Information effort leads to gun seizures at Volcano Vista High School - Rodd Cayton, City Desk ABQ
School officials say efforts to get students to report suspicious activity were instrumental in recovering two firearms at Volcano Vista High School this week.
A junior at the school faces felony charges after the weapons were reportedly found in his backpack and vehicle Tuesday. Another person on campus reported behavior that led school staff to contact the student.
A letter from Principal Melissa Sedillo to parents said the student didn’t express any intention to harm himself or anyone else.
“Nevertheless, the presence of any weapon on school grounds is a serious violation of our policies,” she wrote. “The student who brought the guns is facing severe consequences, up to and including expulsion and potential prosecution.”
Martín Salazar, a spokesperson for Albuquerque Public Schools, confirmed Wednesday the student was booked into the Bernalillo County Youth Services Center on two counts of unlawful possession of a deadly weapon on a school campus.
State law sets the basic sentence for someone convicted of a fourth-degree felony at 18 months of imprisonment.
“We discovered the firearms at Volcano Vista because someone spoke up,” he said. “We urge everyone to remain vigilant and promptly report any suspicious activities or concerns. We take all reported threats seriously and investigate. If you see something, say something.”
OTHER INCIDENTS
This is the second time this school year — which started a little more than a month ago — a firearm has been found on an APS campus. On Sept. 5, a Valley High School student was arrested after school staff reportedly found a handgun in his backpack.
“I want to stress that APS has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to guns on school campuses,” Salazar said. “Students found in possession of a firearm on a school campus face expulsion for a full calendar year in addition to criminal charges. District Attorney Sam Bregman has made it clear that anyone caught with a firearm at a school would face severe consequences through the criminal justice system.”
He said human intelligence — gathering information about possible rules violations from student and staff reports — is one of several tools APS uses to keep students safe.
“Our ‘see something, say something’ campaign has been highly effective,” Salazar said. “Since 2016, we’ve spent more than $40 million on things like cameras and alarms, door locks, fencing and gates, card access, and creating secure vestibules at schools.”
He said the district has also issued panic alert badges to staff that allow employees to call for help, activating ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate) protocols at their schools by clicking a button.
APS campuses have issued at least 14 shelter-in-place orders so far this school year. While that number includes one on Tuesday resulting from a telephone threat to Del Norte High School, Salazar said many of the orders are due to nearby police activity in the area and not indicative of an emergency on school grounds.
Once officers from various law enforcement agencies determined the Del Norte campus was secure, Salazar said, school officials lifted the shelter-in-place order.
He said there would be an increased police presence at Del Norte through Wednesday.
NMSU announces new president - Santa Fe New Mexican, Associated Press, KUNM News
After more than a year, New Mexico State University has a new president. The university’s board of regents announced their pick of Valerio Ferme Thursday.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports Ferme comes to Las Cruces by way of Ohio, where he serves the University of Cincinnati’s provost and executive vice president for academic affairs.
The search for NMSU’s top executive began when former President and Chancellor Dan Arvizu resigned last year. The Associated Press reported at the time that “the embattled chancellor” stepped down amid “a climate of deep distrust and frustration with school leadership.”
The process appeared to be nearing its end back in February, when the New Mexican reports the regents announced a list of finalists for the position. However, they rejected the entire pool the following month.
A new list of candidates was pulled together, including Ferme and then-New Mexico Public Education Secretary Arsenio Romero.
Romero resigned from his post late last month in response to an ultimatum from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to either withdraw from the NMSU hiring process or step down from leading the state department.
In a statement, Ferme said he is “ready for this challenge.” He says he plans to travel around the state to learn how NMSU can support residents’ educational growth, maintaining the university’s commitment to diversity.
$70M officially on its way to Ruidoso area to help governments recover from fires, floods - By Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
A state agency has awarded $70 million in zero-interest loans to local governments in and around Ruidoso, cutting checks that the New Mexico Legislature authorized during a special legislative session in July.
The loans are to help public entities like the Village of Ruidoso stay afloat as they pay millions of dollars to rebuild from a natural disaster that began with the South Fork and Salt fires. The fires began in mid-June, and destruction continues today with flash floods.
According to a news release Wednesday from the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration, $36 million is going to Lincoln County to repair road and bridge damages in the Cedar Creek and Gavilan Canyon areas.
The state will also give $44 million to the Village of Ruidoso for road and bridge repairs in the Upper Canyon area.
Ruidoso Mayor Lynn Crawford said $22 million had already been deposited in the village’s bank account on Tuesday morning. He was concerned it would take three more months or longer to see the money, so he was pleased that it came so quickly.
“It came at a great time,” he said.
The bills for Ruidoso Village are piling up, the mayor said, as it works to dig out and prevent future damage floods.
Ruidoso Village has two contracts worth $70 million for watershed restoration and infrastructure repair, Crawford said, and expenses keep accruing. A recent estimate he saw of costs for the village alone was $81 million, though calculations are ongoing and “numbers are being compiled constantly,” he said.
The South Fork and Salt fires burned about 25,000 acres and destroyed or badly damaged more than 1,100 homes, including about 230 lost in post-fire flooding.
The disaster loans were included in a lone piece of legislation New Mexico lawmakers passed during a special session in mid-July. The loans were granted to get money quickly to disaster-stricken areas to cover expenses while they wait for reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Public Assistance program.
State lawmakers passed a similar measure following the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire in April 2022.It took more than a year, in some cases, for local governments like Mora County to receive the loan funds after that fire.
This time around, it took less than two months. Awards for loans were announced 50 days between when Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the bill in late July to Wednesday.
“(Department of Finance and Administration) got this money out the door so it can be put to use as the community rebuilds and recovers from the fires,” secretary Wayne Propst said in a news release. “We treated this with the utmost urgency and completed the process as quickly as possible.
In addition to the $70 million in loans, lawmakers included $30 million in grants for agencies and governments involved in the recovery, including $10 million apiece for the Mescalero Apache Reservation, the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and the state Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department.
Governor’s cabinet hosts 2-day resource event in the Ruidoso area - By Nash Jones, KUNM News
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s cabinet will be in the Ruidoso area Friday and Saturday, Sept. 20 and 21, offering assistance and information to disaster victims.
The community events are part of the executive branch’s Cabinet in Your Community series, which the Governor’s Office says are meant to improve how it serves constituents and educate the public about available resources.
Held in a community devastated by this summer’s Salt and South Fork fires, and the flash flooding that has followed, this fifth stop on the tour will focus on disaster recovery.
According to the announcement, the events will offer information on accessing health and unemployment benefits, as well as finding work. The cabinet will also provide immediate resource like free food, books and backpacks.
The state Environment Department announced Thursday that it will offer well water testing both days. The agency is asking attendees to properly collect water samples and bring them to the department’s booth.
The event begins Friday at 3 p.m. at the Inn of Mountain Gods in Mescalero. A town hall is scheduled at 5:30 p.m. On Saturday, the state agencies will set up in the Ruidoso High School Cafeteria beginning at 11 a.m. Another town hall is set for 1 p.m. that day.
Bracing for another warmer, drier winter in New Mexico - By Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
While monsoons returned to New Mexico this summer and alleviated some of the state’s acute drought concerns, areas hit by wildfire faced dangerous debris flows, and other places lost out on needed rain.
“Monsoons are a mixed blessing,” said Andrew Mangham, a hydrologist at the National Weather Service office in Albuquerque. “They are a very important part of our hydrology in the state, helping with our drought conditions and our crop conditions. But they come with some struggles, flooding in areas.”
New Mexico’s monsoons are always difficult to predict. This year, monsoon rains were pretty active across much of the state, including the Four Corners region and portions of Albuquerque. More rain meant severe flooding in the Hermit Peak/Calf Canyon and South Fork and Salt fire burn scars, which caused evacuations and damage.
One particularly fierce storm dropped five to six inches of rain in three hours, sending water and a slurry of soil and ash barreling down Highway 70. The debris, remnants of destruction from the South Fork and Salt fires, swept up trucks and dumpsters in a bout of flash flooding.
One of the fingerprints of climate change is the hotter air boosting storms, delivering high amounts of rain, said Mangham, a development that’s been visible in New Mexico the last 30 years.
“We’re seeing fewer storms, but when they do manifest, they’re much more intense, and that is exactly what you don’t want over burn scars,” he said.
On the other side of the mountains, in the area around Cloudcroft, rainfall accumulation is nine inches below its average, according to Anthony Brown, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service El Paso office in Santa Teresa.
Brown said this area has only received seven inches of rain since June.
More than 40% of the state was in extreme drought earlier this year, and after the rains, only 3% of the state remains in that dire condition. This includes portions of the bootheel and the southeastern plains in Otero and Eddy counties.
Much of the southern third of New Mexico remains in severe drought conditions, receiving less rain over the summer.
But while it didn’t rain, the moisture in the air trapped more heat, and raised the temperatures of the coldest parts of the mornings.
The summer in New Mexico may have felt cooler than last year’s string of triple-digit days and ‘nonsoon’ weather, but 2024’s nights were measurably hotter.
In fact, those sweltering nights bumped this summer to Las Cruces’ hottest on record, according to the National Weather Service.
Hotter nights pose health risks, exacerbating underlying heart conditions or diabetes, and worsen people’s sleep and keeps energy use up to use air conditioning at night.
“It compounds to the heat stress that people feel, because there’s just no relief at night,” Brown said.
Eyes will be on any drought areas, as forecasters expect a drier and warmer winter for New Mexico with a La Niña atmospheric pattern developing in the Pacific Ocean.
That atmospheric pattern can bring warmer temperatures, but also increases the risk of extreme cold, building a ridge of pressure that can push air from Northern Alaska and Sibera into the lower 48 states.
“The thing about La Nina is, even though, on average, our temperatures tend to be warmer than normal, we’re more likely to get cold snaps – those arctic air masses coming down,” Brown said.
But typically, the winters have less snow and rain. If the forecast holds true, drier landscapes and soils may grow thirstier over the fall and winter, Mangham said.
“Having a warm, dry winter sets the stage for a really problematic expansion of drought conditions in the spring,” Mangham said. “If we don’t get the good runoff through the area that doesn’t wet the soils, it doesn’t wet the fine fuels, it doesn’t recharge our aquifers and our reservoirs at all, then we’re in pretty rough shape when we get to our very dry spring season.”
NMED releases draft feasibility study for controversial Strategic Water Supply - By Hannah Grover, New Mexico Political Report
The New Mexico Environment Department released a draft feasibility study for a controversial water proposal on Tuesday.
The study looks at using treated brackish and produced water, which is a byproduct of oil and gas extraction, for industrial purposes in an effort to reduce demands on freshwater supplies. That proposal is known as the Strategic Water Supply. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced plans to pursue this effort last year.
Climate change is reducing the amount of water available in the state and officials estimate there will be 25 percent less water available in rivers and aquifers by 2072. At the same time, demand for that water is increasing, particularly in the San Juan Basin region and the Middle Rio Grande area.
Meanwhile, there are untapped reserves of brackish underground water as well as wastewater from the oil and gas industry. The state officials hope these can help reduce demands on freshwater resources, though they say adequate regulatory controls are needed to protect both environment and human health.
Critics point to the expensive nature of desalination as well as various unknowns, including questions about how much brackish water is actually present in the aquifers and whether produced water can safely be treated for beneficial use.
According to the draft study, some of the important factors to consider when weighing treatment projects include location, water source, labor force, end users and infrastructure.
The draft study also states that more information is needed about the chemical composition of produced water in New Mexico. It also states that desalination, which is needed for both brackish and produced water treatment, is an energy-intensive process and that support for desalination projects should “be considered within the context of the State’s decarbonization goals.”
When looking at brackish water, the draft study states that there may be three basins in New Mexico where the saline aquifers could provide an alternative water supply. Those include the Española Basin near Santa Fe, the Mesilla Basin south of Las Cruces and the Albuquerque Basin.
“Though there are data that suggest areas that may be most promising for developing brackish water resources…full characterization of these resources at the localized level is needed to site the well and understand the treatment processes required to treat the brackish water to the desired water quality of the end user,” the study states.
Some of the concerns the study highlights around use of brackish water include land subsidence, saltwater intrusion into freshwater aquifers, decreased surface water flows, energy demands and disposal of residual constituents.
The draft study also looks at potential end uses for the treated water including green hydrogen production, data centers, semiconductor manufacturing, solar panel manufacturing, electric vehicle manufacturing, pumped hydro energy storage and cement or concrete production.
In terms of costs, produced water projects in the San Juan Basin could cost between $13 million and $191 million and, in the Permian Basin, those costs could be between $38 million and $667 million. Brackish water projects could cost between $3 million and $107 million.
Trial, jury selection set for 2023 Oñate statue shooting - By Austin Fisher, Source New Mexico
The trial for the man recorded on video shooting a climate activist during a prayer ceremony and protest in Rio Arriba County is set to begin in October.
Ryan Martinez, carrying a concealed 9mm handgun, repeatedly tried to rush into an area where around 50 people were peacefully celebrating county officials’ decision to postpone resurrecting a statue of genocidal Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate.
Martinez shot Jacob Johns, a Hopi, Akimel O’odham activist from Washington, in the chest. Martinez then allegedly turned the gun on Malaya Peixinho. The gun jammed, and he fled the scene.
Martinez is being prosecuted for trying to murder Johns and assaulting Peixinho. State prosecutors have also added a hate crime and a firearm enhancement to the charges against him.
Jury selection and a trial are set to happen Oct. 7 in First Judicial District Judge Jason Lidyard’s courtroom in Tierra Amarilla.
The first leg of the trial is scheduled for Oct. 8 through Oct. 11, when state prosecutors are expected to make their case and call their witnesses to testify.
The second leg of the trial is scheduled for Oct. 16 through Oct. 18, when defense lawyers for Martinez will make their case and call their own witnesses.
Typically, both sides make opening arguments at the beginning of a trial, and closing arguments at the end.
County commissioners delay funding for pallet homes, reaffirm support - Rodd Cayton, City Desk ABQ
Bernalillo County commissioners Tuesday reaffirmed support for an effort to combat the local homelessness problem, despite voting to move money they had designated for it elsewhere.
At their regular meeting, commissioners decided to redistribute $600,000 that had been earmarked for a pallet-home campus planned by the City of Albuquerque. City leaders envision the pallet homes as a transitional recovery site for those seeking treatment for substance abuse issues.
Denise Benavidez, principal financial analyst with the county’s finance division, said the county initially planned to use American Rescue Plan Act money for the program but it must be budgeted by Dec. 31, and spent by the end of 2026, under the terms of the federal law authorizing the grant.
The motion approved by commissioners will move that money to an as-yet undetermined project.
Benavidez told commissioners that Interim County Manager Shirley Ragin plans to tap the general fund for the pallet-home program instead.
Commission Vice Chair Eric Olivas noted his support for the homes.
“I think [it’s] a really important project,” Olivas said. “As I’ve seen this project evolve and mature, this is a fairly cost-effective way to get a door that locks and a roof over people’s heads.”
The county already operates the Tiny Home Village transitional housing community near Central Avenue and Texas Street in Southeast Albuquerque.
The Albuquerque City Council in April voted to create a 50-unit community of the small portable homes on a former state Motor Vehicle Division site on Pan American Freeway NE just north of Candelaria Road. The $5 million allocated by the City comes from the opioid settlement funds.
The county allocated $800,000 for the city’s project, initially including the ARPA money that is now headed elsewhere.
City, Human Rights Board clash on homelessness - By Damon Scott, City Desk ABQ
A rift formed this summer between the city and its Human Rights Board over an analysis of the state of those experiencing homelessness in Albuquerque.The result is that a final report to be issued to the city won’t be submitted. Even though the all-volunteer board has no legal jurisdiction, it is empowered by city ordinance to investigate issues and propose findings.
“I took the city’s reaction to the previous draft of the report as a warning that further consideration could result in issues for the board,” Anami Dass, board chair, said.
Throughout the year, the board — and Dass especially — has assessed and investigated an array of challenges faced by thousands of people in Albuquerque who live on the streets and in city shelters. The board found those experiencing homelessness encounter widespread discrimination, stigma and exclusion by the public and city employees and contractors. It also found issues with the city’s housing voucher program and with conditions at its Westside shelter — Gateway West, formerly the Westside Emergency Housing Center.
Its preliminary findings published in July also said the city had been too aggressive in its handling of illegal encampments — including the disposal of personal belongings that sometimes contained legal documents and personal identification. Those experiencing homelessness regularly report that a main barrier to secure housing is a lack of proper identification.
“The City Attorney has identified multiple concerns about the [preliminary] report and the process in which it was created, including that the forum was improperly conducted, the board was not impartial in the forum, and the report contained claims without any evidence or support,” city spokesperson Staci Drangmeister, said in a statement last week. “Given the significant deficiencies, it is appropriate the board withdrew the [final] report.”
The forum was a board-sponsored public hearing in June at the International District Library, where many attendees criticized the city’s treatment of those experiencing homelessness. City Attorney Lauren Keefe said in July that assertions made at the hearing were little more than “generalities and hearsay.” She also said that city officials had been caught off guard by the board’s preliminary report and hadn’t been given a sufficient opportunity to respond to “some very, very severe allegations.” In addition, she said the board’s fact-finding and report-writing process was “very questionable.”
Dass disputes Keefe’s criticism and said city representatives have been invited to board meetings and events multiple times this year.
“But I chose to withdraw [the final report] because I didn’t want to attract too much negativity toward the board from the city,” Dass said.
She said maintaining a positive relationship with the city, or at least a neutral one, was more important in the end.
“The only power we have is a relationship with the city where we can advocate for things a bit louder than an individual person could,” Dass said.
Dass said she hopes, however, that the misunderstandings can be cleared up at the board’s next meeting scheduled for Sept. 19.
“This whole thing has been very confusing with misinformation and misinterpretation of the entire effort,” Dass said. “In no way was I trying to embarrass the city or was I trying to do any kind of ‘gotcha’ moment.”
Dass said going forward, she’s hopeful that the board will move on to other topics it’s passionate about.
“I would like to do good for all human rights and not just things that affect me personally,” she said. “The board is made up of a lot of amazing people and I want their voices to be heard for the rest of this year and beyond.”
In addition to being an outspoken advocate for those experiencing homelessness, Dass is a harm reduction specialist in the International District.
More information about the board’s Sept. 19 meeting is here. Dass has self-published what would have been the board’s final report on homelessness to the city here.
MDC officer arrested for alleged ‘inappropriate’ relationship with an inmate — Daniel Montano, KUNM News
Bernalillo county announced Wednesday a corrections officer at its jail has been arrested on accusations of having an “inappropriate and illegal sexual relationship” with an inmate.
Metropolitan Detention Center leadership was notified of the relationship early Tuesday morning, and immediately contacted the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office to start an investigation, according to a press release.
Officer Chevonne Culbreath was removed from her position at the jail, arrested by the sheriff’s office and returned to MDC for booking by Tuesday evening.
She has been charged with criminal sexual penetration and bringing contraband into places of imprisonment, both felonies.
Warden Kai Smith says behavior like Culbreath is accused of will not be tolerated, and that MDC is, quote, “committed to ensuring that corrupt officers are swiftly identified and removed.”
During her arraignment Wednesday afternoon, a Metro court judge ordered her to be held in jail as the case is transferred to district court.
JD Souther, who helped write 'New Kid in Town,' 'Heartache Tonight' and other Eagles hits, has died - Associated Press
John David "JD" Souther, a prolific songwriter and musician who helped shape the country-rock sound that took root in Southern California in the 1970s with his collaborations with the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt, has died at the age of 78.
Souther, who collaborated on some of the Eagles' biggest hits, such as "Best of My Love," "James Dean," "New Kid in Town," and "Heartache Tonight," died Tuesday at his home in New Mexico, according to an announcement on his website.
He also worked with James Taylor, Bob Seger, Bonnie Raitt and many more, and also found success as a solo artist. He was about to start a tour with Karla Bonoff on Sept. 24 in Phoenix, now canceled.
When he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2013, Souther was described as "a principal architect of the Southern California sound and a major influence on a generation of songwriters." He was also at the heart of the social scene, his girlfriends including Ronstadt, Joni Mitchell and Stevie Nicks, who in a 1982 interview with High Times magazine remembered him as "very, very, very male chauvinistic and very sweet and cute and wonderful but very Texas."
Souther was born in Detroit and grew up in Amarillo, Texas. He moved to Los Angeles in the late 1960s, where he met fellow Michigan native Glenn Frey, a founding member and guitarist of the Eagles. The two began a longtime partnership, starting with a band called Longbranch Pennywhistle. Frey would credit Souther with introducing him to country music.
"Our first year together will always seem like yesterday to me," Souther said in a statement after Frey died in 2016. "His amazing capacity for the big joke and that brilliant groove that lived inside him are with me, even now, in this loss and sorrow. ... The music and the love are indestructible."
Souther was so close to the Eagles, he even appeared on the back cover of their 1973 album, "Desperado," with Souther and others reenacting the capture of the legendary Dalton Gang. He described his start with Frey at The Troubadaour, the popular West Hollywood music club, as "the best study in songwriting I can imagine."
"So many great songwriters came through — Laura Nyro, Kris Kristofferson, Randy Newman, Elton John, James Taylor, Tim Hardin, Carole King, Rick Nelson, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Waylon Jennings, Tim Buckley, Gordon Lightfoot, Taj Mahal and more," he said in a statement on his website. "It seems impossible now to imagine that much music in a year and a half or so, but that was my life and the Troubadour was our university.
"It's also where I met Linda Ronstadt and where Don Henley and Glenn Frey met to form this little country rock band called Eagles that would go on to make musical history," Souther wrote.
On his own, Souther recorded his self-titled debut in 1972 before forming The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band with former Byrds member Chris Hillman and Poco's Richie Furay. A second solo effort in 1976, Black Rose, included a duet with Ronstadt, his one-time girlfriend, "If You Have Crying Eyes." Other duets he had recorded with her include "Prisoner in Disguise," "Sometimes You Can't Win" and "Hearts Against the Wind," the latter featured in the 1980 film "Urban Cowboy."
His biggest hit as a solo artist was "You're Only Lonely," from the 1979 album of the same name.
Other songs he wrote include "Run Like a Thief," for Bonnie Raitt, and "Faithless Love" and "White Rhythm and Blues" for Ronstadt. He collaborated and sang with James Taylor on "Her Town Too."
Among other artists he worked with as a singer were Don Henley, Christopher Cross, Dan Fogelberg and Roy Orbison.
He appeared as an actor on television in "thirtysomething," "Nashville" and "Purgatory" and in the films "Postcards from the Edge," "My Girl 2," and "Deadline."