Two MDC inmates die in unrelated incidents — Daniel Monaño, KUNM News
Two inmates of the Metropolitan Detention Center died within a day of each other.
Bernalillo County announced the deaths Monday, saying Elliot Sanchez and Charles Jaramillo died on September 17 and 18 respectively.
An emergency medical code was called for Sanchez at about 2:00 p.m. on the 17th shortly before he was transported to the University of New Mexico Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at about 3:30 p.m.
The next day, Jaramillo, who was being held outside of MDC on the Community Custody Program missed an alcohol check at 10:00 p.m. and after failing to respond to a message to call into the jail, CCP officers were sent to his location.
When the officers arrived, they found Albuquerque Police Department officers already on scene, who informed the CCP officers that Jaramillo had died at approximately 11:40 p.m.
Because Jaramillo’s death occurred outside of MDC, the facility has no other details yet.
Inmates can be placed on CCP while awaiting trial, sentencing, or at judges' discretion. MDC corrections officers oversee CCP inmates to ensure they are adhering to their release or sentence guidelines while in the community.
Both deaths will be investigated by local law enforcement and the MDC Office of Professional Standards.There have been nine total deaths at MDC this year according to Bernalillo County news releases.
New Mexico State Ethics Commission asks judge to toss much of former WNMU president’s lawsuit — Joshua Bowling, Source New Mexico
Attorneys for the New Mexico State Ethics Commission last week asked a federal judge to toss much of a new lawsuit from former Western New Mexico University President Joseph Shepard.
News reports in late 2023 detailed how Shepard and his wife, former CIA agent and congressional candidate Valerie Plame, used taxpayer money on international travel, five-star resort stays and exotic home furnishings. State Auditor Joseph Maestas in 2024 issued a report detailing nearly $364,000 in “wasteful” spending, including a trip to a Ritz-Carlton resort in California. And the State Ethics Commission in 2025 filed a lawsuit against Shepard, alleging that he used American with Disabilities Act money intended for campus projects to instead build a patio where he hosted events for his daughter’s wedding.
Shepard left his post as president in early 2025, and the New Mexico Department of Justice subsequently filed a lawsuit seeking to recoup his “golden parachute” severance payment. That case is scheduled to go to trial next year.
In August, Shepard filed a suit of his own against the State Ethics Commission and Executive Director Jeremy Farris in U.S. District Court, accusing them of violating his civil rights with the 2025 lawsuit.
The lawsuit repeats many of the claims he made in a late 2025 lawsuit against WNMU and several current and former state lawmakers. In both suits, Shepard alleges that in 2023 he sought to blow the whistle on state lawmakers who appropriated taxpayer money to improperly benefit their families, and they subsequently orchestrated a “smear campaign” against him.
The commission’s attorneys wrote that Shepard’s legal team has created “a conspiracy theory uniting” the various lawsuits he is facing.
In the latest lawsuit, Shepard said that the State Ethics Commission sought to “harass and extort him.” The commission has sought to claw back the roughly $177,000 of ADA money it accused him of spending on the patio near his on-campus home. That case is also scheduled to go to trial next year.
A. Blair Dunn, the attorney representing Shepard, told Source NM Monday that the 2025 State Ethics Commission lawsuit was secretly targeting the $1.9 million severance payment Shepard received when he left his job as university president.
“He lied in why he brought that lawsuit, which is unconstitutional to do to a citizen,” Dunn said. “It’s a vindictive prosecution made up for an improper purpose. The real point of that lawsuit is to try to extort that money from the severance.”
Attorneys for the State Ethics Commission in filings of their own counter that Shepard’s federal lawsuit is “a belated reaction to the lawsuit the commission” filed against him over the patio allegations in 2025, and that Farris has immunity from litigation as he was acting on behalf of a state agency.
Santa Fe County offering free sandbags for potential flooding this week — Daniel Monaño, KUNM News
Residents of Santa Fe County can get free sandbags to prepare for possible flooding this afternoon and tomorrow.
The County announced this morning that residents can fill bags at four fire stations starting noon today.
The participating stations are:
- Pojoaque Station 50 - 17919 U.S. 84/285
- La Puebla Station 52 - 31 Fire House Road
- La Cienega Station 60 - 37 Rancho Viejo Blvd
- Agua Fria Station 61 - 58 Caja Del Oro Grant Road
Supplies are available on a first come first served basis, and each family can fill up to 30 bags.Crews may not be available to help fill and transport bags as they’re still covering any emergency calls.
Residents must bring there own shovel and suggest two people to fill the bags, one to hold the bag and the other to shovel.They also suggest eye protection and gloves.
Once the threat of flooding has subsided, if the sandbags are clean and have not been contaminated by floodwater, you can store them for reuse or empty them into your garden soil. Throw away the empty bags.
Do not dump sandbags into storm drains or waterways, because they can cause blockages.
For more information, visit the county’s website.
New Mexico lawmakers warn of ‘urgent threat’ over federal nuclear oversight shortfall – Matthew Mondschein, Source New Mexico
A bipartisan committee of the New Mexico Legislature on Wednesday warned that two developments in the federal government’s nuclear administration — the rollback of safety requirements and the obstruction of independent safety oversight — have created an “urgent threat” to workers, communities and national security.
The Legislature’s Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee unanimously approved letters from its chair, state Sen. Jeff Steinborn (D-Las Cruces), to U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and one to both Wright and President Donald Trump calling for immediate federal intervention to address nuclear safety concerns. The letters, which the committee announced in a news release, also were sent to the state’s congressional delegation, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and other state officials.
The letter to Wright raises concerns about the so-called “Project Velocity,” which the letter characterizes as DOE’s “effort to reduce its regulatory requirements.”
Last month, the letter says, the DOE issued 46 new or revised directives.
“The RHMC is gravely concerned that these extensive changes to nuclear safety requirements have moved forward without sufficient transparency or critical review regarding the technical and experiential basis for the changes and that the new directives pose serious risks to the residents of New Mexico,” the lawmakers write.
In a letter addressed to both Trump and Wright, lawmakers wrote that the 46 new or revised directives issued by the U.S Department of Energy in August “moved forward without sufficient transparency or critical review” and that subject matter experts “were kept in the dark.”
The DOE removed or weakened requirements that were developed by prior safety concerns, the letter continues, citing the removal of emergency preparedness requirements and the process for employees to raise technical safety concerns. The effort to revise the directives was to “remove unnecessary barriers” in federal nuclear operations. Energy Secretary Wright said in a statement in August.
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) and U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) also called on Secretary Wright to justify the directive changes in their own letter, also sent on Wednesday.
New Mexico’s lawmakers also point out that some of the now-eliminated safety requirements were implemented due to mishaps in New Mexico, including the multiyear shutdown at the plutonium facility in Los Alamos Laboratory and a 2014 incident at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in which radioactive material leaked and exposed 21 workers to low amounts of radiation.
The letter to both Wright and Trump details concerns regarding “the collapse in communication and cooperation” between the DOE and the U.S. Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, which provides oversight and safety recommendations for the nation’s nuclear facilities.
The nuclear oversight board was denied access to observing biweekly safety meetings, received redacted information on safety reports and were not provided technical reviews on eight occasions from Jan. 1- June 30, according to a report to Congress from July.
The letter also calls on Trump to fill the rest of the safety board seats. Currently, the five-member safety board only has one Senate-confirmed member, making the three-member quorum needed to issue formal safety recommendations impossible.
“New Mexico understands better than almost any state what is at stake when the nation’s nuclear weapons enterprise operates without strong, independent safety oversight,” Steinborn said in a statement. “Protecting workers, communities and the American public is a national security responsibility. President Trump and Secretary Wright must put Americans’ safety first by restoring the DNFSB’s full access and ensuring that changes to nuclear safety requirements are transparent, technically justified and independently reviewed.”
NM Mortgage Finance Authority offers a 1% interest reduction for buyers of newly built homes -- KUNM News, Santa Fe New Mexican
So far, 10 New Mexico home buyers have benefitted from a new program from Housing New Mexico to buy down interest rates by 1%.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that a buyer of a $300,000 home could save around $190 a month with the discounted interest rate from the NewHome Rate Advantage program.
The pilot program received $5 million so far and expects to help more than 350 households with an interest reduction, but it’s just the start. The agency received a $50 million appropriation from the legislature earlier this year.
The New Mexico Home Builders Association lobbied for the program and says each $1000 reduction in a house’s price opens the doors to 1000 new buyers.
Roger Valdez from the Center for Housing Economics told the New Mexican that while it’s a good step, New Mexicans really need cheaper houses.
New Mexico ag officials announce expanded surveillance following new screwworm case - Source New Mexico staff
New Mexico agriculture officials on Friday confirmed expanded surveillance following the Sept. 17 detection of a second New World screwworm case, afflicting a horse in Grant County.
“We are working as quickly as possible to increase surveillance, inspect animals and monitor for additional cases in and around the affected area,” State Veterinarian Dr. Samantha Holeck with the New Mexico Livestock Board said in a statement.
The pest, which has advanced rapidly through Mexico after being mainly contained in Central America for several decades, is named for the maggot’s behavior of feeding on live tissue. The fly madeits first new incursion to the United States in early June, when it was detected in a south Texas calf. Officials subsequently identified a separate infection in aLea County dog in New Mexico a few days later. The state has since stood up a stand-alone website,screwwormnm.org with resources and reporting information.
The expanded surveillance and fly-trapping following last week’s new case includes establishing a minimum 12.4-mile radiusinfested zone around the affected animal’s location, according to a news release from the state agriculture department, within which animals must be inspected and, if necessary, treated.
The agency says that routine animal movement, in which animals are transported to livestock auctions, fairs, vet appointments or other types of trips won’t be restricted unless an inspector identifies higher-risk situations.
In addition, the New Mexico Department of Wildlife (formerly the Game and Fish Department) is coordinating with the New Mexico Livestock Board to address wildlife surveillance and monitor hunting activities. The news release advises hunters, animal owners and others to “remain vigilant” and monitor horses, dogs and other animals for signs of New World screwworm, which include: wounds that don’t heal or worsen over time; wounds with maggots; wounds that smell badly; animals persistently licking or otherwise aggravating a wound; and any unusual behavior/irritation around the site of an injury.
“We appreciate the continued vigilance and cooperation of livestock producers, veterinarians, pet owners and other stakeholders as we respond to this second confirmed case of New World screwworm in New Mexico,” New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte said in a statement. “Our immediate focus is expanding surveillance around the affected area so we can identify any additional cases as quickly as possible. Early detection and prompt reporting are critical to limiting the spread of this pest, and we encourage everyone to remain vigilant and work closely with animal health officials.”
United States Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins last weekvisited Santa Teresa last week to announce the opening of the cattle crossing there; which theagency says remains on track to take place on Sept. 24 despite the new case.
Additional information, maps of affected areas, reporting resources and updates are available atScrewwormNM.org.
