Santa Fe New Mexican June 16, 2022

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The end of an online era: Microsoft retires Internet Explorer

A decade after DACA, more teens are graduating undocumented

BIG LEAGUES Hall of Famer Maddux visits Isotopes Park, promoting new book on sports history SPORTS, B-1

NATION & WORLD, A-2

NATION & WORLD, A-2

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Thursday, June 16, 2022

santafenewmexican.com $1.50

State sued after denying benefits Experts warn 18 plaintiffs say they were barred from unemployment payments due to agency’s unlawful policies

the coronavirus pandemic. He was denied unemployment benefits. The state labor agency told him it had overpaid him years before. This set off a chain reaction that devastated his finances and life. “I ended up moving out of my home, got a divorce, had to move to my mom’s. It was a complete disaster,” Rocha said. New Mexico Legal Aid has filed a new lawsuit against the state Department of Workforce Solutions on behalf of Rocha and more than a

By Phaedra Haywood phaywood@sfnewmexican.com

Carlos Rocha is distraught. The 53-year-old Albuquerque man said he’s worked all his life as a truck driver but was laid off due to health problems in the early days of

dozen other plaintiffs who allege the agency is applying an unlawful policy that prevents them from receiving unemployment benefits. At issue is the way the department applies a penalty on people determined to have committed fraud against the department. State law allows the department to disqualify people from receiving additional benefits “for a period of not more than one year,” from the time they are determined to have committed Please see story on Page A-4

‘I love what I’m doing’

refusal to certify vote hints at chaos in November They say Otero officials’ voting machine fears likely to be reflected nationwide By Christina A. Cassidy Associated Press

The conspiracy theories about Dominion voting machines that erupted during the 2020 presidential contest flared this week in a remote New Mexico county in what could be just a preview of the kind of chaos election experts fear is coming in the fall midterms and in 2024. The Otero County Commission refused to certify the local results of the state’s June 7 primary because of the equipment, in what was seen as another instance of how the falsehoods spread by former President Donald Trump and his allies have infected elections and threaten the democratic process. “We are in scary territory,” said Jennifer Morrell, a former election official in Colorado and Utah who now advises federal, state and local officials. “If this can happen here, where next? It’s like a cancer, a virus. It’s metastasizing and growing.” There is no evidence of widespread fraud or manipulation of voting equipment in the 2020 election, which Trump lost to Joe Biden. But that hasn’t stopped the false claims, particularly those about Dominion machines. “I have huge concerns with these voting machines,” Otero County Commissioner Vickie Marquardt said Monday as she and her two fellow commissioners — all Republicans — voted unanimously. “When I certify stuff that I don’t know is right, I feel like I’m being dishonest

James Beard award-winning Santa Fe chef came out of retirement for restaurant Sazón

Please see story on Page A-4

Secretary of state takes to cable news in clash over results from Otero County Top election official says she doesn’t know if certification will make Friday deadline By Daniel J. Chacón dchacon@sfnewmexican.com

ABOVE: Sazón co-owner and executive chef Fernando Olea, 71, carefully pulls roasted chiles out of the oven for use in his signature molé as he prepares for the dinner crowd Wednesday at Sazón. A 30-year veteran of kitchens and dining rooms in Santa Fe, Olea was named Best Chef for the Southwest region by the James Beard Foundation on Monday. JIM WEBER/THE NEW MEXICAN TOP: Olea exuberantly accepts his James Beard Award on Monday in Chicago. COURTESY PHOTO

By Teya Vitu tvitu@sfnewmexican.com

F

ernando Olea just can’t seem to rest on his laurels. Though he’s tried to retire as a successful chef and restaurateur before, his love for creating innovative, satisfying food keeps bringing him back. And now that he’s won a prestigious James Beard Best Chef Award, the co-owner and executive chef of

Pasapick pasatiempomagazine.com

Sazón in Santa Fe said he has no choice but to reach an even higher standard. “What it means to win the James Beard Award is I’m going to have to keep pushing more,” Olea said. The 30-year veteran of kitchens and dining rooms in Santa Fe — including ownership stints at well-known eateries like Bert’s Burger Bowl and Epazote on the Hillside — was named Best Chef for the Southwest region Monday by the James Beard Foun-

dation, which celebrates and supports the people behind America’s food culture. Olea was picked over four other chefs in the Southwest region, a list that included Martín Rios, chef/owner of Restaurant Martín in Santa Fe. Olea, 71, is the first Santa Fe winner as a Best Chef since Mark Kiffin of The Compound achieved the feat in 2005. Upon Please see story on Page A-4

Classifieds B-5

Please see story on Page A-4

Salon El Zaguán

Today

Obituaries

Curator Aaron Payne discusses the exhibit How I See It: African American Abstraction (1960-1980); 3 p.m.; 545 Canyon Road, 505-983-2567; $10; register at historicsantafe.org/aaron-payne-salon-2022.

Partly cloudy. High 91, low 62.

Eugenio Mathis, 38, June 10 Margie McGregor Albert Irwin Nathanson, 86, Santa Fe, April 30

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More events Fridays in Pasatiempo

Index

The state Supreme Court ordered Otero County commissioners Wednesday to do their job: certify the county’s primary election results. It’s a ruling that thrust the state into the national spotlight as conspiracy theories promoted by former President Donald Trump continue to cast doubt on election integrity in the country. The order came a day after Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver filed a petition asking the high court to intervene in the election dispute after the three-member Otero County Commission, all Republicans, refused to certify the results. Toulouse Oliver, who made appearances on CNN and MSNBC to discuss the case, told CNN’s Don Lemon she was unsure the commission would certify the results by the court’s Friday deadline. “We’re in uncharted territory here; we’ve never had a

Comics B-10

Crosswords B-5, B-9

Design and headlines: Zach Taylor, ztaylor@sfnewmexican.com

Local & Region A-6

Lotteries A-2

Opinion A-9

Paws A-10

Sports B-1

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U.S. and allies have pledged more arms, but the country says it’s still not enough. PAGE A-3

Time Out B-9

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