.
The Santa Fe New Mexicanreports Superintendent of Insurance Alice Kane has ordered insurance companies to suspend prior authorizations, avoid denying claims retroactively because of problems caused by the attack, and to waive policies that require providers to submit claims within a certain timeframe.
The state is also requiring insurers to waive deadlines for claims and appeals submitted by small and independent providers after February 21st, which was the day the attack was discovered.
Many providers use the services of the company targeted in the attack, Change Healthcare, which handles nearly half of all medical claims in the country.
The American Hospital Associationcalled the cyberattack “the most significant and consequential incident of its kind against the U.S. health care system.” The association said the disruption from the attack made it harder for hospitals to provide care, submit insurance claims and get paid.