Santa Fe New Mexican
‘I WILL FIGHT THAT’
As he piloted his Toyota pickup down the familiar, winding Forest Service roads, Moises Morales spoke of generations of conflict between local ranchers and federal government employees who control grazing and timber permits. He served six months...
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Supporting S.F. strays
The city of Santa Fe and the Santa Fe Animal Shelter & Humane Society have reached a new deal for services nearly a year and a half after their last contract expired. Annual costs under the new contract, which the City Council approved last week, will...
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Valuing city’s parks
Santa Fe residents’ desire for cleaner, better-maintained parks was on display during a recent meeting about this year’s Fourth of July fireworks show at Franklin Miles Park. Several people asked if the city would make improvements to the park ahead...
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Race heats up as early voting nears
TALBUQUERQUE he two Democratic candidates for New Mexico governor faced off in their only debate before the primary Saturday night. Deb Haaland and Sam Bregman clashed over a handful of environmental issues, with Haaland taking stronger stances...
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‘Taking our country back’
The rain had just stopped falling on 13-year-old Hermides Lopez. Members of immigrant rights group Somos un Pueblo Unido handed him a hot dog. A mariachi band played nearby and upbeat Spanish chatter filled the air. “It feels good,” said the Chaparral...
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PURCHASING POWER
The legality of a $400 million stock purchase has become the focal point of a private equity giant’s effort to take over New Mexico’s largest electric utility. The stock transaction — between Public Service Company of New Mexico parent company TXNM...
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Eye, and ear, on streets
For 40 years, Joe Schepps has operated the Inn on the Alameda, an upscale hotel a short distance from the bustling Plaza. A longtime Santa Fe resident, Schepps in recent years has advocated repeatedly for the city to take action to address loud vehicle...
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STILL STANDING
The Old Santa Fe Association started with a fight. A century later — after helping to shape the look and feel of Santa Fe’s downtown area — the organization finds itself on the brink of a potential battle over the future of historic preservation in the...
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City setting the stage?
After leaving the Center for Contemporary Arts when the rent went up, Santa Fe’s avant-garde theater company has set up shop temporarily in midtown. Exodus Ensemble will perform its newest production, CYRANO, in office space at Aspect Media Village,...
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Creeping close to U.S. cattle
Rancher Carlos Salazar said he’s “staying tuned” to see if a sometimes-deadly pest will return to the U.S. for the first time in decades and threaten the cattle industry. Hundreds of cattle winter on the Salazar family’s 3,000 or so acres in the shadow...
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STAKING CLAIMS
A group of monks piled into Harry Browne’s one-room cabin earlier this year for morning Mass. They left proof of their presence: a crucifix and a medal of St. Benedict. Browne isn’t a member of their flock, but the group was brought to his property in...
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‘ALL PASSED DOWN’
Frank Wildcat Torres, his face painted red, was in his fourth day of fasting Friday when he pulled a wildcat headdress from a suitcase in a dimly lit corner of Tingley Arena. “I won’t eat till tomorrow,” said Wildcat Torres (Mescalero Apache and...
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Driving up job interest
Chaparral Elementary students were given a rare opportunity Thursday: sitting in the driver’s seat of a school bus. Their eyes widened at the buttons and levers at their disposal as they took turns in the seat, envisioning themselves as the bus drivers...
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Housing leads in forum
While some state governments are increasingly overriding local zoning to combat housing shortages, don’t expect the next governor of New Mexico to embrace the same tactic. Asked during a forum Wednesday whether state government has a role in...
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Enough for a trickle
Astream of water flowed down the Santa Fe River as volunteers picked up discarded trash, needles and other debris along the waterway as part of Saturday’s annual Great American Cleanup. The Santa Fe Water Division has begun releasing 2 cubic feet per...
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‘Failed by the system’
The hole in Brittany Serna’s wall is patched, but not yet painted over. It stands out — white against dark teal, several inches away from a hanging portrait of her daughter — and it serves as a reminder of the evening in May 2025 when Serna called 911...
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Modulating successes
After four years of living on the streets, Desiree Martinez was in survival mode. She developed a drug addiction while grappling with the stressors of homelessness, which she said include “being judged daily” and “losing your dignity,” along with the...
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Powwow’s last dance
TALBUQUERQUE he Gathering of Nations Powwow was in its seventh year in 1990 when Dennis Banks, a co-founder of the American Indian Movement, urged a boycott of the event, arguing it exploited Native culture and was run by a non-Indigenous...
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‘No one was hurt’ in crash
Both people on board got out safely after a small plane bound for Taos crash-landed Friday morning at a resort in La Cienega just after taking flight in Santa Fe. Officials said the single-engine Cirrus SR22 lost power and then deployed a parachute,...
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HOW TO HANDLE HISTORY
The bright white building at the corner of McKenzie Street and Griffin Street in downtown Santa Fe stands in stark contrast to the adobe earth tones in most of the historic district. The white walls are the legacy of the building’s former life as the...
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‘LIKE A GRAND OPENING’
For Wise Fool New Mexico leaders, Entrapping Our Abundance doesn’t feel like a show opening — it feels bigger. “I think we’re still getting the word out that we’re opened and where we are,” said Alishiya Kapoor, executive director of the circus arts...
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Edgewood firestorm erupts
Facing a packed meeting room full of furious residents ready to spar with town officials, Edgewood commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday night to reopen negotiations with Santa Fe County for fire and emergency medical services. “We’re on the right...
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‘Change is happening’
Santa Fe Mayor Michael Garcia was sporting a pair of his trademark tennis shoes on his 100th day in office Friday. It was a fitting sartorial choice for a mayor who has jumped feet first into a busy job, navigating a fast-paced New Mexico legislative...
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Model worth repeating?
When residents raise concerns about the negative effects new homeless services could have in her district, Santa Fe City Councilor Jamie Cassutt said, she likes to bring up Consuelo’s Place as a counterexample. Though the noncongregate homeless...
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Dangerously low flow
Jimmy Beal is waiting to see if the Rio Grande will give him enough water this spring to plant a few of his 100 acres in oats. The irrigation ditch that runs along the river in Albquerque’s South Valley and feeds his crops was as dry as he’d ever seen...
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ROCK in a hard place
Acommunity engagement meeting about a new homeless shelter planned for Santa Fe’s south side began with an acknowledgement of the elephant in the room. The elephant, of course, was the mountain of concerns people have about the operation of the shelter...
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New chapter in adult ed
As her lines approached, Emma López, 11, glanced anxiously at her father across the classroom. Orlando López, with a script of Charlotte’s Web in hand, gave a thumbs up before his daughter read the role of Charlotte she’d just been assigned. “Children...
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Edgewood under fire
Jean DeMarte is so concerned about a score of decisions Edgewood elected officials have made in recent years she would like to see the town government dissolved. At 72, DeMarte has an irregular heartbeat and is unsettled by the notion that Santa Fe...
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FAITHS ALIGNED
Children ran throughout Temple Beth Shalom’s social hall Thursday night, searching for a piece of matzah, or flatbread, that Rabbi Neil Amswych had hidden somewhere in the building. A way for the younger members of Santa Fe’s largest Jewish...
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‘A PLACE VERY SPECIAL’
BCHIMAY” eneath crosses set in the hills on the road to Chimayó, Joseph Suina spoke of the wounds he nursed during his second tour in the Vietnam War in the 1960s. Suina, 82, a Marine Corps veteran and former governor of Cochiti Pueblo, had thought of...
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BACK TO THE MOON
FCAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. our astronauts embarked on a high-stakes flight around the moon Wednesday, humanity’s first lunar voyage in more than half a century and the thrilling leadoff in NASA’s push toward a landing in two years. Carrying three Americans...
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‘Right on top of us’
Fred Diehl reacted with horror when he heard the house next door was being turned into a vacation rental with a lighted pickleball court. “The court would be 81 feet from my bedroom window,” said Diehl, envisioning partying vacationers with paddles...
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Filling a cavity in N.M.
Diana Halili’s path to becoming a dentist started as a child, when she attended dental appointments with her mother — who hated going to the dentist. That changed, Halili said, when the family found a provider who could dispel some of the terror her...
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Cleared for takeoff
New Mexico lawmakers didn’t fund some big-ticket items on Santa Fe’s wishlist for legislative capital outlay this year, such as upgrades to an aging wastewater treatment plant and infrastructure improvements for redevelopment of the city-owned midtown...
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‘We’ve lost a lot of our humanity’
When Patricia Cruz and her friends decided to make a sign railing against President Donald Trump, they were stumped. “There [are] so many things we could be protesting,” Cruz, a 69-year-old retired teacher, said as her group marched through downtown...
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‘This new era for IAIA’
Two paths have led Shelly Lowe to the presidency of the Institute of American Indian Arts. On paper, it’s her résumé. Before stepping into the role in August, Lowe spent roughly a decade working for the National Endowment for the Humanities, and before...
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‘A CHANCE TO PROCESS’
The Santa Fe school board voted unanimously Thursday evening to strike César Chávez’s name from a south-side elementary school effective immediately, temporarily renaming it White Tigers Elementary — a reference to its mascot. District staff will...
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‘It’s going to be grim’
As far back as anyone can remember, heaps of winter snow would reliably cloak the high-mountain ridges looming over this Northern New Mexico village. The snow never really arrived in Truchas this year, amid much prayer and alarm. Walter L. Sandoval,...
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$375M META LOSS
ASanta Fe County jury delivered a $375 million verdict Tuesday in a landmark case against the world’s largest social media company. After deliberating for less than a day following a six-week trial in state District Court, jurors found Meta had...
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Uphill push for ROCk
A Santa Fe nonprofit plans to move ahead with construction of a new 125-bed homeless shelter on the city’s south side despite a failed attempt to secure legislative capital outlay for the project. Interfaith Community Shelter — the founder and...
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‘It’s helped me so much’
Carlos Estrada struggled for seven months to find a job after leaving the Santa Fe County jail. He was hired only after applying for a position with Urban Alchemy, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that operates the city of Santa Fe’s homeless shelter on...
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SHELTER STILL IN TRANSITION
ASan Francisco-based nonprofit that has operated Santa Fe’s homeless shelter on a one-year emergency contract since August is running short on funds. By the end of January — with six months of service remaining — Urban Alchemy had less than a fifth of...
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‘We rejoice all the same’
It began as a whisper. With each person entering the doors in the early morning light — adorned in everything from the embroidered silks of South Asia to the vibrant dashikis of West Africa — the takbeer, a collective spoken prayer affirming the...
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Pyrotechnics in the park?
Santa Fe officials are searching for a new site for the city’s Fourth of July celebration and fireworks display, which has been staged for a decade at a southside shopping center. The city has listed 11 possible locations for the show’s move, which...
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Breaking silence on Chávez accusations
Ana Murguia remembers the day the man she had regarded as a hero called her house and summoned her to see him. She walked along a dirt trail, entered the rundown building, passed his secretary and stepped into his office. He locked the door, as he...
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PUTTING A SPRING IN ST. PADDY’S DAY
Graham Spencer, 10, leaps while dancing to the music of the Albuquerque and Four Corners Pipe Band, comprised of the Great Highland Scottish bagpipes and Scottish snare, tenor and bass drums, on Tuesday at the St. Patrick’s Day celebration at Second...
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Selling N.M. on Jupiter
As New Mexicans weighed in on two natural gas-powered microgrids set to fuel the massive data center campus Project Jupiter, partners and allies of the project have been pushing to change hearts and minds. Americans are split on data centers but seem...
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Vital signs improving
Randy Murray has tried out nearly every kind of care La Familia Health has to offer. He first arrived at the Santa Fe organization about 15 years ago in search of grief support after the sudden death of his partner. He still sees one of La Familia’s...
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Fire season year round?
Chain saws buzzed. Axes thunked into trunks. The notched tree tipped slowly, then shuddered to the ground last week as a youth crew worked to clear wildfire fuel near the Randall Davey Audubon Center and Sanctuary. For the Forest Stewards Guild youth...
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Family of injured man sues Santa Fe
Three members of a family caught up in a 2024 police chase and fatal shooting are suing the city of Santa Fe. George Anthony Theragood was shot in the arm, his wife April Jaramillo was detained and their son Juanito Theragood, then 20, was tackled to...
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Ski Santa Fe announces it will close two weeks early
Anyone paying attention to the Northern New Mexico weather this year probably wasn’t shocked at Ski Santa Fe’s announcement Thursday that it will end its season two weeks early. The ski area, which was supposed to stay open through April 5, received...
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BRAVING OUT QUARTERFINAL
Braves fans celebrate a 3-pointer during the Santa Fe Indian School’s Class 3A State Tournament quarterfinal against Navajo Prep at the Rio Rancho Events Center on Wednesday. Indian School won and advances to play St. Michael’s on Friday. See full...
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New sheriff in town
Each of the three candidates vying to become the next Santa Fe County sheriff has years of experience in local law enforcement. Former Santa Fe police Chief Paul Joye, who had his first campaign event last week, is arguably the best known of the trio...
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‘Life was just starting’
The front porch became the site of a makeshift memorial. Balloons, bouquets of flowers, candles and stuffed animals dotted the porch and yard of a smoke-damaged house on Pecos Street in Las Vegas, where three young adults — Austin Apodaca, 22, Geno...
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Justice visit draws crowds
Agood judge needs legal skill, strong writing abilities and the appropriate temperament, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett told a crowd at the Lensic Performing Arts Center. But more than anything, Barrett said during her Sunday appearance...
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Dueling views on war
“MALBUQUERQUE ake Iran Great Again,” and “Thank you Mr. President” read a sign at a rally of dozens demonstrating on a street corner in favor of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. Below the text, Iranian crown prince and dissident Reza Pahlavi smiled...
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Descanso disappears
USTANLEY nlike the stain Jeffrey Epstein brought on New Mexico, a roadside memorial placed outside the gates of the former Zorro Ranch to honor victims of the notorious sex offender has been wiped clean. The action could constitute a crime because the...
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Safety or surveillance?
Santa Fe police received several calls Thursday afternoon alleging a woman had used counterfeit bills at three businesses on Cerrillos Road. Instead of dispatching an officer to the area to look for her, they sent a drone. Detective Enrique Moreno sat...
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Marketing their campaigns
Days before they make their pitch to party insiders at their respective preprimary conventions, the five Republicans and two Democrats running for governor of New Mexico delivered their spiel to members of Albuquerque’s Hispanic business community...
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Española elects new mayor
ESPA—OLA ennis Tim Salazar appears to have handily unseated Mayor John Ramon Vigil. Unofficial election results provided by the city clerk after the polls closed Tuesday night showed Dennis Tim Salazar, a former city councilor, with almost 49% of the...
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Courts rope in cattle feud
The approaching desert dusk did nothing to settle Travis Regensberg’s nerves as he and a small herd of stray cattle awaited the appearance of a state livestock inspector with whom he had a 30-year feud. This was Nov. 3, 2023, and, as Regensberg tells...
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PASA DAY
◆ A peek inside Art Vault’s ‘Ephemeral Acts’ ◆ Washington Opera on Kennedy Center ◆ New home for Cormac McCarthy’s library ◆ Filmmakers: Titillating tale of ‘Pillion’
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Zorro Ranch remake reined in
At the entrance to the sprawling Santa Fe County ranch once owned by Jeffrey Epstein, a new front gate — with concrete turrets connected by an arch across the roadway — sits unfinished. State and county officials have ordered a pause on construction at...
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Windy Trump: U.S. winning
President Donald Trump declared during a marathon State of the Union on Tuesday that “we’re winning so much” — insisting he’d sparked an economic boom at home and imposed a new world order abroad in hopes it can counter his sliding approval...
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OLD TIMERS ON ICE
For some, ice hockey draws to mind high-speed collisions, yelling and knocked-out teeth. That isn’t the reality for the Old Timers — though their games often feature a healthy dose of trash-talk. “College-level and pro is called ‘check hockey’ where,...
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‘We just get the scraps’
As the afternoon bell rang at Lybrook Elementary/Mid School in Counselor, Amari Werito and his brother, Azarius, jogged to the Chevy truck where their father, Billton Werito, waited to drive them home. Pickup time is always tense. As the boys climbed...
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Underground potential
KC Peterson checked a gauge on an injection well at the Lightning Dock Geothermal Plant. “Everything’s normal,” the operations and maintenance tech said, marking the measurements on his clipboard at 4 p.m. Wednesday. He’s one of a seven-person team...
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Alternative arrangement
As temperatures dipped to dangerous lows and Santa Fe enacted a “Code Blue” in mid-January, Mayor Michael Garcia rode along with the city’s Alternative Response Unit as it offered support to people living on the streets. Garcia wrote in a Jan. 10...
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