Latest news with #SantaFe
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Authorities seeking wildfire equipment stolen from New Mexico Forestry Division
Jun. 27—New Mexico State Police is asking for the public's help in recovering wildfire equipment worth $180,000 that was stolen earlier this month from the state Forestry Division. The thefts occurred as several wildfires burned thousands of acres in the southern part of the state. "The loss of this equipment absolutely made things worse for firefighters and responders on incidents this week and the week before," said George Ducker, spokesman for the division. "We spent a lot of time sourcing, purchasing and building the equipment ourselves." The stolen equipment includes two white utility box trailers, a red Kubota tractor, a black open utility trailer and a Camp-In-A-Box, which contains necessary equipment for setting up overnight camps during wildland fires, the department said. State Police said the thefts occurred on June 7 and 8, when security footage captured a Black Chevrolet Tahoe accessing the Forest Division depot on Richards Avenue in Santa Fe on three separate occasions. The facility's gates were locked and no personnel were on site at the time. The Forestry Division has been working with State Police to recover the equipment, but the division has no leads at this time. In the past month, New Mexico has experienced multiple wildfires, including two that torched over 100,000 acres in and around the Gila National Forest and the Desert Willow Complex Fire that burned 10 homes and injured several firefighters in Los Lunas. Of the items stolen, the Camp-In-A-Box, would have been the most helpful to have during the wildfires, Ducker said, and "certainly would have been used in the last week." "I don't know what goes through the minds of folks who want to steal this kind of equipment," Ducker said. "Whoever did this clearly doesn't care about who they impact, and they don't care about the downstream effects of something like this." State Police spokesperson Amanda Richards said that while the investigation is ongoing, authorities are asking the public to provide any information that could help. "Investigations are complex and they take time... but at this point it doesn't hurt to ask the public for their help," Richards said. Anyone with information regarding the theft is encouraged to contact State Police officer Edward Quintana at 505-425-6771.
The Independent
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Rust movie crew members settle lawsuit against producers and Alec Baldwin in fatal shooting
Actor Alex Baldwin and producers of the 2024 film 'Rust' have settled a civil lawsuit filed by several movie crew members, court documents released Friday reveal. The Western film turned fatal when cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot while Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer of the movie, was rehearsing with a loaded gun on the set near Santa Fe in October 2021. Director Joel Souza was also injured in the shooting. Baldwin has claimed he was told there were no live rounds in the gun. He also claimed he did not pull the trigger, which prosecutors say forensic reports disprove. The civil lawsuit was brought by three crew members who claim they suffered emotional distress from the shooting. The suit alleges that film producers failed to follow industry safety rules, which they have denied. Plaintiffs to the lawsuit included Ross Addiego, a front-line crew member who witnessed the shooting at close range. A charge of involuntary manslaughter against Baldwin was dismissed at trial last year on allegations that police and prosecutors withheld evidence from the defense. 'Rust' armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and completed an 18-month sentence in May. Prosecutors accused Gutierrez-Reed of unwittingly bringing live ammunition on set and failing to follow basic gun safety protocols. Addiego testified at Gutierrez-Reed's trial and appeared before the grand jury which indicted Baldwin. The filming of 'Rust' was completed in Montana. The Western was released in theaters in May.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Santa Fe city councilors want say if mayor decides to fire three key city officials
Santa Fe voters in November could see a proposed city charter amendment on their ballots requiring the City Council's consent before the mayor can remove a city manager, city attorney or city clerk. Currently, the city charter requires the mayor to get the council's consent when appointing people to the three positions but not when removing people. Councilors Pilar Faulkner, Lee Garcia and Amanda Chavez presented a resolution Wednesday to the council to change this. The resolution comes as election season is in full swing in Santa Fe, with seven mayoral candidates vying to replace Mayor Alan Webber, who is not running for reelection. Faulkner and Garcia said the resolution was not prompted by concerns about any candidate for mayor, but rather the councilors' broader concerns about checks and balances in Santa Fe's governing body, which has a full-time "strong" mayor. "If you have a powerful mayor and a weak council, you don't really have a safe or effective or responsible way of managing the city," Faulkner said. Faulkner said the city manager, city clerk and city attorney work for both the council and the mayor. Therefore, she said both the council and the mayor should have the ability to fire, or say no to the firing of, people in those positions. "If you don't have that balance, then there's the potential for the mayor to be the de facto city attorney, city clerk and city manager because the mayor holds those individuals' positions and is the only one that holds those positions in a place of authority," Faulkner said. In Santa Fe, the city manager is the highest-paid position. City Manager Mark Scott makes $225,000 annually, The New Mexican reported in February. "They are charged with a lot of responsibility, and I think the governing body needs to be able to be involved with those decisions," Garcia said. In creating the resolution, Faulkner was also thinking about its long-term implications. "You can say that an individual who is a mayor is a good person, and they will not abuse the power, but we don't know if every mayor we're going to get would be a good leader and not abuse the power," she said. If the council votes to pass the resolution, and if voters approve it, it will take effect Jan. 1, Garcia said. The new mayor would then have to get council approval before removing a city manager, city attorney or city clerk. Mayoral candidate and former Councilor JoAnne Vigil Coppler said she believes the mayor should have the authority to appoint and remove a city manager, city attorney or city clerk without council approval. "If a City Council wants to be involved in that, you can't have several masters," Vigil Coppler said. "The city manager reports to the mayor, period." Councilor Michael Garcia said he is 'on the fence' about the proposed charter amendment. Though running for mayor, he said he is approaching the legislation from the perspective of a government administrator. Michael Garcia said he would consider supporting the resolution if it was amended to make an exception for when a new mayor first takes office. As it is currently written, Garcia said the legislation does not allow an incoming mayor to choose his or her own leadership team, something he does not think is appropriate. 'It could really handcuff an administration' to appointees who may not support the new leader's agenda, Garcia said. Faulkner said she disagrees with such an amendment. "It's not the mayor's team; it's the city's team," Faulkner said. The deadline for the council to adopt ordinances or resolutions that establish a ballot question is Aug. 26. Lee Garcia and Faulkner plan to propose two other charter amendments, they said. Michael Garcia said he has been considering introducing a charter amendment requiring the mayor to submit the fiscal year budget proposal to the council by Feb. 1 to allow more time to discuss it and make revisions, but the legislation may work better as an ordinance. Faulkner, Lee Garcia and Chavez's resolution will go to the Public Works and Utilities, Quality of Life and Finance committees before returning to the council for a vote July 9. "To me, it's like a security dilemma," Faulkner said. "When both parties are equally vulnerable and equally armed, there's less of a chance of conflict happening because everyone knows there's a balance of power." Staff writer Carina Julig contributed to this report.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
'Past their due date'? Justin Greene's rivals in Santa Fe mayor's race call out his 'lack of experience'
Santa Fe County Commissioner Justin Greene came out swinging Wednesday when he formally announced his campaign for mayor. Though he didn't drop any names, Greene, now the seventh candidate to jump into the crowded race, asserted some of his rivals are "retired" and "just past their due date" — perhaps not the wisest choice of words in a city with an increasingly growing graying population. In a wide-ranging interview Thursday on The New Mexican's Around the Roundhouse podcast, Greene, 56, sought to clarify his remarks after being asked whether such a message would resonate in a city where a quarter of the population is over the age of 65 and among the most loyal voters. Santa Fe mayoral candidate Justin Greene shares his vision for the city and touts his experience "The point that I was making there is that we need an effective mayor, right?" he said. "Everybody, everybody — even kids that can't vote, right? — have a voice in our governance, right, and talking about the future and talking about things that are needed in the time right now. Right now, we need somebody that's effective, so somebody that's at the peak of their career with the knowledge base, you know, hasn't been sitting on the sidelines for a decade." Former councilors fire back Asked which candidates he was specifically referring to who are has-beens, Greene didn't call out anyone by name. "Some people had run for mayor in the past, and maybe this is time for some new blood," he said. Two of the candidates, Ron Trujillo and JoAnne Vigil Coppler, are both former city councilors who have unsuccessfully run for mayor. Both were defeated by Mayor Alan Webber, who announced in May he would not be seeking a third term. "Is that who we're talking about here?" The New Mexican asked Greene. "I'll let you. Yeah. OK. Thank you," he responded with a smirk. Vigil Coppler fired back at Greene with a retort reminiscent of former President Ronald Reagan when he was asked during a presidential debate in 1984 if he was too old to be president at age 73. "If Mr. Greene wishes to display his ego by making discriminatory remarks about a candidate's age, then I am free to exploit his middle-age youth and complete lack of experience," said Vigil Coppler, 71. During the 1984 debate against Democratic opponent Walter Mondale, Reagan, a Republican known for his sharp wit and sense of humor, quipped, "I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience." Vigil Coppler said Reagan's remark remains one of the best lines in American politics, though she noted her remark wasn't plagiarized because it was different. "I'll tell you something else," she added. "Perhaps Mr. Green is taking a line out of the current mayor's playbook [because] he told one of the department directors that she reminded him of an expired date on a milk carton on the shelf." Vigil Coppler declined to disclose the director's identity, saying she asked her not to. A spokesperson for Webber declined comment. Trujillo, who is the same age as Greene, swung back at Greene, too. "There's no expiration on fighting for Santa Fe or caring about its future," he said. Trujillo also noted Greene is campaigning for mayor while serving out his first term as a county commissioner. "Commissioner Greene serving half a term doesn't make him the expert on who's seasoned or who should run for mayor," Trujillo said, adding he delivered "real results" to his council district during his 12 years in office. "I fulfilled my commitment to the voters who elected me to three full four-year terms," he said. "I didn't quit on them to chase a higher-profile office." Greene said he has a responsibility to finish out his term as a county commissioner. "I'm sure that I can balance both of them," he said, referring to his mayoral campaign and his elective office. Not the only Spanish speaker During his campaign announcement Wednesday, Greene also said he believed he is the only mayoral candidate who speaks Spanish, which is false. At least two others, Trujillo and Oscar Rodriguez, a former Taos town manager and Santa Fe finance director, can speak the language. Rodriguez, whose Spanish is impeccable, unlike Greene's, said he's known Greene "as a friend" for years. "Now I'm thinking that I regret so much that I was not able to talk to him in Spanish. Had I known, I would have told him about all my consulting experience in Latin America, precisely in the area of city services," said Rodriguez, who repeated his response word for word in Spanish. Greene speaks closer to what is known as Portuñol in Latin America, or a mixture of Spanish and Portuguese. He said his first second language was Portuguese, which he said he is stronger in than Spanish, primarily because of his Brazilian wife. When informed by The New Mexican on Thursday that other mayoral candidates speak Spanish, Greene said it was good to know. "I think that is definitely an aspect that allows us to reach out to different communities across Santa Fe," he said. As far as saying some of the candidates are past their prime, Greene said he has friends who are seniors who say they wouldn't have the energy to be mayor. "This is going to be an energetic, hard job to do for four years," he said. "As a county commissioner, I'm super hardworking." Greene said he attends "meeting after meeting," routinely collaborates with county staff and responds to constituents at all hours of the day. "I get responses from constituents that are like, 'Wait, did you just email me [on] Sunday morning at three o'clock in the morning?' " he said. "If I'm up, and my phone is near me, I will respond as best I can, and that's just who I am, just a hard worker. "And so that was the point, there, right? You know, some people when they get to a point in their life, they should enjoy retirement. I'm just not there yet."
Calgary Herald
8 hours ago
- Calgary Herald
Kidnappers flew from Vancouver to Calgary to abduct city teen for ransom, court told
Kidnappers flew from Vancouver to Calgary to abduct a city teen who was bound with duct tape and held for ransom, court heard Friday. Article content Reading in a statement of agreed facts, Crown prosecutor Katherine Love told Justice Margaret Keelaghan of the female victim's harrowing experience. Article content Article content She said Raejean Hudson, 25, and Enyi-Egbe Idedevbo, 29, along with an unidentified third man, staked out the 19-year-old victim on April 29, 2023, before returning to her place of work three days later. Article content Article content When the girl, identified by the initials L.E., finished her shift on May 2, 2023, she wen out to the parking lot to her car, Love said. Article content Article content 'Upon reaching the driver's door of her vehicle, L.E. was grabbed by one of the males while the other two remained in the front seat of (their) vehicle. That male forced her to the floor of the back seat of the Santa Fe,' Love said. Article content 'She was forced into a position where she could not see where the vehicle was being driving.' Article content The trio took the victim to an Airbnb by the people that had been arranged by the people who hired them, Love said. Article content Victim had no idea why she was being kidnapped Article content 'There L.E. was taken to a room in the basement. She could see that there was something like black plastic covering the walls and floor. L.E.'s wrists, ankles and eyes were then bound with duct tape. One of the males recorded L.E. like this while another held an unlit butane torch in front of her face.' Article content Article content Less than a half hour after the abduction the victim's brother, who was overseas received the video from an unknown individual on a social media platform. Article content A still photo showing the teen bound by duct tape around her wrists, ankles and face, sitting on black plastic with a hand holding a butane tank was included in the agreed facts. Article content 'It shows the butane torch, Ms. L.E., and the black covering in the room,' Love said. Article content 'At the time she was kidnapped, she was unaware that she was related to anyone who was. She had no idea why she was being abducted,' the prosecutor said.
