MON: New Mexico’s Jeffrey Epstein ‘truth commission’ seeks to hire law firm, +More
By KUNM News
March 16, 2026 at 9:15 AM MDT
New Mexico’s Jeffrey Epstein ‘truth commission’ seeks to hire law firm
—Joshua Bowling, Source New Mexico
New Mexico officials are soliciting proposals from law firms to aid the state’s Jeffrey Epstein “truth commission” in its investigation into the late sex offender and his former Zorro Ranch property in Santa Fe County.
The state’s Legislative Council Service on Friday issued a Request for Proposals and invited lawyers and law firms to apply for a government contract with a House investigatory subcommittee’s investigation into Epstein’s time in New Mexico. The RFP specifies that whoever wins the state contract will provide legal services for the commission, gather evidence for its Epstein investigation and manage any collaborations with the New Mexico Department of Justice.
To be eligible for the contract, lawyers or firms must submit proposals with a detailed outline of how they’d tackle the job no later than 4 p.m. on April 2. The work won’t be purely archival and will likely include an element of working with survivors of Epstein’s abuse and witnesses to his crimes, commission Chair Rep. Andrea Romero (D-Santa Fe) told Source NM.
“That’s why we’re starting with the legal space,” Romero said. “We may encounter something that could be worth prosecuting today.”
The New Mexico Department of Justice in February announced it was reviving an investigation into Epstein and Zorro Ranch. Former New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas previously told Source NM his office was investigating Epstein until federal prosecutors in 2019 asked him to shelve the query. Earlier this month, NMDOJ investigators searched the sprawling 7,500-acre property that Epstein bought from former New Mexico Gov. Bruce King in the 1990s.
As the commission, armed with a $2 million budget, gets off the ground, Romero said she hopes to see the contractor serve it in a “general counsel aspect,” and be active in the actual investigation. The commission’s first report is due in July.
What the law firm’s work looks like in practice will depend on the proposals the commission receives, she said.
“This is the first truth commission of its kind in the state and, perhaps, in the country, of this scale and breadth,” Romero said. “We know how disparate the files are in piecing together the story. And we know of many victims that are interested and survivors that are interested in working with us to get their accounts on the record.”
After the April 2 filing deadline, state officials have until April 10 to award a contract, according to the RFP.
“This has been Step 0 to (get to) Step 1,” Romero said.
Romero said she expects the next RFP to be for the commission’s “storytelling piece,” which will guide the commission on how to publish its findings and center the voices of Epstein’s survivors.
First rabies case of 2026 found in bobcat that attacked dogs — Daniel Montaño
Rabies has made its first appearance in New Mexico this year. The New Mexico Department of Health announced Monday a rabid bobcat in Sierra County was euthanized after attacking several dogs.
Two people who were also exposed to the virus received a post-exposure vaccine. The dogs involved, which were all up to date on their rabies vaccines, received a booster and will be monitored for 45 days.
Erin Phipps, NMDOH State Public Health Veterinarian, said although rabies is deadly, it is preventable. She said vaccinating your pets not only protects them, but it’s also required by law.
Any unvaccinated animals that are exposed to rabies, she said, must be euthanized or isolated for four months to prevent human exposure.
Wild animals, especially bats, skunks and foxes are the most common cause of rabies in New Mexico, but any mammal could carry the virus. NMDOH always recommends keeping wild animals at a distance. Do not approach, touch or attempt to feed any wild animal — alive or dead.
If a wild animal is acting abnormally, aggressively, or seems sick, report it to local animal control or the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.
The state confirmed 13 cases of rabies in 2025 — one each from a bobcat and a dog, two each from skunks and coyotes, and seven cases from bats.
The news comes just three days after the department announced a dog in Santa Fe County was found with the plague, the cause of the black death in the 1300s. Not to be confused with hantavirus, a deadly respiratory virus, in animals the plague is caused by a bacterial infection usually from a flea bite.
For more information visit the NMDOH’s website about rabies or plague, or call the helpline at 1-833-SWNURSE (833-796-8773.)
Support for this coverage comes from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
Chaco Canyon signage in national park database of material under review
—Santa Fe New Mexican
Text at Chaco Culture National Historical Park referencing a turn-of-the-century amateur archaeologist is among hundreds of signs, exhibits and other materials displayed by the National Park Service that have been flagged as potentially violating a 2025 executive order.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports a recently leaked database showed the text was flagged as potentially disparaging to Richard Wetherill, a rancher and amateur archaeologist that the New Mexican reports was a pivotal and controversial figure in the early history of the park.
Elsewhere in the region, in northeastern Arizona, exhibits at the Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site that mentioned The Long Walk and the slaughter of Churro sheep by the U.S. government in the 1930s were flagged. The Long Walk was the forced removal of thousands of Navajo people from their homelands to Fort Sumner in the 1860s.
City of ABQ launches new traffic campaign, which includes ad featuring Kayla VanLandingham’s mom
—Gregory R.C. Hasman, Albuquerque Journal
In the nearly eight months since teen bicyclist Kayla VanLandingham was killed in a Northeast Albuquerque crash, changes have been made in an attempt to improve bicyclist and pedestrian safety across the city and state.
Last week, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed into law Senate Bill 73, which requires student drivers to take at least three hours of training on “vulnerable road users,” such as bicyclists, pedestrians and emergency service providers.
Months earlier, the city of Albuquerque adopted an ordinance requiring drivers to stop at crosswalks in an attempt to better protect bicyclists and pedestrians. It also announced it was installing a push-button signal and crosswalk at the Hahn Arroyo where VanLandingham, 19, was killed on July 22.
On Thursday, the city took another step by launching a new traffic campaign at the South Broadway Cultural Center that focuses on crosswalks.
In one of the ads, VanLandingham’s mother, Melinda Montoya, stood at the Hahn Arroyo where her daughter was killed.
“My daughter, Kayla, was 19, riding her bike across this intersection,” Montoya said in the ad. “She believed everyone deserves safety but our traffic laws didn’t protect her. Stopping takes seconds. Losing someone lasts forever. Honor Kayla, stop for everyone.”
The Albuquerque Police Department said in July that no charges were expected to be filed against the woman who crashed into VanLandingham.
Jennifer Turner, city Department of Municipal Development director, said the city will place the new ads everywhere, including at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
“So we’re kind of blanketing the city with the campaign,” she said.
District 7 City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn, who sponsored the crosswalk ordinance, said the traffic campaign has been one of the biggest “highlights” of her time on the council.
“And I know you’ve heard this before, but I’m just going to repeat this: This is all because of the advocacy of Melinda Montoya,” she said. “She is the bravest person I have met and I am honored to have gotten to work on this.”
After the event, Montoya said VanLandingham would be “pretty stoked” about what is being done to improve bicyclist safety.
“She would have been like, ‘This is needed. This is important,’” Montoya said. “She cared deeply about people. She worked for the Esperanza Bicycle Safety Education Center and she saw value in every life. And I think between the campaign and the city stepping up, (leaders are) seeing the same value in everybody’s lives and it’s really powerful.”
Santa Fe County residents assail proposed 158-home development next to La Tierra trails
—Santa Fe New Mexican
Santa Fe County residents in neighborhoods just north of N.M. State Road 599 are speaking out against a proposed single-family residential development to be built just west of the La Tierra trails system.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that people who live in the Camino La Tierra area maintain the density of the proposed Camino Verde subdivision would dramatically alter the character of their neighborhoods. Residents also say they’re concerned about effects on traffic, geology and views.
The New Mexican reports the project include about 304 acres with 158 single-family homes both to the east and west of Camino la Tierra. Eighteen of the homes would be classified as “affordable,” as required by county ordinance. The proposed lots range in size from about one-quarter of an acre to about three and a half acres.
The Santa Fe Conservation Trust has helped maintain the La Tierra trail system under agreements with the city of Santa Fe for more than a decade, according to the conservation trust’s website.
Lobos picked as one of four top seeds in NIT, host Wednesday game in the Pit
—Geoff Grammer, Albuquerque Journal
They want more.
The UNM Lobos, the 23-10 team that started the season by replacing its entire roster of players and coaches, will play again.
While they didn’t hit their top goal of playing in the NCAA Tournament after Friday’s semifinal loss in the Mountain West Tournament to San Diego State, the Lobos on Sunday night were chosen as one of four No. 1 seeds in the 32-team National Invitation Tournament field. As a No. 1 seed, they are also the host of one of the tournament’s four regionals — the Albuquerque Regional — where the Pit will actually be able to host just two of the potential three rounds of games before the final four of the NIT is played in Indianapolis April 2 and 5.
UNM will host Sam Houston, a 22-11 team that finished second in Conference USA this season, losing to the Lobos’ instate rival New Mexico State in the regular season but beating them last week in the CUSA Tournament, 69-61.
"I wanted to talk to some of the guys post (Mountain West) Tournament there just to kind of make sure we're going to approach it the right way and be ready to go," said Olen, who last week said he would absolutely like to continue playing, but after Friday night’s loss in the conference tournament stopped short of saying they would definitely play if given the chance.
The other three No. 1 seeds in the event are Auburn (17-16) of the SEC, Wake Forest (17-16) of the ACC and Tulsa (26-7) of the American Athletic Conference.
The overall field itself, which includes five Mountain West teams, Olen noted, is far stronger based on all computer metrics than it was a year ago when many top-conference teams chose not to play in the NIT.
“Everybody's excited about playing at home,” Olen said. “I think the field is good. I thought I was excited about the field relative to maybe what last year's field looked like.”
He also noted that the NIT games allow for more growth for his program.
“I think it has the potential to be really valuable for us — more games, more reps, win or go home situation, so the stakes are still there for us,” Olen said. “We we have some younger guys on the roster. We have plans to retain guys and build our program through retention. And so we think it's important for our guys to continue to get these reps.”
Ticket sales for Wednesday’s game — all prices are set and regulated by the NCAA — are expected to start either late Sunday or early Monday, but as of 8 p.m. MT on Sunday had not yet been set.
The NCAA has set the ticket prices for the first two rounds as starting at $25 for adults, $15 for students, plus fees. There will be $30 chairback seating available and $35 Lobo Level/Club Seating availability.
UNM will purchase 300 student tickets as a thank you for the Lobo Howl Raisers section that came all season, with student tickets beyond that being at the regular $15 price point. Those will be available first come, first serve at a time announced by UNM.
Season ticket holders get first right of refusal on tickets and will have information on purchasing those and their parking passes in their regular account with UNM. They will have until 10 a.m. Wednesday to opt in to purchase those tickets.
The game will be streamed online on ESPN+ — the NIT holds all video broadcast rights. UNM’s usual radio partner, 770 AM/96.3 FM KKOB, will also broadcast the game.
The Lobos last played in the NIT on March 15, 2023, when the Richard Pitino-coached team of Jaelen House, Jamal Mashburn Jr., Morris Udeze, Donovan Dent and Josiah Allick lost to Utah Valley, 83-69, in front of an announced Pit crowd of 6,803.
The way the bracket plays out, coincidentally, would line UNM and Utah Valley up for a potential second-round matchup in the Pit, should both win their first-round games (UVU hosts George Washington on Wednesday).
At the bottom half of the Lobos’ quadrant of eight teams are Colorado State vs. Saint Joseph’s and California (coached by Mark Madsen, who was Utah Valley’s coach in the 2023 NIT game in the Pit) vs. the University of Illinois Chicago.
This is the 21st time UNM has played in the NIT, its best finish coming as runner-up in 1964. It also reached the semifinals in 1990 and the quarterfinals six times.
Could New Mexico United anchor state fairgrounds upgrade? – Olivier Uyttebrouck, Albuquerque Journal
New Mexico United has emerged as a prime candidate to become the "major anchor" at the state fairgrounds as officials finalize a master plan to redevelop the 236-acre tract in Northeast Albuquerque.
A Bernalillo County commissioner critical of the plan said Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham plans to build a stadium at the fairgrounds as a permanent home for the popular Albuquerque soccer team and has raised $70 million to pay for the project.
Lujan Grisham quickly dismissed Commissioner Adriann Barboa’s allegation as “gossip and fear mongering” and responded that no decisions have been made about how to use the funding.
But at a public meeting Friday, officials with Stantec Consulting Services, the state's design contractor, recommended a sports stadium as the preferred option for spurring development in the southwest portion of the New Mexico State Fairgrounds.
The firm appears to have abandoned an earlier proposal to relocate the New Mexico State Fair in response to public opposition to moving the decades-old annual event.
“A sports stadium is the recommendation that we're including here for the reasons that it can be the quickest to stand up,” said Ben Lewinger, a representative of Stantec. “It punches above its weight class in terms of what it costs versus the GRT (gross receipts taxes) it can generate.”
Gross receipts taxes ultimately determine how much bonding capacity the state can use to fund other developments for the fairgrounds project, including housing and retail, he said.
Lewinger and others did not mention New Mexico United as a possible anchor tenant for the stadium on Friday but others were quick to fill in the blank.
Barboa posted a statement on her Facebook page Friday alleging that Lujan Grisham obtained $70 million in discretionary funding in February through the state’s $11.1 billion budget bill, House Bill 2.
The bill appropriates $100 million to the General Services Department for “state fair redevelopment,” including $30 million for housing as part of the fairgrounds project.
Barboa, a member of the State Fair District Board, contends the remaining $70 million is the governor’s discretionary funding that she plans to use for the soccer stadium. Barboa first raised the allegation at a news conference Wednesday.
Lujan Grisham responded quickly to Barboa’s allegation this week in a statement issued by her spokesman Michael Coleman.
“The governor is disappointed that Commissioner Barboa has resorted to attention-seeking gossip and fear mongering to pre-empt a public process that exists precisely to give every community member a voice in the Fairgrounds’ future,” Coleman said.
“Anyone who has been paying attention knows that some type of public events facility has been a part of this discussion for months,” Coleman said. “But no final decision about an arena or stadium, or the master plan itself, has been made.”
New Mexico United spokeswoman Bella Finley declined comment this week on plans to build a stadium for the team at the fairgrounds.
In a separate measure, lawmakers in February authorized the issuance of up to $92 million in bonds to revitalize the state fairgrounds in Albuquerque's International District. Lujan Grisham signed the bill into law on March 5.
The measure authorizes bonds backed from state gross receipt tax revenues and gaming tax revenues. The measure takes effect May 20.
Barboa said she opposes building the New Mexico United stadium at the fairgrounds because it doesn’t generate high-paying jobs.
“I know firsthand that stadiums do not bring opportunities to neighbors,” she said. “Fans simply want to get in and get out as fast as they can.”
New Mexico United would contribute an additional $40 million for a total project cost of $110 million, Barboa said. She contends that she learned of the plan from former Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez, who is spearheading the fairgrounds project for the Governor’s Office.
Chávez, who attended the public meeting Friday, said the $70 million funding isn't designated for any particular purpose.
“I think they’re definitely moving in the direction of some sort of stadium as one component,” Chávez said of Stantec and the Governor's Office. The master plan is nearing the end of a six-month process, he said.
“Now they’re starting to bring all the different ideas that have come together,” Chávez said. “This isn’t the first time you heard about stadiums. We’ll have the recommendations next week, and we'll see what they recommend.”
Stantec will not get involved in recommending what team should occupy the stadium, which will likely involve a variety of tenants and uses, Chávez said. But New Mexico United is a prime candidate in a state that lacks major league sports teams, he said.
Any plan to build a stadium for New Mexico United could conflict with the city of Albuquerque’s announced plan to build a soccer stadium at Balloon Fiesta Park.
The city is actively defending a lawsuit filed by three neighborhood associations that oppose the project. That lawsuit is pending at the New Mexico Court of Appeals.
Mayor Tim Keller appeared to steer clear of the issue this week.
“I’ve been clear since I ran for the State Senate 17 years ago that I love the State Fair, and the Fair should stay,” Keller said. “Beyond that, we will support plans that can boost the grounds and benefit the community.”
New Mexico United has sought a permanent stadium since 2020 to replace its current home at Isotopes Park, home of Albuquerque’s Triple-A baseball team. An earlier proposal for a new stadium at a Downtown location using bond funding was defeated by voters in 2021.
Albuquerque's Balloon Fiesta Park was selected in 2023 as the location for a privately financed stadium on land leased from the city.
Three neighborhood associations near Balloon Fiesta Park filed suit in state district court after the Albuquerque City Council voted 8-1 to deny their appeal in August 2024.
Second Judicial District Judge Erin O’Connell ruled in July that opponents of the Balloon Fiesta Park location failed to demonstrate that they were denied due process.
Plaintiffs appealed the district court ruling on Aug. 19. The state Court of Appeals this week assigned a three-judge panel to hear the case.
Stantec in December unveiled three preliminary designs for the fairgrounds, all of which include a hotel and event venue, parks, retail space and mixed-income housing. One of the designs proposed relocating the fair.
The state-owned tract has hosted the annual State Fair since 1938, but the state and its consultants say that the area is underutilized and its infrastructure is crumbling.
New Mexico seeks halt to illegal greyhound betting – Nakayla Mclelland, Albuquerque Journal
The New Mexico Gaming Control Board earlier this month sent a cease and desist letter to a North Dakota-based company to request it stop offering greyhound racing bets to New Mexico residents.
Lien Games Racing is a wagering company that allows people from across the country to place bets on races. The company allowed New Mexico residents to bet on greyhound races even though wagering on greyhound races has been illegal in the state since 2022, according to gaming officials.
According to the North Dakota Racing Commission licensee list, the company operates through at least six betting platforms. Lien Games Racing did not respond to multiple requests for comment, but state officials said it would stop accepting bets from New Mexicans.
The letter, issued March 4, states the gaming board was made aware of wagers Lien Games Racing was offering and told the company the bets do not abide by state laws.
NMGCB threatened to take legal action and said it would attempt to prevent the company from obtaining a gaming license in the state if the company didn’t stop taking New Mexicans’ bets on greyhound races.
“Wagers on dog races and online gaming are not permitted in New Mexico,” the letter states. “Because the type of wagering offered by Lien Games Racing, LLC is not permitted in New Mexico, you are hereby ordered to immediately cease and desist making such activity available in New Mexico.”
Michelle Pato, senior staff council at NMGCB, said Lien Games Racing responded to the letter and said the company would comply and discontinue offering greyhound racing bets in New Mexico.
“We are really pleased with the result,” Pato said. “We’re glad we were able to make this happen.”
In 2025, nonprofit organization GREY2K USA became suspicious of the company and had volunteers set up accounts to document illegal gambling. One of those accounts attempted to bet from New Mexico on a greyhound race in Australia and emailed Lien Games Racing to ask if it would accept the wager.
“Hi — we do accept wagering on both horses and greyhounds from the state of New Mexico,” the company wrote in an email.
Shortly after, GREY2K USA took those emails, along with other documents, to the NMGCB.
“They have essentially ignored state laws in states like New Mexico, where greyhound betting is not legal,” said Carey Theil, executive director of GREY2K USA, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit dedicated to passing strong greyhound protection laws and ending the racing of the dogs.
“For this company to just ignore New Mexico laws and offer this kind of disreputable gambling is really shocking,” he said.
Greyhound racing is “cruel and inhumane” and many of the dogs get injured on the racetrack or are forced to consume drugs to help with performance, Thiel said. He said he applauded NMGCB for stepping up and protecting consumers from illegal gambling.
Pato said the agency needed to investigate and verify that Lien Games Racing accepted illegal bets, given that some gambling websites allow people to access the site but not bet on certain types of races if they are illegal in their state.
“This one you could, and that's what prompted us to send the letter, because we found that it was being made available to individuals and entities within the state of New Mexico,” she said.
New Mexico isn’t the only state attempting to rein in illegal betting from out-of-state companies. In 2025, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office issued a similar cease and desist letter, requesting that Lien Games Racing halt its facilitation of unlicensed greyhound betting.
Numerous other states have banned greyhound racing or have begun to phase out the races. By 2029, greyhound gambling will only be legal in 14 states.
Other countries across the world, such as New Zealand and Scotland, are in the process of outlawing it as well.
Kit Carson Electric Co-op puts AI, drone tech to use to mitigate wildfire danger ahead of dicey spring season – John Miller, Albuquerque Journal
Kit Carson Electric Cooperative is turning to cutting-edge technologies to better assess and respond to wildfire as New Mexico heads into another bone-dry spring season, where experts are forecasting a heightened risk for catastrophic conflagrations.
The cooperative is one of three utilities participating in a pilot program for AI-based wildfire software created by Firescape, an Albuquerque company that two former Sandia National Labs scientists founded with the goal to use machine learning to map wildfire risk across vast landscapes.
“We’re using machine learning techniques to create a model that can go from a single point of data to a wall-to-wall map for a whole area,” said Holly Eagleston, Firescape’s co-founder and CEO.
To create the maps, Eagleston said the company is harvesting data from satellites and weather stations to assess key factors like wind speed and relative humidity. The company then provides those models to public utilities, which can then pinpoint priority locations for long-term fire mitigation projects, like tree trimming and microgrids that can be powered off for portions of service areas impacted by extreme weather events.
“It's updated every hour, so it's basically minimizing the impact to communities around outages because of this mitigation, but also balancing safety with reliability,” Eagleston said. “So they're doing it when they need to, because fire danger conditions are bad, but it's also very granular and surgical.”
She said the company has applied for a state grant to extend Firescape’s current six-month contract with Kit Carson Electric for three years.
Kit Carson serves three counties: Rio Arriba, Colfax and Taos. The area is home to two of the state’s highest-risk firesheds, or zones most prone to severe wildfire, according to the 2022 Community Wildfire Protection Plan: Taos Canyon and Taos Ski Valley.
Luis Reyes, co-op CEO, says the utility partners with Carson National Forest to update a “three-tier” ratings system to determine priority areas for tree trimming projects, including Taos Canyon, Tres Ritos, Twining Road in Taos Ski Valley and Upper Red River.
“Those are the areas that we deem are the most at risk because they're dry and have a lot of diseased trees,” Reyes said. “We're going to refocus on those.”
Alongside Firescape’s machine-learning tools, Reyes said the co-op has also contracted with drone company Voltair to conduct aerial inspections of its service area to identify dead, diseased and downed trees that can cause natural wildfires to mushroom into catastrophic ones.
Kit Carson is also advancing several community microgrid projects this year to introduce smaller-scale power systems to high-risk areas, such as those that pose risks to power lines in the case of high-wind events that could topple poles and spark wildfires.
“Microgrids are really a public safety tool,” Reyes said, adding that these localized systems come equipped with battery stations to maintain power to residents with the need to power life-sustaining devices, such as oxygen or dialysis machines.
The utility’s green hydrogen clean energy project, set for siting in Questa, Taos and Picuris Pueblo, can be thought of as “big microgrids,” Reyes explained.
New Mexico helped Kit Carson reestablish its financial footing for the initiative this year after the U.S. Department of Energy canceled roughly $15.4 million in funding for the project under the Trump administration in 2025.
In light of record-low snowpack this winter, the National Interagency Fire Center is projecting elevated wildfire risk as New Mexico heads into spring next week; the National Weather Service is forecasting red flag warnings into Sunday, with winds that could gust as high as 40 mph.
Kit Carson issued its own warning Friday afternoon in light of the weekend weather forecast, warning of “increasing wildfire risk across northern New Mexico this weekend.”
In an era of dry, warm weather patterns and ongoing drought, he said new technologies can’t be ignored in the much larger effort to mitigate the risk of catastrophic fire.
“I think now with technology and with drones, we now can identify more accurately where we think there may be problems, to address them,” he said. “And overall, wildfire will be our number-one priority for the rest of the year.”
—Joshua Bowling, Source New Mexico
New Mexico officials are soliciting proposals from law firms to aid the state’s Jeffrey Epstein “truth commission” in its investigation into the late sex offender and his former Zorro Ranch property in Santa Fe County.
The state’s Legislative Council Service on Friday issued a Request for Proposals and invited lawyers and law firms to apply for a government contract with a House investigatory subcommittee’s investigation into Epstein’s time in New Mexico. The RFP specifies that whoever wins the state contract will provide legal services for the commission, gather evidence for its Epstein investigation and manage any collaborations with the New Mexico Department of Justice.
To be eligible for the contract, lawyers or firms must submit proposals with a detailed outline of how they’d tackle the job no later than 4 p.m. on April 2. The work won’t be purely archival and will likely include an element of working with survivors of Epstein’s abuse and witnesses to his crimes, commission Chair Rep. Andrea Romero (D-Santa Fe) told Source NM.
“That’s why we’re starting with the legal space,” Romero said. “We may encounter something that could be worth prosecuting today.”
The New Mexico Department of Justice in February announced it was reviving an investigation into Epstein and Zorro Ranch. Former New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas previously told Source NM his office was investigating Epstein until federal prosecutors in 2019 asked him to shelve the query. Earlier this month, NMDOJ investigators searched the sprawling 7,500-acre property that Epstein bought from former New Mexico Gov. Bruce King in the 1990s.
As the commission, armed with a $2 million budget, gets off the ground, Romero said she hopes to see the contractor serve it in a “general counsel aspect,” and be active in the actual investigation. The commission’s first report is due in July.
What the law firm’s work looks like in practice will depend on the proposals the commission receives, she said.
“This is the first truth commission of its kind in the state and, perhaps, in the country, of this scale and breadth,” Romero said. “We know how disparate the files are in piecing together the story. And we know of many victims that are interested and survivors that are interested in working with us to get their accounts on the record.”
After the April 2 filing deadline, state officials have until April 10 to award a contract, according to the RFP.
“This has been Step 0 to (get to) Step 1,” Romero said.
Romero said she expects the next RFP to be for the commission’s “storytelling piece,” which will guide the commission on how to publish its findings and center the voices of Epstein’s survivors.
First rabies case of 2026 found in bobcat that attacked dogs — Daniel Montaño
Rabies has made its first appearance in New Mexico this year. The New Mexico Department of Health announced Monday a rabid bobcat in Sierra County was euthanized after attacking several dogs.
Two people who were also exposed to the virus received a post-exposure vaccine. The dogs involved, which were all up to date on their rabies vaccines, received a booster and will be monitored for 45 days.
Erin Phipps, NMDOH State Public Health Veterinarian, said although rabies is deadly, it is preventable. She said vaccinating your pets not only protects them, but it’s also required by law.
Any unvaccinated animals that are exposed to rabies, she said, must be euthanized or isolated for four months to prevent human exposure.
Wild animals, especially bats, skunks and foxes are the most common cause of rabies in New Mexico, but any mammal could carry the virus. NMDOH always recommends keeping wild animals at a distance. Do not approach, touch or attempt to feed any wild animal — alive or dead.
If a wild animal is acting abnormally, aggressively, or seems sick, report it to local animal control or the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.
The state confirmed 13 cases of rabies in 2025 — one each from a bobcat and a dog, two each from skunks and coyotes, and seven cases from bats.
The news comes just three days after the department announced a dog in Santa Fe County was found with the plague, the cause of the black death in the 1300s. Not to be confused with hantavirus, a deadly respiratory virus, in animals the plague is caused by a bacterial infection usually from a flea bite.
For more information visit the NMDOH’s website about rabies or plague, or call the helpline at 1-833-SWNURSE (833-796-8773.)
Support for this coverage comes from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
Chaco Canyon signage in national park database of material under review
—Santa Fe New Mexican
Text at Chaco Culture National Historical Park referencing a turn-of-the-century amateur archaeologist is among hundreds of signs, exhibits and other materials displayed by the National Park Service that have been flagged as potentially violating a 2025 executive order.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports a recently leaked database showed the text was flagged as potentially disparaging to Richard Wetherill, a rancher and amateur archaeologist that the New Mexican reports was a pivotal and controversial figure in the early history of the park.
Elsewhere in the region, in northeastern Arizona, exhibits at the Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site that mentioned The Long Walk and the slaughter of Churro sheep by the U.S. government in the 1930s were flagged. The Long Walk was the forced removal of thousands of Navajo people from their homelands to Fort Sumner in the 1860s.
City of ABQ launches new traffic campaign, which includes ad featuring Kayla VanLandingham’s mom
—Gregory R.C. Hasman, Albuquerque Journal
In the nearly eight months since teen bicyclist Kayla VanLandingham was killed in a Northeast Albuquerque crash, changes have been made in an attempt to improve bicyclist and pedestrian safety across the city and state.
Last week, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed into law Senate Bill 73, which requires student drivers to take at least three hours of training on “vulnerable road users,” such as bicyclists, pedestrians and emergency service providers.
Months earlier, the city of Albuquerque adopted an ordinance requiring drivers to stop at crosswalks in an attempt to better protect bicyclists and pedestrians. It also announced it was installing a push-button signal and crosswalk at the Hahn Arroyo where VanLandingham, 19, was killed on July 22.
On Thursday, the city took another step by launching a new traffic campaign at the South Broadway Cultural Center that focuses on crosswalks.
In one of the ads, VanLandingham’s mother, Melinda Montoya, stood at the Hahn Arroyo where her daughter was killed.
“My daughter, Kayla, was 19, riding her bike across this intersection,” Montoya said in the ad. “She believed everyone deserves safety but our traffic laws didn’t protect her. Stopping takes seconds. Losing someone lasts forever. Honor Kayla, stop for everyone.”
The Albuquerque Police Department said in July that no charges were expected to be filed against the woman who crashed into VanLandingham.
Jennifer Turner, city Department of Municipal Development director, said the city will place the new ads everywhere, including at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
“So we’re kind of blanketing the city with the campaign,” she said.
District 7 City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn, who sponsored the crosswalk ordinance, said the traffic campaign has been one of the biggest “highlights” of her time on the council.
“And I know you’ve heard this before, but I’m just going to repeat this: This is all because of the advocacy of Melinda Montoya,” she said. “She is the bravest person I have met and I am honored to have gotten to work on this.”
After the event, Montoya said VanLandingham would be “pretty stoked” about what is being done to improve bicyclist safety.
“She would have been like, ‘This is needed. This is important,’” Montoya said. “She cared deeply about people. She worked for the Esperanza Bicycle Safety Education Center and she saw value in every life. And I think between the campaign and the city stepping up, (leaders are) seeing the same value in everybody’s lives and it’s really powerful.”
Santa Fe County residents assail proposed 158-home development next to La Tierra trails
—Santa Fe New Mexican
Santa Fe County residents in neighborhoods just north of N.M. State Road 599 are speaking out against a proposed single-family residential development to be built just west of the La Tierra trails system.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that people who live in the Camino La Tierra area maintain the density of the proposed Camino Verde subdivision would dramatically alter the character of their neighborhoods. Residents also say they’re concerned about effects on traffic, geology and views.
The New Mexican reports the project include about 304 acres with 158 single-family homes both to the east and west of Camino la Tierra. Eighteen of the homes would be classified as “affordable,” as required by county ordinance. The proposed lots range in size from about one-quarter of an acre to about three and a half acres.
The Santa Fe Conservation Trust has helped maintain the La Tierra trail system under agreements with the city of Santa Fe for more than a decade, according to the conservation trust’s website.
Lobos picked as one of four top seeds in NIT, host Wednesday game in the Pit
—Geoff Grammer, Albuquerque Journal
They want more.
The UNM Lobos, the 23-10 team that started the season by replacing its entire roster of players and coaches, will play again.
While they didn’t hit their top goal of playing in the NCAA Tournament after Friday’s semifinal loss in the Mountain West Tournament to San Diego State, the Lobos on Sunday night were chosen as one of four No. 1 seeds in the 32-team National Invitation Tournament field. As a No. 1 seed, they are also the host of one of the tournament’s four regionals — the Albuquerque Regional — where the Pit will actually be able to host just two of the potential three rounds of games before the final four of the NIT is played in Indianapolis April 2 and 5.
UNM will host Sam Houston, a 22-11 team that finished second in Conference USA this season, losing to the Lobos’ instate rival New Mexico State in the regular season but beating them last week in the CUSA Tournament, 69-61.
"I wanted to talk to some of the guys post (Mountain West) Tournament there just to kind of make sure we're going to approach it the right way and be ready to go," said Olen, who last week said he would absolutely like to continue playing, but after Friday night’s loss in the conference tournament stopped short of saying they would definitely play if given the chance.
The other three No. 1 seeds in the event are Auburn (17-16) of the SEC, Wake Forest (17-16) of the ACC and Tulsa (26-7) of the American Athletic Conference.
The overall field itself, which includes five Mountain West teams, Olen noted, is far stronger based on all computer metrics than it was a year ago when many top-conference teams chose not to play in the NIT.
“Everybody's excited about playing at home,” Olen said. “I think the field is good. I thought I was excited about the field relative to maybe what last year's field looked like.”
He also noted that the NIT games allow for more growth for his program.
“I think it has the potential to be really valuable for us — more games, more reps, win or go home situation, so the stakes are still there for us,” Olen said. “We we have some younger guys on the roster. We have plans to retain guys and build our program through retention. And so we think it's important for our guys to continue to get these reps.”
Ticket sales for Wednesday’s game — all prices are set and regulated by the NCAA — are expected to start either late Sunday or early Monday, but as of 8 p.m. MT on Sunday had not yet been set.
The NCAA has set the ticket prices for the first two rounds as starting at $25 for adults, $15 for students, plus fees. There will be $30 chairback seating available and $35 Lobo Level/Club Seating availability.
UNM will purchase 300 student tickets as a thank you for the Lobo Howl Raisers section that came all season, with student tickets beyond that being at the regular $15 price point. Those will be available first come, first serve at a time announced by UNM.
Season ticket holders get first right of refusal on tickets and will have information on purchasing those and their parking passes in their regular account with UNM. They will have until 10 a.m. Wednesday to opt in to purchase those tickets.
The game will be streamed online on ESPN+ — the NIT holds all video broadcast rights. UNM’s usual radio partner, 770 AM/96.3 FM KKOB, will also broadcast the game.
The Lobos last played in the NIT on March 15, 2023, when the Richard Pitino-coached team of Jaelen House, Jamal Mashburn Jr., Morris Udeze, Donovan Dent and Josiah Allick lost to Utah Valley, 83-69, in front of an announced Pit crowd of 6,803.
The way the bracket plays out, coincidentally, would line UNM and Utah Valley up for a potential second-round matchup in the Pit, should both win their first-round games (UVU hosts George Washington on Wednesday).
At the bottom half of the Lobos’ quadrant of eight teams are Colorado State vs. Saint Joseph’s and California (coached by Mark Madsen, who was Utah Valley’s coach in the 2023 NIT game in the Pit) vs. the University of Illinois Chicago.
This is the 21st time UNM has played in the NIT, its best finish coming as runner-up in 1964. It also reached the semifinals in 1990 and the quarterfinals six times.
Could New Mexico United anchor state fairgrounds upgrade? – Olivier Uyttebrouck, Albuquerque Journal
New Mexico United has emerged as a prime candidate to become the "major anchor" at the state fairgrounds as officials finalize a master plan to redevelop the 236-acre tract in Northeast Albuquerque.
A Bernalillo County commissioner critical of the plan said Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham plans to build a stadium at the fairgrounds as a permanent home for the popular Albuquerque soccer team and has raised $70 million to pay for the project.
Lujan Grisham quickly dismissed Commissioner Adriann Barboa’s allegation as “gossip and fear mongering” and responded that no decisions have been made about how to use the funding.
But at a public meeting Friday, officials with Stantec Consulting Services, the state's design contractor, recommended a sports stadium as the preferred option for spurring development in the southwest portion of the New Mexico State Fairgrounds.
The firm appears to have abandoned an earlier proposal to relocate the New Mexico State Fair in response to public opposition to moving the decades-old annual event.
“A sports stadium is the recommendation that we're including here for the reasons that it can be the quickest to stand up,” said Ben Lewinger, a representative of Stantec. “It punches above its weight class in terms of what it costs versus the GRT (gross receipts taxes) it can generate.”
Gross receipts taxes ultimately determine how much bonding capacity the state can use to fund other developments for the fairgrounds project, including housing and retail, he said.
Lewinger and others did not mention New Mexico United as a possible anchor tenant for the stadium on Friday but others were quick to fill in the blank.
Barboa posted a statement on her Facebook page Friday alleging that Lujan Grisham obtained $70 million in discretionary funding in February through the state’s $11.1 billion budget bill, House Bill 2.
The bill appropriates $100 million to the General Services Department for “state fair redevelopment,” including $30 million for housing as part of the fairgrounds project.
Barboa, a member of the State Fair District Board, contends the remaining $70 million is the governor’s discretionary funding that she plans to use for the soccer stadium. Barboa first raised the allegation at a news conference Wednesday.
Lujan Grisham responded quickly to Barboa’s allegation this week in a statement issued by her spokesman Michael Coleman.
“The governor is disappointed that Commissioner Barboa has resorted to attention-seeking gossip and fear mongering to pre-empt a public process that exists precisely to give every community member a voice in the Fairgrounds’ future,” Coleman said.
“Anyone who has been paying attention knows that some type of public events facility has been a part of this discussion for months,” Coleman said. “But no final decision about an arena or stadium, or the master plan itself, has been made.”
New Mexico United spokeswoman Bella Finley declined comment this week on plans to build a stadium for the team at the fairgrounds.
In a separate measure, lawmakers in February authorized the issuance of up to $92 million in bonds to revitalize the state fairgrounds in Albuquerque's International District. Lujan Grisham signed the bill into law on March 5.
The measure authorizes bonds backed from state gross receipt tax revenues and gaming tax revenues. The measure takes effect May 20.
Barboa said she opposes building the New Mexico United stadium at the fairgrounds because it doesn’t generate high-paying jobs.
“I know firsthand that stadiums do not bring opportunities to neighbors,” she said. “Fans simply want to get in and get out as fast as they can.”
New Mexico United would contribute an additional $40 million for a total project cost of $110 million, Barboa said. She contends that she learned of the plan from former Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez, who is spearheading the fairgrounds project for the Governor’s Office.
Chávez, who attended the public meeting Friday, said the $70 million funding isn't designated for any particular purpose.
“I think they’re definitely moving in the direction of some sort of stadium as one component,” Chávez said of Stantec and the Governor's Office. The master plan is nearing the end of a six-month process, he said.
“Now they’re starting to bring all the different ideas that have come together,” Chávez said. “This isn’t the first time you heard about stadiums. We’ll have the recommendations next week, and we'll see what they recommend.”
Stantec will not get involved in recommending what team should occupy the stadium, which will likely involve a variety of tenants and uses, Chávez said. But New Mexico United is a prime candidate in a state that lacks major league sports teams, he said.
Any plan to build a stadium for New Mexico United could conflict with the city of Albuquerque’s announced plan to build a soccer stadium at Balloon Fiesta Park.
The city is actively defending a lawsuit filed by three neighborhood associations that oppose the project. That lawsuit is pending at the New Mexico Court of Appeals.
Mayor Tim Keller appeared to steer clear of the issue this week.
“I’ve been clear since I ran for the State Senate 17 years ago that I love the State Fair, and the Fair should stay,” Keller said. “Beyond that, we will support plans that can boost the grounds and benefit the community.”
New Mexico United has sought a permanent stadium since 2020 to replace its current home at Isotopes Park, home of Albuquerque’s Triple-A baseball team. An earlier proposal for a new stadium at a Downtown location using bond funding was defeated by voters in 2021.
Albuquerque's Balloon Fiesta Park was selected in 2023 as the location for a privately financed stadium on land leased from the city.
Three neighborhood associations near Balloon Fiesta Park filed suit in state district court after the Albuquerque City Council voted 8-1 to deny their appeal in August 2024.
Second Judicial District Judge Erin O’Connell ruled in July that opponents of the Balloon Fiesta Park location failed to demonstrate that they were denied due process.
Plaintiffs appealed the district court ruling on Aug. 19. The state Court of Appeals this week assigned a three-judge panel to hear the case.
Stantec in December unveiled three preliminary designs for the fairgrounds, all of which include a hotel and event venue, parks, retail space and mixed-income housing. One of the designs proposed relocating the fair.
The state-owned tract has hosted the annual State Fair since 1938, but the state and its consultants say that the area is underutilized and its infrastructure is crumbling.
New Mexico seeks halt to illegal greyhound betting – Nakayla Mclelland, Albuquerque Journal
The New Mexico Gaming Control Board earlier this month sent a cease and desist letter to a North Dakota-based company to request it stop offering greyhound racing bets to New Mexico residents.
Lien Games Racing is a wagering company that allows people from across the country to place bets on races. The company allowed New Mexico residents to bet on greyhound races even though wagering on greyhound races has been illegal in the state since 2022, according to gaming officials.
According to the North Dakota Racing Commission licensee list, the company operates through at least six betting platforms. Lien Games Racing did not respond to multiple requests for comment, but state officials said it would stop accepting bets from New Mexicans.
The letter, issued March 4, states the gaming board was made aware of wagers Lien Games Racing was offering and told the company the bets do not abide by state laws.
NMGCB threatened to take legal action and said it would attempt to prevent the company from obtaining a gaming license in the state if the company didn’t stop taking New Mexicans’ bets on greyhound races.
“Wagers on dog races and online gaming are not permitted in New Mexico,” the letter states. “Because the type of wagering offered by Lien Games Racing, LLC is not permitted in New Mexico, you are hereby ordered to immediately cease and desist making such activity available in New Mexico.”
Michelle Pato, senior staff council at NMGCB, said Lien Games Racing responded to the letter and said the company would comply and discontinue offering greyhound racing bets in New Mexico.
“We are really pleased with the result,” Pato said. “We’re glad we were able to make this happen.”
In 2025, nonprofit organization GREY2K USA became suspicious of the company and had volunteers set up accounts to document illegal gambling. One of those accounts attempted to bet from New Mexico on a greyhound race in Australia and emailed Lien Games Racing to ask if it would accept the wager.
“Hi — we do accept wagering on both horses and greyhounds from the state of New Mexico,” the company wrote in an email.
Shortly after, GREY2K USA took those emails, along with other documents, to the NMGCB.
“They have essentially ignored state laws in states like New Mexico, where greyhound betting is not legal,” said Carey Theil, executive director of GREY2K USA, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit dedicated to passing strong greyhound protection laws and ending the racing of the dogs.
“For this company to just ignore New Mexico laws and offer this kind of disreputable gambling is really shocking,” he said.
Greyhound racing is “cruel and inhumane” and many of the dogs get injured on the racetrack or are forced to consume drugs to help with performance, Thiel said. He said he applauded NMGCB for stepping up and protecting consumers from illegal gambling.
Pato said the agency needed to investigate and verify that Lien Games Racing accepted illegal bets, given that some gambling websites allow people to access the site but not bet on certain types of races if they are illegal in their state.
“This one you could, and that's what prompted us to send the letter, because we found that it was being made available to individuals and entities within the state of New Mexico,” she said.
New Mexico isn’t the only state attempting to rein in illegal betting from out-of-state companies. In 2025, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office issued a similar cease and desist letter, requesting that Lien Games Racing halt its facilitation of unlicensed greyhound betting.
Numerous other states have banned greyhound racing or have begun to phase out the races. By 2029, greyhound gambling will only be legal in 14 states.
Other countries across the world, such as New Zealand and Scotland, are in the process of outlawing it as well.
Kit Carson Electric Co-op puts AI, drone tech to use to mitigate wildfire danger ahead of dicey spring season – John Miller, Albuquerque Journal
Kit Carson Electric Cooperative is turning to cutting-edge technologies to better assess and respond to wildfire as New Mexico heads into another bone-dry spring season, where experts are forecasting a heightened risk for catastrophic conflagrations.
The cooperative is one of three utilities participating in a pilot program for AI-based wildfire software created by Firescape, an Albuquerque company that two former Sandia National Labs scientists founded with the goal to use machine learning to map wildfire risk across vast landscapes.
“We’re using machine learning techniques to create a model that can go from a single point of data to a wall-to-wall map for a whole area,” said Holly Eagleston, Firescape’s co-founder and CEO.
To create the maps, Eagleston said the company is harvesting data from satellites and weather stations to assess key factors like wind speed and relative humidity. The company then provides those models to public utilities, which can then pinpoint priority locations for long-term fire mitigation projects, like tree trimming and microgrids that can be powered off for portions of service areas impacted by extreme weather events.
“It's updated every hour, so it's basically minimizing the impact to communities around outages because of this mitigation, but also balancing safety with reliability,” Eagleston said. “So they're doing it when they need to, because fire danger conditions are bad, but it's also very granular and surgical.”
She said the company has applied for a state grant to extend Firescape’s current six-month contract with Kit Carson Electric for three years.
Kit Carson serves three counties: Rio Arriba, Colfax and Taos. The area is home to two of the state’s highest-risk firesheds, or zones most prone to severe wildfire, according to the 2022 Community Wildfire Protection Plan: Taos Canyon and Taos Ski Valley.
Luis Reyes, co-op CEO, says the utility partners with Carson National Forest to update a “three-tier” ratings system to determine priority areas for tree trimming projects, including Taos Canyon, Tres Ritos, Twining Road in Taos Ski Valley and Upper Red River.
“Those are the areas that we deem are the most at risk because they're dry and have a lot of diseased trees,” Reyes said. “We're going to refocus on those.”
Alongside Firescape’s machine-learning tools, Reyes said the co-op has also contracted with drone company Voltair to conduct aerial inspections of its service area to identify dead, diseased and downed trees that can cause natural wildfires to mushroom into catastrophic ones.
Kit Carson is also advancing several community microgrid projects this year to introduce smaller-scale power systems to high-risk areas, such as those that pose risks to power lines in the case of high-wind events that could topple poles and spark wildfires.
“Microgrids are really a public safety tool,” Reyes said, adding that these localized systems come equipped with battery stations to maintain power to residents with the need to power life-sustaining devices, such as oxygen or dialysis machines.
The utility’s green hydrogen clean energy project, set for siting in Questa, Taos and Picuris Pueblo, can be thought of as “big microgrids,” Reyes explained.
New Mexico helped Kit Carson reestablish its financial footing for the initiative this year after the U.S. Department of Energy canceled roughly $15.4 million in funding for the project under the Trump administration in 2025.
In light of record-low snowpack this winter, the National Interagency Fire Center is projecting elevated wildfire risk as New Mexico heads into spring next week; the National Weather Service is forecasting red flag warnings into Sunday, with winds that could gust as high as 40 mph.
Kit Carson issued its own warning Friday afternoon in light of the weekend weather forecast, warning of “increasing wildfire risk across northern New Mexico this weekend.”
In an era of dry, warm weather patterns and ongoing drought, he said new technologies can’t be ignored in the much larger effort to mitigate the risk of catastrophic fire.
“I think now with technology and with drones, we now can identify more accurately where we think there may be problems, to address them,” he said. “And overall, wildfire will be our number-one priority for the rest of the year.”