Many still find Seattle’s comeback hard to fath h
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
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Neighbors object to nursing home plans Residents say an 80,000-squarefoot facility on Old Pecos Trail is a bad fit for the area. PAGE A-8
City mulls 311 service
REIES LOPEZ TIJERINA, 1926-2015
Legendary courthouse raid leader dies Activist inspired generations in Northern New Mexico
Help line could be used in nonemergency situations. PAGE A-8
By Phaedra Haywood
Conservatives more distrustful of pope
Charismatic land grant activist and Chicano rights leader Reies Lopez Tijerina — whose 1967 raid on the Tierra Amarilla courthouse made him a legendary figure in Northern New Mexico history — died Monday in El Paso. He was 88. “El Tigre,” “King Tiger” or “The Tiger
The pontiff’s stance on climate change is pushing some to a boiling point. PAGE A-3
Dad named a ‘person of interest’ in death of daughter
The New Mexican
Reies Lopez Tijerina, pictured in June 1997, became famous in Northern New Mexico for leading a raid on the Tierra Amarilla courthouse in June 1967.
of the North,” as he was dubbed by media, was the son of sharecroppers, a former preacher who grew up working in the fields of southern Texas, which gave him an early glimpse of the injustices borne by Mexican laborers. He inspired generations in New Mexico and Colorado when he took on the system to champion the rights of heirs to the 600,000-acre Tierra Amarilla Land Grant in rural Northern New Mexico, which had been largely usurped by Anglo settlers
CLYDE MUELLER NEW MEXICAN FILE PHOTO
Please see LEADER, Page A-4
LEGISLATURE
CAPITOL CELEBRATION PAYS TRIBUTE TO MLK
The 2015 session
Dems vow to support wage hike, education measures
By Uriel J. Garcia The New Mexican
Detectives have identified the father of 30-year-old Julieanne Kelley as “a person of interest” in their homicide investigation into her death, the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office said Monday. The case unfolded early Friday when Bill Kelley, 64, reported his daughter missing from the manufactured home they shared in the 2000 block of Callejon De Rita, Julieanne Kelley an unpaved road between Agua Fría Road and Rufina Street. Friends have said the woman spent most of her time taking care of her father, who reported her missing at about 2:30 a.m. He told deputies that she had been gone from their home for four hours. Authorities returned to the residence 12 hours later and discovered the daughter’s body on the northeast side of the property. The sheriff’s office has said an autopsy revealed several lacerations on the woman’s upper torso and signs of blunt force trauma. A small dog that belonged to the family was taken into custody after deputies found blood on the animal. Juan Rios, a Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office spokesman, said investigators hope to use DNA testing to determine the source of the blood. Bill Kelley, whom authorities stopped short of calling a suspect, declined to comment to a reporter. The dead woman’s mother, Dolores Kelley, who lives in Rio Rancho, said her daughter had “her own side jobs” in which she worked as a pet sitter and cleaned houses. The mother declined to comment further. Friends of Julieanne Kelley described the 2002 Capital High School graduate as “a sweet girl.” Classmate Charlotte Ortiz, also 30, said she was “a serious girl, but only
Please see INTEREST, Page A-4
Today Partly sunny; flurries possible. High 52, low 28. PAGE A-7
Obituaries Modesto L. Cordova, 80, Santa Fe, Jan. 12 June Salazar Swartz, Santa Fe, Jan. 16 PAGE A-8
Index
Calendar A-2
Classifieds B-5
Now in House minority, party members say they plan to be aggressive By Milan Simonich The New Mexican
Malcolm Morgan sings ‘We Shall Overcome’ with the crowd Monday at the state Capitol to observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day. PHOTOS BY JANE PHILLIPS/THE NEW MEXICAN
T
he Santa Fe branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People hosted its annual birthday celebration for Martin Luther King Jr. at noon Monday in the Rotunda at the state Capitol. About 100 people attended the event, which featured a keynote address titled “A Dream For Justice” by Kathy L. Powers, an associate professor of political science at The University of New Mexico. The New Mexican
STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
Obama’s rating up ahead of speech Public perception will be a factor in 2016, but how much is uncertain By Nate Cohn The New York Times
After a difficult year, President Barack Obama is enjoying a modest rebound ahead of State of the Union address Tuesday. His approval rating has increased to around 46 percent over the past month, according to an average of recent polls, up from 42 percent in the weeks after the decisive Republican victory in the midterm elections. It is a relatively small increase, but it is more impressive in the context of the unusual stability of Obama’s approval rating, which hovered between 42 and 44 percent for 15 consecutive months. In 2016, the president’s approval
Comics B-10
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ratings should be a telling indicator of whether the country is likely to support another Democratic administration. There is a well-established relationship between the pace of economic growth and a president’s approval ratings, and Obama is clearly benefiting from signs of accelerating economic growth. For the first time since the start of the recession, more Americans believe the economic conditions are good or excellent than poor. Consumer confidence rose to an 11-year high last week, according to the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index. The increase in Obama’s ratings also comes amid a flurry of executive actions or promised ones on immigration, climate change, Cuba and Internet policy. Obama’s immigration initiative may be at least partly responsible for his rebound. His rating among Hispanic adults jumped decisively, perhaps by as
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ALBUQUERQUE — Democrats in the New Mexico House of Representatives, the minority party for the first time since 1954, said Monday they will still be aggressive in pushing a legislative agenda that includes raising the statewide minimum wage by $2.60 an hour. Fourteen of the 33 House Democrats appeared together at the South Valley Economic Development Center to highlight their priorities for the 60-day legislative session that starts Tuesday. Republicans in the House have 37 members, giving them better odds of moving their bills through the chamber and on to a state Senate controlled by Democrats. The House Democrats’ new floor leader, Rep. Brian Egolf of Santa Fe, said his party would rebut Republican attempts to hold down an increase in the minimum wage with what he called “Chicken Little sky-is-falling” scare tactics. Egolf said House Democrats favor Santa Fe Rep. Luciano “Lucky” Varela’s bill to raise the statewide minimum wage to $10.10 an hour from $7.50. Another bill by Sen. Clemente Sanchez, D-Grants, calls for an increase to $8.30 an hour. Santa Fe, Albuquerque and Las Cruces already have established higher minimum wages than the state’s.
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u The president’s address will be broadcast live at 7 p.m. on ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and PBS.
INSIDE u What happened with Obama’s promises for 2014? PAGE A-4
much as 15 percentage points, in the weeks after his decision to defer deportation and offer work authorization for up to 5 million immigrants who lack it. Still, there is not much evidence that liberal voters overall have become notably more supportive or energized as a result of a more active and progressive administration. Obama’s approval ratings did not increase by a disproportionate — or even notable — amount among Democratic or self-identified liberal voters, according to Gallup data.
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Time Out B-9
Local Business A-10
BREAKING NEWS AT WWW.SANTAFENEWMEXICAN.COM
Rep. Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, speaks Monday in Albuquerque, where Democratic House members highlighted their priorities for the 2015 session. For more coverage on the session, see Page A-6. MILAN SIMONICH/THE NEW MEXICAN
STATE OF THE STATE u The governor will give her annual address at about 1 p.m. today. KNME TV Channel 5.1 will broadcast the speech, and it will be streamed live at www.newmexicoinfocus.org and www.santafenewmexican.com.
Two sections, 20 pages 166th year, No. 20 Publication No. 596-440