A-4
THE NEW MEXICAN Saturday, July 13, 2013
Weighs: Municipal Court case one of many suits involving school Continued from Page A-1 unreasonable. “The whole idea behind demolition by neglect is that a property owner cannot allow an historic property to deteriorate and then claim it is too expensive to repair the property,” he wrote. “Historic preservation is a battle waged at the local level. The city of Santa Fe is authorized to designate historic districts and landmark structures and to regulate the erection, alteration and destruction.” David Rasch, the city’s historic preservation officer, said on the stand
that attempted fixes to the campus during the time between the notice of violation and the court hearings were insufficient, and he testified that no permits for repairs were applied for or issued. The Municipal Court case is just one of several legal battles involving the campus. The city first sought an emergency injunction last fall to require repairs that would stop deterioration of buildings there, but the matter was sent to state District Court. There, District Judge Barbara Vigil ruled that the city’s request had to be included as
part of another court case involving the property. In that matter, the landowners have sued the city, accusing it of “taking” the property by refusing to permit demolition or relocation of some structures on the campus. Jury selection is scheduled for later this month in that case, which is being heard by District Judge Sarah Singleton. Next, the city filed a notice of violation in Municipal Court, seeking a court order to bring 13 landmark buildings on the campus into compliance with minimum maintenance standards and to secure the campus
from vandalism and trespass. That’s the case on Yalman’s desk. Pueblo Bank and Trust Co. of Albuquerque has also sued Tafoya and his wife for foreclosure, claiming they had fallen behind on making payments on the $4 million they borrowed to buy the property. In addition, a federal grand jury indicted Tafoya on charges that he made false statements to get government contracts. A trial in that case is scheduled for mid-November. The boarding school was founded in 1887 and was operated through 1998 by an order of nuns called the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. New Mex-
Track: RFID system to cost $900,000 Continued from Page A-1 street to where that bus is.” But, Perez emphasized, the system can’t track a student who chooses to walk home, hitch a ride with a friend without informing anyone, or stay late at school without Mom or Dad knowing. So guardians and parents might still be left in the dark. Perez, who started his job in March, said the district rarely gets calls about missing kids. But, he said, a lot of times parents call and ask, “Where’s my kid? It’s 10 minutes past bus drop-off time.” He said the district cannot prevent kids from walking or grabbing a ride with someone they know. “We can only keep track of who is on the bus. … With this system, we can at least tell parents, ‘Your kid did not take the bus home today.’ ” He said in some cases, one parent knows that a child is getting home by alternative means, but the other parent does not, leading to miscommunications, worried phone calls and confusion. Perez said roughly 9,000 of the district’s 13,000 students take school buses to and from school sites. The district has 88 regular buses and employs about 100 drivers and driver aides. The transportation budget for school year 2013-14 is about $3.5 million, and the new RFID system costs about $900,000, Perez said.
School districts in other parts of the country — Georgia, Colorado and Texas, for instance — have announced similar initiatives over the past year or so. One district in the San Antonio, Texas, area recently started a pilot program to utilize technological tracking devices implanted in students’ identification cards to monitor their whereabouts on school property only. Some organizations, including some chapters of the Americans Civil Liberties Union, have suggested that such devices are a possible infringement on students’ privacy. Micah McCoy, communications manager for the ACLU of New Mexico, said via email Thursday, “We are always concerned that new surveillance technologies employed by the government will be misused. Before we let the government issue tracking devices to our children, we should first ensure there are clear limits to their use and clear consequences for overstepping those limits.” Gabe Romero, director of safety and security for Santa Fe Public Schools, said, “I know there may be some concern about tracking our children too much, but it’s the difference between relying on the bus driver’s memory and having a tool that helps us identify when a kid comes on the bus and off the bus.” For instance, a parent may become concerned if a child inadvertently gets off at the wrong stop. While bus drivers do their
best to prevent that, and usually know where children are supposed to get off, such mishaps occur, Romero said. In this case, the RFID program will at least let the district and the parents know where the child disembarked — though again, it will not pinpoint that child’s location once he or she is off the bus. “It does not track them beyond the bus,” Romero stressed. Parents who want their children to ride the bus must pre-register their children before the school year resumes in midAugust, Perez said. By the end of July, the registration forms should be on the district’s website — www.sfps.info — but until then, he said the best way to register is to visit the district’s transportation department on Yucca Road, next to Santa Fe High School, between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. any weekday. Parents must bring provide their children’s names and student identification numbers, but he said there is no need to bring any other documentation. Children who are not registered in the school district must do so before applying for an RFID card. Contact Robert Nott at 986-3021 or rnott@sfnewmexican.com.
Stirs: Some question Depp’s motives, timing Continued from Page A-1 mark on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to give back to the tribe because it’s important to their culture. The site is where 300 Native American men, women and children were killed by the 7th Cavalry in 1890. “I am doing my best to make that happen,” he told the newspaper of a possible purchase. “It’s land they were pushed on to, and then they were massacred there. It really saddens me.” Landowner James Czywczynski, whose family has owned the property since 1968, is trying to sell the 40-acre fraction of the historic landmark and another 40-acre parcel for $4.9 million. The two parcels of land have been assessed for $14,000. The sale has sparked outrage among tribal members who feel Czywczynski is trying to profit from the killing of their ancestors. Since the interview was published last week, Depp’s been quiet, and there’s been no record of an offer made for the land. Depp’s publicist did not respond to repeated calls and emails seeking comment, while Czywczynski, who has said his goal has always been to get the land back to the tribe, did not return calls. Oglala Sioux President Bryan Brewer, whose tribe lives on Pine Ridge, said he has not been contacted by anyone in Depp’s camp and was first notified of the actor’s interest when someone from England called him for reaction. Brewer said he and a group of descendants of Wounded Knee survivors are hoping to meet with Czywczynski soon. The possibility of the celebrity purchase
is generating debate in Native American communities. Some question Depp’s motives due to the timing of The Lone Ranger release, which debuted with a dismal $19.5 million in ticket sales on its opening weekend earlier this month. Depp, who plays the part of the Native American character Tonto in the film, has been accused of playing into stereotypes and misappropriating Native American culture. Tonto speaks broken English, wears a stuffed crow on his head and has a face painted with white and black stripes. Some Native Americans view the character as a parody. Depp’s also been criticized for saying that he does have Native American ancestry, but he’s unsure if it’s Cherokee or Creek. “People I’ve talked to think he’s in it for redemption because he’s gotten bad reviews,” said Oglala Sioux tribal member Dawn Moves Camp, 30. Besides its proximity to the burial grounds, the land includes the site of a former trading post burned down during the 1973 Wounded Knee uprising, in which hundreds of American Indian Movement protesters occupied the town built at the massacre site. The 71-day standoff that left two tribal members dead and a federal agent seriously wounded is credited with raising awareness about Native American struggles and giving rise to a wider protest movement. Depp’s purchase of the land would be an easy answer for the tribe, Moves Camp said, but it would also be dehumanizing. “It’s also buying into the idea that our ancestry and history have a price tag on them,” she said, later adding: “We have
pride too. We’d rather it be done in an honorable way. I hope our tribe finds some way to buy the land back without outside help.” For some descendants of those killed in the massacre, how the tribe gets the land doesn’t matter. What does is that the tribe gets it back, said Joseph Brings Plenty, a former chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe who had several ancestors killed in the 1890 massacre. Although the land sits on the Pine Ridge reservation, many of the descendants of the massacre victims and survivors are members of several different Lakota tribes. “Honestly, I don’t think it would be a bad thing if Johnny Depp would purchase it with the cooperation of the tribes,” he said. What’s most important, he said, is that the land is preserved and an accurate account of what happened is shared with visitors through a monument. Tribal members have disagreed over the years about how to commemorate the lives lost at Wounded Knee. While there is a small monument listing some of the names of those killed in 1890, some tribal members think a larger statue or structure is needed to educate the public. Sonny Skyhawk, a Sicangu Lakota actor and founder of American Indians in Film and Television, said although he was not a fan of Depp playing Tonto in The Lone Ranger, purchasing the land would be a “great opportunity” for Depp to step forward and do something for Native Americans. “If it’s from the heart, we accept it. If it’s not from the heart, we’ll accept it anyways because it’s such a meaningful undertaking when you look at the significance of what the sacred ground next to it is,” he said.
Hospital: Union says staffing ratios better Continued from Page A-1 hospital will make its case in an advertisement in Sunday’s New Mexican. “Five Department of Health surveyors spent four days conducting a thorough and rigorous investigation and no stone was left unturned,” reads “An Open Letter to the Community,” signed by hospital President and CEO Bruce Tassin. “Upon completion of their investigation and during the customary exit conference, the lead DOH surveyor stated ‘that the complaint was not substantiated.’ ” The Department of Health said by email Friday, “The survey process at Christus St. Vincent Hospital is not complete. [The department] can’t provide any information until the survey process is completed.” The department has declined to offer a time frame for when its work would be finished. Meanwhile, the local branch of the health
workers union, District 1199, issued a statement Friday titled, “Have Our Prayers Been Answered? Finally Better Staffing Rations at Christus St. Vincent Hospital…maybe.” The release says staffing levels at the hospital have been unusually robust this past week: “Does it have anything to do with the New Mexico Department of Health being at Christus this week to investigate the complaint we filed on behalf of hundreds of hospital employees about a month ago because patient care was at risk?” District 1199 President Fonda Osborn said in a statement, “There were far better staffing ratios this week than we have seen for almost two years.” She added that “nurses have noticed a great number of administrators like the CEO, managers and directors” making rounds on the hospital floor. Delgado said there were more senior executives, managers and directors visiting
patients in their rooms this week — and for the past several weeks — not because of the complaint, but because of a new policy that requires them each to visit at least one patient room every day to check on patient concerns. Delgado said that with each of the approximately 100 top administrators at the hospital visiting at least one room per day, they are able to achieve 100 percent coverage — ensuring that every room gets a visit from someone in management every day. Delgado noted that some rooms have two patients. Tassin, who has visited patients himself, told The New Mexican on Friday that the practice of having senior executives and top managers make rounds is new to Santa Fe, but is already done in most of Christus Health’s 40 hospitals and is in place to get more patient feedback and establish personal contact.
ico Consolidated bought the land in 2005 with the intention of brokering a deal to sell part of the land for expansion of the adjacent Santa Fe National Cemetery. State and city officials subsequently put in place historic property designations, and federal officials decided against acquiring it. Other potential buyers have also shown interest but backed away in recent years. Contact Julie Ann Grimm at 986-3017 or jgrimm@sfnewmexican.com. Follow her on Twitter @julieanngrimm.
Snowden to seek asylum in Russia The Associated Press
MOSCOW — Edward Snowden emerged from weeks of hiding in a Moscow airport Friday, still defiant but willing to stop leaking secrets about U.S. surveillance programs if Russia will give him asylum until he can move on to Latin America. Snowden’s meeting with Russian officials and rights activists cleared up uncertainty about where the former National Security Agency systems analyst is, but left open the big question: What comes next? Snowden said he was ready to meet President Vladimir Putin’s condition that he stop leaking secrets if it means Russia would give him shelter that could eventually help him get to Latin America. There was no immediate response from Putin’s office, but
speakers of both houses of the Kremlincontrolled parliament spoke in support of Edward Snowden Snowden’s plea. Vyacheslav Nikonov, a senior lawmaker with the main Kremlin party, described Snowden as “a bit nervous but smiling” and noted his “perfect haircut.” He said that when asked to describe his stay at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, Snowden answered with one word: “Safe.” Snowden is believed to have been stuck in the airport’s transit zone since his arrival on June 23 from Hong Kong, where he had gone before his revelations were made public.
In brief
The dog disappeared last June after being scared by a hot-air balloon. Her disappearance prompted a feverish community search and daily visits to the city pet shelter.
Santa Fe police are holding a 22-year-old woman on criminal charges in connection with a January pursesnatching at a southside supermarket that sent a 77-year-old woman to the hospital. A Santa Ashley Fe Police Richardson Department statement Friday said detectives, with help from witnesses, tracked Ashley Richardson to Dallas, where she was arrested and extradited back to New Mexico. The statement said that after interrogation, Richardson confessed Thursday to stealing the woman’s purse at Albertsons, 3001 S. St. Francis Drive, and was charged with robbery and larceny. The victim told investigators that she was about to enter the store just before 3 p.m. Jan. 17 when a woman came up behind her and grabbed her purse. Police said the victim was knocked over and hit her head on the parking lot pavement, causing a laceration near her right eye, and was transported to the hospital. According to the police statement, the victim was rushed into surgery for lifethreatening complications from the injury, but she has since recovered. Richardson is being held in the Santa Fe County jail in lieu of $10,000 cash/surety bond.
Site showcases UFO ‘sightings’
Woman admits to stealing purse
Rep. reunites with lost dog ALBUQUERQUE — After 13 months on the lam, U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s beloved dog Kiwi is home. Grisham says the shih tzu mix turned up this week at an Albuquerque veterinary clinic.
ROSWELL — A new website supported by a Roswell museum gives people a chance to prove that we are not alone in the universe. The Roswell Daily Record reports that the recently launched roswellsightings. com allows anyone on Earth to upload photos or videos of sightings or encounters with what they believe are UFOs. The website is based in New York and is from a partnership with the Roswell-based International UFO Museum And Research Center. The user-friendly website allows people to share recordings on social network sites or watch the latest scientific news or other videos.
N.M. team saves campers QUESTA — State police say eight remaining campers lost after a hike in the mountains north of Questa have been rescued. Police received a distress call early Thursday about 10 overdue campers near the Cabresto Lake campground. Dispatchers got signals from a GPS system indicating two adults and eight foster children ranging in age from 14 to 20 were lost in Northern New Mexico. Two young men walked down the mountain to a base camp Thursday afternoon and were uninjured. State Police Sgt. Emmanuel Gutierrez says a 20-yearold woman who broke her ankle and the remaining campers were escorted down the mountain by early Friday. The group was assessed by medical personnel and released. Staff and wire reports