Homewise accuses Santa Fe of rewriting rules to block housing grant - Kylie Garcia, Albuquerque Journal
One of the state’s most expensive cities is facing a legal battle with its largest affordable housing developer.
Last week, Homewise Inc. filed a lawsuit against the city of Santa Fe, alleging the city intentionally barred the nonprofit from receiving an award from its Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
The lawsuit, filed in 1st Judicial District Court on Sept. 16, says the city launched a new request for proposals for the fund after an advisory board had already recommended a $750,000 award for Homewise, and that the relaunched RFP introduced two new criteria that excluded Homewise from reapplying.
The nonprofit, which develops affordable housing projects and provides low- to moderate-income New Mexicans with homeownership services, also filed a temporary restraining order seeking to prohibit the city from doling out awards from this year’s fund while the litigation proceeds.
City officials haven’t responded to the lawsuit, and did not respond to a request for comment from the Journal on Tuesday.
For more information on this story, visit the Albuquerque Journal website.
Vacant NM House seat to be filled after election - Algernon D’Ammassa, Albuquerque Journal
Doña Ana County commissioners confirmed Tuesday they will not fill a vacant seat in the state Legislature until after Election Day on Nov. 3.
State Rep. Joanne Ferrary, a Las Cruces Democrat representing House District 37 since 2017,retired July 31, five months before her term would have expired. She did not stand for election. Her early departure left the decision of appointing a temporary successor to the county commissioners.
Ferrary had endorsed temporarily appointing Democratic candidate Lori Martinez to her seat ahead of the election. Martinez will face Republican candidate Isabella Solis.
For several weeks,a debate ensued among political leaders and members of the community, who weighed in during county meetings, on whether commissioners should appoint one of the two candidates, a placeholder who is not seeking office, or no one at all.
For more information on this story, visit the Albuquerque Journal website.
Study on forced sterilization practices in New Mexico moves forward with group of experts - Leah Romero, Source New Mexico
A working group of over 30 experts have convened to inform a comprehensive study on the impact of forced sterilization practices on Indigenous women and women of color in the state, as directed by the passage of Senate Memorial 14 earlier this year.
The memorial directs the state’s Indian Affairs Department and the New Mexico Commission on the Status of Women to lead the study, which is intended to identify all cases or suspected cases of forced sterilization in New Mexico; gather survivor testimony; assess how accessible reproductive health services are to New Mexico Indigenous women and women of color; and recommend policy, educational and reparative initiatives by the end of 2027.
The memorial notes that investigations in the 1970s revealed between 25% and 50% of Indigenous women of childbearing age had been sterilized, and says some of the “highest concentrations of procedures” occurred in Albuquerque and the southwest.
In a presentation given to members of the Indian Affairs Committee Tuesday at the Pueblo of Acoma, Indian Affairs Department Secretary Josett Monette said the department and the commission have established a draft work plan and gathered 34 experts with backgrounds ranging in survivor advocacy, reproductive health, state and Tribal knowledge, historical research and trauma-informed practices. The group is expected to reconvene in early October.
Rep. Michelle Paulene Abeyta (D-To’hajiilee) said she would like to partner with the group and hopes that the research that comes from the study will be included in future school curriculum.
“I, for one, did not learn that until I was in a Native American studies higher education program, unfortunately,” she said during the meeting. “Those are not the stories that families openly share or talk about because of the humiliation and the shame that’s associated with it.”
Sen. Linda Lopez (D-Albuquerque), a sponsor of SM14, added that eugenics practices are not just a part of history, but still occur today and impact many different women of color. “It’s not something in the past. It’s current and very real,” she said.
Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero (D-Albuquerque) shared her own experience of nearly being sterilized against her wishes when she was 25 when the companion memorial was discussed in committee earlier this year. She said Tuesday that testifying in support of the memorial “resurrected a pain” she didn’t know she still carried and that she is “angry” that such medical operations are still impacting the generations of women who have come after her.
“The core in this case is we need to stop the practice of sterilization,” Roybal Caballero said. “They’re horrific stories and still it’s predominantly women of color. Predominantly poor, vulnerable women of color…who come into our systems ill prepared to ask necessarily the questions they need to be asking.”
Rainy week to close New Mexico monsoon season - Albuquerque Journal staff
A final burst of rainfall sweeping through the state will mark the end of New Mexico’s monsoon season as temperatures drop in all regions.
Monsoon season, which ends Sept. 30, may hit its peak this week as a developing monsoon moisture plume will bring rain showers similar to last week, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Clay Anderson.
"We are looking for well below normal temperatures for a change,” he said. “We're talking about temperatures about 10 degrees below normal on Wednesday and Thursday.”
The gloomy skies and random spurts of rainfall that Albuquerque saw in mid-September will be a familiar sight going into the week, with increasing chances of rain beginning Tuesday before slowly diminishing during the weekend.
More information at the Albuquerque Journal website.
Laramide disputes claims its New Mexico uranium project is on pause - Justin Horwath, Albuquerque Journal
A Canadian mining company is pushing back on reports that a proposed uranium mine north of Grants is on hold, saying it requested only a delay in federal permitting but is still moving forward with the project
Last week, Eric Jantz, legal director of the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, called what he described as a pause on the project a “temporary reprieve” and “welcome news.”
“Communities and the Law Center will use this time to marshal their resources for a renewed effort to challenge this and other proposed uranium projects in the area,” Jantz had said.
But Laramide Resources Ltd., a publicly traded company based in Toronto, said it has requested only a pause in the U.S. government’s FAST-41 permitting schedule for the La Jara Mesa project — and that it has not slowed down work elsewhere in the process.
More information at the Albuquerque Journal website.
New Mexico activates emergency center ahead of anticipated flooding - Source New Mexico
The New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management announced on Tuesday afternoon it had activated the State Emergency Operation Center ahead of expected flash flooding.
Forecasts from the National Weather Service in Albuquerque predict heavy rainfall through Thursday, putting New Mexico’s burn scars at high risk for flooding.
A news release says state agencies are coordinating with the Homeland Security agency to put people and equipment across the state with the New Mexico National Guard Swiftwater personnel pre-positioned near Ruidoso and Las Vegas, and regional teams on standby in Doña Ana, Santa Fe, Sandoval and Valencia counties.
“Sudden, heavy rainfall can become dangerous – especially in burn scar areas – so we’re putting resources in place to respond to any flash flooding emergencies quickly and effectively,” Maj. Gen. Miguel Aguilar, Adjutant General of the NM National Guard and interim Cabinet secretary of DHSEM, said in a statement.
In addition, the agency says it has coordinated delivery of 5,000 sandbags across four different counties and a mechanical sandbagger to Sandoval County.
DHSEM also issued recommendations to residents ahead of flooding, including evacuating immediately if told to do so, and otherwise sheltering in place at the highest point of your homes. In addition, avoid walking, swimming or driving through flood waters. More information on flood safety is available on DHSEM’swebsite.
PNM on Tuesday also issued a news release urging residents to take precautions during expected storms and prepare for possible weather-related outages, which can be trackedonline.
Task force recommends New Mexico education department consider eliminating K-2 screen time - Matthew Mondschein, Source New Mexico
A task force studying the impact of screens in classrooms on Tuesday recommended New Mexico education officials consider issuing guidelines that would eliminate screen time for students from kindergarten through second grade.
The Screen Use Legislative Task Force formed afterHouse Memorial 2, a bill signed last legislative session, tasked the Legislative Education Study Committee with conducting a study on screen time use in elementary classrooms. The task force included LESC analysts, New Mexico Public Education Department officials, district administrators, teachers and students.
The task force’s study citesresearch conducted by the University of Michigan that shows the average age at which kids engage with screen media on a regular basis is four months old.
Excessive screen time for young children is a public health concern, asresearch shows it causes negative impacts on social and emotional growth, as well as language development. Additionally, excessive screen time is linked to a rise in obesity, sleep disorders and mental health conditions including depression and anxiety.
The New Mexico Public Education Department requires computer-based testing in elementary schools for reading, math, and science. In kindergarten through second grade, the staterequires use of Amira, an AI-program, to assess and track student reading development.
Numerous lawmakers have expressed concern about the program and according to NMPED, as of earlier this month, 18 local education agencies had opted out of one or more components of Amira’s assessment process.
On Tuesday, LESC Principal Analyst Marit Andrews presented recommendations to state lawmakers, which include having NMPED issue K-12 guidelines for daily screen use. In addition to eliminating screen time for kindergarten through second grade students, the task force suggested PED consider minimizing screen time deemed nonessential to active learning and limiting access to entertainment and social media apps.
But LESC Chair Sen. William Soules (D-Las Cruces) expressed concern over what the legislative committee’s role should be toward implementing the guidelines come the next legislative session.
“We can request the PED to do something — it doesn’t compel them to do anything unless it is directly in statute,” Soules said.
The task force advised lawmakers to leave the screen time guidelines to NMPED code rather than state statute so they remain “adaptable to change,” LESC Principal Analyst Marit Andrews explained.
But the task force did recommend lawmakers push legislation that defines screen time, as New Mexico law does not currently set parameters for acceptable screen time use for the purpose of K-12 instruction. The definition, Andrews said, should distinguish between “active” and “passive” use of technology.
Benjamin Barlow, a member of the task force and principal of North Star Elementary School in Albuquerque, explained to lawmakers that not all screen time is created equal. In one scenario, he said, students could be using a computer in an active way to collect data for a science project. In a separate scenario he posed, a student could use a computer to watch an instructional video without discussion or reflection, which he calls passive use.
“So for me, as an administrator, the question isn’t simply how many minutes was a student on a screen. The question is what is the student doing on that screen and why was technology the right tool,” Barlow told lawmakers.
