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New Mexico Lifts Debt-Based Suspensions of Driver's Licenses for 100,000 Residents

7/27/2023

FILE - New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham speaks during a news conference in Santa Fe, N.M., April 7, 2023. New Mexico's motor vehicle division announced Wednesday, July 26, that it has lifted the suspension of driver's licenses for more than 100,000 residents. Bipartisan legislation signed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in March called for an end to the widespread practice of suspending driver’s licenses for failure to pay a fine or failure to appear in court. At least 23 other states have taken similar steps to end debt-based suspensions of driver's licenses that can make it harder for individuals to pay off debts and care for their families. (AP Photo/Morgan Lee, file)MORGAN LEE

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's motor vehicle division has lifted the suspension of driver's licenses for more than 100,000 residents under new anti-poverty legislation, officials announced Wednesday.

Bipartisan legislation signed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in March called for an end to the widespread practice of suspending driver’s licenses for failure to pay a fine or failure to appear in court.

At least 23 other states have taken similar steps to end debt-based suspensions of driver's licenses that can make it harder for individuals to pay off debts and care for their families.

The New Mexico law does not apply to commercial driver's licenses nor suspensions for other reasons related to dangerous driving or accumulated traffic violations.

License suspensions also have been cleared for more than 160,000 out-of-state drivers with New Mexico citations, the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department said in a news release. New Mexico will notify other states.

The changes leave underlying citations and fines on drivers' records. There is no fee under the new law to reinstate a driver's license after a suspension is lifted, though payments may be required for licenses that expired while under suspension.

Sponsors of the law, including Republican state Sen. Crystal Diamond of Elephant Butte and Democratic state Rep. Christine Chandler of Los Alamos, say debt-based license suspensions are counterproductive.

New Mexico high court ruling makes it easier for domestic violence victims to get protection orders

7/25/2023

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Supreme Court is making it easier for domestic violence victims to get a protective order.

The state’s high court ruled Monday that New Mexico law does not require victims of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking to show an immediate threat of harm to obtain an order of protection from their alleged abusers.

In a unanimous opinion, the court said “there is no language that indicates that a petition must state why a petitioner needs the order, or even language that requires proof of a petitioner’s need for the order.”

New Mexico law provides for protective orders for domestic abuse by household members such as a spouse or former spouse.

US Forest Service burn started wildfire that nearly reached Los Alamos, New Mexico, agency says

7/25/2023

FILE - The Cerro Pelado Fire, seen on May 6, 2022, from Cochiti, N.M, burns in the Jemez Mountains. The U.S. Forest Service said on Monday, July 24, 2023, that its own prescribed burn started the 2022 wildfire that nearly burned into Los Alamos, N.M. (Robert Browman/The Albuquerque Journal via AP, File) Robert Browman/AP

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service says its own prescribed burn started a 2022 wildfire that nearly reached Los Alamos, New Mexico.

The agency on Monday published findings of its investigation into causes of the Cerro Pelado fire that burned across more than 60 square miles and crept within a few miles of the city of Los Alamos and its companion U.S. national security lab.

Investigations traced the April 2022 outbreak of the wildfire under dry conditions to smoldering remains of a prescribed burn of forest debris commissioned by the Forest Service earlier in the winter.

The revelation prompted immediate rebukes against the Forest Service by New Mexico political leaders.

'Oppenheimer' stirs up conflicted history for Los Alamos and New Mexico downwinders

7/19/2023

FILE - Scientists and other workers rig the world's first atomic bomb to raise it up onto a 100-foot tower at the Trinity Test Site near Alamagordo, N.M. A new film on J. Robert Oppenheimer's life and his role in the development of the atomic bomb as part of the Manhattan Project during World War II opens in theaters on Friday, July 21, 2023. On the sidelines will be a community downwind from the testing site in the southern New Mexico desert, the impacts of which the U.S. government never has fully acknowledged. (AP Photo/File )

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. (AP) — The movie about a man who changed the course of the world’s history by shepherding the development of the first atomic bomb is expected to be a blockbuster, dramatic and full of suspense.

On the sidelines will be a community downwind from the testing site in the southern New Mexico desert, the impacts of which the U.S. government never has fully acknowledged. The movie on the life of scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and the top-secret work of the Manhattan Project sheds no light on those residents' pain.

“They’ll never reflect on the fact that New Mexicans gave their lives. They did the dirtiest of jobs. They invaded our lives and our lands and then they left,” Tina Cordova, a cancer survivor and founder of a group of New Mexico downwinders, said of the scientists and military officials who established a secret city in Los Alamos during the 1940s and tested their work at the Trinity Site some 200 miles (322 kilometers) away.

Cordova's group, the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, has been working with the Union of Concerned Scientists and others for years to bring attention to what the Manhattan Project did to people in New Mexico.

While film critics celebrate “Oppenheimer" and officials in Los Alamos prepare for the spotlight to be on their town, downwinders remain frustrated with the U.S. government — and now movie producers — for not recognizing their plight.

Advocates held vigils Saturday on the 78th anniversary of the Trinity Test in New Mexico and in New York City, where director Christopher Nolan and others participated in a panel discussion following a special screening of the film.

Nolan has called the Trinity Test an extraordinary moment in human history.

“I wanted to take the audience into that room and be there for when that button is pushed and really fully bring the audience to this moment in time,” he said in a clip being used by Universal Studios to promote the film.

The movie is based on Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer.” Nolan has said Oppenheimer's story is both a dream and a nightmare.

Lilly Adams, a senior outreach coordinator with the Union of Concerned Scientists, participated in the New York City vigil and said it was meant to show support for New Mexicans who have been affected.

“The human cost of Oppenheimer’s Trinity Test, and all nuclear weapons activities, is a crucial part of the conversation around U.S. nuclear legacy,” she told The Associated Press in an email. “We have to reckon with this human cost to fully understand Oppenheimer’s legacy and the harm caused by nuclear weapons.”

In developing and testing nuclear weapons, Adams said the U.S. government effectively “poisoned its own people, many of whom are still waiting for recognition and justice.”

Adams and others have said they hope that those involved in making “Oppenheimer” help raise awareness about the downwinders, who have not been added to the list of those covered by the federal government’s compensation program for people exposed to radiation.

Government officials chose the Trinity Test Site because it was remote, flat and had predictable winds. Due to the secret nature of the project, residents in surrounding areas were not warned.

The Tularosa Basin was home to a rural population that lived off the land by raising livestock and tending to gardens and farms. They drew water from cisterns and holding ponds. They had no idea that the fine ash that settled on everything in the days following the explosion was from the world's first atomic blast.

The government initially tried to hide it, saying that an explosion at a munitions dump caused the rumble and bright light, which could be seen more than 160 miles (257 kilometers) away.

It wasn’t until the U.S. dropped bombs on Japan weeks later that New Mexico residents realized what they had witnessed.

According to the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, large amounts of radiation shot up into the atmosphere and fallout descended over an area about 250 miles (402 kilometers) long and 200 miles (322 kilometers) wide. Scientists tracked part of the fallout pattern as far as the Atlantic Ocean, but the greatest concentration settled about 30 miles (48 kilometers) from the test site.

For Cordova and younger generations who are dealing with cancer, the lack of acknowledgement by the government and those involved with the film is inexcusable.

“We were left here to live with the consequences,” Cordova said. “And they’ll over-glorify the science and the scientists and make no mention of us. And you know what? Shame on them.”

In Los Alamos, more than 200 miles (321 kilometers) north of the Tularosa Basin, reaction to the film has been much different. The legacy of Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project means Los Alamos is home to one of the nation’s premier national laboratories and has the highest percentage of people with doctorate degrees in the U.S.

Oppenheimer Drive cuts through the heart of Los Alamos, Hoppenheimer IPA is on tap at a local brewery and the physicist is the focus of an exhibit at the science museum, where some of his handwritten notes and ID card are displayed.

The city is hosting an Oppenheimer Festival that starts Thursday and runs through the end of July.

About 200 extras used in the film were locals, many of them Los Alamos National Laboratory employees.

During breaks, conversations among the extras centered on science and world problems, said Kelly Stewart, who works with Los Alamos County's economic development division and was the film liaison when Nolan and his crew were on location at historic sites around town.

There's a pride that's woven into the town's DNA, Stewart said, and it revolves around the lab's work to address national security and global concerns.

The goal is to position Los Alamos as a place where people can begin to learn “the true stories” behind the events depicted in the film, Stewart said.

The county's “Project Oppenheimer” effort began in early 2023 and has included forums, documentaries, art installations and exhibits to educate visitors about the science happening at the lab as well as the social implications of the Manhattan Project.

A special area will be set up during the festival where people can discuss the movie after seeing it.

She believes efforts to help people understand the community's history will continue.

“There’s a huge interest here in our own community to keep revisiting that and discussing it,” she said.

Pilot dies as small plane crashes into unoccupied home in Santa Fe

7/19/2023

Firefighters and rescue personnel respond to a plane crash that struck a home in Santa Fe, N.M.,, Tuesday morning, July 18, 2023. (Addie Moore//The Albuquerque Journal via AP) EDDIE MOORE

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A pilot has died after a small propeller plane crashed in an empty New Mexico home shortly after takeoff Tuesday, authorities said.

The pilot of the twin-engine Cessna aircraft called out the failure of an engine two minutes after takeoff from Santa Fe Regional Airport, State Police Officer Wilson Silver said.

He said the plane went down within a minute of the announcement of engine trouble. The crash destroyed an unoccupied home a few miles from the airport.

Silver said only one person appeared to be aboard the plane bound for Santa Monica, California. The identity of the deceased pilot was not immediately available.

A narrow plume of dark smoke rose from the wreckage after the 9:05 a.m. crash in the southern reaches of Santa Fe.

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.

New Mexico revokes license of local marijuana retailer for selling cannabis from California

7/13/2023

Image by Herbal Hemp from Pixabay

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico has revoked the license of a marijuana retailer in Albuquerque for selling out-of-state cannabis in violation of state law, the state cannabis control division announced Thursday.

Regulators allege that the Paradise Exotics Distro cannabis store on a central shopping thoroughfare sold cannabis products imported from California and marked with a California stamp of origin.

Representatives for the business could not immediately be reached by phone or social media.
New Mexico is among at least 21 states that have legalized recreational marijuana for adults, while a federal marijuana ban still precludes interstate cannabis trade or trafficking.

Amid a persistent glut of cannabis on the West Coast, the states of Oregon, California and Washington have adopted so-called trigger bills that would authorize interstate cannabis trade agreements should the U.S. government someday allow it.

New Mexico prohibits the local sale of out-of-state cannabis products, with a variety of concerns among state lawmakers ranging from product safety to local economic development. Thursday marked the first time that regulators in New Mexico have revoked a cannabis business license since the start of legal recreational marijuana sales on April 1, 2022.

Regulators say Paradise Exotics Distro also failed to properly document shipping manifests and inaccurately reported sales data to a state system that tracks marijuana production from seedlings to sales.

“This revocation should serve as a warning to those selling or receiving out-of-state cannabis products," said Regulation and Licensing Department Superintendent Linda Trujillo in a statement. "Our compliance officers are ramping up inspections and we will work to remove bad actors from within the New Mexico cannabis industry.”

Duke Rodriguez, CEO of Ultra Health, the largest cannabis operator in New Mexico, said the license suspension suggests an imbalance in New Mexico's cannabis market. He urged the state to ease restrictions on large-scale cannabis cultivation.

“People should ask, ‘Why is there an apparent need for product to cross state lines?’” Rodriguez said. “Usually it is because the illicit black market fills a void when the exiting state market is unable to fill the demand.”

New Mexico jury awards $485 million in damages in case of girl sexually assaulted in foster care

7/13/2023

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A jury has awarded $485 million in damages in a civil case brought on behalf of an 8-year-old girl who was repeatedly sexually assaulted in a New Mexico foster care program.

The verdict came late Friday after Rio Arriba County jurors heard nearly two weeks of testimony that focused in part on allegations of corporate negligence.

The program allegedly placed the girl in the home of a foster parent despite knowing that he had been accused of sexual assault, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in 2019. It was one of more than a half-dozen cases arising from sexual assaults of children in the program.

Clarence Garcia, 66, pleaded guilty in January to seven counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor and was sentenced to up to 20 years of probation. Court records show Garcia was accused of sexually abusing six children under his care over six years.

In April, probation officers found that Garcia allegedly violated his probation after they searched his property and found bags of stuffed animals, a yoga book “with young children in suggestive poses” and accessories for firearms.

He faces an Aug. 3 sentencing hearing that could send him to prison for up to 42 years.

The jury awarded $80 million in compensatory damages and $250 million in punitive damages against Acadia Healthcare, the operator of a now-defunct licensed residential treatment facility in New Mexico, the Albuquerque Journal reported.

Acadia said in an email that the victim was not in the direct care of any facility operated by the company but was in a treatment foster care program managed by Familyworks, a nonprofit.

Familyworks and defunct Acadia subsidiary Youth and Family Centered Services of New Mexico Inc. will pay $75 million apiece with $5 million in punitive damages connected to Garcia's conduct.

"I think the jury’s award and verdict show the little girl she is valued and that what happened to her shouldn’t have happened,” Josh Conaway, an attorney who represented the child told the Santa Fe New Mexican.

The state Children, Youth and Families Department revoked a license for Acadia-owned Desert Hills in 2019 amid reports of sexual abuse and violence at the residential treatment facility, which served children with intellectual and developmental disabilities as well as behavioral issues.

The state had ordered the Albuquerque center’s operators to shut it down. Desert Hills had run Familyworks, Conaway said.

Authorities investigate vandalism at a Portales mosque

7/2/2023

PORTALES, N.M. (AP) — Authorities are investigating after vandals trashed a mosque in eastern New Mexico multiple times over recent weeks.

Police in Portales said they have had reports of damage that is similar at other vacant buildings in the area. Chief Christopher Williams told television station KRQE that while it's more than likely not a hate crime, officers were following up on possible leads and the area was being monitored.

“Our investigators are continuing to investigate this incident regardless of if it is or is not a hate crime,” he said. “In New Mexico, if a crime is determined to be committed out of hate, then it is a sentencing enhancement and not a separate criminal charge.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a national advocacy group, issued a statement Friday condemning the vandalism. The group urged law enforcement to investigate a possible bias motive and to step up patrols around the Portales Islamic Center.

Ahmed Benssouda, the center's director, said vandals first put holes in the walls and ripped up a Quran and poured beer on it. He said they also destroyed furniture and left trash everywhere.
The vandals returned later and damaged the building’s air conditioning unit. On Thursday, he reported that vulgar language was spray-painted on a wall.

“I feel that, honestly, with the respect that this is an example of not caring about the law,” he said.

Police officer injured in shooting in Taos

7/2/2023

TAOS, N.M. (AP) — An exchange of gunfire between a police officer and a suspect in Taos on Saturday wounded both and forced authorities to divert traffic along a main road in the tourist enclave, authorities said.

Town manager Andrew Gonzales confirmed in a statement to The Associated Press that the officer and suspect were both taken to a hospital and that the suspect was likely to succumb to their injuries.

He declined to release more information, saying the shooting would under go a full investigation.

"Please keep our officers, first responders and community in your prayers," Gonzales said.
It’s unclear what led to the shooting, which happened in a commercial district about a half-mile south of the historic Taos Plaza.
The area includes a grocery store, a barber shop, restaurants and other businesses.

US forest managers urge revelers to swap fireworks for Silly String, but some say not so fast

7/2/2023

This June 30, 2023 image shows a sign prohibiting fireworks in the Sandia Mountains that border Albuquerque, New Mexico. U.S. Forest Service managers are urging people to use glow sticks and cans of aerosol party string as alternatives to fireworks, but some environmentalists say the string difficult to clean up and should not be used out in nature. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan) © Provided by The Associated Press

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Smokey Bear said it best: “Only you can prevent forest fires.”

Following in the footsteps of their famous mascot, U.S. Forest Service managers in the drought-stricken Southwest are urging people to swap their fireworks for this Fourth of July for glow sticks, noisemakers and cans of red, white and blue Silly String.

Not so fast, say some environmentalists. While it's worth encouraging folks not to use fireworks amid escalating wildfire danger, they say it's kind of silly that federal land managers would suggest using aerosol cans of sticky party string out in nature.

The advice began to pop up in recent weeks, with regional forest officials and the New Mexico State Forestry Division pumping out public service announcements offering alternatives aimed at curbing human-sparked blazes.

They used a template that echoed similar advice from the National Fire Protection Association and even American Red Cross chapters in other states.

“These are alternatives for children and young people to do in lieu of fireworks in their neighborhood or on their property. That way we’d like to keep things contained to your property and your neighborhood,” said George Ducker, a spokesman for the State Forestry Division. “We’re certainly not advocating folks go out into the forest and, you know, shoot off Silly String.”

But if they do, the Forest Service has one request: Leave no trace.

However people choose to celebrate, the rules and regulations need to be followed if they are on national forest land no matter if it's July Fourth or any other day, said John Winn, a spokesman for the federal agency.

“That includes but is not limited to the restricted use of fireworks, properly disposing of garbage in garbage bins, maintaining quiet hours and cleaning up after camping or day-use activities,” he said. Cleaning up spray streamers fits in that category, he added.

While the spray can party favors have been around since the 1970s, manufacturers keep their recipes under wraps. In general, the string is made of a polymer resin, a substance that makes the resin foam up, a solvent, some coloring and the propellant that forces the chemicals out of the can.

Authorities in Los Angeles decided to ban aerosol party streamers in 2004 on Hollywood Boulevard every Halloween because partygoers were using the empty cans as projectiles and many were left littering the streets and clogging gutters.

Towns in Massachusetts and Alabama also have adopted ordinances restricting the use of the string, pointing to problems during special events. In one New York town, firefighters who participated in a parade complained that the string was damaging the paint on their trucks.

Rebecca Sobel with the group WildEarth Guardians said party string is just one of the hundreds of seemingly benign products that pervade daily life.

"We have to be more vigilant about the chemicals in ‘everyday’ things,” she said. “Maybe the Forest Service should have known better, but it’s also hard to know what chemicals some products contain.”

She pointed to recent headlines about "forever chemicals" found in firefighting foam and other common products, saying consumers have a responsibility to be aware of threats but they can't do that if regulatory agencies aren't being transparent or reading labels themselves.

Some consumer product sites say party string is not biodegradable. While many cans are labeled as non-toxic, the string can damage vinyl surfaces or the clear coat on vehicles.

The labels also suggest that if ingested, medical attention might be in order. That goes for humans and pets, as some of the ingredients can contain gastrointestinal irritants.

"All of this makes it inappropriate for use at our national forest recreation sites,” says Madeleine Carey, WildEarth Guardians' Southwest conservation manager. “Many seemingly fun party products like Silly String are extremely harmful to our forests and wildlife. Mylar balloons, noisemakers and glitter are also on the list.”

The bottom line for state and federal forest managers is to prevent human-caused wildfires, Ducker said.

While some parts of the West had record snowfall over the winter and enjoyed a wet spring, forest managers said it's uncertain whether the monsoon will keep fire danger at bay. For that reason, the messaging will continue, Ducker said.

“All it takes is a couple of weeks of really hot, dry weather and all of that stuff gets desiccated and it just becomes fuel,” he said of the vegetation that sprouted in the spring.

Overall, more than 22,000 fires have burned nearly 1,000 square miles (2,590 square kilometers) in the U.S. since the start of the year, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.