State Supreme Court also wants answers from DWI attorney - Colleen Heild, Albuquerque Journal
The state Supreme Court on Monday gave DWI attorney Thomas Clear III a week to explain why he shouldn’t be disciplined for his alleged conduct in a 15-year kickback scheme that has led to the dismissal of at least several hundred drunken driving cases in Albuquerque.
The Supreme Court, in its authority over lawyers practicing in state courts in New Mexico, cited a similar Jan. 29 order of New Mexico’s chief U.S. District Judge Kenneth Gonzales. Gonzales also wants Clear to show why he should not be disciplined or his law practice restricted.
Clear has practiced in both federal and state courts over the last two decades. Clear has not been criminally charged and hasn’t addressed the allegations publicly since the FBI executed search warrants a year ago at his law office, that of his investigator’s, and the residences of several Albuquerque police officers.
Most recently, federal prosecutors filed court records detailing the ongoing FBI investigation into a 15-year racketeering scheme in which law enforcement officers are alleged to have received gifts, cash and free legal services in exchange for referring clients to Clear and helping the attorney get the charges dismissed in court.
The only person who has pleaded guilty to bribery, extortion and other federal charges related to the scheme is Ricardo “Rick” Mendez, who was Clear’s private investigator on criminal cases. Mendez has not yet been sentenced.
The state Supreme Court on Monday told Clear he has until Feb. 10 to show, in writing, why he “should not be subject to discipline, up to and including suspension,” for the alleged conduct.
After the FBI investigation came to light, Clear resigned as the longtime chair of the state’s Public Defender Commission, which oversees the Law Office of the Public Defender in New Mexico.
Meanwhile, the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s office had to dismiss more than 200 pending DWI cases that had been filed by a group of APD officers whose credibility could have been questioned in court because of their alleged ties to the criminal scheme.
City Council OKs $30 million bond for soccer stadium - Elizabeth McCall, City Desk ABQ
The Albuquerque City Council on Monday night approved a $30 million industrial revenue bond (IRB) for a professional soccer stadium at Balloon Fiesta Park.
Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn asked Christopher Chavez, a manager with the Economic Development Department, to clear up any misconception that the IRB would use city taxpayer dollars.
“Industrial revenue bonds are an incentive we use to provide a tax abatement to a project,” Chavez said. “It’s a 20 year abatement on real and personal property taxes. The company, or the team in this case, is responsible for the purchase of the bonds…there’s no city funds that go to this. The 30 million that is stated in the application, refers to the amount of investment that the team is making.”
City Council President Brook Bassan was the only one to vote against the bill, citing concerns with an existing appeal.
“I declined sponsorship of this bill,” Bassan said. “There’s currently a land use hearing appeal occurring on this matter, so I have some concerns… What is the urgency to get this IRB secured now, before the matters of an appeal are resolved?”
Chavez said, “there are a lot of costs associated with it.”
“The company has to hire a bond council and we go through this entire process,” Chavez said. “What we’re essentially getting to the point with this legislation, is that in the eventualities that it does move forward, everything is in place and then the company would be able to go to purchase the bonds and get everything all lined up. We’re just basically getting everything set up, and then once all the other issues get resolved, the team will be able to move at an appropriate pace.”
The council originally approved building a stadium at the balloon park in 2023, and since then the issue has bounced between the city’s Environmental Planning Commission, a hearing officer and the council. Professional soccer team New Mexico United has committed to pay the majority of building costs and the city agreed to use state capital outlay money toward infrastructure improvements, including new permanent bathrooms.
Judge finds Public Education Department’s 180-day school calendar rule ‘unenforceable’ - By Leah Romero, Source New Mexico
A Ninth Judicial District Court judge ruled Monday that the New Mexico Public Education Department’s 180-day school calendar rule is unlawful.
Judge Dustin K. Hunter issued a temporary restraining order against the rule last spring after the New Mexico School Superintendents Association sued PED over a rule requiring 180 days of instructional time per school year. PED maintained that rule was in line with House Bill 130, signed into law in 2023, which increased the instructional hour requirements for K-12 students to 1,140 hours in the wake of the landmark education lawsuit Yazzie-Martinez.
In his final order, however, Hunter decreed the “PED lacks the authority to implement a rule mandating a minimum number of instructional days.” He said the rule is unenforceable as it conflicts with existing Public School Code statute that a “minimum hour requirement shall be the law” influencing school calendars and that districts have flexibility in how they meet the 1,140 instructional hour requirement.
The cost of extending the school year was one argument against the PED’s order, particularly for rural and Native school districts. According to court documents, many schools would have to add between 20 and 30 school days to comply with the PED, meaning added expenses for student transportation, lunch and utilities for school buildings. Plaintiffs also voiced concerns for losing teachers, staff members and students if the PED’s rule was upheld.
Stan Rounds, executive director of the New Mexico School Superintendents Association, told Source NM that he was very pleased with the court’s decision and hopes it “will allow districts to move forward with certainty into their calendars and budgets” for next school year.
“What this ruling, in my read of it, provides is that local school boards are the first-tier decision makers in what their school calendar looks like in meeting the 1,140 hours,” Rounds said.
Source reached out to Public Education Department spokespersons for comment by email and phone but did not receive a response before press time.
Texas measles outbreak puts New Mexico health officials on alert - By Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
New Mexico health officials are checking New Mexico residents for possible exposure to measles, following two cases reported in Gaines County, Texas, which borders Lea County. Officials say the two cases raise concerns for people traveling across state lines, and encouraged residents to confirm they and their children have been vaccinated.
“Measles spreads easily and can linger in the air for hours after a person infected has left a room,” DOH Chief Medical Officer Dr. Miranda Durham said in a statement. “The Texas cases highlight the importance of making sure you and your children are up-to-date on the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine.”
The vaccine is highly effective, with adults vaccinated as children having enough immunity to last a lifetime, according to health officials.
The symptoms of measles can appear anywhere from a week to three weeks after exposure and include fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes and a red spotty rash starting on the head and face and spreading over the body.
The most recent cases documented in New Mexico occurred in May 2024 and included two unvaccinated children, living in the same household in Taos County, who contracted measles after international travel.
The U.S. officially eliminated measles in 2000 after decades of vaccination brought down cases from the hundreds of thousands to a handful only when contracted traveling abroad. Pockets of unvaccinated people can face outbreaks. The occurrence of outbreaks has been increasing, with more than 286 cases in 31 states and Washington D.C. recorded in 2024.
Tariff threats take aim at fentanyl trafficking. Here's how the drug reaches the US - By Jesse Bedayn Associated Press/Report For America
President Donald Trump's plan to impose tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada and China is partly aimed at combating the illicit flow of fentanyl into the U.S., where the opioid is blamed for some 70,000 overdose deaths annually.
Mexico agreed Monday to send 10,000 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border as part of a deal with Trump to pause the tariffs for a month — and hold off levying its own. Canada reached its own deal with Trump hours later, delaying the trade war and pledging several steps against fentanyl trafficking.
China hasn't signaled major changes in tackling the flow of fentanyl into the U.S., and has said it would retaliate for any U.S. tariffs.
What role do Mexico, Canada and China play in fentanyl reaching the U.S.? And how much can their governments do?
WHERE DOES FENTANYL COME FROM?
The ingredients in fentanyl are largely produced by companies in China and used by pharmaceutical companies to make legal painkillers. But a portion of those chemicals is purchased by the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels in Mexico.
Cartels make the synthetic opioid in labs and then smuggle it into the U.S., largely at official land crossings in California and Arizona. The small amounts of fentanyl in any shipment — the drug is 50 times more potent than heroin — and its lack of odor, make detection and seizures extremely challenging.
Fentanyl is also made in Canada and smuggled into the U.S., but to a much lesser extent. U.S. customs agents seized 43 pounds (19.5 kilograms) of fentanyl at the Canadian border during the last fiscal year, compared with 21,100 pounds (9,570 kilograms) at the Mexican border.
Seizures of fentanyl jumped by as much as tenfold under President Joe Biden, an increase that may reflect improved detection.
WHAT CHANGED AFTER TRUMP THREATENED TARIFFS?
Mexico announced in December the seizure of more than a ton of fentanyl pills in what it described as the largest bust of synthetic opioids in the country's history. The haul was striking because fentanyl seizures in Mexico had fallen dramatically in the first half of 2024.
Under President Claudia Sheinbaum, who took office in October, Mexico's security forces appear to be far more aggressive than they were under her predecessor. Former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador denied that fentanyl was even produced in Mexico, contradicting officials in his own administration.
To pause the tit-for-tat tariffs, Mexico agreed to immediately deploy 10,000 National Guard troops to the border to battle drug-trafficking, while the U.S. committed to do more to stop the trafficking of guns into Mexico, said Trump and Sheinbaum on social media.
Facing tariff threats, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has highlighted his country's recent $1.3 billion investment in border enforcement, including chemical detection tools at entry ports and a new unit focused on the oversight of precursor chemicals.
Once Trump ordered the tariffs, Trudeau rebuked the move and geared up for a trade war before reaching a deal with Trump Monday to pause the use of tariffs for at least a month.
Trudeau posted on X that Canada would appoint a fentanyl czar, list Mexican cartels as terrorist groups and launch a "Canada- U.S. Joint Strike Force" to combat fentanyl, organized crime and money laundering.
China defended its efforts to combat fentanyl in what has been years of touch-and-go cooperation with the U.S. China doesn't have the same fentanyl crisis among its own population, and doesn't view it as a priority, said Zongyuan Zoe Liu, a senior fellow for China studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.
HOW MUCH CAN MEXICO, CANADA AND CHINA DO?
Combating the production and movement of illicit fentanyl is particularly challenging.
Unlike heroin and cocaine, which are produced from plants, fentanyl is made with ingredients used for legal pharmaceutical drugs, and can be made in cheap labs that can be erected relatively quickly. And despite the dangers, demand in the U.S. for the highly addictive drug remains strong.
Mike Vigil, the former chief of international operations at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, said he was skeptical that Mexico's extra troops at the border on their own would make much of a dent in trafficking.
Once fentanyl leaves the labs, it's usually well concealed in hidden compartments of vehicles or in huge cargo trucks; better detection technology is crucial, in addition to more troops, he said. The other challenge, Vigil said, is that combating the fentanyl trade will likely require more than just collaboration between the U.S. and its neighbors.
"Even if Mexico, Canada and these other countries snap their fingers and did away with the drug trade, as long as we have that demand, there will be another country that will satisfy that demand."
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Bedayn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.