Kroger and Albertsons defend merger plan in federal court against US regulators' objections - By Dee-Ann Durbin and Claire Rush, Associated Press
Supermarket chain Albertsons told a federal judge Monday that it might have to lay off workers, close stores and even exit some markets if its planned merger with Kroger isn't allowed to proceed.
The two companies proposed what would be the largest supermarket merger in U.S. history in October 2022. But the Federal Trade Commission sued to prevent the $24.6 billion deal, alleging it would eliminate competition and raise grocery prices in a time of already high food price inflation.
In the three-week hearing that opened Monday, the FTC is seeking a preliminary injunction that would block the merger while its complaint goes before an in-house administrative law judge.
"This lawsuit is part of an effort aimed at helping Americans feed their families," the FTC's chief trial counsel, Susan Musser, said in her opening arguments on Monday.
Musser said Kroger and Albertsons currently compete in 22 states, closely matching each other on price, quality, private label products and services like store pickup. Shoppers benefit from that competition, she said, and will lose those benefits if the merger is allowed to proceed.
Customers also are wary of the merger, the lawyer said. In Santa Fe, New Mexico, for example, 278 shoppers wrote to the FTC to express their concerns about a combined Kroger and Albertsons, which would own five of the city's eight supermarkets.
But Kroger and Albertsons insist the FTC's objections don't take into account the rising competition in the grocery sector. Walmart's grocery sales totaled £247 billion last year compared to $63 billion in 2003, for example; Costco's sales have grown more than 400% in the same period.
"Consumers are blurring the line of where they buy groceries," Albertsons attorney Enu Mainigi said.
Mainigi said Albertsons' customers now spend 88 cents of every dollar at competitors that range from Aldi and Trader Joe's to Dollar General. Albertsons can't compete with larger rivals that have national scale, but joining forces with Kroger would help it do that, she said.
Kroger attorney Matthew Wolf also defended the proposed merger.
"The savings that come from the merger are obvious and intuitive. Kroger may have the best price on Pepsi. Albertsons may have the best price on Coke. Put them together, they have the best price on both," Wolf said.
The two sides also disagree on Kroger and Albertsons' plan to sell 579 stores in places where their stores overlap. The buyer would be C&S Wholesale Grocers, a New Hampshire-based supplier to independent supermarkets that also owns the Grand Union and Piggly Wiggly store brands.
The FTC says C&S is ill-prepared to take on those stores. Laura Hall, the FTC's senior trial counsel, cited internal documents that indicated C&S executives were skeptical about the quality of the stores they would get and may want the option to sell or close them.
But Wolf said C&S has the experience and infrastructure to run the divested stores and would be the eighth-largest supermarket company in the U.S., if the merger plan goes through.
The commission also alleges that workers' wages and benefits would decline if Kroger and Albertsons no longer compete with each other.
Before the hearing, several members of the United Food and Commercial Workers International union gathered outside the federal courthouse in downtown Portland to speak out against the proposed deal.
"Enough is enough," said Carol McMillian, a bakery manager at a Kroger-owned grocery store in Colorado. "We can no longer stand by and allow corporate greed that puts profit before people. Our workers, our communities and our customers deserve better."
The labor union also expressed concern that potential store closures could create so-called food and pharmacy "deserts" for consumers.
For people in many communities across the U.S., when a grocery store shutters, "their only source of food actually is walking to the nearest gas station," said Kim Cordova, the president of UFCW Local 7, which represents over 23,000 members in Colorado and Wyoming.
Mainigi argued the deal could actually bolster union jobs, since many of Kroger's and Albertsons' competitors, like Walmart or Costco, have few unionized workers.
U.S. District Judge Adrienne Nelson is expected to hear from around 40 witnesses, including the CEOs of Kroger and Albertsons, before deciding whether to issue the preliminary injunction. If she does decide to temporarily block the merger, the FTC's in-house hearings are scheduled to begin Oct. 1.
But Nelson's decision will seal the merger's fate, according to Wolf. He said the FTC's in-house administrative process is so long and cumbersome that merger deals almost always fall apart before it's through. Earlier this month, Kroger sued the FTC, alleging the agency's internal proceedings were unconstitutional and saying it wants the merger's merits decided in federal court.
The attorneys general of Arizona, California, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Wyoming all joined the case on the FTC's side. Washington and Colorado filed separate cases in state courts seeking to block the merger.
Kroger, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, operates 2,800 stores in 35 states, including brands like Ralphs, Smith's and Harris Teeter. Albertsons, based in Boise, Idaho, operates 2,273 stores in 34 states, including brands like Safeway, Jewel Osco and Shaw's. Together, the companies employ around 710,000 people.
Social platform X edits AI chatbot after election officials warn that it spreads misinformation - By Christine Fernando Associated Press
The social media platform X has made a change to its AI chatbot after five secretaries of state warned it was spreading election misinformation.
Top election officials from Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Washington sent a letter this month to Elon Musk complaining that the platform's AI chatbot, Grok, produced false information about state ballot deadlines shortly after President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race.
The secretaries of state requested that the chatbot instead direct users who ask election-related questions to CanIVote.org, a voting information website run by the National Association of Secretaries of State.
Before listing responses to election-related questions, the chatbot now says, "For accurate and up-to-date information about the 2024 U.S. Elections, please visit Vote.gov."
Both websites are "trustworthy resources that can connect voters with their local election officials," the five secretaries of state said in a shared statement.
"We appreciate X's action to improve their platform and hope they continue to make improvements that will ensure their users have access to accurate information from trusted sources in this critical election year," they said.
Grok is available only to subscribers of the premium versions of X. But the five secretaries of state who signed the letter said election misinformation from Grok has been shared across multiple social media platforms, reaching millions of people. Grok continued to repeat the false information for 10 days before it was corrected, the secretaries said. The platform did not respond to a request for comment.
The change promoting a link to an official voting website does not seem to address Grok's ability to create misleading AI-generated images related to elections. People have been using the tool to flood the platform with fake images of candidates, including Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
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.
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 cuts to the staff that had been moderating content.
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.
NM is failing to use Medicaid dollars to fund home visiting programs, according to recent LFC meeting – Santa Fe New Mexican, KUNM News
Last week lawmakers at a Legislative Finance Committee meeting pointed out enrollment is down for the state’s home visiting programs, especially for the programs paid for by using Medicaid dollars.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports home visiting is a model to connect families with regularly planned visits with a child development or health expert with the hopes of improving child well-being and preventing child maltreatment. Any family expecting a baby or have children under the age of five is eligible, but, just 400 families are being served while it’s expected that over 15,000 children will be born using Medicaid dollars.
Elizabeth Groginsky, Cabinet Secretary of the Early Childhood Education and Care Department, said her agency is serving more than 400 families but the state doesn’t have a strong Medicaid claiming system resulting in $18-20 million left on the table.
The department is now establishing deadlines for providers to ensure those who may not be using models eligible for Medicaid reimbursement will now use a new system by December 1.
Lawmakers at the LFC showed skepticism as the process of being a Medicaid provider is tricky and highlighted staffing issues at the department as the home visiting division has seen an “entire turnover”.
Groginsky committed the department to having a plan to provide personalized technical assistance and professional development to providers to meet a target of serving 1,500 patients.
UNM Hospital to host community listening session in International District - By Taylor Velasquez, KUNM News
The University of New Mexico hospital will hold a Community Listening session in the International District Monday night. Residents of Bernalillo County’s District 3 will have the opportunity to share their thoughts, concerns, and suggestions with hospital representatives since a vote to determine if the hospital’s mill levy will be extended will happen in November. The mill levy is an important piece of funding that supports the hospital in providing comprehensive healthcare to the community.
The hospital will have translators available during the event so all residents can share their feedback that will help the hospital allocate funding to resources that are helpful to the community and to enhance the patient experience.
CEO of the hospital Kate Becker said, “We understand the importance of language access in ensuring that all patients receive the care they deserve, and we are committed to making our services accessible to everyone”.
District 3 Commissioner Adriann Barboa said the listening session is a vital opportunity for residents to share their concerns in order to shape healthcare to better serve them in the future.
The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. at the International District Library.
Coal stacks dropping signals a transition to a new era - Hannah Grover, New Mexico Political Report
The ground shook west of Kirtland on Saturday as an explosion echoed along the bluffs. The towers of the San Juan Generating Station that have been a prominent landmark in the area since the 1970s and 1980s crumbled and fell.
The coal-fired power plant has, in many ways, become a potent symbol of the energy transition in New Mexico.
In 2010, the majority owner of the power plant, Public Service Company of New Mexico, received 40 percent of its electricity from two coal-fired power plants in the northwest corner of the state, a percentage that dropped throughout the years.
By 2015, that had reduced to 35 percent.
Then, in 2017, two of the four units at the power plant closed as part of an effort to reduce emissions from the plant.
By 2020, PNM was receiving 27 percent of its electricity from coal.
Next year, the utility anticipates only five percent of its power will come from coal. Meanwhile, renewable energy sources like wind and solar, which were virtually absent from PNM’s resource portfolio in 2010, will likely make up more than half of its generation in 2025.
This transition to renewable energy comes with its own set of challenges.
Kelsey Martinez is the chief of staff and former director of regional markets for PNM. She spoke about some of these challenges during a media event Thursday in Albuquerque.
Martinez outlined how the transition to more intermittent sources of power like solar and wind has led to a greater need for coordination with other utilities in the western United States as well as in parts of Canada and Mexico that are connected to PNM’s system through the grid.
This increase in renewable energy on the grid is leading toward more interconnected operations and regional markets.
WESTERN ENERGY IMBALANCE MARKET
In 2021, PNM joined what is known as the Western Energy Imbalance Market. This changed how PNM works with other utilities if there is a shortage or surplus of electricity on PNM’s systems.
In the past, PNM engaged primarily in bilateral trades in which the company would contact another utility to buy or sell electricity.
Now a computer system evaluates supply and demand for electricity on participating utilities throughout the western United States. An algorithm determines what the most cost efficient and reliable method is for meeting that demand.
While this has become increasingly important for PNM, it still has its limitations. For example, the energy imbalance market does not optimize transmission or provide plans a day in advance.
PNM is working toward more advanced planning and looking for better ways to coordinate with regional utilities.
Regional coordination including regional transmission organizations—-which work together to optimize transmission of electricity—-is not new for electric utilities. Some parts of the country have had their utilities working closely together for a while now.
In New Mexico, Southwestern Public Service, a subsidiary of Xcel Energy, is part of a regional transmission organization.
But, in much of the west, there isn’t a specific entity to coordinate the transmission of electricity throughout the grid.
“In the west,” Martinez said. “We weren’t as quick to adopt regional cooperation policies.”
She said this is in part because the population is not as dense.
“We really built huge baseload power plants with long, high voltage transmission lines to serve our loads,” she said. “And there were not very many of those lines and that’s proving to be very important now.”
Because the eastern United States has a more densely populated area, there tends to be more tightly connected transmission infrastructure.
“So we’re behind and we need to catch up,” Martinez said.
Wind and solar make operations more dynamic and unpredictable, she said.
“That’s creating a lot of new issues that we’ve never seen before,” Martinez said.
PNM is currently working on a 20-year transmission plan that it hopes to release later this year. The plan will outline possible transmission projects that PNM could embark on in the future.
PNM has also been in talks with Pattern Energy about the possibility of connecting to the SunZia line that is being built and will run south of Albuquerque.
The move to renewable resources also changes how PNM must plan.
Before, Martinez said, PNM planned for its peak load, or when people are using the most electricity.
Now PNM must plan for its highest risk hours.
“The times we are at highest risk are when our renewable generation is at its lowest,” Martinez said.
The hardest situation to plan for can be when there is a lot of wind in eastern New Mexico and storm coverage in the Albuquerque area. But that isn’t necessarily because of resource shortages.
Part of the challenge on those days has to do with where the electricity from the wind turbines in eastern New Mexico is going. The power generated by the turbines uses PNM’s high voltage transmission lines as it makes its way across the state to California.
“So our smaller but still high voltage transmission lines serving Albuquerque get constrained in ways we never saw before,” Martinez said.
All of these changes come with a price tag and, while the renewable energy sources tend to be less expensive to operate, the costs of essentially reinventing the grid are eating up those savings.
DEMOLITION UNDERWAY
The transition, Martinez said, is happening because it is the right thing to do for the climate and environment.
“It’s not because the fuel is cheaper, because the need to expand the grid is going to overrun the cost savings from fuel for decades,” she said.
At the same time, PNM’s analysis that was released in 2017 and predicated the closure of the San Juan Generating Station found that transitioning out of coal would save customers money.
The Energy Transition Act came about as a result of that 2017 announcement and on July 1, 2019—the day that the ETA went into effect—-PNM filed to close the power plant.
In its initial plan, PNM was going to leave the stacks and the generating station standing and the demolition would occur in a few decades.
But the San Juan County Commission passed an ordinance forcing the demolition of the plant.
Even before the stacks fell on Saturday, work was underway to remove the plant from the landscape.
More than 15 million pounds of materials have been recycled so far and the plan is that 90 percent of the material, by weight, will be recycled.
As for the site where the power plant stood, it will still provide a vital service to the grid. The substation that took electricity from the San Juan Generating Station will remain and the San Juan Solar project is connected to the grid at that point.
PNM owns the land and, while the future development of the parcel is uncertain, its proximity to transmission infrastructure is likely to draw interest from energy project developers.
ECONOMIC IMPACTS
The closure is a bitter point for some of the San Juan County residents, including some in the City of Farmington who unsuccessfully attempted to keep the plant open through a carbon capture bid.
Farmington Mayor Nate Duckett told legislators this week that the city has made a lot of progress on its efforts to diversify the economy and build recreation opportunities, but that can’t replace what’s been lost.
“We’re trying to replace $100,000 a year jobs with recreation jobs,” he said. “That’s not really feasible.”
He said the hope is that by creating a place where people want to live and play and go to school, Farmington will be able to attract companies that offer higher paying jobs.
The Energy Transition Act has also provided funds for economic development and workforce development in the impacted communities. It also required some of the replacement power to be built within the Central Consolidated School District boundaries in an effort to offset the loss of property tax revenue. This is also providing some short-term employment opportunities.
Tim Gibbs, the CEO of Four Corners Economic Development, told legislators that there has been a decrease in population in San Juan County “but it feels like it’s finding equilibrium.”
As San Juan County works to recover from the loss of the San Juan Generating Station, it is bracing for the closure of the nearby Four Corners Power Plant, which is slated to close in 2031, though once again hopes have arisen that a carbon capture bid could keep it open.
ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH BENEFITS
Meanwhile, environmental advocates say the transition from coal will ultimately benefit people living in the Four Corners region.
“We are hopeful that after the demolition of San Juan Generating Station, the Four Corners area and its communities will no longer have to sacrifice our health and safety for fossil fuels,” Rose Rushing, attorney at Western Environmental Law Center, said in a press release. “There is work to be done to ensure that the region can transition to a sustainable, diversified economy, starting with fulfilling the commitments of the Energy Transition Act. We look forward to working with community groups in the next year to make sure our community receives the full benefits the Energy Transition Act promises.”
Some of the people who have been impacted the most by emissions from the power plant are residents of the Navajo Nation.
“Indigenous advocates have long brought attention to the many adverse public health, land, and water quality impacts resulting from the operations at SJGS and Four Corners Power Plant (“FCPP”), pointing out the environmental injustice that Indigenous and local communities were saddled with in living so close to two coal mines and plants”, Robyn Jackson, executive director of Diné C.A.R.E, said in a press release. “We can remember the terrible air quality that both plants produced in our region. It therefore came as no surprise that health disparities existed among our population, compared to the rest of the U.S. general population when it came to childhood asthma, as well as other illnesses like heart disease, cancer, and stroke. Our tribal-led organization recognizes that it is necessary and inevitable that our local economy be rebuilt around development that is renewable, sustainable, and regenerative. The health of our communities, economy and climate will require a transition away from fossil fuels if we are to survive and succeed.”
SCOTUS appoints new special master in Texas v. New Mexico Rio Grande case - Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
The U.S. Supreme Court appointed a new judge to oversee the Rio Grande water dispute between Texas and New Mexico.
The case will continue on after the high court’s June ruling dismissed a deal between New Mexico, Colorado and Texas, as five justices sided with objections from the federal government to the deal.
Justices appointed Judge D. Brooks Smith, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit from Duncansville, Pennsylvania, to replace federal appeals Judge Michael Melloy as the special master in the case in July.
A special master acts as a trial judge, decides on issues in the case and prepares reports to inform the U.S. Supreme Court’s ultimate opinions in the case.
Smith, 72, has a long career in law, first starting in private practice and as a prosecutor. He donned the robes in 1984 as both a Court of Common Pleas judge in Blair County, Pennsylvania, and an administrative law judge.
In 1988, he was appointed by President Ronald Regan and confirmed to a federal position for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
In 2002, the Senate confirmed his appointment by the Bush administration to the federal appeals court, where he’s served since.
This is the third special master for the case, called Original No. 141 Texas v. New Mexico and Colorado.
In a complaint filed in 2013, Texas alleged that pumping in New Mexico below Elephant Butte Reservoir was taking Rio Grande water owed to Texas under a compact from 1939.
That 85-year old document governs the Rio Grande’s use between Colorado, New Mexico and Texas, and also includes provisions for sending water to Mexico under 1906 treaty obligations and acknowledges regional irrigation districts.
In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled to allow the federal government to join the case, accepting the arguments that New Mexico’s groundwater pumping threatened federal obligations to deliver water to Mexico and two irrigation districts.
After months of negotiations and a partial trial, Colorado, Texas and New Mexico proposed a deal to end the yearslong litigation. The federal government and regional irrigation districts objected to the deal, saying that it imposed unfair obligations and was negotiated without their agreement.
Melloy recommended the court ignore the federal government’s objections and approve the state’s proposed deal.
In June, the high court released a narrow 5-4 ruling siding with the federal government’s objections and blocking the state’s deal.
It’s unclear what comes next in the case under the new special master, but the parties could return to the negotiation table to hammer out another deal or return to the courtroom.
Bernalillo County sees first West Nile virus death this year - Elizabeth McCall, City Desk ABQ
Officials announced Friday the first death from West Nile virus in Bernalillo County.
Albuquerque’s Environmental Health Department and the Bernalillo County Planning Development Services Department announced in a news release that the woman who died was 65 years old, which is within the age range of people most at risk.
The release stated the city has found West Nile virus-positive mosquitoes at locations throughout the city. Both departments urged residents to take precautions against mosquito bites during months of peak activity.
Kellison Platero, the county’s health protection manager, said in the release it has been a “busy season for our vector control technicians as they focus on efforts to minimize the impact of mosquitos.”
According to the release, the most common symptoms of West Nile virus are fever, nausea, headache, muscle aches and sometimes neurological symptoms.
The city recommends taking these steps to prevent mosquito bites:
- Use insect repellent on exposed skin and clothing when outdoors.
- Avoid scheduling outdoor activities around dawn and dusk when mosquitoes are most actively biting.
- Eliminate water-holding containers where mosquitoes lay eggs.
- When flood-irrigating, prevent water from standing for more than a few days.
- Keep windows and doors closed if they do not have screens.
The New Mexico Department of Health reported on Aug. 6 that the first case of West Nile virus in 2024 was in Union County. According to the department, the state has reported approximately 35 cases yearly over the last five years.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that 33 states have reported cases of the West Nile virus this year. Earlier this week, a 50-year-old man from El Paso, Texas died from the virus.
'We were expendable': Downwinders from world's 1st atomic test are on a mission to tell their story - By Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
It was the summer of 1945 when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Japan, killing thousands of people as waves of destructive energy obliterated two cites. It was a decisive move that helped bring about the end of World War II, but survivors and the generations that followed were left to grapple with sickness from radiation exposure.
At the time, U.S. President Harry Truman called it "the greatest scientific gamble in history," saying the rain of ruin from the air would usher in a new concept of force and power. What he didn't mention was that the federal government had already tested this new force on U.S. soil.
Just weeks earlier in southern New Mexico, the early morning sky erupted with an incredible flash of light. Windows rattled hundreds of miles away and a trail of fallout stretched to the East Coast.
Ash from the Trinity Test rained down for days. Children played in it, thinking it was snow. It covered fresh laundry that was hanging out to dry. It contaminated crops, singed livestock and found its way into cisterns used for drinking water.
The story of New Mexico's downwinders — the survivors of the world's first atomic blast and those who helped mine the uranium needed for the nation's arsenal — is little known. But that's changing as the documentary "First We Bombed New Mexico" racks up awards from film festivals across the United States.
It's now screening in the northern New Mexico community of Los Alamos as part of the Oppenheimer Film Festival. It marks a rare chance for the once secret city that has long celebrated the scientific discoveries of J. Robert Oppenheimer — the father of the atomic bomb — to contemplate another more painful piece of the nation's nuclear legacy.
The film, directed and produced by Lois Lipman, highlights the displacement of Hispanic ranching families when the Manhattan Project took over the Pajarito Plateau in the early 1940s, the lives forever altered in the Tularosa Basin where the bomb was detonated and the Native American miners who were never warned about the health risks of working in the uranium industry.
Their heart-wrenching stories woven together with the testimony of professors and doctors spurred tears in Los Alamos, as they have in Austin, Texas, Annapolis, Maryland, and every other city where the film has been screened.
Andi Kron, a long-time Los Alamos resident, was in awe of the cinematography but also horrified as she learned more.
"Just unbelievable," she said, noting that even people who have been involved in studying different aspects of the Trinity Test decades later remain unaware of the downwinders' plight.
Lipman and others hope to distribute the documentary more widely as part of an awareness campaign as downwinders push for the federal Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to be reauthorized and expanded to include more people who have been exposed by nuclear weapons work carried out by the federal government.
Over the past 10 years, Lipman has followed Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium co-founder Tina Cordova as she has appeared before Congress, held countless town halls and shared meals and prayers with community members.
Lipman expressed her frustrations during the premiere in Los Alamos, noting that despite testimony about the injustices that followed the Trinity Test, the federal government has yet to acknowledge its failures in recognizing the damage that was done nearly 80 years ago.
As the film notes, there were about a half-million people — mostly Hispanics and Native Americans — living within a 150-mile (241.4-kilometer) radius of the blast. The area was neither remote nor unpopulated, despite government claims that no lived there and no one was harmed.
In the film, Cordova — a cancer survivor herself — tells community members that they will not be martyrs anymore. Her family is among many from Tularosa and Carrizozo who have had mothers, fathers, siblings and children die from cancer.
"They counted on us to be unsophisticated, uneducated and unable to speak up for ourselves. We're not those people any more," Cordova said. "I'm not that person. You're not those people."
The U.S. Senate passed a bill earlier this year that would finally recognize downwinders in New Mexico and in several other states where nuclear defense work has resulted in contamination and exposure. However, the bipartisan measure stalled in the U.S. House over concerns by some Republican lawmakers about cost.
Cordova and others turned out Wednesday in Las Cruces to demonstrate as U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson visited New Mexico to campaign for Republican congressional candidate Yvette Herrell. The downwinders have vowed to make it a campaign issue in the must-win district as well as in the dozens of other Republican districts around the U.S. that would benefit from an expansion of RECA.
At the film festival, Cordova told the audience that people for too long have been living separate lives, a poignant statement particularly for Los Alamos where science can sometimes be compartmentalized as experts work on solving specific aspects of bigger problems.
"There are no boundaries. We are not separate people. We all live in this state together and I would like to think that because of that we consider each other to be neighbors, friends, we're relatives with some of you," she said, thanking them for being there to hear another side of the story.
"We should be standing together for what is right," she said, prompting applause.
The audience included workers from Los Alamos National Laboratory, county officials and a state senator.
Bernice Gutierrez was born in Carrizozo several days before the bomb was detonated. She had no words to describe how important she believes it is for the people in Los Alamos to learn about the downwinders.
"I think a lot of people were surprised," she said after the first screening. "They don't know the history."
The Trinity Site was on a short list for possible locations for testing the bomb. The others included two sites in California, one in Texas and another in Colorado. The flat, arid nature of the White Sands Missile Range won out, with scientists initially thinking that predictable winds would limit the spread of radiation.
That ended up not being the case as erratic weather often accompanies New Mexico's summer rainy season. Aside from shifting winds, rain the night after meant fresh fallout likely found its way into the rainwater that was captured by residents' cisterns, according to a 2010 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC also noted that another path of exposure involved dairy cows and goats, which residents depended on for sustenance.
New modeling used by a team of researchers led by Princeton University showed in 2023 that nuclear explosions carried out in New Mexico and Nevada between 1945 and 1962 led to widespread radioactive contamination. The team reported that the world's first atomic detonation made a significant contribution to exposure in New Mexico and eventually reached 46 states, as well as Canada and Mexico.
Cordova said the federal government didn't warn residents before or after the detonation and continued for decades to minimize it because "we didn't matter, we were expendable."
"There's no excuse for it," she said.
Housing shortage could put brakes on new short-term rentals — Damon Scott, City Desk ABQ
The surge of short-term rentals and the rise of companies such as Airbnb has made it more difficult to find a home to rent or a house to buy in Albuquerque. The issue has spurred city councilors to propose a bill to limit the number of short-term rentals in certain areas, but others say it’s not that simple.
City Councilors Joaquín Baca and Nichole Rogers designed the bill to apply to sectors that host half of the short-term rental properties in the city — namely the Downtown, University of New Mexico (UNM) and Nob Hill areas.
No new short-term rental permits would be issued for properties within 330-feet of an existing one — roughly a residential block. The boundary would make it more difficult to add short-term rentals in the highly concentrated areas — represented in a recent map of the Raynolds neighborhood created by Downtown Area News.
There are exceptions to the 330-foot restriction. It wouldn’t apply to existing short-term rentals or at properties where an owner rents out a room in the house they live in. It also wouldn’t apply to casitas where the owner occupies the primary residence on the property.
The City Council is scheduled to vote on the bill at its Sept. 4 meeting.
Patricia Wilson, president of the Victory Hills Neighborhood Association who’s in support of the bill, said private investors buying single family homes has “done more to exacerbate Albuquerque’s housing shortage than anything else.”
“Every short-term rental removes a long-term housing opportunity from our critical shortage of housing, and even a single short-term rental has an often deleterious effect on the community of a block,” she said.
Victory Hills is located just south of UNM and Nob Hill. Wilson said the neighborhood’s proximity to Bandelier Elementary School makes it a desirable spot for families with kids, but as more short-term rentals have come online, options have dwindled.
“People without a stake in the neighborhood are probably the most destructive,” she said.
This view is borne out by data from analytics firm CoreLogic. The firm told City Desk ABQ that its data confirms that investors are buying at higher numbers than usual in Bernalillo County — an almost 35% share so far this year compared with 22.5% in 2019.
‘THE REAL SOLUTION’
Others aren’t as convinced that the restrictions are an answer to the city’s housing woes, and the bill’s passage could face an uphill climb.
A similar bill was sponsored last year by former City Councilor Ike Benton — although it would have applied citywide. Councilors voted against the bill on a 6-3 vote.
Erin Thornton of Strong Towns ABQ said that while the group supports the restrictions as a stop gap measure to prevent the loss of scarce housing supply, the city needs to do more.
“Albuquerque is short by thousands of homes, so we continue to urge City Council to focus on simplifying and speeding up the permitting process for building housing and allow missing middle housing throughout the city where jobs, transit and community resources exist,” she said.
Strong Towns ABQ — a nonprofit, anti-sprawl, advocacy organization — was one of the most vocal supporters of proposed zoning changes to allow single family homes to be converted into duplexes for rent in certain areas located near mass transit. The City Council voted against the measure in a 6-3 vote in June.
While short-term rentals aren’t generally a focus of the Apartment Association of New Mexico, its executive director, Alan LaSeck, said imposing more limits is likely not an answer to high rents and the city’s housing headaches.
“If you crunch the numbers, there are about 260,000 household units in Albuquerque and about 2,200 active Airbnb’s — depending on the time of the year,” he said. “That means Airbnbs roughly account for 0.0085% of Albuquerque’s housing stock.”
Based on LaSeck’s figures Airbnbs are actually .85% of Albuquerque’s housing stock.
LaSeck noted that there are also positives associated with short-term rentals.
“I, a family of five with a dog, prefer to stay in Airbnb — it just makes more sense,” he said. “If I was traveling here for the Balloon Fiesta, Airbnb would be my preferred choice.”
LaSeck said short-term rentals also contribute to city coffers through lodgers’ and gross receipts taxes.
“Both are good things. The real solution to more housing is to build more housing,” he said.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include the correct percentage of short term rentals based on LaSeck’s figures.
Senators demand the USDA fix its backlog of food distribution to Native American tribes - By Graham Lee Brewer, Associated Press
A bipartisan group of senators is demanding immediate action from USDA Secretary Thomas Vilsack after several tribal nations reported that a federal food distribution program they rely on has not fulfilled orders for months, and in some cases has delivered expired food.
Last spring, the USDA consolidated from two contractors to one for deliveries of its Food Distribution Program in Indian Reservations. In a letter sent to Vilsack on Friday, the senators expressed concern that Native American families across the country are experiencing "extreme disruptions."
"Participating households have not had consistent food deliveries for over four months," the senators wrote. "This is unacceptable."
The Associated Press obtained a copy of the letter exclusively Thursday, before it was sent the USDA leader.
Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon said he was stunned to hear from five tribal nations in his state this summer that they have been struggling to meet their families' needs since the consolidation.
"The USDA must swiftly and fully address this self-inflicted crisis," Merkley said in a statement. "There can be no more excuses for food delays, missed deliveries, or delivery of expired products."
Merkley is joined in the letter by Republican senators John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer of North Dakota and Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, as well as Democrats Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Ron Wyden of Oregon, and Tina Smith of Minnesota.
More than 50,000 Native American families rely on this food, said Mary Greene-Trottier, who directs food distribution for the Spirit Lake Nation and is president of the National Association of Food Distribution Programs on Indian Reservations.
"They're going without," Greene-Trottier said. "Imagine showing up at the grocery store during Covid or a winter blizzard, and the shelves are empty. That's the feeling that they get."
Officials with Spirit Lake Nation, a tribe in North Dakota with about 7,600 members, said one order this month arrived only partially filled, and another the month before never came.
"We didn't know our trucks weren't coming until they didn't show up," Greene-Trottier said.
In a July letter to Secretary Vilsack, she and other tribal officials expressed skepticism that the remaining contractor, Paris Brothers Inc., would have enough time to transition into being the sole provider for food deliveries to dozens of tribal nations. The Kansas City, Missouri-based food wholesaler was given only four weeks to prepare for the increased workload, according to the letter.
In a statement, Paris Brothers Inc. said it is "actively addressing" the recent challenges.
The USDA has responded with updates in weekly calls with tribal leaders, and a consultation with tribes is scheduled for next month in Washington, D.C.
The agency said the decision to consolidate was the outcome of a competitive bidding process, and Paris Brothers was the only company that the USDA board determined could meet the need. To help the contractor scale up to handle a larger influx of inventory, the agency has provided USDA staff to assist with customer service-related work with tribes and is partnering with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help with the company's logistics program.
"Our first order of business has been to get food where it's needed," the agency said in a statement. "In addition, we are undertaking a review of our procurement process to prevent similar circumstances from occurring in the future."
The agency also is assisting tribes in using other federal programs that can offer additional food and resources, and has offered $11 million to tribal nations to address the food shortages while Paris Brothers tries to catch up.
But Greene-Trottier said that money likely won't go far enough, and tribal leaders have been told they won't be eligible for reimbursement of any additional costs. She's been relying on other programs and scarce resources to fill the gaps. The Spirit Lake Nation and others have even offered to drive to Missouri to pick up their food orders themselves, but Greene-Trottier said that request was denied by the USDA.
On Thursday, Spirit Lake Nation officials said they were told missing orders from July will be canceled and left unfulfilled. Vice Chair ReNa Lohnes said the tribe has yet to receive its portion of the $11 million, leaving them hard pressed for solutions and not knowing how, if ever, they will be made whole again.
Lohnes said she had concerns from the beginning, when USDA announced the change, but she never imagined they would be where they are now. "Thinking that we would be scrambling for food," she said. "We've been told that it's coming, it's coming, it's coming. And we wait and wait and nothing."
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This story has been corrected to Vilsack, not Vilsak.