Down to a fine art: Art Santa Fe 2014 Pasatiempo, inside
Man charged in family massacre Estranged family member accused of killing four kids and their parents at their Texas home. PAge A-4
Amtrak CEO plans tour along Chief route
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Friday, July 11, 2014
an’s Weekly Maga
www.santafenewmexican.com
Partly sunny. High 88, low 60. PAge A-8
Obituaries
Robert Marsh, 60, Pecos, Consuelo Garcia, June 30 July 5 Ramona “Stormy” Andrew Martinez-Igalo, A. Gonzales, July 6 62, July 6 Charles Vito Gilbert Pacheco, Pagliarulo, July 8 76, Santa Fe, July 7 PAge B-2
Index
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July 11, 2014
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Secretary of Homeland Security scheduled to tour temporary detention center in Artesia, discuss crisis. PAge B-1
Livestock owners say barriers, closures restrict ranchers’ access to water
Pleas for access
By Susan Montoya Bryan
Judiciary panel discusses plan that would allow the public to access New Mexico court records online. PAge B-1
ALBUQUERQUE — The U.S. Forest Service wants to put up fences and issue a closure order that would block livestock and campers from stretches of
The Associated Press
the Rio Cebolla in the Santa Fe National Forest to protect an endangered mouse found in moist, forested areas of New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado. The plan, outlined in a letter received by ranchers Thursday, marks the latest salvo in an ongoing dispute that has residents and local officials from across the West accusing the federal government of trampling on their water and property rights. From Nevada and Texas to New Mexico, disputes over public lands are making headlines.
Another shot for Santa Fe nightlife?
The fight over the mouse first erupted in Southern New Mexico’s Otero County, with the fencing of a small spring-fed stream. County commissioners responded by ordering the sheriff to do whatever was necessary to remove or open the gates. Now, that fight has made its way north to the Jemez Mountains, where Mike Lucero and more than two dozen other families who raise cattle
Please see MOUSe, Page A-5
RAIL RUNNER FATALITY
Video shows cyclist didn’t heed warning lights, bells
By Chris Quintana The New Mexican
The New Mexican
Today
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Feds seek fencing to save mouse
By Patrick Malone
Please see CHIeF, Page A-5
ainment & Cultur
Johnson to visit immigrant facility
Martinez administration officials might not join weekend ride, discussion The head of Amtrak will visit Northern New Mexico on Saturday during a whistle-stop tour along the endangered Southwest Chief route. Joe Boardman, Amtrak president and CEO, will meet with state and local officials between Topeka, Kan., and Albuquerque this week regarding the future of the Southwest Chief. An Amtrak spokesman said Thursday that Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration has not accepted invitations to join the trip and the conversation. “We’ve been in touch with the New Mexico Department of Transportation, and thus far they’ve been unable to get someone to attend,” said Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari. Late Thursday, a spokeswoman for the New Mexico Department of Transportation denied that Amtrak had extended a formal invitation for representatives of the department to take part in the tour. The Martinez administration has been reluctant to commit state funds to the Southwest Chief, citing Amtrak’s historical reliance on federal funding. “New Mexico is sensitive to the fact that a decision to commit state funding to the Southwest Chief may set a precedent that could fundamentally shift long distance passenger rail funding from the federal government to the states,” said Transportation Department spokeswoman Melissa Dosher. The Governor’s Office supports studying the economic impact of the Southwest Chief and the legality of committing public funds to the project, considering a provision in the state Constitution that prohibits publicly funding private business. Two state studies are pending to resolve that legal question and assess the economic and engineering factors associated with keeping the current route.
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Locally owned and independent
The New Mexic
Jon Nemitz of Rowe, with Frontier Zero Scapes, repots plants Tuesday for Skylight, a new nightclub in downtown Santa Fe. Joe Ray Sandoval is preparing to open the venue in the West San Francisco Street space formerly occupied by Milagro, on July 18. LUIS SÁNCHEZ SATURNO/THE NEW MEXICAN
New clubs, party weekend planned to recharge after-dark scene By Phaedra Haywood
The New Mexican
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anta Fe’s nightlife has been much maligned in recent years. But it will get an injection of new energy this summer with the opening of two new downtown entertainment venues and a party weekend partially funded with public money. The charge to revitalize the city’s after-dark economy is being led by a group of locals. Joe Ray Sandoval, 45, who has spent his life performing and promoting music and poetry in the city, and “DJ Dynamite” Sol Bentley, 34, whose loyal dance music fans have followed him around town for years, are collaborating to create a place they hope will recharge Santa Fe’s downtown scene. Their new venture, called Skylight, will be located at 139 W. San Francisco St., a
Sol Bentley, aka DJ Dynamite Sol, watches as Dobh Graystone with Elevator Construction works at Skylight on Tuesday. Bentley is one of the owners of the new nightclub, which is scheduled to open next week. JANE PHILLIPS/THE NEW MEXICAN
6,400-square-foot space that once housed a coffee shop and a shoe store and, mostly recently, a restaurant-cum-nightclub called Milagro. However, the space has been vacant since 2012.
Just blocks away, at the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Marcy Street, in the space vacated earlier this year by the Rouge Cat,
Please see NIgHTLIFe, Page A-6
With striking similarity to an accident just two months earlier, Joseph Salazar rode his bicycle past flashing railroad lights and ringing bells, seemingly unaware of the train coming at him even at the moment of impact, according to video of the June 16 accident released Thursday. Santa Fe police say they still can’t explain why the 41-year-old father of six didn’t notice the blaring signals warning of an oncoming Rail Runner train. The train engineer apparently didn’t see Salazar and did not engage the train’s emergency brakes or blow the horn as the rider approached the crossing at St. Michael’s Drive, where vehicles were stopped and crossing barriers were down. The accident bears eerie parallels to an incident April 19. In that case, bicyclist Suzanne LeBeau was struck while crossing the tracks at the intersection of St. Francis Drive and Zia Road. Like Salazar, she didn’t stop for flashing lights or ringing bells and appeared unaware of the oncoming train, video of that accident shows. The police report released by the city Thursday indicated there was little the train engineer could have done to prevent the June 16 accident. “The engineer … did not see Joseph approaching through her blindside so she never tried to engage the train’s horn or place the train into emergency braking,” wrote Santa Fe Officer Paul Blea. The report indicates Salazar “disregarded [a] traffic signal.” The report also states that Salazar’s sobriety was “unknown” and that his bicycle appeared to be free of defects. The department also released surveillance footage from the train. In it, Salazar is seen in the distance riding west on the sidewalk along the northern side of St. Michael’s Drive. Safety lights at the intersection start blinking, and warning bells are ringing. Salazar, seemingly unaware, keeps pedaling his mountain bike. As he approaches the intersection, he never turns his head or slows the bicycle. From the video, it’s clear Salazar is wearing a hat, not a
Please see VIDeO, Page A-6
ON OUR weBSITe u Video footage of the moments before the June 16 fatal Rail Runner collision is online at www.santafenewmexican.com.
Records show state paid additional $590K to Ariz. firms Newly disclosed figures push provider shake-up costs past $24M mark By Patrick Malone
The New Mexican
The total spent by the state of New Mexico on last year’s behavioral health provider shake-up now tops $24 million. According to records obtained by The New Mexican on Thursday, nearly $600,000 in general fund
Comics C-10
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money paid to the companies this spring for management of records pushed the price tag for the switch past the $24 million threshold. In a March 17 letter to Optum Health New Mexico, the contractor that oversees managed care services for the state, executive-level Human Services Department staff directed payments of $310,250 to Valle Del Sol; $196,000 to La Frontera New Mexico; $80,630 to Turquoise Health and Wellness; and $3,900 to Agave Health. Those payments were in addition to $23.8 million paid to the Arizona companies to set up shop in New
Lotteries A-2
Opinions A-7
Sports B-5
Mexico after the abrupt removal of 15 New Mexico providers suspected of fraud. Between June and Dec. 31, 2013, the state paid the replacement providers for employees’ salaries, costs associated with the transition and executives’ time, billed sometimes at up to $300 for tasks that included security checks and wait time in airports. Matt Kennicott, spokesman for the Human Services Department, said the payments to the Arizona providers in March were reimbursements for costs the companies had incurred between August 2013 and early 2014
Time Out C-9
Generation Next C-1
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for copying and management of patient records. “We had to move swiftly on having these documents imaged in order to protect the integrity of the investigation, protect patient records and secure records for the use of transition agencies,” Kennicott said. “Several of the audited agencies refused to provide patient records to the state, even though those records are not owned by them.” He accused Santa Fe-based Easter Seals El Mirador, for instance, of
Please see PAID, Page A-6
Three sections, 28 pages Pasatiempo, 76 pages 165th year, No. 192 Publication No. 596-440