Santa Fe New Mexican, Jan. 4, 2024

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American Kennel Club’s new breed: Lancashire heeler

Added inttrigue Top 2A schoo ols facing off at 74 4th Northern Rio Grande Tournament SPORTS, B-1

NATION & WORLD, A-2

Locally owned and independent

C ANNABIS LICENSIN G

Background checks on hold with no federal cooperation

MAP INSIDE

By Teya Vitu

A little. After flirting with the half-million-dollar mark though most of 2023, median home prices on the south side — where most of the city’s homes are sold — remained below $500,000 as the year ended, according to statistics

u Fourth-quarter city and county median home prices. PAGE A-4

tvitu@sfnewmexican.com

Santa Fe home prices, which have soared into the stratosphere for the past few years, are moving a little closer to earth.

provided by the Santa Fe Association of Realtors. The median home price dropped from $490,000 in the third quarter to $480,000 in the fourth quarter in the sector of the city west of St. Francis Drive between Alameda Street and Interstate 25. That large area includes the city’s south side, a sector that accounts for nearly one-third of all home sales in Santa Fe County. Overall, the median price on the

Twin blasts at memorial in Iran kill at least 103

rnott@sfnewmexican.com

GOP holding firm on border

Thursday, January 4, 2024 santafenewmexican.com $1.50

Median south-side home price still under $500K after pandemic-era fluctuations

By Robert Nott

Please see story on Page A-4

No group claims responsibility, adding to chaos, confusion across Mideast

Clarence E. Gallegos, 61, Santa Fe, Dec. 6 PAGE A-8

Today Snow likely. High 35, low 20. PAGE A-10

Index

Classifieds B-6

Comics B-10

Please see story on Page A-4

Regulators rule PNM on hook for big energy investments By Nicholas Gilmore

ngilmore@sfnewmexican.com

President Joe Biden has described as “indiscriminate bombing” and reduce the devastating civilian death toll. The events come amid growing concerns about the war’s economic toll in Israel and the gradual return of protests and domestic political intrigue. While few analysts see an end to the violence in Gaza, they detect an evolution. “We are on to Stage 3,” said Chuck Freilich, a former Israeli deputy national security adviser, referring to the phase of warfare expected to follow the initial response to the October attacks and the sustained air and ground war inside the enclave. “I

State regulators Wednesday handed down orders for a massive rate case that left New Mexico’s largest electric utility on the hook for some of its controversial energy investments in recent years. New electricity rates will soon go into effect for Public Service Company of New Mexico’s more than half-million customers in the state — possibly as soon as the next billing cycle — but it remained unclear Wednesday how the Public Regulation Commission’s decision would affect power bills. The commission adopted many recommendations from agency staff, issued in December after weeks of hearings. The full recommendations would have resulted in an overall 3% decrease in the average monthly bill. Commission spokesman Patrick Rodriguez said calculations on average customer costs under the new order were not available Wednesday. However, he added, the amount PNM can recover from ratepayers will be lower than the amount the company had requested. PNM had requested an overall average increase of about 9.7% in its base rates but predicted the average monthly bill would increase by only 75 cents. A highlight of the commission’s order, for several stakeholder groups, was that it prevents PNM from collecting millions of dollars tied to the Four Corners Power Plant. The commission found the company acted with “imprudence” when it decided to invest in the plant a decade ago. The order also sets a lower rate of return for the company, implements a time-of-use rate pilot program and requires the utility to return funds it overcollected from ratepayers related to the company’s shares in the Palo Verde Generating Station, a nuclear plant in Arizona. Public Regulation Commissioners James Ellison and Gabriel Aguilera voted Wednesday to approve new rates for PNM, ruling on a case the company submitted in December 2022. PNM officials said they were still reviewing the commission’s order, filed Wednesday evening, and declined to comment. The commissioners discussed and voted on the case during a public meeting Wednesday, but they alluded to lengthy closed-door deliberations with staff a day earlier. While the Attorney General’s Office and other groups called for the commission to order a more significant “remedy” for PNM’s imprudent investment in the coal-fired Four Corners Power Plant, the commissioners approved a plan that says the company can’t collect about $85 million related to its investments in the plant. The calculation was proposed by expert witnesses from the Sierra Club, which celebrated the commission’s decision on Four Corners. “Today, the commission recognized that PNM failed to do its due diligence

Please see story on Page A-5

Please see story on Page A-4

SARE TAJALLI/ISNA VIA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Families of victims of two explosions gather Wednesday in the courtyard of a hospital in the city of Kerman, about 510 miles southeast of the capital Tehran, Iran. The bombs exploded Wednesday at a commemoration for a prominent Iranian general slain by the U.S. in a 2020 drone strike, Iranian officials said, as the Middle East remains on edge over Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

placed in bags along the road toward a cemetery in the city of Kerman, and exploded as a huge procession of people made their way there to commemorate the fourth anniversary of Soleimani’s death. The architect of the axis of regional militias backed by Iran’s hard-line government, he was killed in an American drone strike. The attack in Iran on Wednesday led to finger-pointing, confusion and speculation after no group took responsibility. Many Iranians, already disenchanted by their leaders, were out-

By Vivian Yee and Farnaz Fassihi

The New York Times

A

pair of explosions on Wednesday at a memorial for Iran’s former top general, Qassem Soleimani, killed at least 103 people and wounded an additional 211, according to Iranian officials, sowing fear in a country where domestic unrest and the prospect of a spiraling regional war have left many on edge. Iranian officials told state media that a pair of bombs had been

raged that the authorities had failed to provide adequate security for an event attended by thousands of people. Officials in the government blamed the two countries Tehran has long cast as archenemies, Israel and the United States. International intelligence experts and analysts said the attack bore the hallmarks of terrorist groups, not of Israel. Iranian officials said the roadside bombs appeared to have been detonated via remote control. “I heard the explosion 25 meters Please see story on Page A-4

Pressure to reduce civilian deaths may lead to more targeted strikes in war’s new phase

Obituaries

south side increased 2.2% from the end of 2022 from $469,500. That’s not great news for homebuyers but far better than the wild, two-year surge from $400,000 in the first quarter of 2022, association data shows. Across the city of Santa Fe, the median price sunk 8.3% from the fourth quarter of 2022 — from $599,750 to $550,000. Those numbers largely

Decision could ultimately lead to lower utility bills

In Lebanon, Israel makes good on threat to hit Hamas’ leaders ‘wherever they are’ Speaker says looming deadline for funding government could be leverage for border crackdown. PAGE A-6

PAGE A-10

Santa Fe home prices settling down

Lawmakers concerned N.M. can’t comprehensively vet out-of-state applicants

Nearly two years after the Legislature approved the legal production, use and sale of cannabis in New Mexico, lawmakers are grappling with an unforeseen problem. The FBI is not authorizing national criminal background checks on licensed cannabis operators as required by the state’s Cannabis Regulation Act, signed into law in April 2021. And while it’s not yet clear if that is causing serious problems within the industry — the state Department of Public Safety is conducting background checks on New Mexico applicants — an Albuquerque lawmaker wants to provide some cleanup language in state law so federal checks can begin, particularly on out-ofstate applicants. Sen. Katy Duhigg, D-Albuquerque, said she and other cannabis advocates are asking the Federal Bureau of Investigation to provide guidance on how best to get approval for the state Regulation and Licensing Department, which oversees the cannabis industry, to conduct national background checks. “We have submitted proposed language to FBI lawyers, and we are hoping and praying we get some response,” she said. “That’s kind of all we can do. We can’t force them to do the checks. We’re doing our best to work with them and adjust our language however they want it. They just need to tell us.” Otherwise, Duhigg and Rep. Tara Lujan, D-Santa Fe, said the state cannot fully vet out-of-state applicants who want to start marijuana businesses here. The inability to determine whether out-of-state applicants have criminal records puts “the industry at risk” said Lujan, who unsuccessfully introduced a bill to address the issue in the 2023 legislative session. “We cannot get a full, comprehensive national background check on those applicants,” Lujan said. Duhigg said if lawmakers do not hear from the FBI on how to best approach the problem by the time the session begins on Jan. 16, it’s unlikely they will

Detroit Opera director retires after bringing performances to VR, drive-thru

INSIDE

By Steve Hendrix

The Washington Post

JERUSALEM — When a pair of drone-fired missiles slammed into an apartment building in south Beirut on Tuesday, killing a top militant leader and his lieutenants, it appeared to mark a shift in Israel’s war against Hamas. For three months, Israel has pressed a full-scale military invasion of Gaza, leveling much of the strip and killing more than 22,000 people in its pursuit of the militants who planned and carried out the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. To date, it had not acted on another stated war aim: targeting the heads of Hamas “wherever they are.” Crosswords B-6, B-9

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

u Attacks raise fears in Mideast and U.S. that a wider war is coming. PAGE A-5

Now, as the conflict enters its fourth month, Israel has apparently made good on that threat, risking a wider war along its border with Lebanon even as it begins to draw down troops in Gaza for the first time. Military leaders said the partial withdrawal was possible now that attacks have weakened Hamas in the north and that it would allow thousands of reservists to return home and go back to work. It also comes after months of pressure from Washington to pull back from what

Local & Region A-7

Lotteries A-2

Opinion A-9

Paws B-5

Sports B-1

Time Out B-9

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