Secretaries of state urge Elon Musk to fix AI chatbot spreading election misinformation on X - By Christine Fernando, Associated Press
Five secretaries of state, including New Mexico's Maggie Toulouse Oliver, are urging Elon Musk to fix an AI chatbot on the social media platform X, saying in a letter sent Monday that it has spread election misinformation.
The top election officials from Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Washington told Musk that X's AI chatbot, Grok, produced false information about state ballot deadlines shortly after President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race.
While Grok is available only to subscribers to the premium versions of X, the misinformation was shared across multiple social media platforms and reached millions of people, according to the letter. The bogus ballot deadline information from the chatbot also referenced Alabama, Indiana, Ohio and Texas, although their secretaries of state did not sign the letter. Grok continued to repeat the false information for 10 days before it was corrected, the secretaries said.
The letter urged X to immediately fix the chatbot "to ensure voters have accurate information in this critical election year." That would include directing Grok to send users to CanIVote.org, a voting information website run by the National Association of Secretaries of State, when asked about U.S. elections.
"In this presidential election year, it is critically important that voters get accurate information on how to exercise their right to vote," Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said in a statement. "Voters should reach out to their state or local election officials to find out how, when, and where they can vote."
X did not respond to a request for comment.
Grok debuted last year for X premium and premium plus subscribers and was touted by Musk as a "rebellious" AI chatbot that will answer "spicy questions that are rejected by most other AI systems."
Social media platforms have faced mounting scrutiny for their role in spreading misinformation, including about elections. The letter also warned that inaccuracies are to be expected for AI products, especially chatbots such as Grok that are based on large language models.
"As tens of millions of voters in the U.S. seek basic information about voting in this major election year, X has the responsibility to ensure all voters using your platform have access to guidance that reflects true and accurate information about their constitutional right to vote," the secretaries wrote in the letter.
Since Musk bought Twitter in 2022 and renamed it to X, watchdog groups have raised concerns over a surge in hate speech and misinformation being amplified on the platform, as well as the reduction of content moderation teams, elimination of misinformation features and censoring of journalists critical of Musk.
Experts say the moves represent a regression from progress made by social media platforms attempting to better combat political disinformation after the 2016 U.S. presidential contest and could precipitate a worsening misinformation landscape ahead of this year's November elections.
New tool launches to offset donor fatigue for reproductive rights aid - By Susan Dunlap, New Mexico Political Report
A new practical support tool for patients traveling to New Mexico and Colorado for an abortion launched as a pilot project connected to Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains last week.
Organizers launched a new nonprofit organization called Gloria. It connects abortion patients traveling long distances to Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Denver to a short-term rental host with a vacation rental vacancy. The platform is the first of its kind by coordinating short-term rental properties with abortion patients.
Toshiko Langford, who is the director of impact and analytics for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, founded Gloria. She told NM Political Report that after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision in 2022, there was an outpouring of financial support but now, two years later, donor fatigue has led to a tapering off of donations.
Adrienne Mansanares, president and chief executive officer of PPRM, told NM Political Report that PPRM saw considerable donations after the Texas six-week gestational ban in 2021 and then a “huge surge” in donations after the Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade. But donors’ sense of urgency in providing funding for travel costs for those traveling long distances for an abortion has tapered off, she said.
Mansanares said grass roots organizations who help with abortion patient traveling are the ones who have experienced the decrease in funding the most. Mansanares said contributions to PPRM are stable, but Planned Parenthood has a decades-long, national brand and a robust development program.
But, even as donor fatigue has set in, New Mexico has, within the Rocky Mountain region, by far the greatest influx of abortion patients coming from out of state, Langford said. In 2023, 14,000 patients traveled from Texas to New Mexico for abortion care. Langford said a large proportion of those 14,000 needed lodging because of how far they are traveling.
Mansanares said PPRM has expanded its services and hours so that a local patient can expect to get the appointment they need without long waits. But still more than half of PPRM abortion care patients are traveling from out of state, so it’s a continuing crisis, Mansanares said.
She said an additional crisis PPRM is battling now is a spike in delayed abortion care, which can lead to more challenges for the patient but it’s also harder on the providers.
“It’s better to get healthcare when the patient wants and needs it and not delay that care,” Mansanares said.
Gloria is also a response to a phenomenon Langford saw on social media platforms shortly after Roe fell. Individuals were offering rides and places to stay but, while it was “a beautiful outpouring of support,” it wasn’t usable by patients, Langford said.
Langford said it became very clear to her there needed to be a way to coordinate that in-kind support so both sides could be vetted to ensure safety for everyone involved.
Langford said Gloria can also help alleviate the decrease in donor funding by providing in-kind donations from short-term rental hosts. She said she’s seen patients forgoing car payments in order to come up with the travel funds necessary but, even then, the patient often doesn’t have the additional resources to pay for lodging.
Langford said she’s seen patients drive 17 hours across the state of Texas and a part of New Mexico to arrive in Albuquerque for an abortion appointment and then turn around and drive those same 17 hours back across the two states to return home.
“So many patients are forgoing basic needs in order to finance their travel as well as the procedure and they’re doing pretty drastic things. We just want to support them,” Langford said.
She said there’s a “huge community” who have resources which have not been tapped into to help patients. Langford said it was in her role at PPRM that she first realized the gap between short-term rental hosts who were offering to lend a night or two stay in a vacant rental property but that there was no infrastructure in place to coordinate the hosts to the patients.
Langford said the host and the patient are connected through a secure app and no personal information is shared. The hosts and the patient do not meet in order to ensure privacy and security. The patient and their families have the entire rental property to themselves during the stay, also to ensure privacy and security, Langford said.
Mansanares said the houses are lovely vacation homes.
The patient is able to stay in a home and that can be helpful, especially when a patient is traveling with small children or other family members. It can also be helpful if the patient has a flight out after a procedural abortion and wants to return to the rental house to relax instead of waiting long hours at the airport for the flight.
Langford called the current roll out a pilot project and said that, so far, there are six hosts on Gloria. The platform is limited to patients who seek services at PPRM clinics in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Denver. But, she said, the goal is to expand not just across the region but nationally. She also hopes to expand so that other abortion clinics can rely on Gloria to direct patients who need lodging when traveling for an abortion. She hopes to begin scaling up the project by October.
Mansanares said another benefit from the creation of Gloria is that its work helps to destigmatize abortion care.
“People in the community have something to give, they want to pitch in but they may not have the funds to donate or they have the funds, but they want to do more. This seeks a solution that’s outside of traditional systems,” she said.
FEMA reaches $1 billion in payouts, settles seven lawsuits for northern NM fire victims - Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
The federal agency tasked with distributing nearly $4 billion to victims of the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire announced a milestone last week: $1 billion in compensation paid for the April 2022 fire.
The Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Claims Office also recently settled seven lawsuits with several law firms representing thousands of claimants. The lawsuits dealt with a variety of topics, including claims that took the office longer than 180 days to complete, alleged pressure from federal employees telling claimants to ditch their lawyers, and a dispute over the way the office cut compensation checks.
The settlement agreement signed last week, which was provided to Source New Mexico, shows that neither the office nor the law firms suing it admitted any wrongdoing, and no party owes the other any money. The office agreed to meet more regularly with lawyers, and the parties expanded guidance on what should happen if a fire victim reaches out to the office directly for updates on their claims.
Both the firms and the office are touting the agreement as a way to improve communication and get claims resolved more quickly, especially with the application period ending soon. The deadline to file a claim is Nov. 14, 2024.
“It will start the flow of communication,” said Antonia Roybal-Mack, a lawyer representing hundreds of victims, about the settlement agreement.
The settled lawsuits affect only victims who hired attorneys to represent them in the claims process. Lawyers accused Federal Emergency Management Agency employees of trying to undermine or ignore them, misinterpreting the law, and letting their cases languish beyond the 180-day deadline required by law to make a payment offer.
The fire began in spring 2022 as a result of two botched federal prescribed burns, going on to become the state’s biggest-ever wildfire and destroying hundreds of homes. Congress in September 2022 tasked FEMA with setting up a claims process that members hoped would “fully compensate” victims of the fire. Congress eventually awarded FEMA $3.95 billion to pay victims with, minus administrative costs.
The pace of payments frustrated residents, as did some of the things FEMA said it was not allowed to pay for. About a year after the fire started, FEMA officials set an internal target of spending $1 billion by January 2025. They reached that target Aug. 1 of this year, according to the office.
“While we acknowledge this milestone, we recognize there is more work ahead,” said Jay Mitchell, who was recently hired to lead the office and the federal disaster response across the state, in a news release. “Our commitment remains steadfast to provide comprehensive resources and support beyond financial assistance to help our community recover, rebuild and thrive,” he said.
An Aug. 1 news release does not break down exactly how the $1 billion had been spent as of that date, but a July 31 infographic from the office does. Of $985.9 million paid by July 31, $750.5 million went to individuals and households, $187.9 million to businesses, $5.1 million to governments, $10.3 million to tribal nations, $10.6 million to nonprofits and $21.4 million to “other.”
The office also noted in a separate news release that, of that money, it has so far paid out $162.9 million in 318 claims to parties represented by lawyers. There are 1,071 more claims “awaiting claimant response” that total $91.2 million, according to a news release.
The seven settled lawsuits are among at least 13 filed against FEMA or other federal agencies regarding the fire or its aftermath. Other pending lawsuits relate to how claimants can appeal payment offers they disagreed with and to force the office to pay for “non-economic damages,” which are payments for the annoyance and inconvenience the fire caused. FEMA lawyers have argued the agency is not allowed to make those payments under the law.
The lawsuit about appeals will likely go to mediation, Roybal-Mack said, meaning it will be resolved out of court. The “non-economic damages” lawsuit could go before a judge in October, she said.
Another pending lawsuit, which is against the United States Forest Service, is on behalf of three people who died in post-fire flooding. Two other filed recently against FEMA are on behalf of local public entities, like a school district and electrical co-op, who accuse the agency of throwing up unnecessary hurdles that could prevent them from accessing the $4 billion fund.
Mitchell said the lawsuits being settled will mean payments to be processed more efficiently and for relationships with lawyers to improve.
“The resolution of these lawsuits allows the Claims Office to more efficiently process claims and speed up claimants’ post-fire recovery,” he said in the news release.
Sprawling rural school district hurting as state moves away from coal - By Nicholas Gilmore, Santa Fe New Mexican
This story was originally published by the Santa Fe New Mexican on July 20, 2024. It’s republished here with permission.
A school district in San Juan County — small in student population, huge in land area — says it is in a precarious financial position as the Public Service Company of New Mexico transitions from coal-fired power to renewable energy.
Lawmakers and officials with the Central Consolidated School District are calling on the state's biggest utility to live up to the promises of a "just transition" promised in the Energy Transition Act of 2018. The legislation promised replacement power generation to be developed within boundaries of the school district as PNM moved away from coal, long a key economic driver in the area.
The school district, consisting of 15 schools, a technical center and several preschools spread over nearly 3,000 square miles in northwest New Mexico, have complained about funding shortfalls following the closure of San Juan Generating Station, and worry about a future closure of the nearby Four Corners Power Plant. Both have been critical contributors to the school district's tax base.
The district serves about 5,000 students; more than 90% are Native American.
Steve Carlson, the school district's superintendent, recently painted a bleak picture of his district's financial outlook in a sworn statement submitted to the Public Regulation Commission.
"As we strive to rectify disadvantages and to give our students the opportunities that the students of other districts enjoy, we see ourselves facing an uphill battle because we end up using all of our scant resources, including our minimal and dwindling tax revenues and a few years’ worth of long overdue impact aid, just to level the playing field," Carlson wrote.
The school district's tax base is inadequate for its size and needs, he wrote, and administrators are forced to spend state funding to maintain "deteriorating facilities."
About 80% of the district's property tax revenue was generated by a combination of San Juan Generating Station, Four Corners Power Plant and related coal mines, according to his statement, and the district has seen a 700% increase in student homelessness rates since San Juan plant shut down in 2022.
State Rep. Rod Montoya, R-Farmington, said Central Consolidated's revenue has relied on on the coal plants for decades, including for bonding capacity.
"With one of the power plants and one of the coal mines gone, their taxable income is almost nothing," Montoya said. "No other school district in the state has that problem."
Montoya is part of a group of state lawmakers attempting overturn a recent decision by the state's Public Regulation Commission, which they believe allows PNM to skirt a requirement in the 2019 Energy Transition Act to locate replacement power projects within the area served by the school district. The decision, they contend, allows the utility's projects to be built elsewhere.
Earlier this month, 15 legislators asked the state Supreme Court to order the commission to enforce provisions of the legislation.
A spokesman for the state agency declined to comment on the challenge to the commission's decision.
In an email, PNM spokeswoman Kelly-Renae Huber wrote PNM "remains fully supportive and compliant with the Energy Transition Act."
"The third-party projects selected through the [Public Regulation Commission] process for San Juan replacement power contained projects located within the [Central Consolidated School District] as well as elsewhere; one of the projects slated for the area subsequently defaulted and the contract was terminated," Huber wrote. "We filed notice of this event with the PRC in January 2023 and discussed it in our ongoing biweekly stakeholder meetings."
In late May, the commission approved the utility's coming power resources, which included solar and battery projects in Bernalillo and Valencia counties, but none in San Juan County, where the 130-megawatt Rockmont solar and storage project was scheduled to be developed.
The utility agreed to develop 430 megawatts of power capacity within school district boundaries to replace the San Juan Generating Station, during negotiations for the Energy Transition Act. So far PNM has developed 200 megawatts of solar and 100 megawatts of battery storage in San Juan County, both of which are scheduled to come online in August, according to information provided by Huber.
Some legislators who signed on to the Supreme Court challenge — such as Joanne Ferrary, D-Las Cruces — supported the 2019 legislation. But Ferrary said concerns about the company's actions since the Energy Transition Act was passed prompted her to act.
"We had no choice but to file for the writ of mandamus, since the PRC has failed to hold PNM accountable," Ferrary said in a recent interview.
Huber wrote the utility has committed to include "a CCSD-located [Central Consolidated School District] project in our upcoming resource filing later this year, even if it doesn’t meet the criteria for a lowest-cost portfolio."
Attorneys for San Juan County government echoed the district's concerns, arguing before the commission the
utility holds a significant presence in San Juan County.
"PNM’s replacement resources for the [San Juan Generating Station] impact the employment of thousands of San Juan County residents and the County’s local economy," the county's officials wrote in a request to commissioners to challenge PNM's plan.
3 people are found dead at a southeast Albuquerque home, police say it appears to be a homicide case - Associated Press
Three people have been found dead at a southeast Albuquerque home and it appears to be a homicide case, authorities said Monday.
Albuquerque police said they received a call around 11 p.m. Sunday that three people were found unresponsive inside a residence.
Police said officers arrived and the three people were pronounced dead at the scene.
There's no immediate word on how the victims died and if the three people were related.
Police spokesperson Rebecca Atkins said a homicide investigation has begun and more details will be released when they become available.
One electric scooter company wants ABQ to go ‘Lime’ green - Elizabeth McCall, City Desk ABQ
As Albuquerque city councilors prepare to debate at their Aug. 5 meeting a proposal that would lower charges for scooter and bike rental companies — one has expressed interest in operating in Albuquerque.
City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn introduced the proposal because she wants to make the city more accessible but said the fees the city charges companies are “ridiculously high.” For instance, she said, the same setup costs almost four times more to operate in Albuquerque than it does in Colorado Springs.
Now, Lime — one of the world’s largest shared electric vehicle companies — is looking to bring its bright green scooters to Albuquerque. Robert Gardner, Lime’s director of market expansions, said the company has been talking with the city for a while.
“We’ve been in touch with the city now for over a year, and had conversations with the mayor, with [Planning] Director [Alan] Varela, and then also with council members,” Gardner said.
Operating in more than 260 cities, this would be Lime’s first time in New Mexico.
Gardner said the city would be a great place for the company to operate and the company wants to start with scooters because they are used three to four times more than its bikes. He also said the company has data showing people are opening the Lime app in Albuquerque looking for its scooters.
“Despite the fact that there is no Lime available in Albuquerque, we still see demand coming from Albuquerque,” Gardner said. “So as this program matures, I think there is some really great things to be expected.”
HOW TO PARTICIPATE:
WHEN: 5 p.m. Aug. 5
WHERE: Vincent E. Griego Chambers in the Albuquerque Government Center, 1 Civic Plaza NW
VIRTUAL: GOV-TV or on the city’s YouTube channel
Arizona governor negotiates pause in hauling of uranium ore across Navajo Nation - Associated Press
A uranium producer has agreed to temporarily pause the transport of the mineral through the Navajo Nation after the tribe raised concerns about the possible effects that it could have on the reservation.
Gov. Katie Hobbs said Friday that she intervened this week after talking with Navajo President Buu Nygren, who had come up with a plan to test a tribal law that bans uranium from being transported on its land.
Energy Fuels began hauling the ore Tuesday from its mine south of Grand Canyon National Park to a processing site in Blanding, Utah. When Nygren found out, he ordered tribal police to pull over the trucks and prevent them from traveling further. But by the time police arrived, the semi-trucks had left the reservation.
Energy Fuels said in a statement Friday that it agreed to a temporary pause "to address any reasonable concerns" held by Nygren. It recently started mining at the Pinyon Plain Mine in northern Arizona for the first time since the 1980s, driven by higher uranium prices and global instability. No other sites are actively mining uranium in Arizona.
"While Energy Fuels can legally restart transport at any time, pursuant to the current licenses, permits, and federal law, the company understands and respects President Nygren's concern for his People, and wants to assure them that the company fully complies with all applicable laws and regulations," the company said. "The U.S. has adopted the highest international standards for the transport of such materials, which are in place to protect human health and the environment."
Energy Fuels isn't legally required to give advance notice. But the Navajo Nation, the U.S. Forest Service, county officials and others says the company verbally agreed to do so — and then reneged on the promise Tuesday.
The Navajo Nation said it wanted to ensure it had time to coordinate emergency preparedness plans and other notifications before hauling began. Energy Fuels said it notified federal, state county and tribal officials about two weeks ago that hauling was imminent and outlined legal requirements, safety and emergency response.
The tribe said it didn't expect hauling to begin for at least another month, based on months of conversations with Energy Fuels.
Hobbs said the pause on transporting the ore will allow the company and the tribe "to engage in good faith negotiations."
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes also said her office is looking into legal options "to protect the health and safety of all Arizonans."
The tribe passed a law in 2012 to ban the transportation of uranium on the reservation that extends into Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. But the law exempts state and federal highways that Energy Fuels has designated as hauling routes.
Mining during World War II and the Cold War left a legacy of death, disease and contamination on the Navajo Nation and in other communities across the country. The Havasupai tribe is among the tribes and environmentalists that have raised concerns about potential water contamination.
Community seeks #JusticeForElijahHadley as details remain murky more than a month after being shot and killed by sheriff’s deputy — Daniel Montano, KUNM News
Elijah Hadley was shot 19 times and killed by police in late June after throwing a BB gun to the ground out of his reach.
Following the incident, details have remained sparse. The name of the Otero County Sheriff’s Deputy involved has still not been released, and in various social media posts his family has said they feel betrayed by authorities.
Now, more than a month later, the hashtag #JusticeForElijahHadley has been trending, and the community is planning a march demanding answers on Saturday at 9 a.m. from the Otero County Fairgrounds to the Sheriff’s Office, with parking at the mall.
The video of the shooting, released by KOAT News, shows the deputy pulling up to Hadley on the side of the freeway. The deputy tells Hadley to stop, which the teen does before throwing an airsoft pistol off to his right. He had been complying with the deputy’s instructions and was in fact no longer holding the BB gun, but the deputy fired four times, dropping Hadley to the ground.
The deputy called for backup and then stood behind his door waiting for more officers to arrive, but after a few minutes, Hadley began to move slightly, and the deputy shot the boy another 15 times while he still lay on the ground, warning him, quote, “don’t go for that gun.”
Hadley was pronounced dead at the scene and the deputy stated Hadley had pointed the gun at him, which is not supported by the video evidence.
The New Mexico State Police is handling the investigation. They have not replied with an update prior to air. If they do respond, KUNM will update this post with the latest information.
Black officer files discrimination lawsuit against N.M. State Police — Phaedra Haywood, Santa Fe New Mexican
A Black patrolman working in the Taos area has filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the New Mexico State Police, claiming he was subjected to slurs, denied promotions and paid less than other officers because of his race.
Edward Archie’s complaint filed recently in state District Court seeks actual and compensatory damages, including double back pay and promotion into a position he would have had but for the alleged discrimination.
Archie has worked for the agency since 2017 and is the only Black officer in his district, according to his complaint.
In 2020, he reported “egregious, persistent and direct outward displays of racism against Black people in the district” to then-State Police Chief Robert Thornton, the complaint says.
He reported one fellow officer made a Facebook post “stating slavery was a blessing to Black people and that Black people are animals,” adding officers in the district referred to Black people using racial slurs, according to the lawsuit.
His supervising officer, Lt. Dominic Lucero, did nothing to address his complaints and instead suspended Archie, according to the lawsuit.
After returning from a seven-month leave of absence, Archie learned Lucero had been promoted and was in charge of the district.
The lawsuit claims Lucero has since retaliated against Archie by failing to promote him to positions with the investigations bureau for which he was qualified and placing him on a “corrective action plan” for not issuing enough traffic citations.
Archie’s complaint also alleges he was paid $4 per hour less than other non-Black patrolmen with the same or less seniority for substantially similar work. Archie’s attorney, former state Sen. Jacob Candelaria, said in a phone interview Tuesday the lawsuit is intended to bring accountability for Archie and “help root out and shine a light on what is a really unacceptable racist environment” within the Taos-area state police district.
Department of Public Safety spokesman Ray Wilson confirmed Lucero is still employed in District 7 but declined to comment on the litigation. Officers in District 7 serve Española, Taos and Chama, according to the department’s website. Lucero did not respond Tuesday to a message seeking comment.