Morning Word
Mag Judge Khalsa pleads not guilty to DWI, mulling resignation
Santa Fe County Magistrate Judge Dev Atma Khalsa, who was elected in November, is considering resigning, following his Sunday arrest for DWI, the Santa Fe New Mexican reports. According to Municipal Court records, Khalsa pled not guilty yesterday to charges of DWI, driving with an expired license and careless driving; his pre-trial hearing is scheduled for March 29. SFPD arrested Khalsa early Sunday morning after officers responded to a single-vehicle rollover on Interstate 25 near the St. Francis Drive exit. Police say Khalsa smelled of alcohol, but denied he’d been drinking and refused to have his blood drawn. Khalsa’s attorney, Kitren Fischer, sent the paper a statement on Khalsa’s behalf that said he could not comment while he was contesting the charges against him and that he was “evaluating resignation” and would make a decision soon. Khalsa, Fischer wrote, “does want to say that he is very sorry for his actions. Mr. Khalsa believes that nobody is above the law, especially a judge. Mr. Khalsa extends his sincere apologies to the staff and judges at the Magistrate Court who are picking up the slack in his absence, and to those who entrusted him with public office. Mr. Khalsa will work hard to regain the trust of the community.”
House passes retail crime and child safety bills
The state House of Representatives yesterday passed and sent to the Senate House Bill 234, on a bipartisan 62-3 vote, showing broad support for quashing organized retail crime. The bill increases sentences for shoplifting and, among other provisions, creates a new organized retail crime offense for thefts involving $2,500 in merchandise from one or more retailers over the course of a year “with the intent to sell, exchange or return the merchandise for value.” The bill also has the backing of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who said in a statement earlier this year “there’s no question that organized retail crime is having a detrimental impact on the bottom line for New Mexico businesses, especially small ones.This cowardly crime also means higher prices for New Mexican consumers.” Following yesterday’s passage, co-sponsor state Rep. Marian Matthews, D-Albuquerque, said in a statement “increasingly rampant” retail crime poses a threat not just to business, “but to the safety of New Mexicans. By cracking down on organized retail crime rings, we can send a clear message that these dangerous and costly crimes have no place in our state.”
The House last night also passed by the same margins HB173, the Child Witness Protective Measures Act,” which would allow for the use of forensic—specialized—interviews in certain circumstances to allow trained professionals to gather factual information without re-traumatizing young victims. “The justice system should always serve the best interest of children, especially when they’ve been the victim of a crime,” lead sponsor Rep. Tara Jaramillo, D-Socorro, said in a statement, adding that HB 173 will ensure “law enforcement has the tools they need to investigate serious crimes, while ensuring that our children are supported and protected from unnecessary trauma within our criminal justice system.” A slew of other child welfare bills remain in the mix at the Roundhouse, the Albuquerque Journal reports, including HB11, also co-sponsored by Jaramillo, which would create an oversight office for the beleaguered Children, Youth & Families Department.
Jury delivers not-guilty verdict for Griffin
An Alamogordo jury yesterday decreed former Otero County Commissioner and Cowboys for Trump founder Cuoy Griffin not guilty of a misdemeanor charge of failing to register a political committee. The trial lasted two days and was the latest legal skirmish for Griffin, who was removed last year from his seat on the Otero County Commission for his participation in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the US Capitol, for which he was convicted of trespassing and sentenced to 14 days jail time and a $3,000 fine. The latest charge, a violation of New Mexico’s Campaign Reporting Act, could have meant a $1,000 fine and up to a year in prison had Griffin been found guilty. According to the Associated Press, the 12-member jury deliberated for nine hours before reaching its verdict. “Praise the Lord. Not guilty,” Griffin said on Twitter. “I’ve been in lots of court rooms as of late,” Griffin said in a video he posted, “but I haven’t before been before a jury of my peers until this trial. This trial was a great example of how our judicial is supposed to work,” he said. “We can get away from the weaponized system, from the radical activists that sit on the bench, and we do that by jury trial.” According to the AP, prosecutors argued Griffin used Cowboys for Trump for political work and solicited donations, while failing to meet any of the campaign finance disclosure laws. Griffin’s lawyer successfully countered that his client is “just a guy who rides a horse,” who registered his organization as a non-profit and attempted to follow the law.
City puts out call for historian, poet laureate
The City of Santa Fe yesterday posted open calls for the next round of applicants for city historian and poet laureate. Valerie Rangel currently serves as the city’s fourth historian, an honorary position created in 2017. The next two-year term will begin July 1 and includes an annual honorarium of up to $10,000 for programming and project costs. The 2023-2025 theme for the next city historian will be “local storytelling” and the city historian is expected to utilize resources from the history recommendations in the Culture, History, Art, Reconciliation, and Truth (CHART) final report as well as the Culture Connects Roadmap, a city news release says. Applicants must be at least 18 years of age, live in Santa Fe County and possess a bachelor’s degree. Find more information and apply here. Santa Fe Poet Laureate, a position currently held by Darryl Lorenzo Wellington (an occasional SFR contributor), has the same terms and honorariums. The city’s poet laureate’s “duties are both ceremonial and educational,” a city news release notes, with the poet laureate expected to attend and present at events such as: the mayoral inauguration and city councilors’ swearing in; the mayor’s arts award event; community days; and public building and art dedications. Details and application information available here. Applicants must be over 21 years of age, have lived or worked in Santa Fe County for at least two years; and have an established presence in the poetry world and enthusiasm for “civic discourse.” Applications for both positions are due by April 19.
COVID-19 by the numbers
Reported March 1: New cases: 179; 669,476 total cases. Deaths: nine; Santa Fe County has had 398 total deaths; 9,039 total fatalities statewide. Statewide hospitalizations: 77. Patients on ventilators: five
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s most recent Feb. 23 “community levels” map shows the entire state has green—low levels—for the second consecutive week. Corresponding recommendations for each level can be found here.
Resources: Receive four free at-home COVID-19 tests per household via COVIDTests.gov; Check availability for additional free COVID-19 tests through Project ACT; CDC interactive booster eligibility tool; NM DOH vaccine & booster registration; CDC isolation and exposure interactive tool; COVID-19 treatment info; NMDOH immunocompromised tool kit. People seeking treatment who do not have a medical provider can call NMDOH’s COVID-19 hotline at 1-855-600-3453. DOH encourages residents to download the NM Notify app and to report positive COVID-19 home tests on the app.
You can read all of SFR’s COVID-19 coverage here.
Listen up
A recent episode of KUNM’s University Showcase spotlights a forthcoming conference at UNM: Latinx Visions: Speculative Worlds in Latinx Art, Literature & Performance (March 9-11), which will include the exhibit Milenio Chicanismos Del Futuro, featuring 10 artists working to define Chicano futurism in contemporary art. Show host Megan Kamerick talks with guests Matthew Goodwin, professor in the Department of Chicana/Chicano Studies; Santiago Vaquera Vasquez, professor with the Department of Spanish and Portuguese; and graduate student Bianca Camarillo. The conference also overlaps with the final days of the exhibition Fronteras del Futuro: Art in New Mexico and Beyond (through March 12) at the National Hispanic Cultural Center Art Museum.
NEA awards Santa Fe artist prestigious Heritage Fellowship
The National Endowment for the Arts this week named renowned Santa Fe Santero Luis Tapia one of nine 2023 National Heritage Fellows. “The 2023 National Heritage Fellows exemplify what it means to live an artful life,” NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson said in a statement. “Their rich and diverse art forms connect us to the past, strengthen our communities today, and give hope to future generations in ways that only the arts can. Our nation is strengthened through their meaningful practices, expressions, and preservation of traditional artistry.” The 40-year-old Heritage Fellowships, described as “the nation’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts” includes a $25,000 award. In a biography of Tapia, New Mexico Museum of International Folk Art Curator of North American and European Collections Laura Addison writes that he has “helped to revitalize and transform the art of the santero (saint-maker)” for the last 50 years, and “shaped today’s santero art, powerfully demonstrating that tradition is inherently malleable and dynamic. His modern-day sculptures renewed the art form by reintroducing color and crafting social critiques. By reimagining the lives of the saints—situating them as if living among us and offering their assistance with pervasive social justice issues such as homelessness, political corruption, immigration, and class inequities—Tapia’s visionary work at once embodies the Hispano community’s values of faith and cultural pride, and highlights the complexities of modern society.”
More Rust crew members sue Baldwin
Three Rust crew members have filed a new lawsuit against producer and actor Alec Baldwin. The suit also names Baldwin’s company El Dorado Pictures company and Rust Movie Productions LLC for alleged negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. As detailed by the Los Angeles Times, the new suit, filed by crew members Ross Addiego, Doran Curtin and Reese Price, alleges Baldwin et. al put crew members’ safety at risk to save time and money and, in so doing, largely contributed to the Oct. 21 accidental shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. “Defendants cut corners; ignored reports of multiple, unscripted firearms discharges; and persisted, rushed and understaffed, to finish the film,” the lawsuit reads. The crew members also allege they received no warning before Baldwin fired the gun and were not wearing earplugs, eye protection or safety shields. The new lawsuit follows a profusion of other actions related to the Rust incident, including: last week’s announced settlement between the state environment and Rust Productions; next week’s plea conference for Rust Assistant Director Dave Halls on charges of the negligent use of a firearm; and, of course, the potential trials for Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and Baldwin, both of whom have been charged with involuntary manslaughter. Speaking of which, New York Magazine recently interviewed Joshua Ritter, a criminal-defense attorney and former prosecutor with the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office, about the likelihood of Baldwin’s case going to trial—and his prospects should it do so. From Ritter’s perspective, a plea agreement is a safer bet: “I don’t think the prosecution has a very strong case,” Ritter says of First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, “but at the same time, juries do crazy things and they’re unpredictable. And I don’t think you ever want to go in front of a jury that could put you into custody if there’s a chance you can avoid that by entering into a plea negotiation.”
March on
The National Weather Service forecasts a mostly cloudy day, with a high temperature near 44 degrees, likely snow showers before 2 pm, turning into a mix of rain and snow showers accompanied by 10 to 15 mph winds. Chances for precipitation stand at 70% today and 20% overnight, with new snow accumulation of one to two inches possible.
Thanks for reading! The Word found this New York Times story about a man who’s been barefoot for 20 years fascinating, although it neglects to ask him anything about a life without cute socks.
