SUNDAY
Aggies fall in New Mexico Bowl, 37-10
December 17, 2023
Española mourns 4 teens after crash
SPORTS, D-1
Feast day dances mix Pueblo, Catholic traditions LOCAL & REGION, C-1
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CYFD leaves millions on table amid hiring freeze
Estate sale draws treasure seekers hoping for piece of former Gov. Bill Richardson’s legacy
Great finds, fond memories
Lawmakers express outrage that agency plagued by attrition would stop recruiting as child abuse in state continues to climb By Daniel J. Chacón
dchacon@sfnewmexican.com
ABOVE: Jesse Quackenbush, right, hoped to buy “as many iconic things” as he could find from former Gov. Bill Richardson’s belongings Saturday at an estate sale at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center. TOP: Nancy Fortin gathers memorabilia as a gift for her daughter, a U.S. Marine, during Saturday’s estate sale. PHOTOS BY JIM WEBER THE NEW MEXICAN
By Maya Hilty
mhilty@sfnewmexican.com
F
ans of former Gov. Bill Richardson flooded into the Santa Fe Convention Center Saturday morning for an estate sale of his belongings. More than 350 people, local and from out of state, descended on the sale within an hour of its opening. Some prepared to stand in line for hours for a chance to peruse everything from Richardson’s electric pencil sharpener to a historic suit of armor priced at $9,000.
The sale drew political aficionados, collectors and admirers of Richardson, many of whom traded photos of and stories about the statesman, who died in September at age 75. “He’s going to have a 100-year legacy,” said John Henry, waiting in line to buy a hat and clothes that belonged to Richardson. Henry, who lives in Santa Fe, met Richardson in 1984 and later worked under the governor in the state Tourism Department and for Richardson’s 2008 presidential campaign.
Despite struggling with chronic workforce shortages, New Mexico’s embattled child welfare agency enacted a monthslong hiring freeze over the summer and spent only $100,000 of a $3 million special appropriation to address its staffing woes. The revelation to lawmakers, made last week during a meeting of the Legislative Finance Committee, highlights the instability that has long plagued the department, often with tragic consequences. The report, which stunned and angered some legislators, comes on the heels of a recent report that child abuse and neglect cases are on track to Teresa Casados increase 50% this year. State Rep. Gail Armstrong, R-Magdalena, said she was “furious” when she learned the agency had instituted a hiring freeze and left much of the $3 million special appropriation on the table. “Everyone knows that CYFD is doing a poor job, and I’m really tired of lip service and excuses,” she said. Former Rep. Rebecca Dow of Truth or Consequences echoed the sentiment, saying the agency uses staffing shortages and low pay as an excuse for horrific incidents involving children. “The staffing shortages and [high] caseloads are real,” she said. “But if they believe that that was the reason children are dying, being thrown in trash cans, being sexually abused, sleeping in CYFD offices, then they would’ve decided to hire. They would have actively recruited and hired and filled those vacancies. “Their policies are failing New Mexico children,” Dow said. Cabinet Secretary Teresa Casados, who stepped into the position on an interim basis in April and then full-time last month, told lawmakers she instituted what she called a “hiring pause” around mid-May “to see what the department needed.” “Part of the work that we did in restructuring our Protective Services Department led to us creating pillars so that individuals had very specific work that they needed to be doing,” she said.
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Los Alamos schools face racism suit Allegations are latest for district over anti-Black slurs, taunts By Margaret O’Hara mohara@sfnewmexican.com
LOS ALAMOS — For Luckie Daniels, the turning point point came early in the school year in an 11th-grade English class that included her daughter and another Black student. While reading out loud from John
Pasapick pasatiempomagazine.com
Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men in August, the teacher read the N-word just as it appeared in the text, Daniels said. Daniels’ 16-year-old daughter, Jaiya Devi Daniels, told her mother the teacher repeated the racial slur when confronted about using it. It was not the first time Jaiya had heard the word at school. Los Alamos
High School students sometimes used it in the hallways, in addition to referring to Jaiya as “Hershey,” Luckie Daniels said. The incident scared Luckie Daniels, who called it the most recent example of systemic disregard for racial equity in Los Alamos Public Schools since Jaiya enrolled in the district in the 2022-23 school year.
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Schola Cantorum of Santa Fe
Today
Obituaries
The sacred music ensemble sings traditional Christmas selections; 2 p.m.; Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 417 Agua Fría St.; donations accepted.
Sunny and clear. High 49, low 26.
Anita Maria Aldeis, 96, Santa Fe, Dec. 11
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Richard Gaddes Calvin Henry George Sam F. Martinez, 70, Nov. 28 Filemon Sanchez, Santa Fe, Dec. 2
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Oompa-Loompa, what do we do?
Ellen Wilde, Dec. 9
Characters get another postcolonial makeover in latest Wonka film. PAGE D-6
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Luckie Daniels, left, and daughter Jaiya Daniels talk earlier this month at Sullivan Field at Los Alamos High School. Luckie Daniels is suing the Los Alamos district on Jaiya’s behalf after she said officials ignored her repeated equity complaints.
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