Roybal returns to sidelines to coach Española girls Sports, B-4
Locally owned and independent
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
www.santafenewmexican.com 75¢
Getting teens the message on texting, driving
Simulator shows kids the dangers of getting behind the wheel while textmessaging on a cellphone. PAGE B-1
Company back with water plan
New judge for Aamodt case
Israel: Hamas will pay ‘price’
Proposal would tap water from New Mexico plains to send to cities. PAGE B-1
With husband on City Council, federal judge recuses herself. PAGE B-1
Israeli resumes strikes on Gaza after Hamas rejects Egyptian truce plan. PAGE A-3
Safety report: LANL deficient
SFPS IN-CLASS OBSERVATIONS Of Santa Fe Public Schools’ 800 teachers: Less than 1 percent were rated exemplary. 41 percent were rated as highly effective. 54 percent were rated as effective. 4 percent were rated minimally effective. Less than 1 percent were rated ineffective.
Teachers fare well on in-class evaluation Observations make up 25% of educator’s score By Robert Nott The New Mexican
Santa Fe public school teachers performed well in ratings based on in-classroom observations as part of New Mexico’s new teacher evaluation system. A report presented to the local school board Tuesday night says 41 percent of the district’s 800 teachers were rated as highly effective, 54 percent as effective and 4 percent minimally effective. Less than 1 percent were rated ineffective and less than 1 percent exemplary. However, direct observations by evaluators only account for 25 percent of a teacher’s score. The district is still analyzing aggregate data for the other 75 percent of the evaluation process, which includes measuring three years of student test scores, a student survey and how teachers plan their lessons. Gov. Susana Martinez initiated the system by executive order in an effort to hold teachers accountable and improve the state’s educational
Please see TEACHERS, Page A-5
New Mexico’s population growing older By Barry Massey The Associated Press
New Mexicans over age 65 are the fastest-growing segment of the population so far this decade, according to the Census Bureau. That trend is expected to continue in the coming decades and is partly why New Mexico’s population growth is slowing, said University of New Mexico demographer Jack Baker. The state’s birth rate has been fairly constant, and an aging population means there are more deaths each year, which depresses the overall population growth, according to Baker, a senior research scientist in geospatial and population studies. Those over 65 increased by 12 percent from 2010 to 2013, compared with a national increase of 10 percent, according to Census Bureau estimates released last month. There was no growth among New Mexicans from ages 18 to 64, and the population under 18 declined by
Los Alamos lone NNSA site found ‘inadequate’ on nuke criticality safety By Patrick Malone The New Mexican
Pat Davis of ProgressNow New Mexico encourages drivers to pull over and sign the Reducing Marijuana Penalties petition at a drive-through event Tuesday at 1420 Cerrillos Road. CLYDE MUELLER/THE NEW MEXICAN
7,100 sign on for pot vote Groups need 5,763 verified to force referendum on marijuana penalties The New Mexican
Two groups pushing an initiative to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana in the city of Santa Fe submitted more than 7,100 petition signatures Tuesday, hoping to get the question on the November general election ballot. ProgressNow New Mexico and Drug Policy Action need at least 5,763 valid signatures from registered voters within city limits to force a vote on their proposal. They turned in 7,126 signatures. “I feel confident that voters want this to happen, but we’re anxious to see what the verification rate really starts to look like from the City Clerk’s Office, and I’m not sure we’re going to know that for a week or so,” said Pat Davis, executive director of ProgressNow,
Pasapick Museum of Contemporary Native Arts
Calendar A-2
Classifieds C-3
John E. Alejandro Sr., Santa Fe, July 11 Marilouise (Bunny) Moore, July 10 PAGE B-2
Today Afternoon and evening storms. High 82, low 56.
Main office: 983-3303 Late paper: 986-3010 News tips: 983-3035
Crosswords A-8, C-4
Please see LANL, Page A-5
ON OUR WEBSITE u Read the full report at www.santa fenewmexican.com.
Graffiti marks the side of a former Army Reserve Center in Westminster, Md., which was considered for use as a facility to house Central American children who crossed the border into the U.S.
The Associated Press
Obituaries
Comics B-8
Please see SIGN, Page A-5
By Erica Werner
Free event held 5-7 p.m. in conjunction with the temporary site-specific installation (Pull of the Moon) on the Navajo Nation by Ai Weiwei and Bert Benally; including a 3-D digital landscape of the project and a live performance based on sounds captured during the installation, 108 Cathedral Place, nmarts.org.
PAGE A-6
statewide issues and races. Although Vigil and Santa Fe County Clerk Geraldine Salazar are planning for November, Secretary of State Dianna Duran’s office has said it “appears unlikely” to add a “lengthy municipal question” to the November ballot. Salazar said recently that officials are waiting to find out whether the groups collected the required number of petition signatures before making any final decisions. The proposed initiative, which mirrors an initiative that the groups also are trying to get on the ballot in the city of Albuquerque, calls for making the penalty for possession of an ounce or less of marijuana and possession of marijuanaassociated paraphernalia a civil infraction punishable by a fine of no more than $25.
House Republicans propose using National Guard on border
www.pasatiempomagazine.com
Please see OLDER, Page A-5
Index
a liberal-leaning group based in Albuquerque. “We’ve turned in everything we could get, which I think is way more than most of us thought or anybody thought we would get to start with,” he said. The groups had planned to keep collecting and submitting signatures during the 10-day verification period, but City Clerk Yolanda Vigil said she wouldn’t accept additional signatures. “Today is the filing date,” Vigil told organizers at City Hall. The signature-gathering effort, which Davis said is the first citizen ballot initiative attempted in Santa Fe, took place over 19 days. While city rules set a 90-day pre-election deadline to submit petition signatures, Vigil imposed Tuesday’s deadline because the groups want to get the question on the Nov. 4 general election ballot along with
By Daniel J. Chacón
Even before a radiation leak in February halted the flow of nuclear waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, the federal government had identified deficiencies in Los Alamos National Laboratory’s safeguards against potentially catastrophic nuclear fission accidents, a new report shows. Los Alamos “does not meet expectations” in overall performance of its criticality safety program, states the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fiscal Year 2013 Annual Report on Nuclear Criticality Safety, delivered Monday to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. Fission reaction accidents carry a risk of radiation or energy hazards, particularly to workers directly affected by them, but potentially to the public as well. The calendar year 2013 review assessed safety measures throughout the national nuclear defense complex and identified LANL as the lone National Nuclear Security Administration site “with inadequate but improving performance.” “It says Los Alamos is worse, and Los Alamos is worse in a lot of areas,” said Greg Mello, executive
WASHINGTON — House Republicans announced Tuesday they will recommend dispatching the National Guard to South Texas and speeding Central American youths back home as their response to the immigration crisis that’s engulfing the border and testing Washington’s ability to respond. The recommendations, to come from a working group established by House Speaker John Boehner, will set up a clash with leading Democrats who oppose changing U.S. law to eliminate automatic immigration hearings for Central American kids and return them more quickly to Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, where some areas are overrun by brutal gangs. With Democrats and the White House under growing pressure from immigration advocates to hold firm against the GOP approach, a solution for the grow-
Lotteries A-2
Opinions A-7
Sports B-4
CHRISTIAN ALEXANDERSEN THE CARROLL COUNTY TIMES
INSIDE u Border Patrol detains, releases activist journalist. PAGE A-4
ing crisis of tens of thousands of unaccompanied children showing up at the U.S.-Mexico border is looking increasingly elusive with three weeks left before Congress leaves Washington for an annual August recess. “It’s a critical situation, and if we don’t deal with it urgently but well, done right, we’re facing a crisis of just huge proportions,” said Rep.
Time Out A-8
Taste C-1
BREAKING NEWS AT WWW.SANTAFENEWMEXICAN.COM
Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., who traveled to Honduras and Guatemala over the weekend with members of the House GOP working group, including its leader, Rep. Kay Granger of Texas. “Time is of the essence.” Granger, Diaz-Balart and others said their proposals would include sending the National Guard to help overwhelmed Border Patrol agents, increasing immigration judges, adding assistance to Central American nations and changing a 2008
Please see BORDER, Page A-5
Three sections, 24 pages 165th year, No. 197 Publication No. 596-440