10-Digit Phone Dialing To Be Required In New Mexico – Associated Press
Starting Sunday, phone users across New Mexico must include area codes when dialing to make all calls, including local calls that previously only required seven digits.
The requirement for 10-digit dialing is taking hold in numerous states, affecting 82 area codes across the nation, and including both area codes in New Mexico, according to the Northern American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA).
The 505 area code covers the Albuquerque area, Santa Fe and much of northern New Mexico, including Gallup, Farmington and Las Vegas. The 575 area code covers southern and eastern New Mexico, including Las Cruces, Alamogordo, Carlsbad, Roswell, Clovis, Hobbs, Silver City and Artesia.
The change is being made in those area codes where some phone numbers have 988 prefixes. The Federal Communications Commission last year chose 988 for use as the three-digit abbreviated dialing code to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline starting next July.
Beginning Sunday, "calls dialed with only seven digits may not be completed, and a recording may inform you that your call cannot be completed as dialed," New Mexico state officials said Friday in a statement. Those callers have to hang up and dial again using the area code and seven-digit telephone number.
"It's a minor inconvenience to reprogram the area code 505 or 575 in our phones but it will make a huge difference if it will save a life and someone can call 988 when they're having a mental health crisis," said Dr. David Scrase, cabinet secretary for the New Mexico Human Services Department and acting secretary for the New Mexico Department of Health.
Things that won't change include customers' telephone numbers or area codes, the prices or rates of phone calls and the need for some long-distances callers to dial "1" before the area code and the phone number, the NANPA said Tuesday.
Baldwin Was Told Gun Was 'Cold' Before Movie Set Shooting - By Morgan Lee, Susan Montoya Bryan, And Cedar Attanasio, The Associated Press
As a film crew and actors in Western garb prepared to rehearse a scene inside a wooden, chapel-like building on a desert movie ranch outside Santa Fe, assistant director Dave Halls stepped outside and grabbed a prop gun off a cart.
He walked back in and handed it to the film's star, Alec Baldwin, assuring him it was safe to use because it didn't have live ammo.
"Cold gun," Halls yelled.
It wasn't, according to court records made public Friday. Instead, when Baldwin pulled the trigger Thursday, he killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza, who was standing behind her.
The tragedy came nearly three decades after Brandon Lee, the son of martial arts legend Bruce Lee, died in a similar case, and it prompted horrified questions about how it could have happened again. The executive producer of ABC's police drama "The Rookie" announced Friday the show would no longer use "live" weapons because the "safety of our cast and crew is too important."
Details of the shooting at the ranch on Bonanza Creek Road were included in a search warrant application filed by the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office. Investigators were seeking to examine Baldwin's blood-stained costume for the film "Rust," as well as the weapon that was fired, other prop guns and ammunition, and any footage that might exist.
The gun was one of three that the film's armorer, Hannah Gutierrez, had set on a cart outside the building where a scene was being acted, according to the records. Halls grabbed the gun from the cart and brought it inside to Baldwin, unaware that it was loaded with live rounds, a detective wrote in the search warrant application.
It was unclear how many rounds were fired. Gutierrez removed a shell casing from the gun after the shooting, and she turned the weapon over to police when they arrived, the court records say.
Halls did not immediately return phone and email messages seeking comment. The Associated Press was unable to contact Gutierrez, and several messages sent to production companies affiliated with the film were not immediately returned Friday.
The film's script supervisor, Mamie Mitchell, said she was standing next to Hutchins when she was shot.
"I ran out and called 911 and said 'Bring everybody, send everybody,' " Mitchell told The Associated Press. "This woman is gone at the beginning of her career. She was an extraordinary, rare, very rare woman."
Mitchell said she and other crew members were attending a private memorial service Friday night in Santa Fe.
Baldwin described the killing as a "tragic accident."
"There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours. I'm fully cooperating with the police investigation," Baldwin wrote on Twitter. "My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna."
No immediate charges were filed, and sheriff's spokesman Juan Rios said Baldwin was permitted to travel.
"He's a free man," Rios said.
Images of the 63-year-old actor — known for his roles in "30 Rock" and "The Hunt for Red October" and his impression of former President Donald Trump on "Saturday Night Live" — showed him distraught outside the sheriff's office on Thursday.
Guns used in making movies are sometimes real weapons that can fire either bullets or blanks, which are gunpowder charges that produce a flash and a bang but no deadly projectile. Even blanks can eject hot gases and paper or plastic wadding from the barrel that can be lethal at close range. That proved to be the case in the death of an actor in 1984.
In another on-set accident in 1993, Lee was killed after a bullet was left in a prop gun, and similar shootings have occurred involving stage weapons that were loaded with live rounds during historical re-enactments.
Gun-safety protocol on sets in the United States has improved since then, said Steven Hall, a veteran director of photography in Britain. But he said one of the riskiest positions to be in is behind the camera because that person is in the line of fire in scenes where an actor appears to point a gun at the audience.
Sheriff's deputies responded about 2 p.m. to the movie set at the Bonanza Creek Ranch after 911 calls described a person being shot there, Rios said. The ranch has been used in dozens of films, including the recent Tom Hanks Western "News of the World."
Hutchins, 42, worked as director of photography on the 2020 action film "Archenemy" starring Joe Manganiello. She was a 2015 graduate of the American Film Institute and was named a "rising star" by American Cinematographer in 2019.
"I'm so sad about losing Halyna. And so infuriated that this could happen on a set," said "Archenemy" director Adam Egypt Mortimer on Twitter. "She was a brilliant talent who was absolutely committed to art and to film."
Manganiello called Hutchins "an incredible talent" and "a great person" on his Instagram account. He said he was lucky to have worked with her.
After the shooting, production was halted on "Rust." The movie is about a 13-year-old boy who is left to fend for himself and his younger brother following the death of their parents in 1880s Kansas, according to the Internet Movie Database website. The teen goes on the run with his long-estranged grandfather (played by Baldwin) after the boy is sentenced to hang for the accidental killing of a local rancher.
Policy Violations Found In Albuquerque Man's Restraint Death – Associated Press
Two Albuquerque police officers were found to have violated restraint procedures in the Easter Sunday death of a man with a genetic disorder who they were taking into custody after he was accused of punching a relative, a department official said.
Danny White, 43, died of cardiac arrest while being restrained in a prone position, according to an autopsy released Wednesday by the Office of the Medical Investigator, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
Huntington's disease, obesity and hypertensive cardiovascular disease were listed as "significant, contributing conditions," and White's death was ruled a homicide. No criminal act was alleged.
Officers Michael Harrison and Josh Johnson received "non-disciplinary corrective action," Albuquerque Police Department spokesman Gilbert Gallegos told the Journal.
Policy says officers should monitor breathing "or any other signs of distress" of a person forced into a face-down position, and they should release pressure and weight, roll the person on a side, or sit them up "as soon as they are restrained and it is safe to do so."
Relatives immediately told the officers that White had Huntington's, a genetic condition that can cause mood swings, personality changes and sudden body movements. They asked the officers to take him to a hospital so doctors could adjust his medication or treat him.
Body-worn camera video showed White taunting the officers to shoot him before he is forced to the floor on his stomach in a hallway and the officers handcuff his hands behind his back, the Journal reported.
White stopped moving and appeared unconscious when the officers rolled him over. Paramedics were summoned, but White died at the scene.
White's family declined to comment, the Journal said.
New Mexico Governor Confirms Plans For UN Climate Conference – Associated Press
New Mexico's Democratic governor will soon be headed to Scotland for the United Nations' upcoming climate conference, where world leaders will talk about accelerating action toward the goals of the Paris Agreement to slow global warming.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's office announced her travel plans Friday. She will be accompanied by several members of her cabinet during the first week of the conference.
The governor said in a statement that it will be an honor to talk about New Mexico's mandate for zero-emissions electricity by 2045 and pollution-reduction rules for the oil and gas industry.
"But I know that we — as a state, as a nation, as a planet — must go further by pursuing bold, equitable and just climate solutions. I am looking forward to this significant opportunity for collaboration and action at the global level," she said.
The trip's expenses are being paid by the nonprofit organizations the Energy Foundation and the Climate Registry, said Lujan Grisham's press aide, Nora Meyers Sackett. The cost was not disclosed.
Lujan Grisham is facing competing pressures from environmental activists and the fossil fuel industry as she seeks reelection in 2022 in a state that is now the second leading oil producer in the United States.
New Mexico state and local governments — and public schools, in particular — rely heavily on income from oil and gas production. That dependence has grown since Lujan Grisham won election in 2018, according to the Legislature's budget and accountability office.
As economic activity has rebounded from early pandemic restrictions, New Mexico oil production has reached record levels, recently exceeding 1.2 million barrels a day.
Lujan Grisham has cautioned President Joe Biden against efforts to curb oil production on public lands, saying doing so would affect her ability to achieve goals like universal access to early childhood education.
Explainer: Guns On Movie Sets: How Does That Work? - By Lindsey Bahr, AP Film Writer
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died Thursday after Alec Baldwin fired a loaded weapon that was handed to him by an assistant director who mistakenly believed it was safe to use on the New Mexico set of "Rust." Director Joel Souza was also hit and injured but has since been released from the hospital. While many things still aren't known — police are investigating — the AP looks at the use of firearms on film and television productions and the safety protocols in place.
WHAT IS A "PROP FIREARM"?
It's a loose definition and could apply to anything from a rubber toy to a real firearm that can fire a projectile. However, if it's used for firing (even just blanks) it's considered a real gun. Chris Burbank, a former police chief in Salt Lake City who has consulted on several TV productions, said firearms for simulations during police trainings or film productions are often made so that they can only be loaded with blanks.
WHAT ARE BLANKS AND CAN THEY KILL?
A blank is a type of gun cartridge that contains gunpowder but no bullet. Still, it can serious hurt or kill someone who is close by, according to the Actors' Equity Association. Film firearms-safety coordinator Dave Brown wrote in a 2019 piece for American Cinematographer that, "Blanks expel gunpowder and hot gases out of the front of the barrel in a cone shape. This is harmless at longer ranges, but the explosion can seriously injure someone if it's too close."
IN THIS INSTANCE, WERE BLANKS FIRED?
The gun was loaded with live rounds, court records released Friday show. According to the records, the gun was one of three that the film's armorer had set on a cart outside the wooden structure where a scene was being acted. Assistant director Dave Halls grabbed the gun from the cart and brought it inside to Baldwin, unaware that it was loaded with live rounds, a detective wrote in the search warrant application.
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WEAPONS ON SET?
Generally, a weapons master or armorer oversees all weapons that are used on a production. This can mean anything from selecting the correct items for a certain period in history, to taking care of the weapons on set and making sure they are being used safely and properly by actors and stuntpeople. It's a fairly new position in the history of film production, going back only to the 1980s. Before that, the prop master handled everything. Recently, it's become more common to enlist specialists.
WHAT ARE THE RULES FOR FIREARMS ON SET?
The weapons master is required to be on set whenever a weapon is being used. The Actors' Equity Association's guidelines state that, "Before each use, make sure the gun has been test-fired off stage and then ask to test fire it yourself. Watch the prop master check the cylinders and barrel to be sure no foreign object or dummy bullet has become lodged inside." Further, "All loading of firearms must be done by the property master, armorer or experienced persons working under their direct supervision."
HOW DOES ONE BECOME A WEAPONS MASTER?
According to Backstage magazine, there's no formal path but it is common to have internships and apprenticeships or a background in stunt work, the military, police or security. Weapons masters are required to abide by state and federal laws and hold proper operating permits.
WHY WOULD THE GUN HAVE BEEN POINTING AT THE CINEMATOGRAPHER?
We don't know what happened on the set of "Rust," but it is fairly common to have a gun pointed at the camera, and by extension the cinematographer, to get a certain angle.
"We've all seen the very famous shots in films where you get that dramatic effect of a gun being pointed at you, the audience, and of course, it's being pointed towards the camera," explained Steven Hall, a veteran second unit director and cinematographer who has worked on films like "Fury" and "Thor: The Dark World." "To minimize that, one would put a remote camera in that place, or at least if someone does have to operate the camera, I'm normally protected by safety goggles, a safety visor and often a PERSPEX screen that withstands pretty much anything. Obviously, it wouldn't withstand a real shot from a gun, but it would certainly withstand a blank."
GIVEN THE MANY REGULATIONS, HOW COULD SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPEN?
While the specific circumstances of the "Rust" shooting are still unknown, professionals in the business say that sometimes the crew and production are encouraged to "speed things up" for any number of reasons which can sometimes lead to "relaxed" safety protocols.
DOES IT MAKE IT MORE COMPLICATED WHEN IT'S A PERIOD PIECE?
"Rust" is set in the 1880s and according to Hall, when period weapons are used "you have to use actual historic period weapons and to check the safety of those weapons. I have known live rounds to be fired out of revolvers, certainly, to make sure that they do function in a way that when you put a blank in, it isn't going to blow up or explode in the actor's hands."
WHY DO PRODUCTIONS EVEN USE REAL GUNFIRE WHEN SPECIAL EFFECTS ARE AVAILABLE?
It is becoming more common to add in gunfire in post-production when working on the visual effects. But visual effects can be expensive and it can be easier, and cheaper, to use props. Also, Dormer says that there can be advantages to using props and blanks, like getting an authentic reaction from an actor.
HOW IS HOLLYWOOD RESPONDING?
There has been an outpouring of dismay and anger from all levels of the industry that something like this could have happened. Director James Gunn tweeted that his greatest fear is that "someone will be fatally hurt on one of my sets." Alex Winter tweeted that, "Crew should never be unsafe on set and when they are there is always a clearly definable reason why."