State district court to weigh the future of monument in Santa Fe - Austin Fisher, Source New Mexico
A judge this week will decide the future of a controversial monument that sat at the center of New Mexico’s state capital for 152 years, until protesters tore it down during the wave of social unrest four years ago.
The Soldier’s Monument, also known as the Obelisk, was built on the Santa Fe Plaza in June 1868, according to a newspaper clipping from the time included in court records.
At the heart of the issue facing First Judicial District Court Judge Matthew Wilson is to determine if the emergency proclamation issued by Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber on June 18, 2020 was legal.
The proclamation called for the removal of three monuments in the city: the Kit Carson statue at the federal courthouse, the Don Diego de Vargas statue at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, and the Soldier’s Monument or Obelisk at the Plaza.
Protesters who said they were tired of waiting for the city government to remove the Obelisk tore it down themselves in October 2020 amid deep social unrest that year: the George Floyd protests, criticism of police violence, and the destruction or removal of more than 160 monuments to the Confederacy — including the removal of the Spanish colonial statues in Alcalde and Albuquerque after Steven Baca Jr. shot a protester.
The Union Protectiva de Santa Fe, a local social and fraternal organization, filed a civil lawsuit in June 2021 asking the court to force Webber and the city government to “repair and restore” the Soldier’s Monument at the Santa Fe Plaza.
The city government in May asked the judge to throw out the lawsuit.
However, the case will move forward after Wilson ruled on Sept. 6 there is evidence of a dispute about whether Webber’s proclamation and the actions taken at his direction could be considered illegal under state law governing historically significant sites.
Wilson said the Union Protectiva de Santa Fe presented evidence that the city’s changes to the Plaza, including encasing the Soldier’s Monument base in a box and putting a sign in front of it, along with removing the de Vargas statue, could arguably violate the law.
On Thursday, there will be a bench trial in the case, meaning the judge will act as the jury.
Stanley Harris is representing the city government in the case. On Sept. 6, he argued Webber issued the proclamation in the interest of public safety, and the city’s emergency code allows city officials to act on an emergency basis.
Continued prominent and public display of the monuments, without ongoing public debate about their appropriate treatment and context, “perpetuates systemic racism, civil unrest, and may lead to violence,” the proclamation states.
The city government removed the de Vargas statue in June 2020, and city officials said the purpose was to protect it from potential damage. In August, the city government put the de Vargas statue on public display at the New Mexico History Museum. Others damaged the Kit Carson statue in 2020 and again in 2023.
Kenneth Stalter, the attorney for the Union Protectiva de Santa Fe, argued the city government never did the legally required planning to come up with alternatives to its proposals, so it is barred from spending public funds in the way it did.
Stalter argued that since the city’s emergency ordinance does not explicitly give officials the authority to remove monuments, it did not give the city government the authority to remove the DeVargas statute.
Harris argued the Santa Fe City Council has not made a final decision about what to do with the Soldier’s Monument, so the law doesn’t apply the way the plaintiffs are arguing.
BernCo set to issue bonds for new film studio - By Rodd Cayton, City Desk ABQ
A proposed film studio complex could be a boon for the Albuquerque area, Bernalillo County commissioners said at their meeting Tuesday.
But they also said they want to make sure the project is done right, and that the developers address the concerns of neighbors at the proposed West Mesa site.
Commissioners voted to approve a preliminary resolution that could pave the way for the county to issue $186 million in industrial revenue bonds for the construction project, on behalf of Mesa Film Studios LLC.
Industrial revenue bonds provide tax exemptions for the purchase of land, buildings and equipment. Bondholders are repaid by the revenue the project generates. The government entity takes on no debt, and does not make a loan or lend its credit to the company.
County staff says the studio project would create 48 new full-time jobs over seven years, with an average annual salary of more than $54,000. The complex would include six sound stages, office space, a post-production studio and other features.
The City of Albuquerque and the State of New Mexico have committed a total of $7 million in economic development money to the project and the city plans to lease the land to Mesa Film Studios.
The company is working with the city to secure the necessary zoning changes to move forward. The proposed location is north of Double Eagle II Airport. County commissioners would give final approval of the bonds after the project has gone through the city’s process.
Harry Relkin, representing Mesa Film Studios, said the company sought to make the project collaborative, with the private sector and all three governmental entities invested.
Commissioner Walt Benson said the bonds present an opportunity for the county to ensure the best development.
“This gives us a seat at the table,” Benson said. “If we’re trying to make sure this is done right, this is how we can do it … I’m excited and I look forward to hearing the solutions that you provide for our constituents, our residents and our regional community members as well.”
Head of state children's cabinet named New Mexico's new public education secretary - Associated Press
Mariana Padilla has been named New Mexico's new Public Education Department secretary for K-12 schools, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Tuesday.
Padilla replaces Arsenio Romero, who resigned Aug. 28 after about a year and a half on the job.
New Mexico State University officials announced in August that Romero is one of the finalists in its search for a new president and a decision is expected by the end of this month.
Michael Coleman, a spokesperson for the governor, told the Santa Fe New Mexican that Lujan Grisham gave Romero "a choice to either resign and continue pursuing the NMSU position or stay on the job and withdraw his candidacy at NMSU."
Coleman added that "the Secretary of Public Education is critically important in New Mexico and the governor believes it's imperative that the person serving in this role be fully committed to the job."
The department has struggled to turn educational outcomes around as high percentages of students fail to be proficient in math and reading.
Padilla has served as the director of the New Mexico Children's Cabinet since the start of Lujan Grisham's administration and has been the governor's senior education policy advisor, overseeing early childhood, K-12 and higher education.
Lujan Grisham said in a statement that Padilla's work "has been instrumental in shaping our state's education system and I am confident that she will continue to bring positive change for New Mexico's students."
Padilla began her career as an elementary school teacher in her hometown of Albuquerque.
Blood testing for PFAS to start in Clovis - Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
State environment and health agencies are starting blood testing for ‘forever chemicals’ in Clovis on Thursday, the first of two rounds of testing.
Per-and-polyfluoroalkyl substances, called PFAS, are a class of manmade chemicals used in the manufacture of everything from rugs to cookware, and many more everyday goods. The chemicals are resistant to breaking down in nature. Since they can accumulate in water and soils and move through the food chain, and are found in the blood of many people and animals across the world.
While their harms are still being studied, PFAS has been linked to decreased fertility, fetal developmental delays, increases in certain cancer risk, and disruption of immune responses and hormones, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
New Mexico has several PFAS contamination sites. One of the most severe is at Cannon Air Force Base after decades of use of firefighting foams that contain the toxic chemical contaminated the groundwater on the base and several private wells.
At the end of August, state agencies hosted a public information session about the effort to test Curry County residents in the areas surrounding Cannon Air Force Base. EPCOR Water Utility, which provides Clovis’ water, said in its 2023 annual consumer report that the level of PFAs in the city’s drinking water is deemed safe.
The first round of blood testing will be Thursday Sept. 12 though Wednesday, Sept. 18. A second round will be held in October.
There are 500 slots available between the two blood testing events, said Kate Cardenas, who operates community engagement for the New Mexico Environment Department.
Cardenas said about 80 people attended the informational meeting and more than 230 have made an appointment.
The agencies are still hoping to fill 35 slots for the September round. To make an appointment call (575) 575-7327.
Testing is limited to adult residents living in the south-central area surrounding the base. That area is bordered by Curry Road 11 to the north, from Curry Road L to Curry Road T, east to west, and ends at the county line.
The tests are free and confidential, according to the department’s website, and will require a teaspoon-sized blood sample to test for 33 variants of PFAS used in firefighting foams and other goods.
Results are estimated to be available in the next three to four months following the appointment.
Participants will receive a $25 gift card for completing the appointment.
Feds, irrigation district say keep your wheels off of the silvery minnow - By Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
A recent uptick in off-roading by trucks and other vehicles in the Rio Grande near Belen has prompted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the local irrigation district to issue a warning to the public: stop, or face further consequences.
The Rio Grande is currently drying between Albuquerque and Socorro, trapping fish in shallow waters and pools, including the endangered silvery minnow.
There is a tenuous strip of water in the river running in the Isleta reach south of Albuquerque, buoyed by federal releases of water imported from the San Juan-Chama Project and water leased from farmers in the area.
Further south, in the San Acacia reach between Belen and Socorro, an estimated 18 river miles are dry, with some reconnection along the river from rains.
With low waters, federal officials and local irrigation authority at the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District said they’re concerned that people driving off-road vehicles in the riverbed may be “illegally killing and harassing the silvery minnow,” in an Aug. 29 news release.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said in the release that anyone performing an act that would “harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect” an animal protected under Endangered Species Act faces a fine up to $50,000, up to a year in prison, or both.
‘WE KNOW THAT THEY’RE THERE’
This area is a crucial stretch of habitat for the endangered fish, which now only lives in the Rio Grande between Cochiti Dam and Elephant Butte Reservoir.
“I can appreciate that it’s probably a really fun activity, but it does not coincide well with our attempts to manage that very critical ribbon of habitat for endangered species,” Casey Ish said about the vehicle activity in the riverbed in Valencia County.
Ish, a Water Resources Specialist for the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, said staff have seen anywhere from 40 to 50 vehicles in the riverbed on Friday or Saturday evenings in the summer.
“At the end of the day, we’ve got vehicles driving up and down a river, and that’s just not acceptable,” Ish said.
Rivers and streams are not explicitly mentioned in state laws limiting off-highway vehicle use, but the law prohibits driving in structures used to water livestock and wildlife, or driving “in a manner that has a direct negative effect on or interferes with persons engaged in agricultural practices.”
The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish says on its website it is illegal to operate off-road vehicles “in a way that damages environment, plants, animals or creates excessive noise.”
Ish said the hope is that with new signs posted, the matter would not escalate to police involvement, but also said this has been a challenge in recent years.
“Simply put, I think most of them probably know that it’s not allowed, but that that doesn’t really deter them,” Ish said.
With less water in the Rio Grande, silvery minnows have no room to flee from fast-moving vehicles, said Andy Dean, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist.
“We found about 50 silvery minnow and right where tire tracks were going through, so we know that they’re there,” said Dean, the head for the federal government of the New Mexico Ecological Services Field Office.
Another concern, he said, is that off-road drivers are trespassing on irrigation district lands or potentially polluting the remaining riverbed with fluids and oils.
Enforcement like this has not been tried before, Dean said. The first step is installing signs with warnings about the silvery minnow along the Rio Grande near Belen, to hopefully deter off-roaders.
“If it doesn’t work, then we’ll probably ask law enforcement to start doing some regular patrols down there and start issuing citations,” Dean said.
‘THE MINNOW IS THE ONLY REASON WE STILL HAVE WATER’
The Rio Grande silvery minnow is a small fish, about four inches long, often a shimmery green and yellow with a cream underbelly, with small eyes and a small mouth.
The minnow is the remnant of a wilder river, historically populating the Rio Grande from Española to the Gulf of Mexico. However, with loss of habitat from climate change, and human reshaping of the river alongside the minnow’s with a unique spawning technique and short lifespan, the fish remains on the edge of extinction.
WildEarth Guardians, a conservation nonprofit who has sued the federal government on behalf of the minnow, applauded the agency for taking steps to address threats to the endangered species.
“WildEarth Guardians supports the effort to prohibit any habitat destruction, including off-road vehicle use near Belen,” said Daniel Timmons, the Wild Rivers program director for the nonprofit. “That said – off-road vehicles are not the primary threat to the silvery minnow. The more concerning thing is that the river is so dry that you can drive a four-wheeler through it.”
Before the 1990s, River drying was rarer on the Rio Grande, but a combination of climate change lessening the snow supply and increased agricultural demand have exposed more sandbed, especially in the San Acacia reach, hurting the minnow’s survival.
Timmons said it’s crucial to understand that the river drying isn’t solely climate change, but is human-driven from irrigation needs.
“In particular it’s being diverted at Isleta by (Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District),” he said. “It’s pretty clear from the gage data that there’s a lot more water in the river above Isleta diversion dam than there is below it.”
A 2023 review by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service predicts that river-drying will continue, and be one of the largest threats to the minnow’s survival.
The silvery minnow is misunderstood, Dean said, saying that while it’s been framed as a detriment to farmers and ranchers, it’s the reason the river can be a wildspace in any capacity.
“The minnow is the only reason we still have water in the river. If the minnow didn’t exist in the river, there wouldn’t be any regulatory ability for us to limit the amount of water that is taken out,” Dean said. “It’s helping provide a corridor of recreation and a green portion of the valley.”