Latest news with #TheSantaFeNewMexican
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
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Santa Fe police haven't provided reports on downtown shootings
Editor's note: The Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA) 'enables access to public records of governmental entities in New Mexico,' according to the New Mexico Department of Justice. Public Records Watch is an occasional series from The Santa Fe New Mexican that documents how public agencies respond to IPRA requests. Police have been sparse on details regarding two downtown shootings in recent months and have still provided no reports from their investigations of either incident. 041723 md (copy) Alvin Crespin enters a plea during a hearing in 2023 in the First Judicial District Court. He was shot to death April 25 in De Vargas Park. Records staff from the city of Santa Fe have estimated it will take two months to provide any police reports related to the fatal shooting of Alvin Crespin at De Vargas Park in late April. The city also has yet to provide any reports on another fatal shooting in early May in downtown Santa Fe. A man was charged with shooting and killing Crespin at the downtown Santa Fe park April 25, and a woman was accused of conspiring in the homicide and acting as a getaway driver. Police arrested the suspects, Pierre Cheykaychi and Alexis Chavez, in the week after the shooting. A request for police reports related to the investigation was submitted April 28. Records staff have estimated they will be able to produce the reports June 27. City staff have pushed back the expected date to provide the reports twice, deeming the request for police reports in a single murder investigation "excessively burdensome or broad," a designation that allows city staff to take longer than 15 days to produce records in response to a request. Little is still known about the shooting death of Raven Iron Lightning Scott on May 12 in downtown Santa Fe — including whether Scott's death was a homicide. Police have declined to answer questions about the fatal shooting, including those seeking details about the circumstances of his death. Raven Raven Iron Lightning Scott Scott died from his injuries from at least one gunshot wound, police said, and he was found at a city-owned parking lot at Water Street and Don Gaspar Avenue in the early hours. Police have not filed any criminal charges in the shooting. The New Mexican submitted a request for reports from the death investigation May 22. After 12 days, city records staff have not given an estimated date for producing the records. City spokesperson Regina Ruiz did not respond to an email seeking an explanation for the delays in providing the public records. Deputy police Chief Ben Valdez wrote back Tuesday saying he would check on the requests with the city's records staff.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
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Bill McKibben says 'liberals spreading misinformation' on solar project south of Santa Fe
Bill McKibben, a noted environmentalist known for penning a pioneering book on climate change in the 1980s, has weighed in on the white-hot debate over Rancho Viejo Solar, the large renewable energy and battery storage development proposed south of Santa Fe. McKibben, who lives in Vermont but visited the City Different last fall, had an opinion piece published Sunday in The Santa Fe New Mexican outlining his support for the project and sounding off on its vocal opponents who cite concerns about fire risks and the potential effects on property values. "Imagine my surprise to hear that an outspoken minority has emerged in Santa Fe opposing plans for a large-scale solar array, one capable of supplying a large part of the town's energy needs," he wrote. "In the rest of the country, opposition to renewable energy has come largely from the fossil fuel industry. But in Santa Fe, it's actually liberals spreading misinformation and working against the interests of their neighbors." The project proposed by energy giant AES Corp. has drawn concerns about the risks of runaway fires from lithium battery storage, particularly from residents of the Eldorado area who maintain the facility would affect their property values. Some of them decried McKibben's piece and doubled down on their concerns. Camilla Brom, a Rancho San Marcos resident who started a grassroots group called New Mexicans for Responsible Renewable Energy in opposition to AES' plans, called McKibben's opinion piece "offensive." "It seems like it's turning into a smear campaign," Brom said, adding,"I am not a liberal, and I am only working in the best interest of the community." She added, "We're in a fire-risk zone, so why put anything in this zone that would increase the chance of a fire even more — and so close to thousands of people? In my opinion, it's very irresponsible." The proposed Ranch Viejo Solar project. AES is seeking a conditional use permit from Santa Fe County to build its solar array and battery facility on 680 acres of an 800-acre parcel about three miles south of Santa Fe. Once completed, Rancho Viejo Solar could generate 96 megawatts of power and roughly 45 megawatts of battery storage — enough electricity to carry the city's residential load, AES officials have said. Proponents have said it could play a major role in the state's efforts to curb climate change and argue the project is a safe one. Supporters and representatives of AES also argue new technology dramatically reduces risks posed by such facilities. 'Deep need' McKibben said in an interview locally and regionally organized opposition to renewable energy projects is not unique to Santa Fe County — he has encountered the dynamic elsewhere, including in Vermont. "The comparative weight of risk here is enormously on the side of acting, of building out renewable energy fast," McKibben said. "I think that the risk to the entire world, but also in particular the risk to the Southwest United States, by far the deepest risk comes in rapid alterations in the planet's climate. Those are the fires that y'all are dealing with already and will get steadily worse." McKibben was the special guest at a Santa Fe Conservation Trust fundraiser in September. He also spoke to students at some local high schools, he said. He believes threats posed by climate change present an urgent call to action and stresses a "deep need to say yes in my backyard" — which also is the title of an article he published in the magazine Mother Jones in 2023. "I think that's particularly true for people like me: affluent, older, white Americans, the kind of people who are really good at stopping projects with lawsuits and whatever else," McKibben said. "I think it's really time for us to step back a little bit and say, 'There's got to be some change made here on this planet for those who come after us.'" He has written 20 books, according to his website, and his work appears regularly in periodicals from The New Yorker to Rolling Stone. 020325_GC_RanchoViejoSolar01rgb.jpg (copy) (copy) Joshua Mayer, senior development manager for AES, speaks before the Santa Fe County Planning Commission during a presentation in February about the proposed Rancho Viejo Solar project. The commission voted in favor of AES' permit request for the project. 'Dangerous facility' The Clean Energy Coalition of Santa Fe County, a group with more than 1,000 members who oppose the project, recently noted in an email to members and the community it has raised about $24,500 to fight the solar and battery storage project. Voicing staunch and spirited opposition, coalition members have packed meeting rooms for county land use hearings on the matter. The county Planning Commission signed off on the project Feb. 4. Recently, the organization said it filed an official appeal of the Planning Commission's decision, meaning the County Commission will hear the matter sometime this summer. "You don't put a potentially dangerous facility ... here in the middle of three communities three miles south of a major population center in the state of New Mexico," Lee Zlotoff, president of the Clean Energy Coalition, said in a previous interview. The project's most outspoken detractors, in deep blue Santa Fe County, maintain they support the transition to clean energy but have concerns about AES and the project, in large part due to past fires at AES facilities. One ignited at a facility in Chandler, Ariz., in spring 2022. Earlier this year, a blaze that sparked at a solar battery storage plant in Northern California ignited fresh debate in Santa Fe County over Rancho Viejo Solar. Project supporters maintain battery storage has undergone an evolution in recent years, becoming safer through intensified testing standards and technological advancements. They also argue the project proposed by AES differs in its design from the facility that burned Jan. 16 in California. McKibben's article pointed out the local project would have "fire suppression technology." Brom, however, drew a distinction between fire suppression and "fire extinguishing" technology. "This suppression system, if they don't suppress the overheating in the first cell that overheats, it overheats the other cells and then propagates a thermal runaway fire," she said. Randy Coleman, the vice president of the Clean Energy Coalition, said he feels there are alternatives to a large-scale projects like Rancho Viejo Solar. What's more, he believes Santa Fe County does not have the planning in place to deal with such a facility. "The county is just not doing its duty to look at the risks and plan," Coleman said. "If the county had a plan for renewable energy, then they would see that, from a holistic perspective, there are far better things that they could be doing."
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Yahoo
Public records watch: City reports from private security contractors
Editor's note: The Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA) 'enables access to public records of governmental entities in New Mexico,' according to the New Mexico Department of Justice. Public Records Watch is an occasional series from The Santa Fe New Mexican that documents how public agencies respond to IPRA requests. The city of Santa Fe has provided some, but not all, of the records requested by The New Mexican more than six months ago related to the city's contracted security services. The newspaper requested receipts, incident logs and reports, certificates of insurance, training manuals, policies and procedures and copies of the licenses of security guards authorized to patrol the streets, many of them armed. The Santa Fe City Council approved a measure in August to allocate $750,000 for a contract with Condor Security of America for the company's services in downtown Santa Fe. So far, the city has provided receipts and invoices for payments through November, the company's contract, post orders and some incident logs filed by security guards who patrolled the Railyard area last year. Incident reports, training materials, guard licenses and policies and procedures have not been provided. City records staff closed the request in January without providing any incident logs or reports from the first six months of the downtown security program, but the request was reopened after an inquiry into whether any such logs or reports have been filed, as is laid out in the contract.
Yahoo
27-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Kim Shanahan, a charismatic curmudgeon in the best way
Everyone calls or emails. Everyone wants at least 30 minutes. Everyone knows your first impression matters more than theirs. For Seinfeld rerun fans, the first month for a new editor feels like Festivus. That's why I do a bit of sleuthing instead of giving a quick yes to a spontaneous professional meetup. Rerun reality often meets déjà vu all over again, where a seemingly pleasant person goes full Frank Costanza, turning social niceties into a shouting lecture on how I need to improve the newspaper. I've learned through the years to go poker face when those Franks essentially say, 'Welcome, newcomer editor! The tradition of New Editor Festivus begins with the airing of grievances. I have a lot of problems with you people! And now you're gonna hear about it!' And that's the backstory of how I grew quickly to like Kim Shanahan. When I started at The Santa Fe New Mexican in mid-September, Kim was quick to reach out. I was not as quick getting back to him. Was I sleuthing? Maybe. Kim's email sank quickly to the bottom of my in-box as new messages popped up in bold type, jockeying for the top spot. Kim sent another email, and the same sinking feeling happened. After an extended game of email tag, we tried to find a time to meet. But Kim was busy in Costa Rica, my calendar was full, and our back-and-forth game of tag stretched into October. He was gracious, though, and laughed off my weak apology when we finally found 30 minutes for a phone call. He launched into his younger years at Michigan State, where he thought about becoming a journalist. Kim knew I had spent time in Michigan, so we bonded over hockey, Lansing and what could have been if he had chosen a career in journalism. I recall talking about the peculiarities of trying to buy a home in Santa Fe. He asked where our house was. When I told him where, Kim guessed what we paid. He was right. He added, 'You made a good choice.' To this date, he's been right. What I grasped about Kim was his knowledge and candor. There's a level of diplomacy that plays out in most first social encounters, but Kim knew how to rush through the niceties and articulate grievances — such as city public policies in our first conversation — without going full Frank Costanza. Longtime readers of his Sunday Real Estate commentary in The New Mexican knew where Kim stood on issues. But he wrote with passion and reasoning that forced smart critics to think before reacting. Kim called out elected officials, but he didn't pen his commentaries with a personal ax. Read the first two paragraphs of Kim's April 20 column, and notice how he gave credit where due while pointing out a public policy problem that needs an answer: If it were not for City Councilor Carol Romero-Wirth, who has announced she's not running for reelection, Santa Fe's residential green-building codes would remain stuck at 2018 levels, where they are today. Fortunately, she is determined to get the long-overdue revisions and updates over the finish line before her term expires at the end of the year. Unfortunately, given its slow walk within the corridors of City Hall, it may take that long to get approval on a product that has been finished for months. Kim turned in the column without a chance to read it on He died Friday of a heart attack. His column was published Sunday. Subscriber Brian Weiss' email encapsulated Kim's impact: Condolences on the sudden and shocking passing of Kim Shanahan. Though I never met him in person, Kim and I exchanged a few emails when I either agreed or disagreed with what he'd had to say. His presence in The New Mexican's pages will be missed — agree or disagree, he put forth significant issues that always merited consideration and debate. We will miss Kim. As an advocate for Santa Fe and New Mexico. As a talented real estate and public policy expert. As a charismatic curmudgeon who everyone respected as a friend.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
'The New Mexican' celebrates Earth Day with debut of environment newsletter
There's been 4.5 billion years of Earth. But there's only been a day to celebrate it for 55 years. Welcome to the first edition of 'Earth, Wind and Fire,' The Santa Fe New Mexican's weekly environment newsletter. Today marks the 55th anniversary of Earth Day, which was proposed by Wisconsin Sen. Gaylord Nelson in the wake of a devastating oil spill in Santa Barbara, Calif. Twenty million Americans participated in Earth Day at the time. Santa Feans were aware and concerned; responses to a 1970 survey found that 80% of City Different residents were worried about pollution in general, although just a little over half felt Santa Fe or their children were particularly impacted. In 1971, Leah Harvey Junior High students urging stronger laws to curb pollution had a grim message: 'See you 25 years from now wearing a gas mask.' The gas masks are still in the closet. This year's Earth Day falls after the death of Pope Francis, who in 2015 published the encyclical letter Laudato Si', which urged international action to protect our "common home," Earth. Although some environmental advocates paint a grim picture on Earth Day 2025, hope for a new generation remains.
