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Morning Word
City takes county to court over annexation
The City of Santa Fe on Friday said it had filed a pleading in First Judicial District Court asking the court to stop Santa Fe County from considering and approving what the city describes as an “invalid” petition to expand the Village of Agua Fría Traditional Historic Community. The Santa Fe County Board of Commissioners, which accepted the petition earlier this month, is scheduled to consider expanding the village’s boundaries at a special May 1 meeting. “The city has some serious concerns related to both the petition process and the claims made in the petition,” Mayor Alan Webber said in a statement. “We’re asking that a judge objectively review the validity of the petitions and the process used to collect them, and to fairly consider whether the statutory criteria for such a designation have been met.” The city, in a news release, says “the petition being considered by the county fails to meet required statutory elements for designation as a traditional historic community. As an example, the area proposed for inclusion in the expansion is not an identifiable neighborhood that has existed for more than one hundred years.” Describing the proposal as both anti-affordable housing and anti-annexation, the city says, via news release, negotiations had been ongoing regarding annexation since 2022. “It’s unfortunate that we’ve had to request an injunction because we’re very close to an agreement and I know the city’s been negotiating in good faith,” City Councilor Signe Lindell, who was designated as one of the city’s negotiators, said in a statement, describing the parcel of land in question as “incredibly important…to grow Santa Fe in a strategic, environmentally friendly way.”
Gov: NM will continue to fight to preserve abortion access
The US Supreme Court on Friday restored access to mifepristone, one of two drugs employed for medication abortions. The ruling stayed a March decision by US District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, both restricting mifepristone and halting the Food & Drug Administration’s 2000 approval of the drug. The case now returns to the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals, where arguments are scheduled for May 17. In response to the stay, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday issued a statement describing herself as “relieved,” but says she remains “seriously concerned about the potentially devastating impacts the final ruling could have on reproductive health access for women around the country. Make no mistake: the legal battle around reproductive health access in this country is far from over, and New Mexico is a state that will continue to fight for the bodily autonomy of women no matter what comes next.” US Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-NM, also issued a statement following the US Supreme Court’s stay, calling the ruling “good news for women everywhere,” and adding: “But we must not rest. Extremist Republicans will not stop their war on women’s health care.” Meanwhile, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez at the end of the week filed a briefing with the state Supreme Court for his challenge to ordinances passed by Roosevelt County, Lea County, and the cities of Hobbs and Clovis seeking to restrict abortion access—laws the state Supreme Court stayed last month. “Our brief demonstrates that the counties and cities violated the state constitution and state law when they passed their ordinances to restrict abortion care and undermine women’s reproductive rights,” Torrez said in a statement. “Further, our briefing provides analysis into House Bill 7 which reinforces our argument that local governments cannot regulate abortion clinics and reproductive healthcare.”
Rust armorer prelim rescheduled
Following Friday’s dismissal by special prosecutors of the First Judicial District Attorney of charges against Rust producer/actor Alec Baldwin, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer granted a request to postpone a preliminary hearing for armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who still faces involuntary manslaughter charges for her role in the Oct. 21, 2021 on-set fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins. In their statement dropping the charges against Baldwin—with the option to refile—special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis said “new facts were revealed that demand further investigation and forensic analysis” and said their follow-up investigation would “remain active and on-going.” Similarly, in a Friday afternoon hearing with Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyer Jason Bowles, Morrissey said they needed additional time to investigate before Gutierrez-Reed’s preliminary hearing, which had been scheduled to begin May 3. All parties agreed to hold that hearing Aug. 9-16. Also on Friday, Rust Movie Productions LLC announced production of the film at Yellowstone Film Ranch is underway. “Our dedicated cast and crew resumed principal photography this week, and we anticipate completion by the end of May,” Rust Movie Productions attorney Melina Spadone said in a statement. “The production will continue to utilize union crew members and will bar any use of working weapons and any form of ammunition. Live ammunition is—and always was—prohibited on set. Each and every one of us is wholeheartedly dedicated to realizing Halyna’s vision and paying tribute to her artistry.” In addition, the film company announced Patrick Scott McDermott (Chicago Med, South Side) has joined the film to play the role of Lucas Hollister.
DOH completes disability wellness checks
The state health department on Friday said it had finished earlier last week wellness checks for all 6,815 people receiving services from the Developmental Disabilities Waiver programs, visiting 111 sites and finding: 61 sites that resulted in reported allegations of potential abuse, neglect and exploitation; and 50 sites with concerns mostly related to home repairs, damages or other environmental concerns. The wellness checks followed the state’s termination earlier this month of contracts with four providers after allegations of misconduct resulting in “severe and life-threatening injuries to a client,” along with a series of actions Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said the state would be taking in response. “Individuals who receive services from our Developmental Disabilities Waiver Programs, are among the state’s most vulnerable residents,” DOH Secretary Patrick Allen said in a statement on Friday. “We have a responsibility to make sure they are receiving appropriate services and that we are doing our job to make sure that those services are happening, and that people are well cared for.” According to a news release, people found in abusive situations or in danger of immediate harm will be removed and those “associated with cases where abuse has been substantiated will be referred to the Employee Abuse Registry. Licensed professionals will be referred to their respective boards, and referrals to law enforcement will also be made as appropriate.” Anyone suspecting abuse, neglect or exploitation of any person who is on one of the state’s Developmental Disabilities Waiver Programs, or anyone else, can call the Adult Protective Services Central Intake Unit toll-free at: 1-866-654-3219.
COVID-19 by the numbers
Reported April 21: New cases: 163; 678,816 total cases. Deaths: 0. Statewide fatalities: 9,175; Santa Fe County has had 407 total deaths; Statewide hospitalizations: 87; patients on ventilators: 10. The state health department will stop reporting daily COVID-19 cases on May 11.
The Centers for Disease and Prevention most recent April 20 “community levels” map shows all counties remain green, low levels, in New Mexico for the second week in a row.
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.
You can read all of SFR’s COVID-19 coverage here.
Listen up
Could MDMA (ecstasy/molly) help new mothers overcome their opioid dependency disorder? That’s the question a new pilot study launched by the University of New Mexico’s Milagro Program seeks to answer. On the most recent episode of KUNM’s University Showcase program, News Director Megan Kamerick interviews Milagro Medical Director Dr. Lawrence Leeman about the study, and about why MDMA could be effective in establishing for new mothers the sense of connectedness often absent for people struggling with addiction.
Park it
National Parks Week kicked off on Saturday (April 22) and continues through April 30 with a #YourParkStory social media campaign, along with a variety of talks and tours at New Mexico’s national parks. Travel & Leisure magazine recommends a trip to Los Alamos to celebrate National Parks week, noting the area is home to three national parks and sites: Bandelier National Monument; Valles Caldera National Preserve; and the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The latter “pays homage to the work done by scientists and Nobel Prize winners to imagine and build the atomic bomb” and visitors can also check out the Los Alamos History Museum or Bradbury Science Museum, T&L notes, a timely visit given Larry Sheffield’s new documentary about physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, Oppenheimer After Trinity, along with Christopher Nolan’s film Oppenheimer releasing this July. If one wishes to contemplate nature rather than nuclear destruction, the Valles Caldera offers “trails for hikers, bikers, and horseback riders as well as plenty of fishing and camping. If you’re lucky, you might spot an elk or a golden eagle, while almost everyone who stays in the preserve after dark is treated to dark, starry skies,” T&L writes. Bandelier provides trails as well, along with views and the opportunity to visit an “ancient Puebloan historical site.”
At home with Bill Richardson
USA Today spends time in Santa Fe with former New Mexico Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson to talk about his “endless push to free Americans detained abroad.” Another Bill (Clinton) once dubbed Richardson—who also served as congressman for New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District; United Nations ambassador; Department of Energy secretary; and US presidential candidate—”undersecretary for thugs” because of his predilection for “negotiating with despots.” That tendency continues to this day, with USA Today observing Richardson in his office at the headquarters for Richardson Center for Global Engagement. “We’ve got hostage situations in Russia and Iran, China, Afghanistan,” Richardson tells the newspaper. “At age 75, Richardson remains one of the country’s highest-profile private players working to free American prisoners and hostages in far-flung places—making headlines almost as often as he appears to chafe US administrations with his efforts.” His staff, for what it’s worth, still call him governor (he left that office in 2011), although he doesn’t get involved with too many issues here. Nonetheless, he remains recognizable to all, particularly when he visits his favorite lunch spot (unnamed in the story, and we also won’t name the lunch spot where we ran into Richardson over the weekend; he seemed sanguine about the USA Today story): “The down-to-earth affability that aided him as a politician and negotiator was on full display. He shook hands, traded banter and tried to stump a friend in a cowboy hat and turquoise ring, who says he once worked for Elvis, with baseball and music trivia.” And when a man came up to him seeking help with a family immigration issue, Richardson “leaned his head in” and asked: “What do we need to do?”
April showers emerge
The vagaries of April continue: the National Weather Service forecasts a 40% chance for showers and thunderstorms today, mostly after noon, on another-wise partly sunny day with a high temperature near 64 degrees, with south wind 15 to 20 mph. Chances for precipitation drop to 30% this evening, but continue into tomorrow.
Thanks for reading! As a Bowie purist, The Word generally eschews tributes and covers, but so far she’s enjoying the Easy Star All-Stars new Ziggy Stardub album. Also: SFR won a few awards at last weekend’s annual Society for Professional Journalists Top of the Rockies competition. Check those out here.
