The Santa Fe New Mexican, June 26, 2014

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UNM’s Alex Kirk ready to get his shot at the NBA Sports, B-1

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Thursday, June 26, 2014

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Groups seek city vote on pot measure Backers of initiative to decriminalize marijuana plan to collect signatures By Daniel J. Chacón The New Mexican

Expect to encounter a small army of people gathering petition signatures throughout Santa Fe over the next few weeks as organizers of an effort to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana work feverishly to get the initiative before city voters.

But whether the proposal can be added to the November general election ballot in city precincts is still up in the air. “We’re working on that to see if I’m going to go ahead with that,” Santa Fe County Clerk Geraldine Salazar said Wednesday. Salazar said she plans to meet with City Clerk Yolanda Vigil on Monday to go over specifics. “It doesn’t just happen when someone says they’re going to do it. We have to figure it all out,” Salazar said, adding that there are “some chal-

lenges” in placing a city initiative on a general election ballot, including printing different ballots for voters who live in the city than those elsewhere in the county. A spokesman for the New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office said Wednesday that the state elections director was researching the matter. The Santa Fe City Clerk’s Office approved the petition form Tuesday afternoon, clearing the way for two groups — ProgressNow New Mexico and Drug Policy Action — to start collecting the required 5,673 signatures.

Emily Kaltenbach, state director of the Drug Policy Alliance, which includes Drug Policy Action, said organizers are working on the assumption that the proposed initiative will appear on the general election ballot if they collect enough signatures. But ultimately, it will be up to the

Please see POT, Page A-5

Guatemalan migrant Gladys Chinoy, 14, waits with more than 500 other migrants Friday in Chiapas, Mexico. REBECCA BLACKWELL/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Rumors of refuge drive kids fleeing violence

Gay-marriage victory Appeals court rules same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry. PAGE A-3

Justices rule 9-0 to shield cellphone privacy By Adam Liptak

The New York Times

The Associated Press

ARRIAGA, Mexico — Five years ago, Gladys Chinoy’s mother left Guatemala for New York City, where she went to work in a restaurant and saved money for the day when she could bring her daughter north. This month, convinced U.S. authorities were allowing unaccompanied children to stay in the country once they made it across the border, Gladys’ mother told her to memorize her phone number and board a bus to Guatemala’s northern border on the last day of school. With nothing but the clothes on her back, the 14-year-old took a trucktire raft across the Naranjo River into Mexico and joined a group of five women and a dozen children waiting with one of the smugglers, who are paid $6,000 to $7,000 for each migrant they take to the U.S. The women and children waited by the train tracks in this small town in the southern state of Chiapas until the shriek of a train whistle and the glare of headlights pierced the night. Suddenly, dozens of teens and mothers with young children flooded out of darkened homes and budget hotels, rushing to grab the safest places on the roof of the northbound freight train and join a deluge of

Richard Montano, left, and Anthony Maestas clean up broken glass from Maestas’ car on Wednesday at the N.M. 599 Rail Runner station. Maestas’ car battery also was stolen. PHOTOS BY CLYDE MUELLER/THE NEW MEXICAN

Police searching for thieves who damaged 20 cars, stole batteries By Uriel J. Garcia The New Mexican

P

olice are looking for the culprits who damaged about 20 vehicles left parked overnight in the park-and-ride lot at the Rail Runner Express train station on N.M. 599 southwest of Santa Fe. Spokeswoman Celina Espinoza said the Santa Fe Police Department received a call Wednesday morning about slashed tires or smashed windows on the vehicles and stolen batteries from a halfdozen of the automobiles. Espinoza said investigators are working with Rail Runner Express officials to review surveillancevideo images in an effort to identify suspects. She also said the number of damaged vehicles targeted actually

Please see REFUGE, Page A-5

INSIDE u Artesia facility aims to encourage immigrants, N.M. rep says. PAGE A-5

Syrian airstrikes raise concerns of widening regional conflict By Hamza Hendawi and Lara Jakes The Associated Press

BAGHDAD — Syrian warplanes bombed Sunni militants’ positions inside Iraq, military officials confirmed Wednesday, deepening the concerns that the extremist insurgency that spans the two neighboring countries could morph

into an even wider regional conflict. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned against the threat and said other nations should stay out. Meanwhile, a John Kerry new insurgent artillery offensive against Christian villages in the north of Iraq sent thousands of Christians fleeing from their homes, seeking sanctuary in Kurdish-

Classifieds B-6

Comics B-12

Main office: 983-3303 Late paper: 986-3010 News tips: 983-3035

Crosswords A-8, B-7

WASHINGTON — In a sweeping victory for privacy rights in the digital age, the Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously ruled that the police need warrants to search the cellphones of people they arrest. While the decision will offer protection to the 12 million people arrested every year, many for minor crimes, its impact will most likely be much broader. The ruling almost certainly also applies to searches of tablet and laptop computers, and its reasoning may apply to searches of homes and businesses and of information held by third parties like phone companies. “This is a bold opinion,” said Orin S. Kerr, a law professor at George Washington University. “It is the first computer-search case, and it says we are in a new digital age. You can’t

Please see CELLPHONE, Page A-4

ONLY ON OUR WEBSITE Police are looking for the thieves who damaged about 20 cars overnight in the park-and-ride lot at the Rail Runner station.

could be greater, because some people might have not yet reported any damage to their vehicles. Anyone who parked a vehicle at the station and believes items were stolen or their car was damaged should report it to police as soon as possible, Espinoza said.

Kerry urges nations to back off Iraq

Calendar A-2

LOCAL NEWS, A-6

Ruling requires police to obtain warrants before searching cells

By Alberto Arce

Index

Town council to hold another vote July 8 vote after backlash over renaming of Kit Carson Memorial Park.

The city, which must verify signatures submitted to force a ballot initiative, imposed a July 15 deadline if the issue is to make the Nov. 4 ballot.

Vandals raid vehicles at N.M. 599 train station

IMMIGRATION

Taos plans to revisit renaming of park

controlled territory, Associated Press reporters who witnessed the scene said. The U.S. government and a senior Iraqi military official confirmed that Syrian warplanes bombed militants’ positions Tuesday in and near the border crossing in the town of Qaim. Iraq’s other neighbors — Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Turkey — were all bolstering flights just inside their airspace to monitor the situation, said the Iraqi official, who

Officers on Wednesday morning dusted vehicles for fingerprints and collected evidence that could help lead them to the perpetrators. Espinoza also said police planned to do close surveillance of Rail Runner

Please see VEHICLES, Page A-4

Pasapick

Opinions A-11

Sports B-1

Start your day right. Visit our Sunrise blog every morning for tips, a glance at upcoming event, and good reads about New Mexico from around the Web. www.santafenewmexican.com

Plague survivor dies Eldorado man remembered as a symbol of heroism. PAGE A-6

www.pasatiempomagazine.com

Theater Grottesco: ‘Consider This’ A 60-minute romp through the history of theater, 2 p.m., St. Francis Auditorium, New Mexico Museum of Art, 107 W. Palace Ave., $10, $5 students, 4748400, theatergrottesco.org. More events in Calendar, A-2 and Fridays in Pasatiempo

Please see IRAQ, Page A-5

Lotteries A-2

Sunrise

Obituaries Connie Lacassagne, June 22 Jesse James McNamara, June 16 Nick Roybal, 36, Santa Fe, June 7 John Hugh Tull, 65, June 26 PAGE A-10

Time Out A-8

Outdoors B-5

BREAKING NEWS AT WWW.SANTAFENEWMEXICAN.COM

Today Mostly sunny. High 92, low 58. PAGE A-12

Two sections, 24 pages 165th year, No. 177 Publication No. 596-440


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