Santa Fe New Mexican, July 31, 2023

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Sound and fury: Noisy scofflaws enrage Santa Fe senior citizen

On the loudest, most maddening nights, Patrick

Grace knows he will have no peace Grace, 79, discounts any possibility of sleep He walks the few blocks from his home to Cerrillos Road and St Francis Drive, a prime location to collect evidence of lawbreakers stealing his towns tranquility

He pulls out his cellphone and records speeding drivers in cars whose revved-up mufflers are designed to damage eardrums Grace last week sent his recordings to three city councilors

He says his frustration has boiled over because a small percentage of motorists break noise laws with impunity

“This is how people go crazy I can’t relax at night in my own home, Grace said

He admits fantasizing about taking a BB-gun to the busy intersection and firing at thundering cars

That’s a bad idea Grace knows it, but he says noise pollution has damaged his health and his outlook

I m angry I have stress, and I have hate, Grace said

Many more residents have called or written me about obnoxious noise caused by equally obnoxious drivers Like Grace they say laws are on the books to silence scofflaws but they aren’t being enforced

I decided to check In the first week of June, I made a public records request for all citations Santa Fe police officers issued to motorists for violating noise laws in the first five months of the year

After seven weeks I haven’t received a single record

On two occasions, the city records custodian sent me a standardized statement: “Your request is excessively bur-

Please see story on Page A-7

Long-winding rent case led to couple losing control of huge art collection

Questions of history, heritage as widow tries to sell pieces of personal collection worth millions to cover $900k judgment

By Phaedra Haywood phaywood@sfnewmexican com

Shrouded in bubble wrap labeled with tape and piled in mounds, a massive collection of Native American, Oceanic and African art including pieces believed by some to date back more than 3,000 years is at the center of a court battle pending in the state’s First Judicial District Court since 2012

Described in court documents as a culturally significant ethnographic collection” worth millions of dollars the collection of approximately 30 tons (60,000 pounds) of delicate art and artifacts of various materials and age” has been the subject of multiple court actions filed in state District Court plus the New Mexico Court of Appeals and Supreme Court, as well as US District Court and US Bankruptcy Court

A couple in their 70s spent more than three years in the Santa Fe County jail on a contempt of court charge before agreeing in 2021 to allow some of the artifacts to be sold to satisfy a $900,000 civil court judgment against them

But two years later reports from a court-appointed receiver reveal liquidating the collection has proven more difficult than anyone thought in part because establishing provenance for the items is challenging and ensuring sales comply with evolving federal and international restrictions can be complicated

Meanwhile, one of the original plaintiffs in the case has died leaving the collection in the sole control of his elderly widow The womans attorney declined to comment, but

Please see story on Page A-4

Getting back to full speed

City’s bus service still hamstrung by staff shortage, despite big recruiting effort

ABOVE: Driver Joseph Salazar sweeps his bus Friday as the end of his shift approaches. With the department struggling to fill its driver vacancies, several routes have been moved to on-demand service and many of the drivers are being asked to work overtime

TOP: Vince Copia, 55, rides the bus Friday after the engine of his car blew out.

PHOTOS BY ANDREA VASQUEZ THE NEW MEXICAN

By Nicholas Gilmore ngilmore@sfnewmexican com

Alyssia Lovato has been riding the city buses in Santa Fe on and off for several years now, but since taking in her two young nephews recently she said it has become a necessity

“They always ask to ride the bus now,” she said, adding they love going to places like the Santa Fe Botanical Garden

But taking the bus is also necessary for Lovato to get to work each day since the battery in her car started having problems

While the coronavirus pandemic and a shortage of bus drivers have led to reduced service for Santa Fe Trails, riders like Lovato who depend on the buses are hoping for a return to normal soon Lovato takes Route 6 to her job at La Fonda The route is one of several that currently offers only

on-demand service, meaning riders must call in to request a ride The longest she has waited for on-demand bus service has been about an hour she said as opposed to the regular service, which came every half-hour Of the 10 bus routes in the city, five were reduced from regular stops to on-demand service in 2021 because of the driver shortage

Please see story on Page A-7

At least 43 killed by bomb at Pakistan political rally

Toll expected to rise as militant activity grows near country’s border with Afghanistan, Taliban

By Christina Goldbaum and Zia Ur-Rehman The New York Times

An explosion at a political rally Sunday in northwest Pakistan killed at least 43 people and wounded 200 more, officials said, the latest sign of the deteriorating security situation in the country, where some militant groups have become more active over the past two years since finding a haven in neighboring Afghanistan under the Taliban administration there The blast occurred at about 4 p m in Bajaur a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan said Feroz Jamal, the provincial information minister It targeted a political rally organized by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, an Islamist party that is part of the governing coalition in Pakistan

A video from the rally recorded before the explosion shows hundreds of men sitting outside beneath a cloth canopy as party officials addressed the crowd As one district leader took the stage, enthusiastic party workers stood up chanting “Allah is great” according to one rallygoer, Sharifullah Mamond, 19 Then an explosion rocked the crowd “I lost consciousness for a few minutes because of the power of the explosion, Mamond said in a telephone interview from a hospital in Bajaur where he was being treated for minor injuries Provincial Police Chief Akhtar Hayat Khan

Relatives stand Sunday around the hospital bed of a victim injured by the powerful bomb that went off at a political rally in Pakistan. At least 43 were killed by the explosion in the country’s northwestern district that borders Afghanistan, with the toll expected to rise

Judge rejects Johnson & Johnson’s effort to limit talc liabilities

For the second time this year a court has ruled against Johnson & Johnson’s effort to use a bankruptcy case to limit its exposure to tens of thousands of lawsuits that claim its talcum powder products caused cancer

The plaintiffs claim that the company knew for decades about the risks linked to its talc products including its signature baby powder

The company created a subsidiary LTL Management in 2021 as a maneuver to shield itself from the talc litigation

It proposed the subsidiary which had filed for bankruptcy pay $8 9 billion to resolve all the claims against it

But Friday Judge Michael Kaplan of the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, said LTL’s bankruptcy case must be dismissed because the lawsuits did not put the company in “imminent or immediate financial distress Earlier this year the US Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit in Philadelphia dismissed the first bankruptcy case

“In sum, this Court smells smoke, but does not see the fire, Kaplan wrote in his opinion, referring to LTLs financial status “Therefore the emphasis on certainty and immediacy of financial distress closes the door of chapter 11 to LTL at this juncture”

Colombian president’s son arrested for alleged money laundering

Authorities arrested Nicolás Petro, the eldest son of Colombian President Gustavo Petro Saturday morning on charges of money laundering and illicit enrichment, signaling the start of a legal case experts say could test the country s justice system

Nicolás Petro’s former wife Daysuris Vásquez was also charged with money laundering and taken into custody, Colombia’s attorney general said in a news release

Their arrests come months after Vásquez, who separated from Nicolás Petro following an alleged affair with one of her former friends, accused Nicolás Petro of using funds donated to his father s presidential campaign to support a lavish lifestyle, Vásquez told Semana magazine in a March interview Gustavo Petro was unaware of his sons actions, according to Vásquez

The money never got to his [father’s] campaign, Vásquez told Semana in Spanish

Nicolás Petro denied he had misused any funds from the campaign in a statement issued after the Semana story was published and said hed cooperate with authorities

Remains of missing climber found 36yearslaterinmeltingAlpsglacier

The remains of a German mountaineer who had been missing for almost four decades were discovered in the melting ice just off the Matterhorn mountain earlier this month, Swiss police said Friday

A photo published by police showed the man’s belongings climbing ropes, a gray cloth and a black boot well preserved from years in the ice and snow

It is a grisly discovery that underscores the unforgiving nature of the world s highest summits and how climate change is warping the magnificent peaks

Police in Valais canton in southwestern Switzerland did not publicly identify the man but said DNA analysis revealed he was a 38-year-old German climber who had been reported missing in September 1986

The bodies of mountaineers whose disappearance was reported decades ago are increasingly turning up due to the receding glaciers, law enforcement said

‘Barbie’ bonanza continues as ‘Oppenheimer’ holds No. 2 spot

NEW YORK

A week later, the “Barbenheimer” boom has not abated

Seven days after Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolans Oppenheimer conspired to set box office records, the two films held unusually strongly in theaters Barbie took in a massive $93 million in its second weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday Oppenheimer stayed in second with a robust $46 2 million Sales for the two movies dipped 43% and 44% respectably well shy of the usual week-two drops Barbenheimer has proven to be not a one-weekend phenomenon but an ongoing box-office bonanza The two movies combined have already surpassed $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for data firm Comscore, call it a touchstone moment for movies, moviegoers and movie theaters”

New Mexican wire services

Apartment boom may help some U.S. renters

By Alex Veiga The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES

When viewed through a wide lens renters across the US finally appear to be getting some

relief thanks in part to the biggest apartment construction boom in decades

Median rent rose just 0 5% in June year over year, after falling in May for the first time since the pandemic hit the US Some economists project US rents will be down modestly this year after soaring nearly 25% over the past four years

A site for culture, history for California Natives

By Silvia Foster-Frau

The Washington Post

AVILA BEACH Calif

When Violet Sage Walker stares out at the calm waters butting against the shoreline of her hometown, she sees what was once the largest northern village of the Chumash people, who fished from traditional canoes in the open water viewed sea creatures as their ancestors and believed in a “Western Gate” farther south where their spirits went after they passed away

“All that is where we all lived,” Walker, one of the leaders of the Chumash tribe said recently That coastal California shoreline and the water it touches are at the center of a reclamation movement led by the Indigenous Chumash tribe to revive and restore its heritage, culture and land There are about 10,200 people with some Chumash ancestry left according to the US Census Their effort is part of a nationwide land back movement by Native Americans to reclaim sacred sites The Biden administration has established national landmarks for native people and appointed the first Native American to a Cabinet secretary position in history, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland Haaland as well as other members of the Biden Cabinet, has spoken in favor of a Chumash marine sanctuary proposal

We re in a real period of cultural revitalization for native tribes across the country,” said Shannon Speed director of the American Indian Studies Center at the University of California Los Angeles and a member of the Chickasaw nation “It is a moment of change”

The Northern Chumash Tribal Council wants federal protection for 7,000 square miles of territory along 156 miles of central California coastline and stretching for miles into the Pacific Ocean If approved by federal regulators, Chumash tribes would gain a unique leadership role over an expansive marine sanctuary, including the ability to block unwanted commercial development on the land and water within its bounds

The proposed sanctuary gives us a platform to grow our culture and history in a safe place, Walker said The more people know about us, the less stereotypes and less misconceptions they have about us the more they

learn about us”

The tribe’s biggest challenge may be the clock as it aims to get the hard-fought designation in place before the 2024 presidential election when a new administration could take over and force them to restart their decadeslong effort A wind energy company is also pushing to install four floating wind turbines which members of the Northern Chumash, one band of the tribe, oppose “It’s a sacred site, it’s an absolute no,” said Walker who objects to that project as well as others she says could harm marine life in the proposed sanctuary

Cierco Wind Energy, which is planning to build the turbines, says it supports the designation of the federal Chumash marine sanctuary, despite the criticism leveled by some tribal members The state already has a rigorous environmental review to ensure the effort doesn t cause significant ecological harm, said Mikael Jakobsson, chairman of Cierco Wind Energy Not all of the tribes members oppose their wind turbines project, he added, pointing to the Santa Ynez band of the tribe, which confirmed to The Washington Post they do not oppose the project

The Chumashs campaign for the federal designation dates back at least three generations as tribal members struggled to raise the money and political support needed for the huge endeavor They also faced resistance from some local fisherman who expressed concerns the sanctuary could harm their businesses, though the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermens Associations now says it wishes the Chumash well in its endeavor, and the sanctuary s effect on the fishermens business depends on how well it is managed

“It’s expensive to fight that kind of fight,” said Speed, the UCLA professor You need resources, and you need lawyers, and you need, generally, a team of folks to help wage a successful campaign to get that kind of thing done

Before European colonists arrived in the 1700s, the Chumash were a tribe of more than 20,000 people whose territory stretched from Paso Robles to Malibu, with traditions and spirituality that revolved around the water They fished using traditional plank canoes, called tomols, ate clams, mussels and abalone, and passed down their history and spiritual stories through song and dance

Customer demands driving some workers to the brink

By Alexandra Olson

The Associated Press NEW YORK Six straight days of 12-hour driving Single digit paychecks

The complaints come from workers in vastly different industries: UPS delivery drivers and Hollywood actors and writers

But they point to an underlying factor driving a surge of labor unrest:

The cost to workers whose jobs have changed drastically as companies scramble to meet customer expecta-

tions for speed and convenience in industries transformed by technology

The coronavirus pandemic accelerated those changes, pushing retailers to shift online and intensifying the streaming competition among entertainment companies Now, from the picket lines, workers are trying to give consumers a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to produce a show that can be binged any time or get dog food delivered to their doorstep with a phone swipe

Overworked and underpaid employees is an enduring complaint across

industries from delivery drivers to Starbucks baristas and airline pilots where surges in consumer demand have collided with persistent labor shortages Workers are pushing back against forced overtime, punishing schedules or company reliance on lower-paid, part-time or contract forces

At issue for Hollywood screenwriters and actors staging their first simultaneous strikes in 40 years is the way streaming has upended entertainment economics, slashing pay and forcing showrunners to produce content faster

with smaller teams

Adam Shapiro, an actor known for the Netflix hit NeverHaveIEver said many actors were initially content to accept lower pay for the plethora of roles that streaming suddenly offered But the need for a more sustainable compensation model gained urgency when it became clear streaming is not a sideshow but rather the future of the business, he said

“Over the past 10 years, we realized:

Oh that s now how Hollywood works Everything is streaming,’ ” Shapiro said during a recent union event

A closer look however shows the trend will likely be little comfort for many US renters who ve had to put an increasing share of their income toward their monthly payment Renters in cities such as Cincinnati and Indianapolis are still getting hit with increases of 5% or more Much of the new construction is located in just a few metro areas, and many of the new units are luxury apartments, which rent for well north of $2,000

Median US rent has risen to $2,029 this June from $1,629 in June 2019, according to rental listings company Rent, which tracks rents in 50 of the largest US metropolitan areas Demand for apartments exploded during the pandemic as people who could work remotely sought more space or decided to relocate to another part of the country

The steep rent increases have left tenants like Melissa Lombana, a high school teacher who lives in the South Florida city of Miramar, with progressively less income to spend on other needs

The rent on her one-bedroom apartment jumped 13% last year to $1,700

It climbed another 6% to $1,800 this month when she renewed her lease

Even the $1,700 was a stretch for me” said Lombana 43 who supplements her teaching income with a side job doing educational testing In a year

I will not be able to afford living here at all Lombana’s rent is now gobbling up nearly half her monthly income That puts her in a category referred to as “cost-burdened” by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development denoting households that pay 30% or more of their income toward rent Last year the average rent-to-income ratio per household rose to 30% This March, it was 296% Lombana hasn’t had any luck finding a more affordable apartment While South Florida is one of the metropolitan areas seeing a rise in apartment construction the units are mostly high-end and not a viable option

That scenario is playing out across the nation Developers are rushing to complete projects that were green-lit during the pandemic-era surge in demand for rentals or left in limbo by delays in supplies of fixtures and building materials Nearly 1.1 million apartments are currently under construction according to the commercial real estate tracker CoStar, a pace not seen since the 1970s

Increasing the supply of apartments tends to moderate rent increases over time and can give tenants more options on where to live But more than 40% of the new rentals to be completed this year will be concentrated in about 10 high job growth metropolitan areas including Austin, Nashville, Denver, Atlanta and New York, according to Marcus & Millichap In many areas the boost to overall inventory will be barely noticeable

Even within metros where there’ll be a notable increase in available apartments, such as Nashville most of it will be in the luxury category, where rents average $2,270 nationally Some 70% of the new rental inventory will be the luxury class, said Jay Lybik, national director of multifamily analytics at CoStar

I think we re in a period of rent flattening for 12 or 18 months but it’s certainly not a big rent decline,” said Hessam Nadji CEO of commercial real estate firm Marcus & Millichap

KARLA GACHET/THE WASHINGTON POST

A swath of the central California coast earlier this month that is at the center of a reclamation movement led by members of the Chumash tribe to revive and restore their heritage, culture and land The Northern Chumash Tribal Council wants federal protection for 7,000 square miles of territory along 156 miles of coastline and stretching for miles into the Pacific Ocean.

Chumash fight to preserve coastline through sanctuary proposal

At 80, can Biden keep the young voters he won in ’20?

By Will Weissert

The Associated Press

At 24, Alberto Rodriguez has grandparents younger than President Joe Biden But hes more interested in the 80-year-old’s accomplishments than his age

People as young as me, we re all focusing on our day-to-day lives, and he has done things to help us through that” Rodriguez a cook at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas Nev said of Biden’s support among young voters Rodriguez pointed specifically to federal COVID-19 relief payments and government spending increases on infrastructure and other social programs

Voters like him were a key piece of Biden’s winning 2020 coalition, which included majorities of young people as well as college graduates women urban and suburban voters and Black Americans

Maintaining their support will be critical in closely contested states such as Nevada where even small declines could prove consequential to Bidens reelection bid

His 2024 campaign plans to emphasize messages that could especially resonate with young people in the coming weeks as the anniversary of the sweeping Inflation Reduction Act approaches in mid-August That legislation includes provisions the White House will embrace to argue Biden has done more than any other president to combat climate change

Such efforts, however, could collide with Bidens personal reality like when he recalled that, while attending a St Patrick’s Day parade at age 14, he appeared in a photo with President Harry S Truman

“Purely by accident I assume it was an accident the photographer from the newspaper got a picture of me making eye contact with Harry Truman”

Biden said to chuckles last week at the Truman Civil Rights Symposium in Washington

In 2020, 61% of voters under age 30 and 55% of those between 30 and 44 supported Biden, according to AP VoteCast a nationwide survey of the electorate

It’s an age group with which

Republicans hope to make inroads Former President Donald Trump who is the early front-runner in the GOP presidential primary and is only 3½ years younger than Biden, said Friday “We are hitting the young person’s market like nobody’s ever seen before”

Kevin Munoz a spokesman for Biden’s campaign, referred to Trumps Make America Great Again” movement in arguing that young people are acutely impacted by the issues front and center in this election driven by the extreme MAGA agenda” He said that included inaction on climate change, gun violence and student debt

We will meet younger Americans where they are and turn their energy into action Munoz said in a statement

A glimmer of success for Ukraine

Amid monthslong counteroffenisve slog, country recaptures critical village in south

By Carlotta Gall The New York Times

ZAPORIZHZHIA REGION,

Ukraine

For 10 days, Ukrainian marines fought street by street and house by house to recapture the southeastern village of Staromaiorske, navigating artillery

fire, airstrikes and hundreds of Russian troops

The Russians put up a ferocious defense, but that ended Thursday when they folded and the Ukrainians claimed victory “Some ran away; some were left behind, said an assault commander from Ukraines 35th Marine Brigade, who uses the call sign Dikyi which means Wild We were taking captives” he added

The recapture of Staromaiorske a small village that is nonetheless critical to Ukraines southern strategy was such a welcome development for Ukraine that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced it himself

The counteroffensive has largely been a brutal lesson for Ukrainian troops who have struggled to seize back territory across the southern region of Zaporizhzhia In two months Ukrainian troops have advanced less than 10 miles at any point along the region’s 100-mile front

Victories such as the one at Staromaiorske, represent a potential breakthrough in the fighting, Ukrainian officials said perhaps opening the way for a broader push by their country’s forces Ukraine is focused on two main southward thrusts, with the aim of cutting off Russian resupply routes One line of attack goes through

They were panicking, Dikyi said The Ukrainians redoubled their attack with a frontal assault with two battalions along four streets

As officials celebrated Ukraine’s progress in Staromaiorske, troops elsewhere on the ground said Russian defenses and firepower remained formidable and in places impassable

African nations threaten military action unless Niger coup undone

NAIROBI Kenya West African leaders Sunday threatened military action against Niger where soldiers seized power in a coup Wednesday, unless the countrys democratically elected president is restored to office within a week

The demand was issued by the Economic Community of West African States or ECOWAS a 15-member regional bloc, after a crisis summit meeting in Nigeria

It echoed earlier calls by the United States and France major security allies of Niger, threatening to cut aid and military ties unless the deposed president, Mohamed Bazoum, is restored

Mines in a crater outside the village of Makarivka, in the Zaporizhzhia region of southern Ukraine last week. As Ukraine continues its counteroffensive, Russian defenses and firepower remain formidable and in places impassable Staromaiorske toward the city of Berdiansk on the Azov Sea and another, farther west, toward the city of Melitopol

Both cities command strategic transit routes for Russian forces occupying southern Ukraine and Crimea

For weeks Ukrainian artillery and long-range missiles have been pounding Russian supply lines and rear bases in an effort to break their operational capability and undermine Russian morale

Rockets fired from an American-made HIMARS mobile launcher surprise drivers on country roads near the front line as Ukrainian units attack targets deep behind Russian lines

As Ukrainian forces deploy Western-supplied weapons Russian troops are making use of deadly new tactics and weapons of their own, including attack

drones and remote-detonated mines

In Staromaiorske, Russian soldiers dug bunkers underneath the village’s houses with multiple exits so a house would erupt like an anthill when under attack, said Dikyi He lost one of his best men a 27-year-old called Vyacheslav, who used the call sign Bandit in an assault on such a house, he said

The key to the Ukrainian success in the village, he said, was wearing down the Russian soldiers will to fight The first sign of the Russian collapse was when 20 soldiers abandoned their position after complaining that reinforcements had failed to arrive, he said

From intercepts of Russian communications and interrogations of prisoners the Ukrainian forces knew their opponents were taking casualties and some were refusing to fight

Santa Fe Pens

A soldier at a medical post, awaiting evacuation for a concussion, recently described how his battalion had been decimated when it came under Russian artillery and tank fire His brigade the 23rd was one of nine newly formed, Western-trained units prepared and equipped for the counteroffensive But the brigade, he said, had been thrown into the fight without sufficient artillery support and had been unable to defend themselves against Russian firepower

In one battle in which his unit took part, Ukrainian soldiers attacked in 10 American-made MaxxPro armored vehicles but only one came back, he said He showed photographs of the damaged vehicles, ripped open and burned out which he said had been hauled back to a repair base The soldier declined to give his name for fear of getting into trouble with his superiors “They were hit by anti-tank fire,” he said “They hit them, and they kept hitting They were burned out The guys did not survive

After coup supporters massed Sunday outside the French Embassy in the capital Niamey calling for the withdrawal of French troops French President Emmanuel Macron issued a stiffly worded warning Any attack on France’s citizens or interests in Niger will be met with an immediate and uncompromising” reaction, Macron said in a statement

Hundreds of protesters demonstrated in support of Bazoum in several cities across the country ECOWAS, in a statement, vowed to take “all measures necessary to restore democratic rule in Niger and said that “may include the use of force”

It imposed financial sanctions on the putschists, led by the new self-declared leader Gen Abdourahmane Tchiani

The New York Times

TYLER HICKS/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Officer convicted after train hits car with woman

By Amanda Holpuch

The New York Times

A Colorado police officer was found guilty of two misdemeanors Friday after facing charges for putting a handcuffed woman in a patrol car that was parked on active railroad tracks and then struck by a freight train

The Fort Lupton police officer, Jordan Steinke, is one of two officers facing criminal charges after Yareni Rios-Gonzalez, 21, was pulled over on the night of Sept 16, 2022, and then struck by the train while trapped in the police car

Rios-Gonzalez was stopped by police after a road rage incident involving a handgun, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation said last year

A Platteville Police Department officer parked his patrol vehicle on the railroad tracks after he pulled Rios-Gonzalez over, the bureau said

Two Fort Lupton police officers, including Steinke, helped him with the traffic stop, which took place near Platteville a city about 38 miles northeast of Denver

The Fort Lupton Police Department released body and dashboard camera video that showed officers detaining Rios-Gonzalez on a dark, remote road In the footage, a railroad crossing sign can be seen next to a patrol car

Officers are heard in the video shouting commands at Rios-Gonzalez who gets out

Collection civil case

Continued from Page A-1

thousands of pages of court documents filed in five different courts tell the tale of an arguably priceless collection of ancient artifacts gathering dust in storage lockers in Albuquerque; Austin, Texas; and Cherry Hill NJ

Collector Al Luckett Jr; his wife Christine McCarthy; and various investor entities amassed the collection over the past three-plus decades, according to records in the state District Court case, which began as a landlord-tenant dispute in 2012

Some of the works are larger than a man Others could fit it in the palm of a hand

There are primitive tools utensils, weapons and religious and decorative items Some might appear to be little more than lumps of clay to the untrained eye, but receipts included in online court records in the case indicate Luckett paid as much as tens of thousands of dollars for some of the objects

The collection includes about 110 masks, 50 stone objects, 50 African sculptures two boxes of carved stone heads and 15 boxes of geological specimens according to more than 200 pages of photographs submitted as evidence

There also are two boxes containing hundreds of small artifacts (including things such as Native American wampum and arrowheads),” a Mayan bowl, South American stone carvings, Eskimo stone clubs and a whale bone spear, according to the court records

According to reports from the receiver, there also are paintings in the collection including two that may be by famed Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros, a contemporary of Diego Rivera

Repeated attempts to contact Luckett and McCarthy have been unsuccessful Their son Jonathan Luckett has not responded to several calls seeking comment Its unclear whether any members of the family still live in New Mexico

Receipts entered as evidence in the long-running civil dispute indicate Al Luckett lived in Santa Fe for years and purchased much of the collection from or with the assistance of local dealers

He was particularly active in the early and mid-2000s, documents show acquiring objects in the name of Cultural Assets LLC II, a company set up by the family

Tribal Art and Design owner

Taylor A Dale said in a recent phone interview Luckett “loved stone objects

“His top interest was probably stone objects mostly prehistoric

Dale said “He also liked Pueblo fetishes and he had a good eye

Dale declined to comment further on Luckett or the collection

A half-dozen other artifact dealers The New Mexican spoke to

inside

of her car and puts her hands up She is put in handcuffs and repeatedly asks why she was being arrested

An officer says that she would tell Rios-Gonzalez “in a second and places her in the patrol car

Officers are shown searching her car and talking about the traffic stop when a train horn starts to sound

The horn gets louder and an officer shouts an expletive and repeatedly says, “Oh my God,” just before the car is struck

After the crash the police searched for the patrol car, which was hurled off the track and left in a mangled wreck

The car rolled at least twice and traveled about a half-mile, according to a lawsuit filed by Rios-Gonzalez She suffered “severe head trauma” and “serious bodily injury” according to court records

The Weld County district attorney’s office filed charges in November against Steinke and the officer who pulled Rios-Gonzalez over, Pablo Vazquez

It was not immediately clear whether Vazquez and Steinke were still employed as police officers

A lawyer for Steinke declined to comment

The Fort Lupton Police Department declined to comment and the Platteville Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment Vazquez’s lawyer declined to comment Sunday about the pending case

Pakistan attack

Continued from Page A-1

helicopters,” Jamal said A state of emergency was imposed in the hospitals in Peshawar, the provincial capital

Among those killed was Maulana Ziaullah, a local leader of the political party who was onstage when the explosion occurred No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack Officials said they suspected it might have been orchestrated by an Islamic State group affiliate in the region that is active in northwest Pakistan

The group has previously targeted members of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl because of the close relationships the party’s local leaders maintain with the Taliban administration in Afghanistan, experts say

The Islamic State group affiliate, known as the Islamic State Khorasan or ISIS-K has attacked the Taliban administration for not instituting what it considers a strict enough interpretation of Islamic principles in Afghanistan In April 2022, the group renewed calls for the assassinations of religious scholars and activists associated with Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl in Pakistan

That is part of ISIS-K’s “broader strategy to eliminate religious scholars from rival sects and religious parties” said Riccardo Valle director of research at The Khorasan Diary, an Islamabad-based news and research platform focusing on jihadist networks Maulana Fazlur Rehman, head of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl expressed sorrow and regret over the explosion in a statement published by the party’s media wing Rehman called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to thoroughly investigate the explosion

A surge in militancy

The blast was the latest attack to rattle Pakistan where militant groups including the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP and ISIS-K have become more active in recent years This year, the TTP has carried out several major attacks that have jolted Pakistanis’ tenuous sense of security In January, TTP militants attacked a mosque in Peshawar killing more than 100 people and

one month later they waged an hourslong assault on the police headquarters of Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi

The attack Sunday is yet another reminder that militancy remains ascendant in Pakistan and insecurity is likely to rise in the coming months,” said Asfandyar Mir, a senior expert at the United States Institute of Peace

“A few different groups from the TTP to ISIS are trying to carve out space for themselves in the country, and that creates incentives for each of these groups to try to distinguish themselves” in whom they choose to target, where those attacks happen and the scale of the violence they create, he added

The rise of militant violence in recent months has stoked tension between Pakistan and the Taliban administration in Afghanistan

While Taliban security forces have cracked down on Islamic State group militants since seizing power in August 2021, Pakistani officials have accused the Taliban administration of providing a haven for the Pakistani Taliban

On Sunday, the Taliban administration also condemned the attack in Bajaur “Such crimes are neither permissible nor justifiable in any way” Zabihullah Mujahid spokesperson for

indicate Jonathon Luckett has made attempts to sell pieces from the collection

“Jonny reports that he has been in contact with curators at the following museums: the Metropolitan Museum of Art the Los Angeles County Museum of Art the Dallas Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Denver Art Institute the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art the Minneapolis Museum of Art as well as art museums at Princeton and Harvard University Chapman wrote in a March 2021 report “Jonny advised that he has received significant interest in the two paintings from Latin American Curators and contemporary curators at these institutions Jonny has provided the curators with images of the paintings and other information related to the paintings”

the administration, said on Twitter

Political fallout

The attacks have also raised concerns that the deteriorating security situation could dampen political campaigning ahead of Pakistans next general election, expected in the fall and dissuade people from voting

The elections come after over a year of political turmoil since former Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted in a vote of no-confidence in April 2022 and a coalition government led by Sharif came to power The elections this fall are considered a critical step toward establishing more political stability after a year of mass protests and a crackdown by the country’s powerful security establishment on Khan and his supporters

The attacks will play on the minds of the public and politicians both” said Abdul Basit a senior fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies who covers extremism and militancy in South Asia adding “It can result in dull election campaigns and low voter turnout, undermining the credibility of upcoming general elections

In the December 2022 report, the receiver wrote Kay Coughlin continues to work to establish provenance of the two most valuable paintings which were in the custody of an auction house

A tough sell

Experts say the buying and selling of artifacts and antique Native American items is complicated

The value of such collections can be affected by changing laws and the seller s ability to provide documentation of when and how the items were acquired,” said

Authentic Tribal Arts Dealers Association President Will Hughes

sage of laws aimed at combatting illegal trade in cultural items, many collectors want documentation about the provenance of a piece showing it was collected or traded prior to 1970 and museums require documentation even to accept such items as donations

Dr Nui Loa Price, who orchestrated the sale of at least 97 Hawaiian stone sculptures to Cultural Assets II LLC in 2004, said in an interview he had heard the buyer of the stones had run into some legal trouble and hopes he might buy them back, though no one has reached out to him

declined to comment on Luckett or the artifacts

A complex saga

The events that led to the collection being placed in receivership began in 2011 when Luckett and his wife rented a home in Las Campanas from Michael and Kay Coughlin in the name of Cultural Assets II according to a 2012 petition the Coughlins filed in state District Court attempting to collect what they alleged at the time was $11 000 in unpaid rent

The litigation has dragged on for years The court ordered Luckett and McCarthy to vacate the home in March 2013, according to an order of restitution But they were still there in August 2013, and Luckett interfered with the Coughlins attempts to sell the property according to a September 2013 order finding

Luckett in contempt of court

State District Judge Francis Mathew in 2016 issued a final judgment, ordering Cultural Assets Luckett and McCarthy to pay the Coughlins $630,242, which included compensatory damages for unpaid rent and the loss of the sale of their house punitive damages, attorney fees and still-accruing interest

Later that year, the Coughlins filed an application asking the court to freeze the defendants’ assets, including a significant and substantial inventory of business and/or personal property contained in storage units which can be easily liquidated to meet [defendants] obligations under the judgement

In 2017 Matthew ordered the Santa Fe County Sheriff s Office to take eight storage lockers filled with art and artifacts into custody to be sold to satisfy the judgment which by then had ballooned to more than $771 000 thanks in part to continued litigation and accruing interest

But when deputies went to a storage facility to collect the pre-Columbian artifacts, they discovered the units had been cleared out, according to an emergency motion for criminal

contempt the Coughlins filed

Sept 22, 2017

Matthew issued an order in October 2017 declaring Luckett and McCarthy who had moved to Maine in contempt of court and ordered they be arrested in that state and returned to Santa Fe to be held at the Santa Fe County jail until the artifacts were returned

Al Luckett, McCarthy and Jonathon Luckett fought relinquishment of the collection

The family and attorneys representing a series of companies they had created argued in legal filings the couple didn’t own the artifacts and didn t have the authority to hand them over to secure their release from jail

Jonathon Luckett said at the time the treasures belong to a series of companies over which he had only partial control

Those companies, referred to collectively as IDA or Information Dock Analytics, filed a separate case in federal court challenging the designation of the collection as collateral in the landlord-tenant case

As the cases crawled through the courts Al Luckett and McCarthy remained in jail

The parties finally reached a compromise in 2021

Jonathan Luckett and the IDA companies were joined as parties to the proceeding and collectively entered into settlement negotiations In February 2021 the Luckett family and the Coughlins agreed the collection would be put in receivership and parts would be sold to satisfy the judgment, after which the remainder would be returned to the control of IDA

Under the terms of the agreement, Jonathan Luckett and IDA would work with an appointed receiver to sell some of the works, toward the goal of paying off the judgment in two $450,000 installments over the course of two years

Court-appointed receiver William Chapman did not respond to calls seeking comment His status reports to state District Court

As of June 2022, Chapman reported Mr Luckett has not been able to finalize any sales”

The insurance matter continues to be a challenge and despite my best efforts, I have not been able to obtain an insurance policy for the entire collection” Chapman wrote Under the terms of the agreement, if the $900,000 judgement had not been paid within two years the “Coughlins shall have the sole and exclusive right to sell the Art and Artifacts

According to a December 2022 report from the receiver to the court, custody and control over the items was transferred to the Coughlins

Michael Coughlin died in January, according to a notice in state District Court, which leaves his widow Kay Coughlin in control of the collection

Carla M Sinopoli director of the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico, agreed, noting while she didn t know about the collection or the lawsuit, private collections can sometimes be problematic

“Archaeological objects that reach the market are often looted” she wrote “For the communities from which those objects were removed this results in the loss of irreplaceable history and heritage And for archaeologists context is critical knowing where objects come from and what they were associated with is essential to being able to understand the lives and histories of the past peoples who made and used them That information is lost through the looting and sale of objects

She added: “Museums today are confronting our own histories of collecting and our legal and ethical obligations to repatriate human remains and artifacts to source communities”

Hughes said that since the pas-

Price said he originally purchased many of the stones from a Hawaiian man who was selling them from the trunk of his vehicle Whatever became of the stones, I’m still very concerned in recovering them if I can, he said “I m always connected to those pieces, in a sense, because they came to me and the great spirit revealed them to me and I slowly had to let them go”

Court documents indicate Cultural Assets purchased at least $33,000 worth of stones from Price but it s not clear from public records if there were additional transactions For now the majority of the ancient artifacts continue to gather dust In the receivers last report he wrote Kay Coughlin has the keys to three storage units Shes making monthly payments on them while working with an auction house to establish provenance of the two paintings The paintings, the receiver wrote, have been insured in an amount in excess of the debt due to the Coughlins”

RESCUE 1122 HEADQUARTERS VIA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Rescue workers Sunday inspect the site where a bomb went off at a political rally in Pakistan. Officials said a suicide bomber likely stood near the front of the stage.

COURTESY PHOTO

More than 200 pages of photographs of the art collection which includes masks, stone objects, African sculptures, carved stone heads and “geological specimens” owned by Al Luckett Jr , his wife and “various investor entities” were submitted as evidence

Who is behind controversial curriculum?

By Sarah Mervosh The New York Times

When Florida set out to revamp its standards for teaching Black history this spring, a natural place to turn would have been the state’s African American History Task Force

The volunteer task force a group of Black educators, Democratic politicians and community leaders appointed by the commissioner of education has helped shape African American history instruction in Florida for more than two decades The group provides an annual training session for teachers and awards “exemplary” status to school districts that meet criteria it sets

But in updating educational standards to comply with a new law that limits how racism and other aspects of history can be taught signed last year by Gov Ron DeSantis a Republican, state officials largely bypassed the task force

You would think they would have involved us, said Samuel L Wright Sr, who founded the Tampa Bay Black Heritage Festival and was the task forces vice chair until last month Wright and six other members who were serving this spring while the standards were being written said they had not been consulted The standards have drawn backlash for saying that “slaves developed skills which in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit” Another contested section said that students should learn about race massacres of the 20th century, including violence perpetrated not just against but also “by African Americans

Legacy admissions under fire

Following

the fall of affirmative action, groups question legality of preferences given to children of alumni

By Niha Masih The Washington Post

An investigation by the Education Department into legacy admissions at Harvard University has sparked a fresh debate over the long-standing practice, as notoriously opaque college admissions processes come under increasing scrutiny in the wake of a Supreme Court affirmative action ruling

The department’s Office of Civil Rights said it will examine whether the universitys use of “legacy” and donor preferences in undergraduate admissions violates the federal civil rights law after a complaint called it a discriminatory practice hurting students of color

Separately, congressional Democrats have reintroduced legislation that would prohibit universities from participating in federal student aid programs if they use these criteria

What are ‘legacy’ admissions?

The practice of more favorably viewing university applicants whose parents are alumni is known as “legacy” admission or preference

Colleges that offer legacy admissions defend the practice, saying legacy status is one of many factors that are considered and it helps them build lasting relations with their alumni whose donations can make financial aid possible to other applicants

But several studies have shown legacy admissions overwhelmingly favor wealthy and white applicants, and critics have described the practice as reverse affirmative action benefiting such students at the cost of applicants of color and other disadvantaged groups

Legacy students are more likely to receive admission at 12 highly selective private American colleges including Ivy League institutions especially if they are from high-income families concluded a new study published by Opportunity Insights, a research initiative based at Harvard Eliminating legacy preferences, among other changes in admissions, would help diversify the socioeconomic backgrounds of Americas highest earners and leaders said authors Raj Chetty David J Deming

and John N Friedman

In another study, researchers concluded a white applicant’s chances at Harvard increased several times if they were a legacy candidate

Over a six-year period between 2009 and 2015, Harvard admitted 34% of the 4,644 legacy applicants from the United States that applied, court documents have shown, which

CITY TO HOST AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMFOR2023-24SCHOOLYEAR

The city of Santa Fe s recreation division will host an after-school program featuring sports, swimming, ice skating, games, food projects and arts and crafts at the Genoveva Chavez Community Center throughout the 2023-24 school year

The after-school program begins Aug 21 and will continue with monthly sessions through May 2024 Sessions, open to children ages 6 to 12 and costing $50 per child, will take place from 3:15 to 6 p m Mondays through Thursdays and 1:15 to 6 p m Fridays Transportation to the program will be provided from Amy Biehl Community School, Piñon Elementary School, Carlos Gilbert Elementary School and Gonzales Community School

was far higher than the 6% admission rate of non-legacy applicants

Link to Supreme Court’s ruling

The Supreme Court’s June decision to bar race as a consideration for college admissions has upended how universities select their students and forced a reckoning on other admissions-process categories such as legacy, donor status and athletic excellence

The case brought against Harvard and the University of North Carolina by Students for Fair Admissions also shed unprecedented light onto the admissions processes at top institutions

At Harvard the justices noted in their ruling, information about the legacy status, athletic status financial aid eligibility and race is disclosed to the admissions committee at the last stage of the decision-making process called the lop, where the statuses can become a determining factor

Now, the Boston group Lawyers for Civil Rights has cited the affirmative action ruling in a federal complaint against Harvards use of legacy preferences The recent Supreme Court decision, the complaint states, is expected to negatively impact diversity on campuses and eliminating legacy and donor preferences could help admit more students of color

“There’s no birthright to Harvard As the Supreme Court recently noted eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it There should be no way to identify who your parents are in the college application process Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal executive director of Lawyers for Civil Rights, said in a statement

The Harvard investigation

Soon after the Supreme Court ruling, President Joe Biden urged education officials to examine ways to make campuses more inclusive and investigate barriers such as legacy admissions that “expand privilege”

Now, the Education Department has opened an investigation into Harvard’s use of legacy, as well as donor, preferences to determine whether they violate federal civil rights law after a complaint filed by Lawyers for Civil Rights on behalf of African Community Economic Development of New England, the Greater Boston Latino Network and the Chica Project

The university is reviewing its admission policies following the Supreme Court ruling, officials at Harvard told The Washington Post last week

Registration for the program is first come, first served in-person at the Genoveva Chavez Community Center between 8 a m and 5:30 p m starting Aug 7 Parents must bring a birth certificate immunization record or passport to verify their child’s age ESPAÑOLA TO OFFER FREE BACK-TO-SCHOOL VACCINATIONS

The New Mexico Department of Health s Rio Arriba County Public Health Office will offer free back-to-school vaccinations in Española for children age 18 and younger with or without insurance Wednesdays throughout August Vaccination clinics will take place from 1 p m to 4 p m Wednesday, Aug 9, 16, 23 and 30

Parents should bring children’s vaccination records and health insurance card, if they have insurance Youth won’t be turned away if they don t have insurance

The public health office is located at 2010 Industrial Park Road For more information call 505-753-2794

“Our review includes examination of a range of data and information, along with learnings from Harvard’s efforts over the past decade to strengthen our ability to attract and support a diverse intellectual community that is fundamental to our pursuit of academic excellence” Nicole Rura a Harvard spokeswoman, said in a statement

Colleges with legacy admissions

More than 100 schools have said alumniapplicant relationships are considered while making admissions decisions a Washington Post analysis published in mid-June found

Not just Harvard but all Ivy League institutions, considered some of the world’s most prestigious, give consideration to legacy status Other leading institutions, including New York University, Georgetown University, Vassar College and Michigan State University, also follow the practice

At Stanford University more than 280 applicants or about 13 5% admitted in fall 2022 were children of alumni or donors the university said (First-generation college students were 21 5% of the admitted class ) In 2021, 10% of Princeton University s admitted students were children of its graduates while 22% were first-generation college-goers

Many public universities including the University of California’s nine undergraduate campuses and the University of Texas at Austin do not consider legacy status Some prominent private schools to have ended the practice in recent years are Amherst College and Johns Hopkins University

Could this be the end?

Public opinion in the United States remains firmly against legacy admissions

About 75% of Americans oppose legacy preferences a 2022 poll by Pew Research Center found

The recent events might lead to a shift from legacy admissions but not entirely eliminate the practice, said Adam Nguyen, CEO of Ivy Link, a firm that coaches students on how to enter elite American universities

“Some elite colleges say that they have a right to operate their institutions as any business would i e based on policies and practices that support their institutional priorities whether those are monetary or otherwise, he said in an email They re saying that the state is encroaching on their abilities to operate as universities and eliminating legacy admissions would hurt the institutions in the long run

KELLOGG ANNOUNCES COHORT OF NEW MEXICO COMMUNITY LEADERS

The Center for Creative Leadership and the W K Kellogg Foundation, founded by the cereal magnate, announced Wednesday that it has selected 22 leaders from across New Mexico to join its Community Leadership Network, a program intended to strengthen local leadership for the benefit of children and families

The cohort of fellows includes nonprofit state tribal and advocacy leaders across the state

The New Mexican leaders will join dozens of others from Michigan Mississippi and New Orleans for an 18-month fellowship intended to grow leadership skills and build networks to advance equity

“The heart of this fellowship is the leaders and the relationships they build across different cultures, sectors and geographies to work in solidarity for authentic change, said Shera Clark program director at the Center for Creative Leadership

“I would not be a party to standards of African American history that homogenizes our history,” said Brenda Walker a task force member and an education professor at the University of South Florida whose research has focused on Black students and recruiting male teachers of color

Few details have been publicly released about how the standards, which lay out concepts that students are expected to learn, were created Even DeSantis, who has often embraced his role as a warrior against “woke” ideology in schools, sought to distance himself amid a faltering 2024 presidential campaign

I wasn t involved in it, he told reporters last week

To craft the 216-page document his Department of Education created a 13-member work group, which drafted the standards from February to May

The work group members, whose names the state has not released in full included Frances Presley Rice a retired Army lieutenant colonel and a staunch conservative who has led the National Black Republican Association; William Allen, a professor emeritus at Michigan State who served on the US Commission on Civil Rights under Ronald Reagan; and teachers and school district officials from around the state

Three members of the group were nominated by the African American History Task Force, as representatives from its exemplary school districts

The Department of Education, which did not respond to questions about the process previously released a statement from Allen and Presley Rice defending the description of enslaved people using skills for their “personal benefit as an accurate portrayal of the resiliency shown by enslaved individuals some of whom excelled in trades like shoemaking and fishing

The group which was racially and politically diverse engaged in vigorous debate during a series of meetings in Tallahassee Fla and online But the group which originally believed it would have a year to work also faced a shortened timeline which resulted in “some mistakes and unpolished phrasing, such as the line that said enslaved people had used skills to their personal benefit according to one member who did not want to be identified for fear of reprisal Allen, whose great-grandfather was enslaved, told ABC News the standards did not say slavery itself was beneficial but meant to portray enslaved people as “resourceful, resilient and adaptive people

“It’s only those who don’t take the time to read it who will misstate it, he said

On Wednesday a spokesperson for DeSantis posted a link on Twitter to the College Board’s much-debated advanced placement course in African American studies which makes a similar point but with different language, saying enslaved people once free used their trade skills to provide for themselves and others Florida has required the teaching of African American history since 1994

One longtime task force member is not on the list: Wright the vice chair resigned last month in protest of what he saw as a political coup

“The task force was not aiming at making white kids or nobody feel like people were responsible for slavery, he said “The intent of the task force was to ensure that African American and other kids realized that African American people made contributions to America and to this world

A full list of fellows is available at wkkf cln org/class-3-fellows/ SALAZAR STUDENT’S SCULPTURE TO BEDISPLAYEDINAPODACABUILDING

A sculpture created by fifth graders at Salazar Elementary School will grace the halls of the Public Education Department s Jerry Apodaca Education Building throughout the next month

The piece built from interlocking laser engravings and cuttings created in Santa Fe Public Schools STEAM lab was inspired by Charles Eames’ House of Cards, a similarly constructed stack of cards and a “beloved staple of the Eames Office ”

My students are remarkable young artists, and I am always trying to increase the authentic audience for their work,”

Salazar art teacher Anna Gibson said in a news release announcing the placement of her students work

“I am incredibly pleased that they will have the opportunity to show what they have done at a venue representing the

heart of our educational system in New Mexico,” she added N.M. MUSIC EDUCATORS HONORED WITH NATIONWIDE AWARD

The National Association for Music Education in June recognized the New Mexico Music Educators Association with the 2023 Excellence in Advocacy Award

The award honored the state association for generating leadership opportunities building community among music educators in both urban and rural areas and strengthening communications with lawmakers National Association for Music Education President Scott R Sheehan said in a news release

“We offer our deepest congratulations and thanks to the New Mexico Music Educators Association for all of their work in bringing a spotlight to music education this past year in their state Sheehan said

The New Mexican

MINH CONNORS/WASHINGTON POST FILE PHOTO

Xiaoming Sheng of the Asian American Coalition for Education demonstrates with a banner last month in front of the Supreme Court in Washington. The court ruling that ends decades of race-based affirmative action considerations in admissions has spurred a debate on legacy preferences. “There s no birthright to Harvard, said Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal, executive director of Lawyers for Civil Rights.

Staying ahead of epidemics driven by climate change

By Julie Spencer

Almost half of the world s population is now at risk for contracting dengue fever, also known as “breakbone fever” an illness carried by a species of mosquitoes (Aedes aegyptia) that has recently expanded its range from tropical regions to more temperate ones in many parts of the United States

A quarter of the people who become infected with dengue develop symptoms of illness a potentially high fever, rash and severe muscle and joint pain About 5% of those with symptoms develop severe dengue, which can become life-threatening within hours The risk is even higher for infants and pregnant women

No dengue vaccine is approved for use in the US , and no medication specific to dengue is available

Musk unmatched in space

Twitter, Tesla, SpaceX owner has become most dominant player in satellite communications

By Adam Satariano, Scott Reinhard, Cade Metz, Sheera Frenkel and Malika Khurana

The New York Times

On March 17 Gen Mark Milley, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Gen Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the leader of Ukraines armed forces dialed into a call to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine Over the secure line the two military leaders conferred on air defense systems real-time battlefield assessments and shared intelligence on Russia s military losses

They also talked about Elon Musk

Zaluzhnyi raised the topic of Starlink, the satellite internet technology made by Musk’s rocket company, SpaceX, three people with knowledge of the conversation said Ukraine’s battlefield decisions depended on the continued use of Starlink for communications, Zaluzhnyi said, and his country wanted to ensure access and discuss how to cover the cost of the service

Zaluzhnyi also asked if the United States had an assessment of Musk, who has sprawling business interests to which US officials gave no answer Musk, who leads SpaceX, Tesla and Twitter has become the most dominant player in space as he has steadily amassed power over the strategically significant field of satellite internet Yet faced with little regulation and oversight his erratic and personality-driven style has increasingly worried militaries and political leaders around the world, with the tech billionaire sometimes wielding his authority in unpredictable ways

Since 2019, Musk has sent SpaceX

rockets into space nearly every week that deliver dozens of sofa-size satellites into orbit The satellites communicate with terminals on Earth, so they can beam high-speed internet to nearly every corner of the planet Today, more than

4,500 Starlink satellites are in the skies, accounting for more than 50% of all active satellites They have already started changing the complexion of the night sky even before accounting for Musk’s plans to have as many as 42000 satellites in orbit in the coming years

The power of the technology which has helped push the value of closely held SpaceX to nearly $140 billion is just beginning to be felt

Starlink is often the only way to get internet access in war zones, remote areas and places hit by natural disasters

It is used in Ukraine for coordinating drone strikes and intelligence gathering

Activists in Iran and Turkey have sought to use the service as a hedge against government controls The US Defense Department is a big Starlink customer, while other militaries such as in Japan are testing the technology

But Musk’s near total control of satellite internet has raised alarms

A combustible personality, the 52-yearold’s allegiances are fuzzy While Musk is hailed as a genius innovator, he alone can decide to shut down Starlink internet access for a customer or country, and he has the ability to leverage sensitive information that the service gathers Such concerns have been heightened because no companies or governments have come close to matching what he has built

In Ukraine, some fears have been realized Musk has restricted Starlink

access multiple times during the war, people familiar with the situation said At one point he denied the Ukrainian military s request to turn on Starlink near Crimea the Russian-controlled territory, affecting battlefield strategy

Last year he publicly floated a peace plan” for the war that seemed aligned with Russian interests

At times, Musk has flaunted Starlinks capabilities “Between Tesla Starlink & Twitter, I may have more real-time global economic data in one head than anyone ever,” he tweeted in April Musk did not respond to requests for comment SpaceX declined to comment

Worried about overdependence on Musk s technology Ukrainian officials have talked with other satellite internet providers though they acknowledged none rival Starlink’s reach “Starlink is indeed the blood of our entire communication infrastructure now” Mykhailo Fedorov Ukraine’s digital minister, said in an interview

At least nine countries including in Europe and the Middle East have also brought up Starlink with US officials over the past 18 months, with some questioning Musk’s power over the technology, two US intelligence officials briefed on the discussions said Few nations will speak publicly about their concerns, for fear of alienating Musk, said intelligence and cybersecurity officials briefed on the conversations US officials have said little publicly about Starlink as they balance domestic and geopolitical priorities related to Musk who has criticized President Joe Biden but whose technology is unavoidable

For now dengue in the contiguous US occurs in mostly isolated cases among travelers returning from the tropics, but that’s changing as the problematic mosquitoes travel northward Take a leap forward to the year 2050 You live in Houston with your family, and your favorite hobby is fishing at the nearby nature reserve Days are averaging about five degrees Fahrenheit warmer than they have for the past decade, and unbeknownst to you and your family a summer dengue fever outbreak is underway

You settle your small daughter with toys and begin fishing The mosquitoes are annoying but not overwhelming Nonetheless within a few minutes you notice a mosquito, already swelling with blood on your child’s arm Ah well, you think, it’s just a bug bite and with a little antihistamine and lotion, she’ll be fine A few days later your daughter develops a fever and a rash When she starts vomiting, you take her to urgent care, concerned about the risks of dengue fever now that youre seeing a few news items on the subject

You spend a sleepless night holding your daughter in the hospital room as she receives intravenous fluids to rehydrate her In the morning, the doctor tells you she is not likely to develop severe dengue and you’re given the clear to go home

On the drive back, you remember a time when mosquito bites were not a big deal, just itchy bumps, and the fishing trips were easier

While this future might be bleak, the good news is Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists are working on a predictive computer model so in the future, you’ll know when outbreaks are happening, and you can take the precautions to protect your family

Our team recently investigated how changing temperatures could

affect dengue transmission under a climate-change scenario The team extended previous epidemiological models by developing a computer model that allows both the mosquito lifespan and the incubation period to vary with temperature

The model captures the effects of changing temperatures on mosquito dynamics and dengue transmission

This approach provides a way to explore realistic simulations of potential dengue outbreaks in cities in the southern US where this species of mosquitoes has been observed

We found that under the assumptions of our model and with an average temperature increase of about five degrees Fahrenheit, dengue risk would double in Los Angeles and Houston Paradoxically, the risk would decrease in Phoenix Miami and Brownsville, Texas, due to extreme heat that is actually above the mosquito’s comfort zone

Although the virus travels through the mosquito’s system to the salivary glands quicker as temperatures rise, there is a thermal maximum beyond which the mosquito cannot survive Our sensitivity analysis indicated that with rising temperatures, dengue risk factors begin to shift away from mosquito-centered aspects and toward human aspects of disease

Basically, as temperatures rise, the disease dynamics change such that the human part of the transmission cycle when humans are transmitting dengue from one mosquito to the next is the key step in the process This means the most efficient use of resources would be to stop the transmission cycle at the humans, where our intervention would have the most leverage for stopping an outbreak

This suggests regional public health recommendations for adjusting human behavior may become more important than controlling mosquitoes as temperatures become warmer Protecting ourselves will be more impactful than attempting to reduce the mosquito populations will be So, in that future scenario, before your fishing trip you might be able to check both the weather and the disease forecasts letting you plan ahead and take steps to protect yourself and your family

Julie Spencer is a researcher in the Information Systems and Modeling group at Los Alamos National Lab-

Turkey vultures: Nature’s energy-efficient, great-distance drifters

By Ken Bunkowski

For The New Mexican

We see them every day in New Mexico soaring overhead holding their wings in a shallow V-shape, tipping side to side causing their gray flight feathers to appear silvery, stretching from the armpit area to the tips of their wings They stay aloft for hours without flapping their wings, circling and using thermal updrafts to climb higher This incredible ability to utilize thermals has evolved due to the characteristically unpredictable deceased food source they are constantly on the search for They need to travel great distances of up to 200 miles and have developed a very energy efficient way to do so They aren t as pretty or elegant as other birds but their remarkable intelligence and interesting habits make turkey vultures a favorite of birders

Turkey vultures scavenge and eat carrion, whether that be roadkill, byproduct of another predator’s kill or even disease-ravaged animals Carrion is found either by sight (up to 4 miles away), as they have incredible vision as all raptors do or uniquely by smell (up to a mile away) Vultures are one of the few categories of birds that are equipped with a keen sense

of smell

Vultures have a strong stomach acid that is capable of destroying lethal bacteria and diseases including rabies tuberculosis, botulism and anthrax

Vultures are an important part of the ecosystem and considered a keystone species

Vultures have a unique way of feeding, tearing open the carcass with their beak and using a long, pointed tongue to extract the meat If you see a group of turkey vultures feeding on a carcass, many times the most dominant vultures can be seen eating first while the subservient individuals wait their turn They can easily pick the body of an animal clean in less than an hour

Vultures have the reputation of being ugly, but their features are actually adaptations to keep themselves clean as they feed on dead prey The bald head, long featherless legs and nostrils that are larger and open from one to the other are ways to decrease carrion from sticking to the feathers or in the nose, eventually becoming a host for bacteria They will sunbathe with their wings outstretched to warm themselves after a cool, rainy night and to bake-off bacteria and ectoparasites The body of a vulture, inside and out, is adapted for their lifestyle and the carrion that they eat Vultures are a social species

and can be seen roosting with up to several hundred individuals They also have a unique way of roosting that involves standing on their tip toes, leaning froward to rest their chest on a branch

so as to conserve energy while roosting Vultures lack a syrinx, the vocal cord of birds, and are usually silent sometimes hissing and grunting when feeding or at their nest

Turkey vultures nest in cliff ledges, rock crevices, fallen tree logs, buildings, abandoned nests and sometimes simply on the ground Their clutch size is typically 2 eggs with 1 brood per year Incubation is by both parents, taking 34 to 41 days Both feed the young by regurgitation

The age of the young at first

flight is 9 to 10 weeks

A special thanks to Rachael Brunton Senior Raptor Trainer at New Mexico Wildlife Center She provided me valuable information and insight into the remarkable features of turkey vultures She also provided me great photos of Sol, a 30+ year old turkey vulture at the Center

My favorite is Sol sunbathing

Sol was just a young bird when kids found him on the ground hopping along, learning to become a vulture plucked him from his natural home and took him to become a pet

Obviously, this did not bode well for the family or for Sol He was quickly imprinted on by humans making him forever ineligible to be returned to the wild The family that illegally acquired him most likely got a hefty fine and Sol was confiscated Though he is a very good ambassador for his species and does enjoy spending time with his trainers, as we feel with all of our birds that were once wild there is a

slight sadness that his wild life was interrupted by humans, and it cannot be undone That is why we encourage everyone to contact wildlife rehabilitation before involving themselves with wildlife that may be in a troublesome situation to ensure we aren’t acting in an ultimately negative way There is much good news for the conservation of turkey vultures They were once victims of DDT pesticide but have now rebounded to healthy population levels Their numbers are stable, and they can be found from southern Canada through South America Currently, lead shot from hunters left behind in a carcass is the greatest threat to these birds Thankfully, there are easy replacements for lead shot, and a movement to transition away from lead is underway Stop by the Wildlife Center to meet Sol and Rachael You will enjoy the interaction and have the opportunity to view first hand the great work that the New Mexico Wildlife Center does in connecting people and wildlife through conservation education and rehabilitation because a world with wildlife is a better world

Ken Bunkowski and his son Matt are co-owners of Wild Birds Unlimited in Santa Fe and look forward to sharing the joy that birds bring into our lives

COURTESY RACHAEL BRUNTON

A turkey vulture perches atop a stake while displaying its wings near a fence. The scavenging vultures are a social species and can be seen roosting with up to several hundred individuals

LYNSEY ADDARIO/NEW YORK TIMES FILE PHOTO

Ukrainians line up for internet access from a Starlink connection in Kherson’s main square last year after Russians blew up the communications tower on the way out of town Tech billionaire and Starlink owner Elon Musk has become the dominant power in satellite internet technology with more than 4,500 satellites in the skies, accounting for more than 50% of those that are active

Lack of AC in record heat waves illuminates plight of poor

their homes hotter,” Graff said

While frigid temperatures and high heating bills birthed the term “heat or eat, she said, we can now transition to AC or eat where people are going to have to make difficult decisions

By Jesse Bedayn

The Associated Press/Report for America

DENVER As Denver neared triple-digit temperatures, Ben Gallegos sat shirtless on his porch swatting flies off his legs and spritzing himself with a misting fan to try to get through the heat Gallegos, like many in the nation’s poorest neighborhoods doesn’t have air conditioning

The 68-year-old covers his windows with mattress foam to insulate against the heat and sleeps in the concrete basement He knows high temperatures can cause heat stroke and death, and his lung condition makes him more susceptible

But the retired brick layer, who survives on about $1 000 a month largely from Social Security, says air conditioning is out of reach

“Take me about 12 years to save up for something like that he said If it s hard to breathe, I’ll get down to emergency”

As climate change fans hotter and longer heat waves breaking record temperatures across the US and leaving dozens dead the poorest Americans suffer the hottest days with the fewest defenses Air conditioning once a luxury, is now a matter of survival

As Phoenix weathered its 27th consecutive day above 110 degrees Wednesday, the nine who died indoors didnt have functioning air conditioning, or it was turned off Last year, all 86 heat-related deaths indoors were in uncooled environments

“To explain it fairly simply: Heat kills,” said Kristie Ebi a University of Washington professor who researches heat and health “Once the heat wave starts mortality starts in about 24 hours”

It s the poorest and people of color, from Kansas City to Detroit to New York City and beyond, who are far more likely to face grueling heat without air conditioning, according to a Boston University analysis of 115 US metros

“The temperature differences

Buses

Continued from Page A-1

The vacancy rate in the city’s transit division has remains among the highest in city government along with other areas that have struggled to recruit like the Finance Department and Parks and Recreation The vacancy rate for drivers in the division was just over 50% in recent weeks

Currently, the division is down 31 drivers for fixed routes out of a desired 56, and down seven drivers out of 18 for the wheelchair-accessible vans that pick up riders as part of the Santa Fe Ride program City officials point to ongoing recruitment efforts to hire drivers, such as a citywide 3% pay raises for all employees who make less than $100,000 per year

Many of the city’s bus drivers, however, belong to the city employee union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3999, which remains in contract negotiations with the city and has not approved the raise for members While nonunion employees in the city began to get 3% raises beginning July 1, unionized employees will not receive the raises unless the union votes to approve them Transit Division Director Thomas Martinez said his staff would be recruiting drivers at two upcoming events in Santa

Simonich

Continued from Page A-1

between lower-income neighborhoods neighborhoods of color and their wealthier, whiter counterparts have pretty severe consequences” said Cate Mingoya-LaFortune of Groundwork USA an environmental justice organization “There are these really big consequences like death But theres also ambient misery”

Some have window units that can offer respite, but “in the dead of heat, it don’t do nothing, said Melody Clark, who stopped Friday to get food at a nonprofit in Kansas City, Kan, as temperatures soared to 101, and high humidity made it feel like 109

When the central air conditioning at her rental house went on the fritz her landlord installed a window unit But it doesn’t do much during the day

So the 45-year-old wets her hair, cooks outside on a propane grill and keeps the lights off indoors She’s taken the bus to the library to cool off At night she flips the box unit on hauling her bed into the room where it s located to sleep

As far as her two teenagers, she said:

“They aren’t little bitty We aren’t dying in the heat They don’t complain” While billions in federal funding have been allocated to subsidize utility costs and the installation of cooling systems experts say they often only support a fraction of the most vulnerable families and some still require prohibitive upfront costs Installing a centralized heat pump system for heating and cooling can easily reach $25,000

President Joe Biden announced steps Thursday to defend against extreme heat highlighting the expansion of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which funnels money through states to help poorer households pay utility bills Whiletheprogramiscritical,said MichelleGraff whostudiesthesubsidyat ClevelandStateUniversity,onlyabout16% ofthenationseligiblepopulationisactually reached Nearlyhalfofstatesdon’tofferthe federaldollarsforsummercooling “So people are engaging in coping mechanisms like they re turning on their air conditioners later and leaving

As temperatures rise, so does the cost of cooling And temperatures are already hotter in Americas low-income neighborhoods like Gallegos’ Denver suburb of Globeville, where people live along stretches of asphalt and concrete that hold heat like a cast-iron skillet Surface temperatures there can be roughly 8 degrees hotter than in Denvers wealthier neighborhoods, where a sea of vegetation cools the area, according to the environmental advocacy group American Forests

This disparity plays out nationwide Researchers at the University of San Diego analyzed 1,056 counties and in over 70% the poorest areas and those with higher Black, Hispanic and Asian populations were significantly hotter

About one in 10 US households have no air conditioning, a disparity compounded for marginalized groups according to a study by the Brookings Institution Less than 4% of Detroit’s white households don t have air conditioning; it’s 15% for Black households

At noon on Friday, Katrice Sullivan sat on the porch of her rented house on Detroit’s westside It was hot and muggy, but even steamier inside the house Even if she had air conditioning, Sullivan said shed choose her moments to run it to keep her electricity bill down

The 37-year-old factory worker pours water on her head freezes towels to put around her neck, and sits in her car with the air conditioner on “Some people here spend every dollar for food, so air conditioning is something they can t afford,” she said Shannon Lewis, 38, lived in her Detroit home for nearly 20 years without air conditioning Lewis s bedroom was the only place with a window unit so she’d squeeze her teenager, 8-year-old and 3-year-old-twins into her queen-size bed to sleep, eat meals and watch television

So it was like cool in one room and a heat stroke in another,” Lewis said For

mends extended hours Saturdays and the implementation of flexible “microtransit” services in some parts of the city

Driver Edward Montoya who has worked in transit in Santa Fe for 17 years said he believes the expansions are absolutely possible but only if the division can hire more drivers “We’re only serving a small part of the city,” he said “We could be doing a lot more if we had the personnel”

the first time, Lewis now has air conditioning through a local non-profit she said “We don’t have to sleep or eat in the same room we are able to come out sit at the dining room table, eat like a family”

After at least 54 died during a 2021 heat wave mostly elderly people without air conditioning, in the Portland area Oregon passed a law prohibiting landlords from placing blanket bans on air conditioning units By and large however, states don t have laws requiring landlords to provide cooling

In the federal Inflation Reduction Act, billions were set aside for tax credits and rebates to help families install energy-efficient cooling systems but some of those are yet to be available For people like Gallegos who doesn t pay taxes the available credits are worthless

The law also offers rebates, the kind of state and federal point-of-sale discounts that Amanda Morian has looked into for her 640-square-foot home Morian, who has a 13-week-old baby susceptible to hot weather, is desperate to keep her house in Denver’s Globeville suburb cool She bought thermal curtains, ceiling fans and runs a window unit At night she tries to do skin-toskin touch to regulate the baby’s body temperature When the back door opens in the afternoon, she said, the indoor temperature jumps a degree

“All of those are just to take the edge off it’s not enough to actually make it cool It’s enough to keep us from dying she said

She got estimates from four different companies for installing a cooling system but every project was between $20,000 and $25,000, she said Even with subsidies she can’t afford it

Lucy Molina, a single mom in Commerce City one of Denver’s poorest areas, said her home has reached 107 degrees without air conditioning

Nearby, Molina’s two teenage children slurped popsicles to cool off lingering in front of the open freezer

For Molina, who bustled around her kitchen on a recent day when temperatures reached 99 degrees outdoors, it s hard to see any path to a cooling respite “We’re just too poor,” she said

Tribes look for growth in Calif. dam project

By Adam Beam The Associated

in the US last year combined to reconnect 430 miles of river

ANDREA VASQUEZ/THE NEW MEXICAN

Fe and would soon be hosting a “rapid-hire” event, which the department has held in years past along with other city departments looking to recruit

The ongoing shortage of drivers also means longer hours for the current drivers

Johhny Doubleday has worked as a driver for Santa Fe Trails for almost four years He said the extra work 20 hours of overtime per week typically is taking its toll

At times I appreciate the overtime because it got me a place to rent, but it kind of burns you out when you re working that many hours” he said Bus drivers for Santa Fe Trails currently earn between $17 to

$20 per hour

Doubleday said while he has seen new drivers coming on in recent months they have also lost some to retirement He believes a pay increase could help to entice new recruits but he said housing costs in Santa Fe make things harder

We really need some people he said “We’re like a family there You ve just got to do what you ve got to do

A “multimodal transition plan adopted by city councilors in 2022 calls for expanding bus service to Santa Fe Regional Airport as well as expanding residential developments Tierra Contenta and Las Soleras The planning document also recom-

traffic offenses, including noise, speeding and drivers running red lights and stop signs

Joye said Santa Fe police handled 47813 calls for service from the beginning of the year through July 27 That was an increase of 6800 compared to the same period of 2022

densome or broad and we need additional time to respond

Thanksgiving might arrive before any records are turned over So I made an end run around the bureaucracy in hopes of shaking loose at least some data

I asked Police Chief Paul Joye for any records or statistics he had regarding drivers causing excessive noise

Joye called me back within a day The chief at his fingertips had an overview to share

From the beginning of this year through July 27 police officers issued 77 citations for excessive vehicle noise Twenty-nine of those tickets were handed out during the start of summer, between June 23 and July 27

The number of citations in seven months exceeded the total of the last two years combined Police in 2022 issued 35 tickets for vehicle noise They handed out 32 in 2021

Those numbers seem paltry compared to the nightly disruptions

There are people who think we re not taking this seriously which is not true” Joye said

In his view the statistics reflect the reality of police work rather than lax enforcement

The chief points to a surge this year in total calls for police services as one reason his officers might not be available to enforce

The upside for Joye was staffing improved this year His department is budgeted for 169 sworn officers Twenty-two jobs are

unfilled Thirty-eight were vacant last year

Staffing levels on certain days allow police

officers to be deployed for traffic enforcement Joye said that system is tenuous, as calls with higher priority can redirect officers at a moment’s notice

Joye believes his department could use technology to get roaring vehicles off the road Noise cameras are being deployed in New York City; Knoxville, Tenn ; and other communities

The devices combine a camera with a meter measuring sound The camera zooms in to photograph the license plate of vehicles that exceed the allowable noise level Joye has had very introductory conversations” with Mayor Alan Webber and City Manager John Blair about additional spending for noise cameras City Councilor Carol Romero-Wirth and her husband, state Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth D-Santa Fe this year briefly pursued a more sweeping plan

The Wirths proposed state legislation to enable noise inspections of vehicles Their bill would have enabled local governments in Santa Fe and four other populous counties

While he is driving his routes, Montoya said he is “always recruiting,” asking riders to apply to become bus drivers if they have valid licenses and can pass a background check Montoya said many of his fellow drivers have grown frustrated with the union as they watch their nonunion coworkers receive raises that started July 1 Several have been talking about jumping ship, he said Montoya said he currently works 45 hours per week but most of his fellow drivers work more than 50 hours per week, with schedules that run from early morning to past dinnertime

Drivers working the on-demand routes work hard to deliver the service, too, he said, “zipping around town” to get residents to work in the morning where the services are not currently offered on a fixed route Our guys are top notch he said “We try our best to keep the wheels rolling

to require drivers to pay for a noise inspection in order to register their vehicles

Most drivers operate quiet cars Requiring the masses to incur another expense because of a few lawbreakers riled Grace

I don t want [the] middle-income and poor stuck with another fee,” he said

There was another deficiency with the Wirths’ pitch Santa Fes city government fails to complete audits on time The city has yet to remove the drab brown box that sits on the Plaza, where the 152-year-old Soldiers’ Monument stood until a mob destroyed it in October 2020

With basic services lacking, no one should trust the city to oversee an inspection program of vehicles Sen Wirth got his bill through two legislative committees But he let it die without receiving a vote of the full Senate That was a solid indication the measure would have been defeated At City Hall, the mayor and councilors this year quadrupled the fine for drivers who violate the noise ordinance once The penalty rose to $100 It escalates further for repeat offenders Every roaring vehicle makes noise cameras look like a smart investment They aren’t diverted for other duty and they don’t charge for overtime

Ringside Seat is an opinion column about people politics and news Contact Milan Simonich at msimonich@sfnewmexican com or 505-986-3080

Press

SACRAMENTO,

Calif

The

largest dam removal project in United States history is underway along the California-Oregon border a process that wont conclude until the end of next year with the help of heavy machinery and explosives

But in some ways, removing the dams is the easy part The hard part will come over the next decade as workers, partnering with Native American tribes, plant and monitor nearly 17 billion seeds as they try to restore the Klamath River and the surrounding land to what it looked like before the dams started to go up more than a century ago

The demolition is part of a national movement to return the natural flow of the nation’s rivers and restore habitat for fish and the ecosystems that sustain other wildlife More than 2,000 dams have been removed in the US as of February, with the bulk of having come down within the last 25 years The removal of four hydroelectric dams along the Klamath River is the movements greatest triumph and its greatest challenge

When demolition is completed by the end of next year, more than 400 miles of river will have opened for threatened species of fish and other wildlife By comparison, the 65 dams removed

The project will empty three reservoirs over about 3 5 square miles near the California-Oregon border exposing soil to sunlight in some places for the first time in more than a century

For the past five years, Native American tribes have gathered seeds by hand and sent them to nurseries with plans to sow the seeds along the banks of the newly wild river Helicopters will bring in hundreds of thousands of trees and shrubs to plant along the banks, including wads of tree roots to create habitat for fish

This growth usually takes decades to happen naturally But officials are pressing nature’s fast-forward button because they hope to repel an invasion of foreign plants

A combination of low water levels and warm temperatures in 2002 led to a bacterial outbreak that killed more than 34,000 fish

The loss jumpstarted decades of advocacy from Native American tribes and environmental groups culminating last year when federal regulators approved a plan to remove the dams

The river is our church; the salmon is our cross That’s how it relates to the people So it s very sacred to us,” said Kenneth Brink, vice chairman of the Karuk Tribe “The river is not just a place we go to swim It s life It creates everything for our people”

FUNERAL SERVICES AND MEMORIALS

GRACE TRUJILLO

May 10,1939 - July 18,2023

Grace Trujillo 84 was called home by our lord on July 18,2023

She was proceeded in death by her husband Lupe Trujillo daughter Andrea Trujillo grandchildren Destiny and Johnny Anderson and Elijah Trujillo, Parents Senaida and Daniel Martinez And in-laws Andrea and Luis Trujillo. brothers Dan and Jay Martinez sisters Angie Ortiz Lucy Stevens and Juanita Narvaiz.

She is survived by her sister Virgina Chavez, and sister-in-law Margaret Martinez, her children Angela, Daniel (Edna), Kathy Georgia, Anita (Medel) and Racheal Trujillo. Her 16 grandchildren and 26 great grandchildren and many nephews nieces, family and friends who loved her dearly! Services for her will be Wednesday, August 2,2023 at Our Lady of Guadalupe at 10:30am.

We are here to assist you.

A Santa Fe bus driver works his route Friday Despite staffing shortages and prevalent overtime work, drivers say they are trying to reach more of the city “Our guys are top notch,” Edward Montoya said “We try our best to keep the wheels rolling ”

As climate changes, what was once thought luxury is now necessary for survival

THOMAS PEIPERT/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Lucy Molina sits in her living room in Commerce City, Colo., last week. Without central air conditioning, the single mother’s home in one of the Denver metro’s poorest areas has reached 107 degrees Fahrenheit.

ANOTHER VIEW

Biden’s new mandate improves U.S. drone policy

The Washington Post

President Joe Biden requires “near certainty US drone strikes outside conventional war zones will not kill or injure noncombatants

He also bans “signature strikes,” which target groups of militants even though the United States might not know every targeted individual’s identity, and he further limits the use of lethal force by drones to situations in which “capture is not feasible”

The president also wants to personally approve drone targets outside areas of active hostilities unless US troops or partner forces are under attack or are threatened with an imminent attack”

These rules of engagement are included in a 15-page order that was issued in October but remained classified until a redacted version was released with little notice on a Friday night this summer in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by

The New York Times

Mistakenly dropping bombs on noncombatants is abhorrent and counterproductive and feeds anti-US propaganda Biden’s directive followed a horrifying August 2021 drone strike in Kabul that mistakenly killed

eVOICES

Views from the web

Keep Santa Fe Beautiful backing off on caboose logo idea, July 27

“ It looks good just as it is If the red paint needs refreshing OK But otherwise no changes or additions or deletions needed including fonts ” Bob Novak

“ Regarding the little caboose at St Francis Drive and Cerrillos Road, please do not get rid of the zia symbol. Please leave the font and the colors as they are This modest sign, as it is today, is now a part of our visual history, and ‘refreshing’ it with some of the ideas the Keep Santa Fe Beautiful board chairman, [Chris] McLarry has mentioned sound as if he were leading a wrong-headed fight and a very unnecessary one, too Sometimes leaving well enough alone is beautiful. (And at this point with all the public attention, leaving the design alone will prove to be positive advertising for Keep Santa Fe Beautiful.)”

Elizabeth West

“ Come on! Some slogans would be good. Perhaps even one of those electronic signs with changing slogans ‘Santa Fe: Stop Spend, Go Away,’ or, ‘You probably can’t afford to live here and we like it that way ’ or maybe ‘This is the caboose The train left the station a long time ago ’ ”

Walter Howerton

THE PAST 100YEARS

From The Santa Fe New Mexican: July 31, 1923: The Santa Fe Fiesta for 1923 is getting into the most encouraging shape, President Carl Bishop of the Chamber of Commerce, stated at the Kiwanis club luncheon today when called on for a report by President OW Lasater of the Kiwanians Bishop said Dr Hewitt reported after a tour of Indian pueblos with Lansing Bloom, hed of the Indian section of the Fiesta, that the Indian dances program would undoubtedly be the best and most elaborate ever given judging by the interest shown July 31, 1948: Chief of Police Manuel Montoya said today that signs directing one-way northbound traffic on Burro alley and on Grant avenue from Palace avenue to Johnson street will be up by Wednesday Orders for signs were placed yesterday

The proposal to close the narrow alley to southbound traffic was approved by the council at Thursday night’s meeting July 31, 1973: Voters will go to the polls tomorrow to decide the fate of an area vocational school for Santa Fe and to vote on the mill levy to finance it

The polls will be open from 8 a m until 7 p m Anyone living in the Santa Fe school district who registered to vote by July 2 is eligible to cast a ballot July 31, 1998: Santa Fe Mayor Larry Delgado said Thursday he is working with city officials to put together a quick plan of action for city management of the 50-acre rail-yard property

The City Council voted 4-to-3

Wednesday night to reject a 40-year least that would have turned the rail yard over to a nonprofit management corporation

10 civilians amid a chaotic US withdrawal

Yet collateral damage is sometimes unavoidable, particularly in a conflict in which the United States confronts a deadly enemy dispersed among civilian populations

Transparency about drone policy assures US citizens and allies the country is employing this deadly technology with all due care But it is also essential to avoid tying military and CIA operators’ hands too tightly as they pursue would-be terrorists This grim balancing is not easy; the president appears to have gotten it mostly but perhaps not totally right

After then-President Donald Trump delegated decision-making on such issues, Biden deserves credit for increasing presidential oversight Ordering drone strikes outside normal combat operations should be a presidential concern Presidents can consider each case in its proper context the political, with reference to the nations involved, and the practical with knowledge of the disposition of forces, people and buildings on the ground Biden’s order creates a yearly process to review the government’s kill list to make sure the people on it still deserve to be there The Biden team is also reportedly requiring State

Department chiefs of mission to have input on drone strikes inside their assigned countries

The Biden rules might go too far in places US forces should use high sensitivity in protecting noncombatants, but the near certainty” standard could encourage terrorists to use civilians as human shields It is hard to know just how substantial this restriction is because the government’s definition of near certainty remains redacted in the released text of Biden’s order That leaves the public to rely on the assurances of administration officials who insist that, while their rules of engagement are rigorous, they won’t undermine national security because they include substantial flexibility For example, the exception for protecting allied forces facing imminent danger has been used multiple times this year to launch drone strikes in Somalia against al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda affiliate

Yet key questions remain: What level of evidence is required to feel nearly certain civilians aren’t in a building they’re about to bomb? Who decides and how?

For its part the American Civil Liberties Union argues the rules do not go far enough” to protect civilians and they “fur-

ther entrench unilateral assertions of presidential power” The ACLU has at least one good point: Every president can rewrite the rules and keep the changes secret, at least until journalists or other parties compel public disclosure Congress should be more involved in creating transparent guardrails to minimize wild swings in policy president-to-president, ensure drone rules reflect the nation’s values and reduce the potential for them to become a confusing mishmash For now, Biden appears to have crafted for the country a mostly sensible drone policy, if one that might require reevaluation as US forces implement it

Like any rapidly advancing technology of war, drone power deserves close scrutiny and rules tailored to its unique attributes Drones are an inexpensive and low-footprint means of eliminating militants seeking to kill Americans They have helped the United States strike at several generations of terrorist leaders and keep others on the run Though the horrifying 2021 Kabul strike illustrated drones potential to maim the innocent, the approaching 22nd anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept 11, 2001, should remind Americans of drones’ potential to protect and defend, too

Zero copays for child care are a lifeline

Ibecame a mom when I was 15 years old, which is the same age when I first began struggling to access child care I was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, and later came to the United States Being a young mother is a huge challenge and being undocumented and having language barriers made it even more difficult, especially when it came to accessing child care I didn t understand what was available to me and my children because I didn’t understand what my rights were I raised five kids on my single income, and there were times where finding child care for my children felt nearly impossible

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Make industry pay for damage

I’m for expanding and continuing the Radiation Exposure and Compensation Act I m all for a Flagstaff, Ariz , office of the Environmental Protection Agency to oversee uranium cleanup on the Navajo lands We need to clean up orphaned oil and gas wells I’m glad we have such compensation acts as the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Act and the Super Fund or Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act We need these and more, but the taxpayers pay for damage done by industry that lied to them and walked away with huge profits while the peoples water, land, air and bodies were contaminated I worked at the Church Rock NM yellow cake mill in 1979, the site of the devastating tailings dam break I was able to leave that behind, while others can t and should not be expected to Industry should not be allowed to continually lie to us and walk away

Mike Neas Santa Fe

Not the same

I’m responding to Milan Simonich’s column:

( Pols in Alabama, New Mexico bonded by gerrymandering” Ringside Seat July 24) The best description for his column attacking New Mexico’s new congressional map bizarrely wrong According to Simonich “The politics of redistricting in New Mexico are no better than Alabama’s” That’s a bizarre claim, given that New Mexicos new map made all three congressional districts more competitive Alabama’s did the opposite Moreover, New Mexicos map was created with significant community input

Simonich reminds us of Alabama s reprehensible history a racist record of repressing Black political participation Fast forward Little has changed Alabama s map was so bad the US Supreme Court yes the most conservative SCOTUS in almost 100 years ruled it violated the Voting Rights Act Contrast that with New Mexicos map, which strengthened the voting power of Hispanics while responding to the needs of our tribal communities Bad analogies are the product of the both sides do it” frame This one was horribly bad

Oriana Sandoval CEO, Center for Civic Policy Albuquerque

Death by the Second

Our well-regulated militia is responsible for approximately 167,000 deaths (not including 2022 s suicide by gun total) since 2019 This militia, designed to keep the armed forces and the federal government under control if they should get uppity, has so far only managed to shoot each other and innocent people Like the Republican Party that shoots itself in the foot daily, gun owners, mostly insecure men living in a Rambo fantasy world, go about using their weapon as if they are doing something noble, like avenging school kids who have wronged them, or killing that guy who cut them off at an intersection These “noble” deaths are some how justifiable to our senators and congressmen of both parties because of their fear of the National Rifle Association Though it is true many Democrats are throwing caution to the wind and bravely promoting gun control legislation, others are cowering under their desks with their fellow Republicans and allowing death by Second Amendment to continue right under their very privileged noses

Sandy Woolworth Santa Fe

Hard to prosecute

Regarding Don Clark s July 25 letter ( Charge the fakes,”) asking why the New Mexico Republicans’ fake electors were not being prosecuted like those in Michigan, the likely answer is that of the seven state GOPs that tried this scheme only two New Mexico and Pennsylvania had the, um, “good sense to specify that the fake slate was meant to apply only if the real electors were ruled bogus for some reason This would probably make the New Mexico case much harder to prosecute

John P King Santa Fe

No to the hunt

Regarding (“Let experts decide” Letters to the Editor, July 24): I do not agree with the decision to allow hunting bears and mountain lions Are they going to be eaten? I ve never seen either on a restaurant menu, while I have seen elk and venison What if this were an animal with cubs or kittens? Please leave these beautiful animals to live their lives out in peace

Linda Wilson Santa Fe

There are many reasons parents need child care during different times in their lives When I was experiencing domestic violence at home, I found myself most desperately in need of child care assistance Later when I stayed in a domestic violence shelter, one of the supports they provided was free child care This support gave me the opportunity to go out and search for work and became a lifeline for me when I was needing to re-establish my life and find work to support myself and my children Child care isn’t just a work support it can be a saving grace for parents like me who are struggling to make ends meet or to leave an unsafe situation

When I became a member of the non-profit family organization OLÉ I realized I wasnt alone Many parents of young kids in New Mexico struggle to make ends meet, and many more struggle to afford child care Thats why I celebrate Gov Michelle Lujan Grisham and the New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department’s implementation of zero child care copays for New Mexico

Many parents can only access child care because they have zero copays, including my children now raising young kids of their own Having access to quality affordable child care makes a huge difference for parents and also for the quality of their child s education

It has been so empowering to speak with lawmakers who are committed to helping us make change I was a part of the fight to pass Constitutional Amendment 1, which made early education a constitutional right in the New Mexico Constitution I was also able to join many other OLÉ members at the Roundhouse during the legislative session earlier this year, asking senators and representatives to continue to work to fully fund early education and care programs

It has been wonderful to be part of this fight, and I know we still have more to fight for during this interim period and future legislative sessions

Now, I am a mother of four children, grandmother of seven grandchildren (one of my children tragically passed away in a car accident)

Today I continue to fight so that my 3- and 4-yearold granddaughters have access to quality child care Being in community with other parents grandparents, early educators, center owners and other members of the community who are in the fight to make the child care system better for us brings me hope When we come together our collective voice is strong and I feel empowered

I look forward to continuing to fight to ensure the child care system works for New Mexico parents That means maintaining zero copays and other measures that help parents start their child’s educational journey on the right foot Together as a community we are building power which will lead to change

Patricia Bustillos is a member of OLÉ She lives in Albuquerque A translation of this piece can be found in Spanish at santafenewmexican com

By Dave Sheinin

The Washington Post

The 41st and 42nd of 42 medal races at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan accomplished something the previous 40 finals, combined, failed to do: With victories in the men’s and women’s 4x100 medley relays featuring a lap by each of the four best practitioners of each stroke for each country Team USA could make a case it was still the top swimming nation in the world

The results of the rest of the meet, however, would point to a different conclusion

The next major international

Notes from the North

swim meet will occur at the 2024 Paris Olympics and based on what happened over eight days in Japan the team to beat will be Australia

The Dolphins, as they call themselves topped the medal standings with 13 golds, nearly doubling the Americans’ total of seven, and marking the first World Championships since 2001 in which Team USA did not take home the most golds a sobering truth as the countdown to Paris begins in earnest

“The world is getting better,” Bob Bowman, the head mens coach for Team USA told reporters in Japan, and you saw that on display this week”

Fuego CF blasts record 5 homers

By Will Webber and James Barron sports@sfnewmexican com

The news isn t all bad for the Santa Fe Fuego The team’s sprint to the Pecos League regular season finish line was a positive one for one player Entering Sunday s finale against Blackwell Fuego centerfielder Parker DePasquale had a night worthy of a video game junkie

He launched five home runs (a league record) and finished his night 5-for-7 with 11 runs batted in Santa Fe scored 21 of its 34 runs (yes, 34) in the first inning And that s where it gets really wild for DePasquale He went 3-for-3 in the frame, all home runs

The first was a solo shot to lead things off, the second a two-run blast and the third a three-run dinger

A mid-season pickup, he had 11 home runs entering Sunday s finale and was just two shy of the team’s career standard set by Chevas Numata

As a team the Fuego had won eight of 13 games following a disastrous 15-game losing streak that ran from June 25 to July 14 Strip that skid out of there and they’d have been hovering at the 500 mark for the season

Oh, yeah, Saturday’s 34-5 win over Blackwell at Fort Marcy Ballpark featured a 21-run first inning that had 17 hits, five walks and five homers It was the largest single inning in team history

Now the bad news: Statistically speaking it wasn’t the worst season in Santa Fe history but it was close

The Fuego finished with the fewest wins in team history and once again finished well outside the playoff picture

Before Sunday’s game Santa Fe was 121/2 games behind fourth-place Garden City for the final postseason spot in the Mountain Division

It extends the Fuegos playoff-less streak to eight years Not since the 2015 team lost in the finals has the club given fans something to cheer about when the Pecos League stage is at its biggest u u u

The football season begins Monday,

There was some consolation for the Americans in the fact they won far and away the most overall medals in Fukuoka, 38 to Australia’s 25 Twenty of Team USAs medals were silvers, the most by any team in history

A lot of those silver medals can be flipped to gold by the time we get to Paris, NBC Sports analyst Rowdy Gaines, himself a three-time Olympic gold medalist said during Sunday s broadcast Veteran breaststroker Lilly King who powered Team USA to victory Sunday in the womens medley relay by

By Matt Martell

The New York Times

The

By Anne M. Peterson The Associated Press

AUCKLAND, New Zealand

Megan Rapinoe is adjusting to her new role at the Womens World Cup, even if it means shes not on the field as much as shed like to be

The outspoken 38-year-old known for her eclectic hair colors and the iconic victory pose she struck at the 2019 World Cup is the oldest player on the team She already announced that her fourth World Cup would be her last

“Ultimately, we’re at the World Cup This is where everybody wants to be, whether you’re playing 90 minutes, whether you re a game changer, whatever,” she said Sunday “I think it s a lot similar to what I thought it would be bringing all the experience that I can, all the experience that I have, and ultimately being ready whenever my number is called up Rapinoe has played limited minutes so far, coming in as a substitute in the 3-0 victory over Vietnam in the tournament opener, which was her 200th career appearance for the team She was available but didn t play in the disappointing 1-1 draw with the Netherlands on Thursday in Wellington US coach Vlatko Andonovski

made just one substitution in the match, bringing in midfielder Rose Lavelle after the first half

“I think all of us on the bench it s like we think we should be on the field as much as the players on the field believe that they should be on the field, Rapinoe said Every player on the field that starts the game thinks that they should play 90 minutes, and every player who doesn t, who is a sub, thinks that they should

be on at some point

The United States has won the last two World Cups but the players find themselves in a more precarious position as they chase an unprecedented third consecutive title The Americans need at least a draw going into the final group match against Portugal on Monday at Eden Park in Auckland

The Americans top Group E, even on points with the Netherlands, but hold the edge because of goal differ-

ence Portugal which beat Vietnam could send the United States home early with a win over the Americans

“We’re unsatisfied with the way we played but we know there are areas that we can be better and I think theres some really simple fixes we can do to put ourselves in a better position to have more joy on the ball especially in the final third,” Rapinoe said I think everybody s looking at this like ‘Let’s go’ ” At the 2019 World Cup in France, Rapinoe scored six goals over the course of the tournament, including a penalty in a 2-0 victory over the Netherlands in the final She also finished with three assists and claimed both the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball for the best overall player Rapinoe, who is engaged to former WNBA star Sue Bird has been a leader on and off the field

ANDREW CORNAGA/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The United States’ Megan Rapinoe stands on the pitch July 22 at the Women’s World Cup Group E against Vietnam at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand.

Hodges gets his 1st PGA victory

By Dave Campbell

The Associated Press

BLAINE, Minn Lee Hodges shot a 67 in the final round Sunday for a wire-to-wire title at the 3M Open and his first tour victory, setting tournament records with a 260 and a seven-stroke win Hodges, who started the day with a five-stroke lead on JT Poston, was up by three entering the par-5 last hole on his 65th career start

After Postons go-for-broke approach yielded a triple bogey Hodges tapped in a short putt for his third birdie of the round

The 28-year-old Alabama native hugged and hoisted his wife, Savannah, in celebration after she hustled out to the green to greet him Poston shot a 69 to drop into a three-way tie for second place with Martin Laird and Kevin Streelman Dylan Wu shot a 64 to match Keith Mitchell for fifth at 16 under Tony Finau the defending champion and highest-ranked player at 10th in the FedEx Cup standings participating in this field, shot a 70 to land in a threeway tie for seventh Hodges shot a 63 on Thursday, a 64 on Friday and a 66 on Saturday to take a commanding lead into the final round at the TPC Twin Cities course in Blaine on a former sod farm in suburban Minneapolis He had two eagles and two bogeys Sunday

With one previous top-three finish in 2022 at The American Express in La Quinta Calif Hodges said Saturday he couldn t recall a five-shot lead in his entire career amateur competition included, and felt as if he was “playing with house money” with his place on the tour next season secured

Blown out of the water at worlds, Team USA shifts focus to Paris

Continued from Page B-1

outsplitting her Australian counterpart, Australian Abbey Harkin, by more than two full seconds was full of her typical bravado in describing the message the Americans were sending via the relay wins on the meet’s final day

“Hey we’re still here Don’t count us out,” King said “We’re here, we re tough, and we re ready to race next year”

Beyond those words, however there were troubling signs everywhere in Fukuoka for Team USA which just a year ago in Budapest trounced the Aussies (who were missing a few of their top swimmers) by a margin of 18 to six in golds and 49 to 19 overall

Two years ago at the Tokyo Olympics Team USA outperformed Australia in those same categories, 11-9 and 30-21 Among the most concerning:

◆ A whopping 10 world records were set at these

World Championships, with Australians accounting for five of them and with one swimmer freestyler Mollie O Callaghan, having a hand in four None of the new standards were set by Americans

◆ For the first time in 12 years, Team USA failed to reach the podium in any of the women’s freestyle sprint events (50, 100 and 200 meters) reflecting the gaping hole left by 11-time world champion Simone Manuel, who skipped this year’s US Nationals where qualifying for the Worlds team took place as she continues to recover from overtraining syndrome

◆ Of the top-seeded Americans in the 34 individual events at Worlds 22 either added time in the final from their qualifying mark at US Nationals four weeks earlier, or failed to make the final at all

This includes King in all three of her individual events (50, 100 and 200 breaststrokes) and Regan Smith in all three of hers

(200 butterfly, 200 backstroke and 100 backstroke) Those two swimmers with seven individual Worlds golds between them, failed to reach the top of the medal stand in any individual races in Japan

◆ Nine swimmers won multiple individual gold medals at the meet, but only one was American: veteran distance freestyler Katie Ledecky, whose victories in the 800 and 1,500-meter freestyles pushed her career total to 16 individual golds, one more than Michael Phelps atop the all-time standings The lack of multi-gold superstars was in part a function of Caeleb Dressel’s absence Dressel, a seven-time Olympic gold medalist and 15-time world champ won five golds in Tokyo, including three individual wins but withdrew mid-meet from last year’s Worlds for unspecified medical reasons and failed to make this year’s team

Obviously, a full return to

form by Dressel would go a long way toward tilting the balance of power in Paris back in the Americans direction

If you look back historically at our World Championships just prior to an Olympics we ve had similar results, and we’ve bounced back to have some of our more successful Olympics,” said Bowman who first rose to prominence as Phelps’s coach Bowman pointed specifically to the 2015 World Championships in Kazan, Russia, in which Team USA barely beat Australia in the gold medal race, 8-7, then went on to trounce the Aussies 16-3, in golds at the 2016 Rio Olympics The difference was made up for in large part by Phelps who skipped the 2015 Worlds but returned in Rio to win five golds and a silver to cap off his unprecedented Olympic career

“So I’m very optimistic,”

Bowman said in regards to Paris

2024

But Bowman, who now coaches at Arizona State, also had the awkward distinction of seeing his international swimmers from ASU combine for nearly as many individual golds four, with three from Frances Leon Marchand (200- and

A relationship that transcends analytics

Continued from Page

ing duties, is that you have to do this for five starters seven relievers and you’re rinsing and repeating on a daily basis,” said Gerrit Cole, the ace right-hander of the New York Yankees “You’re doing this while you’re getting used to the hitting routine and the hitting platform and the coaches and how long it takes you to get to the ballpark and all these other things that come along with moving

Among the teams that could be in the market for a new catcher before Tuesday’s 6 p m Eastern deadline despite those challenges? Cole’s Yankees, who have not gotten much offensive production from Kyle Higashioka and lost Jose Trevino one of the game’s most talented pitch-framers to a season-ending injury

Evaluating whether the team should make such a move however is complicated by the fact that in an era where nearly everything is quantified, the

pitcher-catcher relationship transcends analytics This intangible symbiosis is the bedrock of many championship-winning teams Developing it takes time, though exactly how long depends on the individual pitcher and catcher “Complete flow takes, I don’t really have a number, Cole said I would say more than three games, less than 10”

Considering that most starters have no more than 12 regular season starts remaining after the deadline and that each of those starts could be the difference between making or missing the playoffs, time is not a luxury that newly acquired catchers can afford Instead they are forced to adjust on the fly and forge relationships with pitchers as they go along “It’s like speed dating” said Jonathan Lucroy, a former All-Star catcher who was sent to a contender on the day of the deadline in both 2016 and 2017, helping both of his new teams reach the playoffs Lucroy, who played his final MLB

game in 2021 hit well after both trades but he said the pitchers were his main responsibility In 2016 when he went to the Texas Rangers from the Milwaukee Brewers he provided stability to a Rangers staff that had already worked with four other catchers that season A year later when the Rangers fell to fourth place, they sent Lucroy to the Colorado Rockies Colorado’s ERA dropped from a bloated 4 73 before his arrival to a much more respectable 4 09

In hopes of getting to know his new pitchers, Lucroy would strike up conversations about many topics other than baseball and he devoted hours to sifting through scouting reports and watching video

I would make sure to catch them and get to know them, not just their stuff but also who they are, Lucroy said Learning the personalities of the pitchers you re catching is just as important

The central tenet of the pitcher-catcher relationship is trust A pitcher

400-meter individual medley and 200 butterfly) and one from Hungary’s Hubert Kos (200 backstroke) as the entire Team USA roster’s five

“If you look at swimming, every coach on the US team is coaching [at least one] foreign swimmer, Bowman said Everyone gets support It’s not a zero-sum I m not taking time away from the US guys to say, Nice job, Leon Make your breaststroke better’ ”

There were plenty of positive developments for Team USA in Fukuoka, including the emergence of a potential new sprint star in 20-year-old Jack Alexy, who won five medals including a gold in the mens medley relay, and a breakthrough performance by versatile 21-year-old Kate Douglass Douglass a University of Virginia product, earned six medals including golds in the 200-meter individual medley and the women’s medley relay

And the most positive takeaway of all is that there are still 12 months of training and racing until the Paris Olympics

Not many people will remember Fukuoka in 20 years,” Gaines said Everybody will remember Paris”

needs to have faith in his catcher to call the correct pitches, properly receive the ones near the strike zone and block any of the deliveries that he spikes into the dirt

Once that trust is established a pitcher can relax his mind and free his body to throw his pitches with authority Without it, a pitcher is more likely to overthink his next pitch and second-guess his previous one To earn that trust the catcher must know his pitcher’s tendencies and understand the mechanics behind them He needs to learn how to manage his pitcher’s emotions boost his confidence and massage his ego “A catcher’s primary reason for being on the field is to serve his pitchers,” Lucroy said “It’s a position of extreme responsibility It’s quite a burden to

“ It’s like speed dating ”

Jonathan Lucroy, former All-Star catcher

going full-time) beginning August 2023.

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MISCELLANEOUS NEW NEWSPSPAPER APER DELIVER DELIVERY C Y CARRIERS ARRIERS

THE SANTA FE NEW MEXICAN IS SEEKING CARRIERS FOR ROUTES IN THE SANTA FE AREA.

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APPRENTICE PRESS OPERA OPERATOR OR

The New Mexican is seeking an Apprentice Press Operator to join our team. We are the largest printing facility in New Mexico. We print, not only The New Mexican, the Taos News and the New York Times and many others. Our training program offers multiple step pay increases as you advance in learning the trade. You will work in the press room loading paper rolls, monitoring web tension, and learning to read a press layout, and more. You must have good visual acuity and ability to identify misregistration, be able to stand for long periods of time, and be able to lift up to 75 pounds. No prior experience is necessary. We will train you. Permanent employees qualify for a benefits package after the first 90 day probationary period. Salary starts at $17.70 per hour. Interested applicants can send a resume to: kquintana@sfnewmexican.com. The New Mexican is an equal opportunity employer and a Family Friendly employer.

OPERADORA DE PRENS PRENSA A

El Santa Fe New Mexican esta en busca de un Operador de Prensa para unirse a nuestro equipo. Somos la instalación de impresión más grande en Nuevo México. Imprimimos no sólo El Nuevo Mexicano, sino tambien las nuevas de Taos, Los Tiempos de Nueva York, y muchos otros mas. Nuestro programa ofrece aumentos salariales de varios pasos a medida de que usted avanza en el aprendizaje del oficio. Usted trabajará en la sala de impresión cargando rollos de papel, monitoreando la tensión de la banda, y aprendiendo a leer un diseño de prensa, entre otras tareas. Usted debe tener buena agudeza visual y capacidad para identificar errores de registro, poder estar de pie durante largos períodos de tiempo, y poder levantar hasta 75 libras. No es necesario tener experiencia previa. Nosotros te entrenaremos. Los empleados permanentes califican para el paquete de beneficios después de un período de prueba de 90 dias. El salario comienza en $17.70 por hora. Aplicantes interesados pueden mandar un mensaje electronico ó su curriculum a kquintana@sfnewmexican.com. El Nuevo Mexicano es un empleador de igualdad de oportunidades y un empleador amigable de familia.

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The New Mexican is a Family Friendly company and an equal opportunity employer.

pets

The State of New Mexico, Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD), on behalf of the Oil Conservation Division (OCD), EMNRD Secretary Sarah Cottrell Propst in her official capacity, the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), NMED Secretary James Kenney in his official capacity, and the Office of Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (collectively the Parties) seeks an attorney or law firm eligible to practice in New Mexico to provide litigation defense in the case of Atencio v. New Mexico, D-101-CV202301038, served on May 22, 2023, on a task order (Task Order) basis (the Lawsuit).

All of the Parties are named defendants in the Lawsuit.

A written Task Order shall define the scope of work necessary to conduct the designated activity online or in-person. Items that may be included in any individual Task Order scope of work include: drafting pleadings, drafting motions, defending or taking depositions, expert witness identification/retention, supporting mediation, and potentially conducting trial, among other litigation-related activities as determined by EMNRD.

Minimum Professional and Desired Qualifications:

The successful Offeror shall have these minimum professional qualifications:

•licensed by the Supreme Court of New Mexico (for proposals from firms all attorneys working on this matter shall be licensed in, or authorized to practice before the New Mexico Courts); and, •experienced in the litigating of complex cases, including those pertaining to the New Mexico Constitution.

The successful Offeror shall have these desired qualifications:

•familiarity with the Oil and Gas Act, OCD Oil and Gas Regulations, the New Mexico Constitution, the Hazardous Waste Act, the Hazardous Waste and Radioactive Material Act, the Solid Waste Act, Groundwater Protection Act, Water Quality Act, and the Environmental Improvement Act.

Potential Offerors may obtain complete copies of the RFP from Chris Moander, Assistant General Counsel. EMNRD, Oil Conservation Division, Wendell Chino Building, 1220 South. St. Francis Drive, Santa Fe, NM 87505, telephone (505) 629-6116 Offerors may also download proposals from the Division web site:

(https://www.emnrd.n m.gov/ocd/rfps/)

Offerors shall submit via email one proposal, no later than 5 p.m. MDT, PUBLICATION DATE +10 DAYS, 2023. EMNRD shall not accept proposals received after this date and shall make absolutely no exceptions for proposals not received by the appointed time. RFP responses MAY NOT be sent by facsimile.

The Procurement Code, NMSA 1978, §§13-1-28 through199, imposes civil and misdemeanor criminal penalties for its violation. In addition, the New Mexico criminal statutes impose felony penalties for bribes, gratuities, and kickbacks.

Pub: July 31, Aug 9, 2023

To place a Legal Notice Call 986-3000

All units must be paid for at the time of sale. Cash only will be accepted. No one under the age of 18 is allowed to attend the sale. Each person attending must sign in and agree to follow all Rules and Regulations of the sale. The landlord reserves the right to bid at the sale. All purchased goods are sold “as is” and must be removed within 48 hours following the sale. Shelving is property of landlord; do not remove unless authorized. Buyers must provide a current, original or a photocopy of their original resale permit at time of sale in lieu of sales tax. This sale is subject to cancellation in the event of settlement between landlord and obligated party.

Pub: July 24, 31, 2023

To place a Legal Notice Call 986-3000

LEGAL #91502

4 B- 305. Acceptance of Appointment as Personal Representative (NO WILL) WILL (for use with the Rule 1B-304 and 1B-306 NMRA) STATE OF NEW MEXICO IN THE PROBATE COURT SANTA FE COUNTY IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF Andrew L. Martinez, DECEASED. No. 2023-0168

Acceptance of Appointment as Personal Representative (NO WILL) WILL

I, Jessica M. Martinez, accept the duties of personal representative of the estate of decedent, and agree to perform the duties of the office to the best of my abilities according to the law. I affirm under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of New Mexico that all the above statements are true and correct.

District Court Judge on August 28, 2023, at 1:45 p.m. Such hearing will be held at the Steve Herrera Judicial Complex, Third Floor, 225 Montezuma Avenue, Santa Fe, NM 87501. Pursuant to §45-1-401 (A) (3) NMSA 1978, notice of the time and place of the hearing on said Petition is hereby given to you by publication, once each week for three consecutive weeks. WITNESS MY HAND AND THE SEAL OF THIS COURT. Dated this 7th day of July 2023. Kathleen Vigil CLERK OF THE DISTRICT COURT Pub. July 31, Aug. 7, 14, 2023

986-3000

LEGAL #91467

Request for Proposal (RFP) 24-440-1000-00001

Outreach Services for Uninsured Coverage Program

The State of New Mexico Office of Superintendent of Insurance (OSI) is seeking to solicit sealed proposals to establish a contract through competitive negotiations for the procurement of competent outreach services to provide high quality communitybased outreach and engagement services. Such communitybased outreach services would include, but not limited to, community engagement, education, and enrollment assistance in urban and rural areas. Applicants will be responsible for providing information and enrollment assistance for a newly developed health insurance program providing health insurance coverage to people throughout New Mexico.

Issuance: The RFP will be available on August 7, 2023. A copy of the RFP can be accessed at www.osi.state.nm.us/ pages/about-us/rfps or by contacting the RFP Procurement Manager, Michelle Lopez, 1120 Paseo de Peralta, Old

Fe, NM 87501. Pursuant to §45-1-401 (A) (3) NMSA 1978, notice of the filing of the Petition and the time and place of the hearing on said Petition is hereby given to you by publication, once each week for three consecutive weeks. WITNESS MY HAND AND THE SEAL OF THIS COURT. Dated this 7th day of July 2023.

Kathleen Vigil CLERK OF THE DISTRICT COURT

Pub. July 31, Aug. 7, 14, 2023

LEGAL #91482

STATE OF NEW MEXICO

COUNTY OF SANTA FE FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT No. D-101-PB-2023000167

IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF JAMES EDWARD SKELTON, Deceased.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN Jeffrey Lone Skelton has been appointed Personal Representative of this Estate. All persons having claims against this Estate are required to present their claims within four (4) months after the date of the first publication of this Notice or sixty (60) days after the date of mailing or other delivery of this mailing of this notice, whichever is later, or the claims will be forever barred. Claims must be presented either to the attorneys of the Personal Representative, Sommer Udall Law Firm, P.A., (Cullen Hallmark) P.O. Box 1984, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504, or filed with the First Judicial District Court, Steve Herrera Judicial Complex, 225 Montezuma Avenue, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501. DATED: July 12, 2023

SOMMER

and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.

Pub: July 31, Aug, 7, 2023

LEGAL #91473

FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT COUNTY OF SANTA FE STATE OF NEW MEXICO

Case No. D-IOI-DM-2023-00194

ALEXANDER TRUJILLO vs. ASHLEY ROMERO

NOTICE OF PENDENCY OF ACTION

You are hereby notified that a Motion for Sole Custody has been filed in the First Judicial District naming you as a Respondent, the subject of which is for sole custody of the parties two children. You must file a response with the Court no later than thirty (30 days from the date of the last publication of this notice. You must file in person or by mail your written response with the Court. If you do not respond in writing, the court may enter a judgment against you as request in the lawsuit. Alexander Trujillo Post Office Box 365 Chimayo, New Mexico 87522

Pub. July 24, 31, Aug 7, 2023

LEGAL #91531

THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF SANTA FE COUNTY

NOTICE OF ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE

Notice is hereby given that, on July 25, 2023, the Board of County Commissioners of Santa Fe County adopted Ordinance No. 2023-05, An Ordinance Adopting the 2023 Santa Fe County Affordable Housing Plan and Establishing the Santa Fe County Affordable Housing Assistance Grant and Loan Ordinance Pursuant to the New Mexico Affordable Housing Act and the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority Rules; Repealing and Replacing Ordinance Nos. 200914, as Amended, and 2011-3, as Amended. A copy of this ordinance, as enacted, is available for inspection in the Santa Fe County Clerk’s Office, located at 100 Catron Street, Santa Fe, New Mexico, and is also available at the County’s website, www.santafecountynm.gov.

Pub: July 31, Aug 7, 2023

LEGAL #91508

Please run the following ad Extra Space Storage will hold a public auction to sell personal property described below belonging to those individuals listed below at the location indicated: 1522 Pacheco St. Santa Fe NM 87505 August 17, 2023 at 10:30 AM Gloria Dallis 12901 Central Ave NE, Apt 138 Albuquerque, NM 87123, furniture Crystal Starr 1711 Camino La Canada Santa Fe, NM 87501, business items

The auction will be listed and advertised on www.storagetreasures.com.

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Mom wants to stop daughterin-law’s insults

Dear Annie: I am struggling with how to handle my relationship with my daughter-in-law Married for five years, with two children, we spend time with them every few weeks, usually to babysit the kids. My problem involves the verbal abuse my son suffers at her hands, and to witness it and keep quiet about it is becoming unbearable for me. His wife berates and belittles him in front of anyone and everyone. She makes comments to me about him almost constantly To give you an example, she blamed my son on her cavities she had at her last dental appointment! It would be almost comical, except for the fact that this is our son she is abusing. Do I have any right as a parent of an adult child to say anything? And if so, to who? We love our grandchildren and spending time with them and don’t want to jeopardize that relationship

Concerned Mother

Dear Concerned Mother: I’m not sure what you mean by the “right” to say something. But yes you should say something. Tell your daughter-in-law at the time of an insult that she should stop

But more importantly, you should talk to your son about his overall mental health. Is he happy in his relationship? Does he seem depressed? Being with an emotionally abusive partner can be exhausting and isolating. So just keep checking in on him and making sure that he is OK The fact that you said her behavior would be comical except that it’s your son, leads me to question if you might also find a little bit of meanness in humor

Dear Annie: I just read a letter from “Sad Mama, who says her son wanted nine people to stay in a four-person vacation home. I can say that her concern about the septic system is valid. I work as an inspector who checks these systems daily Overuse of these systems can cause expensive repairs, or even replacement of the entire unit, depending upon state codes.

The stars show the kind of day you’ll have:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY for Monday, July 31, 2023:

Your communication skills are superb and you make insightful observations This year is the final year of a nine-year cycle for you, which means it s time to let go of anything or anyone who is holding you back.

MOON ALERT: Avoid spending money or making important decisions from 10 p.m. to midnight EDT today (7 p.m to 9 p.m. PDT). After that the Moon moves from Capricorn into Aquarius

CRYPTOQUIP

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

HH Tread carefully today, because bosses parents and people in authority might throw you a curveball, especially about money financial matters earnings or something you own

Tonight: Avoid arguments

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

HHH Travel is unpredictable today Plans might be changed, canceled or delayed Conversely you might suddenly have to travel when you didn’t expect to do so Tonight: Avoid controversy

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)

HH Double-check details with banking, taxes, debt and shared property Something unexpected could impact these areas (You snooze, you lose.)

Tonight: Check your finances

CANCER (June 21-July 22)

HHH The Moon is your ruler which means you will feel the buildup before tomorrow’s Full Moon. In particular it could trigger arguments about shared property earnings shared belongings something like that Tonight: Be patient

LEO (July 23-Aug 22)

HH Something unexpected might affect your health today a pet or your job While you re dealing with this surprise you also might feel an increased tension building up between you and a partner or close friend. Tonight: Listen

VIRGO (Aug 23-Sept. 22)

HHH Social plans are a bit up for grabs today Something might be canceled. Tonight: Cut some slack

TODAY IN HISTORY

Today is Monday, July 31, the 212th day of 2023 There are 153 days left in the year

Today’s highlight in history: On July 31, 1777, during the Revolutionary War the Marquis de Lafayette, a 19-year-old French nobleman, was made a major-general in the American Continental Army

KENKEN

Rules

• Each row and each column must contain the numbers 1 through 6 without repeating

• The numbers within the heavily outlines boxes, called cages, must combine using the given operation (in any order) to produce the target numbers in the top-left corners

Freebies: Fill in single-box cages with the number in the top-left corner

Distributed by Andrews McMeel

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

HHH Your home routine will change today Get dressed and stock the fridge Company might drop by Something unexpected will occur It might impact computers modern art or some kind of technology

Tonight: Have patience with family

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov 21)

HH Tread carefully when dealing with parents bosses and authority figures today You can feel a buildup of tense energy before tomorrow’s Full Moon.

Tonight: Tolerance

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22-Dec 21)

HH Keep an eye on your money and your belongings today Something unusual might happen. It could be a boon. Tonight: Check your money

CAPRICORN (Dec 22-Jan. 19)

HHH You might feel more emotional today because the Moon is in your sign You might have wonderful, creative ideas Issues related to romantic partners sports events or kids might suddenly change or get out of hand. Tonight: Be reasonable

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

HH This is a restless day for you, because little surprises and things out of the blue will distract you. Tonight: Solitude

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)

HHH A friend or a member of a group will surprise you today Meanwhile, you will feel a bit restless today or a bit on edge because of the buildup of energy pending tomorrow’s Full Moon. Tonight: Be friendly

SHEINWOLD’S BRIDGE

Her son should be thankful the family has any kind of vacation home. One of the problems of our world is everyone wants more. Be happy with what you’ve got!

The Septic Lady

Dear Septic Lady: I always love hearing from experts in their field. Thank you for your insight.

Dear Annie: I’m in my late 30s. Is it rude to ignore a much older boomer friend who constantly texts me asking dumb ridiculous questions? This person has always been out of touch, but lately they’ve been extra annoying for some reason Every time I answer it just extends the conversation, so when can I cut them off? And how?

A Ghost

Dear Ghost: If you don’t want to hear from your friend, then simply stop replying to his questions.

IF OU O

S DE DISH W

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Keepingupwiththefoodtrucks hO 0 -9 -

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