Latest news with #TheSantaFeNewMexican
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
New Mexico Foundation's new CEO makes quite an impression
One of my tasks as the business reporter at The Santa Fe New Mexican is to keep tabs on what's happening in the state's nonprofit community, which explains why I spoke last week with Justin Kii Huenemann, the new president and CEO at the New Mexico Foundation for a profile in our June 4 edition. Justin Kii Huenemann Justin Kii Huenemann, the new president and CEO of the New Mexico Foundation, says the organization faces unique challenges and opportunities as the only statewide community foundation in New Mexico. The Santa Fe-based community foundation lists collaboration and sustainability as two key elements in its core values, and it is clear that Huenemann plans to continue emphasizing both during his tenure. Citing his upbringing on the Navajo Nation near Tsaile, Ariz., he talked about how the landscape of that area has shaped his perspective on the world as an adult. Not surprisingly, he said he tends to take the long view in his approach to managing organizations, especially those that have experienced a recent leadership void. 'The sky's not falling,' he said, describing the message he likes to convey to his new staff in those situations. Huenemann had to hit the ground running in his new position, but he nevertheless made time to spend at least an hour conversing with each member of his staff within two weeks of his arrival. He described himself as an active listener, adding that the most important job of his foundation is to avoid creating barriers for its partners. But the thing he said that impressed me the most was when he described community foundations as 'a privileged environment within a privileged sector,' a reminder to himself to remain cognizant of how different a given situation can look to someone on the outside. As someone who spent the last 10 years living just off the Navajo Nation in San Juan County, a remote and often overlooked corner of New Mexico, I felt like I understood well what he was trying to say. And I have little doubt that Huenemann's term at the foundation will be a successful one.
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
New Mexico Foundation's new CEO makes quite an impression
One of my tasks as the business reporter at The Santa Fe New Mexican is to keep tabs on what's happening in the state's nonprofit community, which explains why I spoke last week with Justin Kii Huenemann, the new president and CEO at the New Mexico Foundation for a profile in our June 4 edition. Justin Kii Huenemann Justin Kii Huenemann, the new president and CEO of the New Mexico Foundation, says the organization faces unique challenges and opportunities as the only statewide community foundation in New Mexico. The Santa Fe-based community foundation lists collaboration and sustainability as two key elements in its core values, and it is clear that Huenemann plans to continue emphasizing both during his tenure. Citing his upbringing on the Navajo Nation near Tsaile, Ariz., he talked about how the landscape of that area has shaped his perspective on the world as an adult. Not surprisingly, he said he tends to take the long view in his approach to managing organizations, especially those that have experienced a recent leadership void. 'The sky's not falling,' he said, describing the message he likes to convey to his new staff in those situations. Huenemann had to hit the ground running in his new position, but he nevertheless made time to spend at least an hour conversing with each member of his staff within two weeks of his arrival. He described himself as an active listener, adding that the most important job of his foundation is to avoid creating barriers for its partners. But the thing he said that impressed me the most was when he described community foundations as 'a privileged environment within a privileged sector,' a reminder to himself to remain cognizant of how different a given situation can look to someone on the outside. As someone who spent the last 10 years living just off the Navajo Nation in San Juan County, a remote and often overlooked corner of New Mexico, I felt like I understood well what he was trying to say. And I have little doubt that Huenemann's term at the foundation will be a successful one.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
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
- Yahoo
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.
