THURS: New Mexico congressional delegation members demand info on military GPS jamming before fatal crash, + More
By KUNM News
August 6, 2026 at 10:09 AM MDT
New Mexico congressional delegation members demand info on military GPS jamming before fatal crash
—Lauren Lifke, Source New Mexico
Members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation are demanding answers from federal transportation and defense agencies following recent reports that White Sands Missile Range officials may have contributed to a fatal plane crash in May by jamming the pilot’s global positioning system.
The May 13 crash of a small medical transport plane near Ruidoso killed four people and ignited the Seven Cabins Fire, which burned nearly 17,000 acres in the Lincoln National Forest. A recent preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board notes that the pilot reported issues navigating the plane at the same time that White Sands Missile Range officials were conducting GPS jamming tests.
The military jams GPS to help determine whether United States military weapons systems are vulnerable to interference. These are planned, government-sanctioned activities and military exercises that support national security, according to the FAA’s GNSS Interference Resource Guide.
This week, U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) and U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) announced in news releases that they were demanding information from U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Transportation Department Secretary Sean Duffy.
“Military technology definitely had a role to play in the flight path of this tragic crash,” Vasquez said in a statement he released Wednesday after a briefing with the NTSB.
But even before the May crash, pilots had warned for years about GPS jamming while flying near the White Sands Missile Range, according to a Source NM review of hundreds of anonymous pilot testimonials contained in the federal Aviation Safety Reporting System. The system allows pilots to voluntarily and anonymously report safety issues to authorities that can investigate and take action.
Since 2010, according to Source NM’s review, nearly 70 different narratives published in the system have mentioned GPS jamming in New Mexico, most of them near White Sands, and sought to alert authorities about the potential dangers.
“This extremely frequent jamming of critical GPS navigation is a significant threat to aviation safety,” one pilot wrote in September 2019. “This jamming has to end.”
Another pilot, in 2014, warned about similar issues navigating the steep terrain in New Mexico at night with a sudden loss of GPS technology.
“The GPS jamming, in a high terrain airport area, at night, with a runway that abuts high terrain, is an accident waiting to happen,” the pilot wrote.
Several pilots said that while they were able to safely navigate their planes without the help of GPS, they received insufficient advance notice of the jamming.
As recently as last year, one pilot flying in New Mexico said he was unaware that his GPS was at risk of being jammed despite receiving official clearance to take off, following a review of weather conditions and other pre-flight considerations, through what is known as a flight release.
“I had searched the flight release for any news of GPS outages prior to the event but I did not see any. It was a bit of a surprise,” one pilot wrote following a flight in July 2025. “This sort of thing ought to be publicized and disseminated to airlines and aircraft operators through FAA communications.”
Source NM requested an interview with Federal Aviation Administration officials regarding pilots’ concerns about GPS jamming in New Mexico. A spokesperson declined to make someone available for an interview, but noted that pilots can use another navigation system, called Very High Frequency Omni-Directional Ranges, if GPS interruption occurs.
“We will continue to maintain these navigation aids to ensure aircraft can safely navigate and land during any satellite outages,” FAA spokesperson Chris Mulloly told Source NM in May.
Several flight experts told Source NM that the safety of the airspace relies on several systems that work together, so the loss of GPS alone shouldn’t cause a crash by itself.
Still, “If you’re getting ready to land, and you’re in the clouds, and all of a sudden you have a disruption of what your position is, that’s not good,” said Robert Joslin, associate professor of the practice at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Joslin said.
Judge orders Meta to pay $567M over harm to New Mexico youth
—James Bennett, Albuquerque Journal
A Santa Fe district judge has ordered Meta Platforms Inc. to pay $567 million and make changes to improve the experience of juvenile users after ruling that the company’s platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, contributed to a public nuisance that has harmed children and teens in New Mexico.
Chief 1st Judicial District Court Judge Bryan Biedscheid issued the decision Thursday following a two-phase civil case brought by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez. In the first phase of the trial, a jury found that Meta violated the state’s Unfair Practices Act, resulting in $375 million in civil penalties for 75,000 violations.
The second phase focused on addressing the broader harm caused by Meta’s platforms. Biedscheid ruled that New Mexico is facing a youth mental health crisis and that Meta’s products are a significant contributing factor. The state argued that the company allowed minors easy access to addictive social media features and exposed them to risks, including exploitation by sexual predators.
The $567 million payment will fund programs over five years focused on youth mental health awareness and prevention, screening and assessment, referrals and coordination, treatment, and evaluation. The largest portion of the funds — $420 million — will go toward treatment efforts.
The judge also ordered Meta to make changes affecting juvenile accounts and submit written progress reports to the court and the state twice a year, on June 30 and Dec. 31, throughout the five-year period.
New Mexico Health Care Authority releases $50M to rural health care providers — Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
The New Mexico Health Care Authority this week announced it had identified recipients of $50 million the Legislature approved in a special session late last year aimed at staving off rural healthcare impacts from the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
Senate Bill 1, which passed nearly unanimously during the October 2025 special legislative session, transferred $50 million to the existing Rural Healthcare Delivery Fund and allowed the Health Care Authority to use the funds for “stabilization” of healthcare services, not just for new and expanding services.
The funds were needed, legislative sponsors and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said at the time, to offset potential impacts in the federal spending bill, including cuts to Medicaid, and provide providers with some certainty as they braced for impacts from the spending bill.
The Health Care Authority in March opened applications for the new funding and announced this week that 41 recipients received funding across rural New Mexico.
Two providers that received the funds told Source NM on Wednesday that they will use the funding, which will be awarded over the course of three years, to recruit and retain employees in hopes of meeting growing demand.
Serving People In Need, a behavioral healthcare provider serving primarily unhoused people in Luna, Grant and Hidalgo counties, received $2.1 million, according to Director Christina Castillo. That amount is slightly more than her organization asked for, she said.
“It’s huge,” she said of the funding, which amounts to roughly 30% of her organization’s annual operating budget. “If they were out to stabilize some stuff, they did that.”
The funds will be particularly helpful for the organizations’ 24-hour emergency homeless shelter, she said, which the organization generally pays for without the help of federal or state funding. Castillo also said she’ll use the funding toward retirement accounts for current and new employees.
“We have really good employees, but we’re missing the clinical,” she said. “We need more clinicians.”
Her organization served 800 unique clients in 2025, she said, across 10,000 visits.
Ruth Macy, owner of Building Bridges Counseling Service in Hobbs, said she needs the $1 million in funding to hire more therapists for clients, who are children and teenagers. At the moment, she has one full-time and one part-time therapist serving roughly 60 kids, and the waiting list is a year.
Since the federal spending bill went into effect last year, she said, she’s noticed an uptick in denials for reimbursement for her clients who receive Medicaid. The state funding will enable her to pay therapists’ salaries and 15% of their healthcare premiums, she said.
“We’re in Lea County. I mean, rural areas don’t attract people just out of school,” she said. “And of course we have to have a licensed clinical social worker or a counseling license. So we have to draw those type of people, which is very difficult.”
Officials are fighting 5 fires sparked by ightning within the last week in the Santa Fe National Forrest — Daniel Montańo
Federal and state fire officials have been working to suppress several fires that have sparked in the Santa Fe National forest over the last few days by lightning strikes during thunderstorms.
Of the five wildfires, only one, the High Peak fire near Cow Creek in the Pecos, has been contained.
The largest, the Frijoles Fire, has burned 10 acres so far and was still 0% contained as of Wednesday night, but hotshots were en route at that time.
It’s currently burning about 3-4 miles east of Cundiyo in the Pecos.
The Lodin fire has burned six acres as of Wednesday night and was also 0% contained. Heavily timbered forest service land, private lands with cabins and more are all within a quarter mile of where the Lodin is burning, about two miles south of Jarosa.
The Spring Fire b and the Glorieta Mesa fire were also 0% contained but had only burned 1one acre and one-tenth acre respectively.
Fire officials remind the public drones pose a serious risk to firefighting and can cause air operations to cease.
City Council cracks down on stolen copper, brass sales — Jesse Jones, City Desk ABQ
Burqueños whose catalytic converters get stolen or whose streetlights go dark because of stripped copper wiring have a new tool aimed at fighting the market for stolen metal after the City Council voted 8-1 Monday night to toughen the city’s recycling laws.
The council approved the Sale of Recycled Metals Ordinance, sponsored by Councilors Renée Grout and Tammy Fiebelkorn, who proposed the measure in May after copper thieves stripped streetlight wiring along East Central Avenue. The measure renames the 2022 Secondhand Catalytic Converter Purchase Ordinance and expands it to cover copper and brass alongside catalytic converters. Recycled metal dealers must keep purchase records, hold most materials for seven days before resale and pay by check, not cash, for purchases over $50. Dealers also cannot split transactions to avoid the payment threshold. Verified commercial sellers, such as licensed recyclers, contractors and public utilities, are exempt from the seven-day waiting period. Catalytic converters remain subject to a 15-day holding period.
Councilor Dan Lewis cast the lone no vote, questioning Albuquerque Police Department officials about evidence linking the city’s five secondhand metal dealers to stolen goods. Lewis said the ordinance duplicates state law and burdens legitimate businesses. An APD commander said the changes give investigators better tools to trace stolen metal and deter theft. Mayor Tim Keller also backed the measure, saying it closes a loophole that made it easier for thieves to profit.
Purchases of copper and brass will not require electronic reporting to the police, according to City Attorney Lauren Keefe. However, dealers must continue reporting catalytic converter purchases through APD’s LeadsOnline system by noon the next business day. The ordinance also allows dealers to use continuous video recording instead of photographing sellers and materials, while APD’s Property Unit retains inspection access during business hours.
Judge sentences former Albuquerque gun dealer in machine gun trafficking scheme — Matthew Reisen, Albuquerque Journal
A former Albuquerque gun store owner was the first defendant to be sentenced in a cross-country machine gun trafficking scheme that relied on falsified documents signed by law enforcement — including the former Bernalillo County sheriff.
U.S. District Judge Julie Rubin of Maryland on Monday sentenced James Christopher Tafoya, former owner of JCT Firearms, to time served and a $2,000 fine for the misdemeanor crime of aiding and abetting the making of false statements in keeping records by a federal firearms licensee.
In a sentencing memorandum, Tafoya’s defense attorney requested time served and a $500 fine due to Tafoya’s “nearly three years of faultless pretrial supervision.”
Tafoya’s attorney declined to comment.
Tafoya pleaded guilty in September 2025 to the single count in a deal offered by federal prosecutors that saw the remaining charges dropped. As part of his plea agreement, Tafoya must forfeit more than 100 firearms, including dozens of machine guns.
In 2019, according to his plea agreement, Tafoya obtained the signature of then-Bernalillo County Sheriff Manuel Gonzales III for a law letter that was used by the scheme’s ringleader, Sean Sullivan, to import a machine gun.
Automatic weapons have been restricted in the U.S. for decades but can be imported following a written request by a local law enforcement agency, known as a law letter, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
In the memorandum, Tafoya’s defense said he had handed over the letter knowing it contained false statements but “made no false statements of his own.”
Others who have pleaded guilty in the case are Sullivan, a gun dealer and former Department of Homeland Security analyst; Matthew Hall, former chief of police in North Carolina; and Larry Vickers, a firearms dealer and enthusiast who reviews guns on YouTube. None have been sentenced.
The only person charged in the case who has not taken a plea deal is James Sawyer, a former chief of police in North Dakota.
The case dates back to 2023, when the ATF indicted the group, alleging that for years they had falsified law letters to import automatic weapons. The ATF said the nationwide scheme likely raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars as the acquired weapons were resold to firearms dealers, gun enthusiasts and collectors.
In one instance, Tafoya admitted to aiding and abetting the scheme’s ringleader Sullivan in 2019 by obtaining a law letter signed by Gonzales, according to his plea agreement. The plea agreement states Tafoya gave the letter, which requested the demonstration of a machine gun, to Sullivan “knowing it contained (a) false statement” and the letter was used to import the weapon.
Though the plea agreement only mentions one instance, the ATF indictment alleged Gonzales and then-Undersheriff Rudy Mora signed dozens of such letters used by Sullivan to import the guns, which included automatic pistols and rifles but also relics, such as a World War I machine gun that was water-cooled and needed to be trailered behind a vehicle.
The ATF alleged that Gonzales and Mora submitted more than 100 law letters to Tafoya, requesting more than 1,000 guns for demonstration between July 2015 and March 2021. Of those requested, the ATF said at least 20 guns were imported by Sullivan.
No wrongdoing has been alleged against Gonzales, Mora or a New Mexico State Police armorer who was mentioned but never named in court records. Mora and Gonzales could not be reached Wednesday.
In the sentencing memorandum, Tafoya’s attorney said due to his client’s “excellent conduct” on pretrial supervision the past few years, the federal judge granted a motion in September 2025 to allow him to possess firearms. The memorandum said Tafoya’s long-term plan is to take over his family’s painting business, which brings in up to $10 million annually.
“In the wake of this case, Mr. Tafoya has left the firearms business and has no intention of participating in wholesale or retail firearms businesses again,” according to the memorandum.
The building that housed JCT Firearms — the gun store owned by Tafoya on Old Coors SW, south of Central — is now the home of Red’s Marijuana Shop.
Second whistleblower lawsuit filed against NM childcare agency alleging multimillion dollar financial hole
—Natalie Robbins, Albuquerque Journal
A second former official is suing the New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department, claiming retaliation for exposing an alleged multimillion dollar budget shortfall caused in part by universal childcare.
Kimberly Gonzales claims in her suit, filed Tuesday in New Mexico’s 1st Judicial District, that she was fired from her job as the ECECD’s former budget director after disclosing a $258 million hole in the department’s budget for fiscal year 2027.
To become financially whole for FY2027, the complaint alleges the department needs $155 million in revenue from the State Investment Council's early childhood trust fund that was not transferred to the ECECD as initially promised, an additional $83 million to fund universal childcare payments and $20 million for various other programs.
In September, New Mexico became the first state in the nation to offer free childcare to all residents. The program was announced Sept. 8, and is expected to cost the state $606 million in fiscal year 2027, according to a state news release.
Gonzales claims in her suit she raised the issues to department officials including ECECD Secretary Elizabeth Groginsky and to the Department of Finance and Administration and recommended various spending restrictions and controls.
Gonzales, who was hired in late October 2025, was notified she was under internal investigation on June 30 for what the suit alleges was an undisclosed reason. On July 13, she was placed on administrative leave — 20 minutes before her scheduled interview on the investigation, the complaint alleges — and was fired on July 21 for “inappropriate behavior and unprofessional conduct.”
Gonzales is seeking reinstatement, double back pay plus interest, damages and attorney fees.
Gonzales is being represented by attorney Jacob Candelaria, a former New Mexico state senator, who served in the Legislature from 2013 to 2022, first as a Democrat and later as an independent.
Candelaria is also representing the ECECD’s former chief financial officer, Carmel Pacheco-Aragon, in her whistleblower lawsuit against the department, filed last week. In it, Pacheco-Aragon alleges she was placed on administrative leave from her job after exposing an $83 million budget shortfall created by the universal childcare program.
Candelaria is the same attorney who represented Republican gubernatorial hopeful Duke Rodriguez and two other plaintiffs when they sued the state earlier this year, claiming the rules underpinning the universal childcare program were unlawful. The suit was dismissed in June.
“The push for universal childcare, candidly, is a recent invention of this administration, because (Gov.) Michelle Lujan Grisham wants to prove that she’s relevant in an increasingly socialist Democratic Party,” Candelaria said.
Candelaria contended that both Groginsky and Finance and Administration Secretary Wayne Propst should be investigated for approving childcare payments knowing the state did not have enough funds to cover them.
“I hope that the (attorney general) will set aside partisan loyalty and how popular this idea of (universal) childcare has become and look at the evidence,” Candelaria said.
In a statement Tuesday, Deputy ECECD Secretary Kendal Chavez said the allegations in the complaint were false.
“This complaint is another manufactured and unfounded allegation by Jacob Candelaria who has shown dedication to taking down universal childcare and taking vital benefits from New Mexico’s families and children at all costs,” Chavez said.
“ECECD has never and will never take retaliatory action against employees for coming forward with information, questions or concerns about the operations of our department. We cannot comment on the specifics of this litigation, but we will bring the facts to court, and we are confident we will prevail once again.”
Candelaria said the agency invoking his name was an attempt to divert attention from the facts of the case.
“They can say whatever they want about me,” he said. “I’ve been called worse by a lot better.”
Village of Angel Fire declares 'drought emergency'
—John Miller, Albuquerque Journal
The largest village in the sparsely populated high mountain valley east of Taos is enacting a series of water conservation measures after officials declared a “drought emergency” on Monday.
The village of Angel Fire cited water shortages driven by “a long and continued period of unusually dry weather, abnormally low stream flows, and reduced groundwater levels.”
About 1,200 people live in Angel Fire, which is located in the heart of the Moreno Valley in the Sangre De Cristo Mountains.
Outdoor watering under the order is limited to twice per week, restaurants and bars may only offer water to patrons upon request and short-term rental owners must post signage notifying guests to conserve water.
Failure to comply can result in fines of up to $500 per day, the notice warns.
Angel Fire’s declaration comes a week after the town of Taos discovered a leak in one of its municipal water storage tanks and a glitch in an automated system that had caused water levels to drop to critical levels.
Much of Cerro, near Questa in northern Taos County, has been without water since a water pump failed in May.
All of northern New Mexico remains in extreme or severe drought this month, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, and forecasters are warning that parts of the state this week could experience record high temperatures.
—Lauren Lifke, Source New Mexico
Members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation are demanding answers from federal transportation and defense agencies following recent reports that White Sands Missile Range officials may have contributed to a fatal plane crash in May by jamming the pilot’s global positioning system.
The May 13 crash of a small medical transport plane near Ruidoso killed four people and ignited the Seven Cabins Fire, which burned nearly 17,000 acres in the Lincoln National Forest. A recent preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board notes that the pilot reported issues navigating the plane at the same time that White Sands Missile Range officials were conducting GPS jamming tests.
The military jams GPS to help determine whether United States military weapons systems are vulnerable to interference. These are planned, government-sanctioned activities and military exercises that support national security, according to the FAA’s GNSS Interference Resource Guide.
This week, U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) and U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) announced in news releases that they were demanding information from U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Transportation Department Secretary Sean Duffy.
“Military technology definitely had a role to play in the flight path of this tragic crash,” Vasquez said in a statement he released Wednesday after a briefing with the NTSB.
But even before the May crash, pilots had warned for years about GPS jamming while flying near the White Sands Missile Range, according to a Source NM review of hundreds of anonymous pilot testimonials contained in the federal Aviation Safety Reporting System. The system allows pilots to voluntarily and anonymously report safety issues to authorities that can investigate and take action.
Since 2010, according to Source NM’s review, nearly 70 different narratives published in the system have mentioned GPS jamming in New Mexico, most of them near White Sands, and sought to alert authorities about the potential dangers.
“This extremely frequent jamming of critical GPS navigation is a significant threat to aviation safety,” one pilot wrote in September 2019. “This jamming has to end.”
Another pilot, in 2014, warned about similar issues navigating the steep terrain in New Mexico at night with a sudden loss of GPS technology.
“The GPS jamming, in a high terrain airport area, at night, with a runway that abuts high terrain, is an accident waiting to happen,” the pilot wrote.
Several pilots said that while they were able to safely navigate their planes without the help of GPS, they received insufficient advance notice of the jamming.
As recently as last year, one pilot flying in New Mexico said he was unaware that his GPS was at risk of being jammed despite receiving official clearance to take off, following a review of weather conditions and other pre-flight considerations, through what is known as a flight release.
“I had searched the flight release for any news of GPS outages prior to the event but I did not see any. It was a bit of a surprise,” one pilot wrote following a flight in July 2025. “This sort of thing ought to be publicized and disseminated to airlines and aircraft operators through FAA communications.”
Source NM requested an interview with Federal Aviation Administration officials regarding pilots’ concerns about GPS jamming in New Mexico. A spokesperson declined to make someone available for an interview, but noted that pilots can use another navigation system, called Very High Frequency Omni-Directional Ranges, if GPS interruption occurs.
“We will continue to maintain these navigation aids to ensure aircraft can safely navigate and land during any satellite outages,” FAA spokesperson Chris Mulloly told Source NM in May.
Several flight experts told Source NM that the safety of the airspace relies on several systems that work together, so the loss of GPS alone shouldn’t cause a crash by itself.
Still, “If you’re getting ready to land, and you’re in the clouds, and all of a sudden you have a disruption of what your position is, that’s not good,” said Robert Joslin, associate professor of the practice at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Joslin said.
Judge orders Meta to pay $567M over harm to New Mexico youth
—James Bennett, Albuquerque Journal
A Santa Fe district judge has ordered Meta Platforms Inc. to pay $567 million and make changes to improve the experience of juvenile users after ruling that the company’s platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, contributed to a public nuisance that has harmed children and teens in New Mexico.
Chief 1st Judicial District Court Judge Bryan Biedscheid issued the decision Thursday following a two-phase civil case brought by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez. In the first phase of the trial, a jury found that Meta violated the state’s Unfair Practices Act, resulting in $375 million in civil penalties for 75,000 violations.
The second phase focused on addressing the broader harm caused by Meta’s platforms. Biedscheid ruled that New Mexico is facing a youth mental health crisis and that Meta’s products are a significant contributing factor. The state argued that the company allowed minors easy access to addictive social media features and exposed them to risks, including exploitation by sexual predators.
The $567 million payment will fund programs over five years focused on youth mental health awareness and prevention, screening and assessment, referrals and coordination, treatment, and evaluation. The largest portion of the funds — $420 million — will go toward treatment efforts.
The judge also ordered Meta to make changes affecting juvenile accounts and submit written progress reports to the court and the state twice a year, on June 30 and Dec. 31, throughout the five-year period.
New Mexico Health Care Authority releases $50M to rural health care providers — Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
The New Mexico Health Care Authority this week announced it had identified recipients of $50 million the Legislature approved in a special session late last year aimed at staving off rural healthcare impacts from the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
Senate Bill 1, which passed nearly unanimously during the October 2025 special legislative session, transferred $50 million to the existing Rural Healthcare Delivery Fund and allowed the Health Care Authority to use the funds for “stabilization” of healthcare services, not just for new and expanding services.
The funds were needed, legislative sponsors and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said at the time, to offset potential impacts in the federal spending bill, including cuts to Medicaid, and provide providers with some certainty as they braced for impacts from the spending bill.
The Health Care Authority in March opened applications for the new funding and announced this week that 41 recipients received funding across rural New Mexico.
Two providers that received the funds told Source NM on Wednesday that they will use the funding, which will be awarded over the course of three years, to recruit and retain employees in hopes of meeting growing demand.
Serving People In Need, a behavioral healthcare provider serving primarily unhoused people in Luna, Grant and Hidalgo counties, received $2.1 million, according to Director Christina Castillo. That amount is slightly more than her organization asked for, she said.
“It’s huge,” she said of the funding, which amounts to roughly 30% of her organization’s annual operating budget. “If they were out to stabilize some stuff, they did that.”
The funds will be particularly helpful for the organizations’ 24-hour emergency homeless shelter, she said, which the organization generally pays for without the help of federal or state funding. Castillo also said she’ll use the funding toward retirement accounts for current and new employees.
“We have really good employees, but we’re missing the clinical,” she said. “We need more clinicians.”
Her organization served 800 unique clients in 2025, she said, across 10,000 visits.
Ruth Macy, owner of Building Bridges Counseling Service in Hobbs, said she needs the $1 million in funding to hire more therapists for clients, who are children and teenagers. At the moment, she has one full-time and one part-time therapist serving roughly 60 kids, and the waiting list is a year.
Since the federal spending bill went into effect last year, she said, she’s noticed an uptick in denials for reimbursement for her clients who receive Medicaid. The state funding will enable her to pay therapists’ salaries and 15% of their healthcare premiums, she said.
“We’re in Lea County. I mean, rural areas don’t attract people just out of school,” she said. “And of course we have to have a licensed clinical social worker or a counseling license. So we have to draw those type of people, which is very difficult.”
Officials are fighting 5 fires sparked by ightning within the last week in the Santa Fe National Forrest — Daniel Montańo
Federal and state fire officials have been working to suppress several fires that have sparked in the Santa Fe National forest over the last few days by lightning strikes during thunderstorms.
Of the five wildfires, only one, the High Peak fire near Cow Creek in the Pecos, has been contained.
The largest, the Frijoles Fire, has burned 10 acres so far and was still 0% contained as of Wednesday night, but hotshots were en route at that time.
It’s currently burning about 3-4 miles east of Cundiyo in the Pecos.
The Lodin fire has burned six acres as of Wednesday night and was also 0% contained. Heavily timbered forest service land, private lands with cabins and more are all within a quarter mile of where the Lodin is burning, about two miles south of Jarosa.
The Spring Fire b and the Glorieta Mesa fire were also 0% contained but had only burned 1one acre and one-tenth acre respectively.
Fire officials remind the public drones pose a serious risk to firefighting and can cause air operations to cease.
City Council cracks down on stolen copper, brass sales — Jesse Jones, City Desk ABQ
Burqueños whose catalytic converters get stolen or whose streetlights go dark because of stripped copper wiring have a new tool aimed at fighting the market for stolen metal after the City Council voted 8-1 Monday night to toughen the city’s recycling laws.
The council approved the Sale of Recycled Metals Ordinance, sponsored by Councilors Renée Grout and Tammy Fiebelkorn, who proposed the measure in May after copper thieves stripped streetlight wiring along East Central Avenue. The measure renames the 2022 Secondhand Catalytic Converter Purchase Ordinance and expands it to cover copper and brass alongside catalytic converters. Recycled metal dealers must keep purchase records, hold most materials for seven days before resale and pay by check, not cash, for purchases over $50. Dealers also cannot split transactions to avoid the payment threshold. Verified commercial sellers, such as licensed recyclers, contractors and public utilities, are exempt from the seven-day waiting period. Catalytic converters remain subject to a 15-day holding period.
Councilor Dan Lewis cast the lone no vote, questioning Albuquerque Police Department officials about evidence linking the city’s five secondhand metal dealers to stolen goods. Lewis said the ordinance duplicates state law and burdens legitimate businesses. An APD commander said the changes give investigators better tools to trace stolen metal and deter theft. Mayor Tim Keller also backed the measure, saying it closes a loophole that made it easier for thieves to profit.
Purchases of copper and brass will not require electronic reporting to the police, according to City Attorney Lauren Keefe. However, dealers must continue reporting catalytic converter purchases through APD’s LeadsOnline system by noon the next business day. The ordinance also allows dealers to use continuous video recording instead of photographing sellers and materials, while APD’s Property Unit retains inspection access during business hours.
Judge sentences former Albuquerque gun dealer in machine gun trafficking scheme — Matthew Reisen, Albuquerque Journal
A former Albuquerque gun store owner was the first defendant to be sentenced in a cross-country machine gun trafficking scheme that relied on falsified documents signed by law enforcement — including the former Bernalillo County sheriff.
U.S. District Judge Julie Rubin of Maryland on Monday sentenced James Christopher Tafoya, former owner of JCT Firearms, to time served and a $2,000 fine for the misdemeanor crime of aiding and abetting the making of false statements in keeping records by a federal firearms licensee.
In a sentencing memorandum, Tafoya’s defense attorney requested time served and a $500 fine due to Tafoya’s “nearly three years of faultless pretrial supervision.”
Tafoya’s attorney declined to comment.
Tafoya pleaded guilty in September 2025 to the single count in a deal offered by federal prosecutors that saw the remaining charges dropped. As part of his plea agreement, Tafoya must forfeit more than 100 firearms, including dozens of machine guns.
In 2019, according to his plea agreement, Tafoya obtained the signature of then-Bernalillo County Sheriff Manuel Gonzales III for a law letter that was used by the scheme’s ringleader, Sean Sullivan, to import a machine gun.
Automatic weapons have been restricted in the U.S. for decades but can be imported following a written request by a local law enforcement agency, known as a law letter, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
In the memorandum, Tafoya’s defense said he had handed over the letter knowing it contained false statements but “made no false statements of his own.”
Others who have pleaded guilty in the case are Sullivan, a gun dealer and former Department of Homeland Security analyst; Matthew Hall, former chief of police in North Carolina; and Larry Vickers, a firearms dealer and enthusiast who reviews guns on YouTube. None have been sentenced.
The only person charged in the case who has not taken a plea deal is James Sawyer, a former chief of police in North Dakota.
The case dates back to 2023, when the ATF indicted the group, alleging that for years they had falsified law letters to import automatic weapons. The ATF said the nationwide scheme likely raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars as the acquired weapons were resold to firearms dealers, gun enthusiasts and collectors.
In one instance, Tafoya admitted to aiding and abetting the scheme’s ringleader Sullivan in 2019 by obtaining a law letter signed by Gonzales, according to his plea agreement. The plea agreement states Tafoya gave the letter, which requested the demonstration of a machine gun, to Sullivan “knowing it contained (a) false statement” and the letter was used to import the weapon.
Though the plea agreement only mentions one instance, the ATF indictment alleged Gonzales and then-Undersheriff Rudy Mora signed dozens of such letters used by Sullivan to import the guns, which included automatic pistols and rifles but also relics, such as a World War I machine gun that was water-cooled and needed to be trailered behind a vehicle.
The ATF alleged that Gonzales and Mora submitted more than 100 law letters to Tafoya, requesting more than 1,000 guns for demonstration between July 2015 and March 2021. Of those requested, the ATF said at least 20 guns were imported by Sullivan.
No wrongdoing has been alleged against Gonzales, Mora or a New Mexico State Police armorer who was mentioned but never named in court records. Mora and Gonzales could not be reached Wednesday.
In the sentencing memorandum, Tafoya’s attorney said due to his client’s “excellent conduct” on pretrial supervision the past few years, the federal judge granted a motion in September 2025 to allow him to possess firearms. The memorandum said Tafoya’s long-term plan is to take over his family’s painting business, which brings in up to $10 million annually.
“In the wake of this case, Mr. Tafoya has left the firearms business and has no intention of participating in wholesale or retail firearms businesses again,” according to the memorandum.
The building that housed JCT Firearms — the gun store owned by Tafoya on Old Coors SW, south of Central — is now the home of Red’s Marijuana Shop.
Second whistleblower lawsuit filed against NM childcare agency alleging multimillion dollar financial hole
—Natalie Robbins, Albuquerque Journal
A second former official is suing the New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department, claiming retaliation for exposing an alleged multimillion dollar budget shortfall caused in part by universal childcare.
Kimberly Gonzales claims in her suit, filed Tuesday in New Mexico’s 1st Judicial District, that she was fired from her job as the ECECD’s former budget director after disclosing a $258 million hole in the department’s budget for fiscal year 2027.
To become financially whole for FY2027, the complaint alleges the department needs $155 million in revenue from the State Investment Council's early childhood trust fund that was not transferred to the ECECD as initially promised, an additional $83 million to fund universal childcare payments and $20 million for various other programs.
In September, New Mexico became the first state in the nation to offer free childcare to all residents. The program was announced Sept. 8, and is expected to cost the state $606 million in fiscal year 2027, according to a state news release.
Gonzales claims in her suit she raised the issues to department officials including ECECD Secretary Elizabeth Groginsky and to the Department of Finance and Administration and recommended various spending restrictions and controls.
Gonzales, who was hired in late October 2025, was notified she was under internal investigation on June 30 for what the suit alleges was an undisclosed reason. On July 13, she was placed on administrative leave — 20 minutes before her scheduled interview on the investigation, the complaint alleges — and was fired on July 21 for “inappropriate behavior and unprofessional conduct.”
Gonzales is seeking reinstatement, double back pay plus interest, damages and attorney fees.
Gonzales is being represented by attorney Jacob Candelaria, a former New Mexico state senator, who served in the Legislature from 2013 to 2022, first as a Democrat and later as an independent.
Candelaria is also representing the ECECD’s former chief financial officer, Carmel Pacheco-Aragon, in her whistleblower lawsuit against the department, filed last week. In it, Pacheco-Aragon alleges she was placed on administrative leave from her job after exposing an $83 million budget shortfall created by the universal childcare program.
Candelaria is the same attorney who represented Republican gubernatorial hopeful Duke Rodriguez and two other plaintiffs when they sued the state earlier this year, claiming the rules underpinning the universal childcare program were unlawful. The suit was dismissed in June.
“The push for universal childcare, candidly, is a recent invention of this administration, because (Gov.) Michelle Lujan Grisham wants to prove that she’s relevant in an increasingly socialist Democratic Party,” Candelaria said.
Candelaria contended that both Groginsky and Finance and Administration Secretary Wayne Propst should be investigated for approving childcare payments knowing the state did not have enough funds to cover them.
“I hope that the (attorney general) will set aside partisan loyalty and how popular this idea of (universal) childcare has become and look at the evidence,” Candelaria said.
In a statement Tuesday, Deputy ECECD Secretary Kendal Chavez said the allegations in the complaint were false.
“This complaint is another manufactured and unfounded allegation by Jacob Candelaria who has shown dedication to taking down universal childcare and taking vital benefits from New Mexico’s families and children at all costs,” Chavez said.
“ECECD has never and will never take retaliatory action against employees for coming forward with information, questions or concerns about the operations of our department. We cannot comment on the specifics of this litigation, but we will bring the facts to court, and we are confident we will prevail once again.”
Candelaria said the agency invoking his name was an attempt to divert attention from the facts of the case.
“They can say whatever they want about me,” he said. “I’ve been called worse by a lot better.”
Village of Angel Fire declares 'drought emergency'
—John Miller, Albuquerque Journal
The largest village in the sparsely populated high mountain valley east of Taos is enacting a series of water conservation measures after officials declared a “drought emergency” on Monday.
The village of Angel Fire cited water shortages driven by “a long and continued period of unusually dry weather, abnormally low stream flows, and reduced groundwater levels.”
About 1,200 people live in Angel Fire, which is located in the heart of the Moreno Valley in the Sangre De Cristo Mountains.
Outdoor watering under the order is limited to twice per week, restaurants and bars may only offer water to patrons upon request and short-term rental owners must post signage notifying guests to conserve water.
Failure to comply can result in fines of up to $500 per day, the notice warns.
Angel Fire’s declaration comes a week after the town of Taos discovered a leak in one of its municipal water storage tanks and a glitch in an automated system that had caused water levels to drop to critical levels.
Much of Cerro, near Questa in northern Taos County, has been without water since a water pump failed in May.
All of northern New Mexico remains in extreme or severe drought this month, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, and forecasters are warning that parts of the state this week could experience record high temperatures.