Latest news with #D-Albuquerque
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
As Albuquerque awaits, NM National Guard readies to launch Operation Zia Shield
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways May 7—SANTA FE — With just a few weeks before more than 70 New Mexico National Guard members hit the streets of Albuquerque, top law enforcement officials involved in planning the unusual deployment insisted it will not be military occupation of the state's largest city. During a Wednesday news conference at the National Guard headquarters in Santa Fe, Albuquerque Police Department Chief Harold Medina expressed confidence about the operation that's expected to fully begin around Memorial Day weekend. "There is no intent of a military presence in Albuquerque," said Medina, who reiterated the National Guard members deployed on the mission, officially called Operation Zia Shield, will not carry guns, wear fatigues or be authorized to make arrests. In all, 71 members of the National Guard will be deployed as part of the mission, which was authorized last month by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham upon a request from Medina. In making the request, the police chief said it would free up Albuquerque Police Department officers to fight crime. Medina has said the guard members would do auxiliary duties for APD — like direct traffic and secure perimeters — so not as many officers will have to. Of the guard members being deployed, 53 are from the Albuquerque area, said New Mexico National Guard Adjutant General Miguel Aguilar. "It's our community," Aguilar said during Wednesday's news conference. "We're from this community." But some local residents remain concerned about how the operation will play out, especially in Albuquerque's International District along East Central that has seen high rates of open air drug use and homelessness in recent years. Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, who represents a legislative district that encompasses the area, said in a recent interview that not all area residents were on board with the plan. "I've got concerned constituents," Stewart told the Journal. "I hope what the governor and the mayor are trying to do works." The National Guard deployment has drawn national media attention, while also generating criticism from prominent New Mexico Republicans like state GOP chairwoman Amy Barela, who said Lujan Grisham was "giving cover to a Democrat-run city entrenched in crime." However, APD officials have cited statistics showing a drop in Albuquerque's homicide rate so far this year compared to 2024. The arrival of National Guard troops could help sustain that trend by freeing up police officers from routine tasks, Medina said Wednesday. "I'm at the point of my career that I'm not afraid to stick my neck out and try something outside the box," Medina said. In preparation for the deployment, the National Guard members who volunteered for the assignment have undergone extensive training in recent weeks. Some of that training includes self-defense tactics and responsible use of force, said New Mexico State Police Chief Troy Weisler, whose agency assisted with the training. "We want to make sure the guardsmen have the ability to protect themselves," Weisler said. While they will not carry firearms, the deployed National Guard troops will carry pepper spray for self-protection, just as police aides do, Medina said. He also said they would carry Narcan, which can be used to reverse an overdose of fentanyl or other opioids. During a Wednesday crisis intervention training session that was open to reporters, National Guard members sat in a conference room responding to questions from a psychologist about ways to interact with individuals dealing with mental health issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar disorder. Several of the National Guard members present for the training said they signed up for the mission out of a sense of community duty. "It's an opportunity to help the community and that's why I volunteered," said Staff Sgt. Alfonso Deocampo of Bosque Farms. Meanwhile, Aguilar said the New Mexico National Guard would still have the capacity to respond to any wildfires, flooding or other natural disasters that might occur in the coming months. He also said the Albuquerque operation would not interfere with plans to send National Guard troops on overseas humanitarian missions.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
State Supreme Court issues opinion on legislative immunity
New Mexico House Speaker Javier Martínez and Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart and the rest of the Legislative Council on Monday voted to create the Federal Infrastructure Funds and Stability Interim Committee. (Photo by Austin Fisher / Source NM) The highest-ranking lawmaker in the New Mexico Senate cannot be sued for reassigning a senator's office and seat in the chamber because they were 'legitimate legislative actions,' the state's high court said Monday. In 2021, Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart (D-Albuquerque) moved then-Sen. Jacob Candelaria's (DTS-Albuquerque) seat on the Senate floor and his Senate office location in the Roundhouse. In a complaint filed in a district court in 2022, Candelaria alleged Stewart's actions had been 'retaliatory' for his public criticism of her vote against terminating the executive director, at the time, of the Legislation Education Study Committee, who was facing allegations of unlawful workplace discrimination. In a unanimous opinion written by Chief Justice David Thomson, the New Mexico Supreme Court said Stewart is entitled to immunity from legal liability because her actions fall under the 'speech and debate clause' in the New Mexico Constitution. The justices noted that it was the first time the state's appeals courts have ever been asked to interpret the clause. Monday's opinion offered the legal explanation for the justices' earlier verbal ruling in the case, which they made in December after hearing arguments from both sides. 'While the decision on this case was delivered last year, it's good to have closure on this issue with the delivery of a written opinion from the Supreme Court,' Stewart told Source NM in a statement. 'Our Constitution's Speech or Debate Clause outlines what constitutes legitimate, protected legislative activities, and the Supreme Court's affirmation now makes it clear once and for all.' Second Judicial District Court Judge Daniel Ramczyk in September 2024 concluded that he needed to examine Stewart's motives for her actions against Candelaria before he could decide whether she was entitled to legislative immunity. The Supreme Court said Ramczyk's reasoning was wrong because of a long-established legal principle that courts can't question lawmakers' motive or intent. The justices sent the case back to him, telling him to dismiss it, and he did so on Dec. 16, according to court records. The justices wrote that Stewart's motive is irrelevant and moving Candelaria's office and floor seat 'are both legitimate legislative activities' in her role as president of the Senate. 'Private actions, just like those brought by the executive branch, divert legislators' attention from their work and bring judicial power to bear, imperiling legislative independence,' the justices wrote. A request for comment from Candelaria was not returned as of publication time. Candelaria argued that New Mexico's Constitution only protects lawmakers from liability for officials acts requiring a vote; however, the justices wrote that he misinterpreted part of the speech and debate clause to limit lawmakers' immunity when it was really providing an additional ground for immunity. Candelaria also argued that Stewart's changes to his office and seating arrangements weren't integral to the Senate's deliberations because earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic, senators had been allowed to participate and vote in committee meetings and floor sessions remotely. The justices disagreed, saying the pandemic required the Senate to change its procedures 'in unprecedented ways,' and they refused to rule on legislative immunity based on those changes. Candelaria, first elected in 2013, frequently clashed with Senate leadership and changed his party affiliation in late 2021 from Democrat to independent. He resigned from the Senate in 2022. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
With eye on Congress, top NM lawmakers create new panel to study federal funding
Apr. 30—SANTA FE — With New Mexico and other states facing the possibility of federal cuts to early childhood and safety net programs, top state lawmakers have created a new legislative panel to study the implications. The new 10-member interim committee will meet this summer and present its findings to other legislative panels by the end of this year, said House Speaker Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque. He described the new committee's formation as a way to proactively analyze different federal programs that provide services in New Mexico, along with how they're funded. "To me, this isn't about what Trump might or might not do," Martinez told the Journal, referring to the Republican president who took office in January. "We just have to be ready." While the lifespan of the new committee is only envisioned to be this year, it could be extended into 2026 if necessary, said Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque. Specifically, the panel could gather data on proposals to eliminate funding for Head Start, which currently provides early education for 5,688 children in New Mexico at a cost of about $90 million. Other areas that could be studied include expanded work requirements for food assistance recipients and changes to the way infrastructure funds are distributed. "We don't have a good handle on what's happening in Washington, D.C.," Stewart said in a Wednesday interview. "We just needed a committee that could focus solely on that." The interim committee will be led by two veteran lawmakers — Rep. Patricia Lundstrom, D-Gallup, and Sen. Bill Soules, D-Las Cruces. Lundstrom, the former chairwoman of the House Appropriations and Finance Committee, said the new panel could help ensure New Mexicans retain access to critical services and resources. "This committee will focus on making sure that no matter what happens at the federal level, New Mexico is ready," Lundstrom said in a statement. "We will conduct an inventory of existing federal funding streams that our state relies on for infrastructure and local government operations, so that we can begin to proactively prepare for any potential federal funding cuts." Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham warned in February that possible federal budget cuts to Medicaid and other programs could prompt her to call lawmakers back to Santa Fe later this year for a special session. But it remains unclear whether there's an appetite in the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress for such cuts, as some GOP members have expressed an unwillingness to vote for Medicaid funding reductions. Federal cuts could have an outsized impact in New Mexico, as nearly 840,000 state residents were enrolled in Medicaid as of March — about 40% of the state's population. Meanwhile, a congressional plan to expand work requirements for food assistance recipients could lead to 52,000 New Mexico residents with school-aged children losing their benefits, according to a report by the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Roughly 22% of New Mexico residents were receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits as of February, according to state Health Care Authority data. The new interim committee, officially called the Federal Funding Stabilization Subcommittee, was approved without dissent at a Monday meeting of the Legislative Council, a bipartisan group of top-ranking lawmakers. It's expected to hold its first meeting sometime in May, though an exact date has not yet been set.
Yahoo
27-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
State head of special education departs for role in Maryland
As New Mexico still struggles to educate students with disabilities up to the same standards as their peers, the state's inaugural head of special education has left after less than two years on the job. Margaret Cage, who was selected in October 2023 as the inaugural director and deputy secretary of the Public Education Department's much-touted Office of Special Education, has departed for a new role in Maryland. Her last day of work at the department was Tuesday. Deputy Director of the Office of Special Education Tyre' Jenkins will serve as interim deputy secretary as a national search is underway to find Cage's replacement, Public Education Department spokesperson Janelle Taylor García wrote in an email to The New Mexican. 'Dr. Jenkins has been with PED since January of 2024 and has been a close partner with Dr. Cage throughout her tenure in creating and managing the Office of Special Education,' Taylor García wrote. Cage's departure from the new office comes as the state's more than 50,000 public school students with disabilities continues to face a persistent gap in achievement relative to their nondisabled peers. The Public Education Department's standardized testing data from the 2023-24 school year shows just 13% of students with disabilities were proficient in reading and 7.5% in math, compared to statewide averages for all students of 39% and 23%, respectively. In 2018, a judge in the landmark Yazzie/Martinez lawsuit decision against the state determined the state had failed to provide sufficient education to several groups of students, including those in special education. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham created the Office of Special Education by executive order in May 2023, arguing the office — located within the Public Education Department — would serve as a primary point of contact for students and their families to get the special education services they need while improving recruitment, retention and training for teachers specializing in special education. By the time it was established, the office had been on lawmakers' and advocates' minds for years. During this year's legislative session, Senate President Pro Tempore Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, proposed Senate Bill 38 to officially codify the Office of Special Education in state statute, but the bill stalled after passing the Senate. When she was selected as the Office of Special Education's first top official, Cage brought 25 years of experience as a teacher, instructional coach, school leader and school system administrator to the role, plus a doctorate and master's degree in educational leadership. Prior to her departure, Cage earned an annual salary of $160,000, according to the New Mexico Sunshine Portal. She arrived in New Mexico from Assumption Parish Schools in Louisiana — a district of just under 3,000 students west of New Orleans — where she supervised special education services. Cage declined The New Mexican's interview requests upon her arrival in the role. Minutes from the Feb. 2 meeting of the Montgomery County Board of Education in Rockville, Md., indicate board voted unanimously to appoint Cage as the district's new chief student support officer. Cage continued her job duties until her last day Tuesday, Taylor García said, including providing insight during the legislative session. 'The Office of Special Education continues to be staffed with a number of highly qualified individuals dedicated to advancing the mission of the OSE,' Taylor García wrote in an email.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former NM state senator Bill O'Neill dies following cancer battle
Mar. 31—SANTA FE — Former New Mexico legislator Bill O'Neill, an Albuquerque Democrat who pushed to make it easier for released inmates to land jobs and was fond of reading his Roundhouse-inspired poetry to colleagues, died Monday after a battle with cancer. His death Monday at a Santa Fe hopsital prompted an outpouring of condolences, including from Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Deb Haaland. Sen. Antonio "Moe" Maestas, D-Albuquerque, who served with O'Neill in both the House and Senate, said O'Neill was loved by constituents and colleagues alike. "He fought passionately for what he believed in while remaining authentic the entire time," said Maestas, who cited O'Neill's efforts to reduce recidivism by pushing bills removing barriers for formerly incarcerated individuals to get work after being released. The former founder of a halfway house for individuals released on parole, O'Neill was first elected to an Albuquerque-based state House seat in 2008. After four years in the House, he won election to an open state Senate seat in 2012 and held the seat until the end of last year, after losing his primary election race to fellow Democrat Debbie O'Malley. During his time in the Legislature, O'Neill focused much of his attention on parole-related legislation, including a 2019 bill expanding a "ban the box" law that bars employers from asking job applicants right off the bat about criminal convictions. "Nothing's more important than a good job, and it's oftentimes hard to coax this population into believing they could even have a chance," O'Neill said in 2016 about the issue. But he also championed legislation seeking to make it easier for independent voters to cast ballots in New Mexico primary elections without having to change their party affiliations. While he was not successful in getting such legislation to the governor's desk, lawmakers did pass such a bill during this year's 60-day session. An Ohio native, O'Neill played football for Cornell University and was a regular participant in the annual legislative charity basketball game. Before winning election to the Legislature, he was appointed as executive director of New Mexico's juvenile parole board by then-Gov. Bill Richardson in 2005. O'Neill also authored several collections of poetries and books, including the 2021 novel "Short Session" that featured a state senator as the book's protagonist. He also wrote a one-act play called "Save the Bees" that focused on partisan pressures and was based on his friendship with former state Sen. Cliff Pirtle, a Roswell Republican. "His willingness to share the essence of serving in the Legislature through his gift with words was always appreciated and will be greatly missed by his Senate colleagues," the Senate Democratic caucus said in a Monday statement. Keller, who served with O'Neill in the Senate, described his former colleague Monday as "our poet public servant." "I'm grateful to have worked with him for 20 years, and he always brought an eccentric charm and wit to every conversation," Keller said in a statement. No details on memorial services for O'Neill had been announced as of late Monday.
