The Santa Fe New Mexican, July 11, 2013

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Activist Kokesh arrested in SWAT raid after D.C. gun video Page A-5

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Thursday, July 11, 2013

www.santafenewmexican.com 75¢

Pecos Canyon hit hard by flood of sludge, debris Santa Fe firefighters and a hazmat crew seal a suspicious package outside the First District courthouse Wednesday. JANE PHILLIPS/THE NEW MEXICAN

Suspicious envelope shuts down courthouse 19 people quarantined for hours until powdery substance deemed harmless By Staci Matlock The New Mexican

Josh Ingersoll, a firefighter with the Pecos Canyon Volunteer Fire Department, rushes toward an ATV that got stuck in a flash flood at Brush Ranch in the Pecos Canyon on Wednesday. PHOTOS BY LUIS SÁNCHEZ SATURNO/THE NEW MEXICAN

Monsoon season presents ongoing threat of deluge in aftermath of wildfires By Robert Nott The New Mexican

B

ob Ingersoll heard the rushing water coming down the canyon above the Brush Ranch River Lodge just seconds before the deluge hit the property. He was on the front porch of the Ranch House as the water, mixed with timber and other debris, came around both sides from the back of the house and headed on down toward the Pecos River. Ingersoll, the ranch manager and a volunteer firefighter, was planning his escape as a stream of mud reached the front porch and stopped. Some huge boulders came bouncing down the canyon, ending up about 50 yards uphill of the main house. “God stopped them there,” Ingersoll said. The Wednesday afternoon flash flood hit fast and hard, giving Ingersoll — who was the only person on the property at the time — little warning. His two ranch cats, Blackback and Whiteback, managed to escape and were later seen napping on high ground.

Please see FLOOD, Page A-4

People have to understand, they have to stay “ out of this canyon. They don’t understand what we’re dealing with.”

Bob Ingersoll, Brush Ranch River Lodge manager and volunteer firefighter

The New Mexican

Elizabeth Struck on her sister, Tina Vigil

Index

Tina Vigil, who died in a rain-swollen arroyo during Monday afternoon’s cloudburst over Santa Fe’s south side, was a Hopewell Street resident with two grown sons — not a homeless transient as suggested by some news media reports, her sister said Wednesday. Vigil’s youngest sister, Elizabeth Struck, said she is trying to learn why Vigil, 51, got caught in the fastflowing arroyo near the corner of Siringo and Rancho Siringo roads at about 5 p.m. Monday. Police believe Vigil drowned, but the state Office of the Medical Investigator is conducting an autopsy, and a spokeswoman said Wednesday that a report should be ready within 12 weeks. Struck said Vigil was unemployed, unmarried and had two adult sons living in other cities. She also said her sister liked to create abstract artworks. “She did her art at home or at the [La Farge

Please see REMEMBERED, Page A-4

Calendar A-2

Classifieds B-5

Pasapick www.pasatiempomagazine.com

By Tom Sharpe

She is not someone to hang out in ditches. That wasn’t her.”

Please see COURTHOUSE, Page A-4

A delta of debris accumulated during a flash flood at Brush Ranch in the Pecos Canyon on Wednesday. Rains in the canyon, scarred by the Tres Lagunas Fire, caused flash flooding, an ongoing threat.

Woman found dead in arroyo remembered as artist, mom

Tina Vigil

For the second time in a week, a public building in Santa Fe was evacuated after an envelope containing a suspicious white, powdery substance was found in an office. Court hearings were just getting underway at around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Judge Steve Herrera Judicial Complex when the courthouse was evacuated due to reports of a suspicious envelope at the clerk’s office. Firefighters were sent to inspect the premises, and health officials ordered 19 people in the clerk’s office to be quarantined. The workers and visitors weren’t allowed to go home until about 7 p.m., after the state Scientific Laboratory Division in Albuquerque confirmed the white powder in the envelope, which was addressed by hand to Judge Stephen Pfeffer, was harmless. An earlier test by the city fire department’s hazardous materials team found the powder was baking soda. The courthouse remained closed the rest of Wednesday and was scheduled to reopen at 8 a.m. Thursday. Shannon Bulman, an attorney who was in the clerk’s office to file papers for a 9:30 a.m. court hearing, said everyone in the office was all told to freeze by sheriff’s deputies and were not allowed to leave the room. They waited in the clerk’s office until about 11:30 a.m., when they were moved to the court’s jury selection room. Spectators, attorneys, plaintiffs, defendants and judges in the courtrooms were first instructed not to leave the building and that it was on lockdown. A few minutes later,

Comics B-12

Lotteries A-2

ART Santa Fe 2013 gala opening and vernissage Art: The Heart of the Matter, 13th annual contemporary art expo, 5 p.m., Santa Fe Community Convention Center, $100, ticketssantafe.org, 988-1234.

New life for median Paseo de Peralta median in line to be adopted through program. PAGE A-6

Obituaries Arthur V. Archuleta, 83, July 5 Ted Liversidge, 76, July 5 Herman A. Montoya, 102, July 9 Melinda “Merlie” Romero, 70, Santa Fe, July 8 Patricio Ramon Vigil, 20, Pecos, July 5

Today

PAGE A-10

PAGE A-12

Opinions A-11

Police notes A-10

Interim Editor: Bruce Krasnow, 986-3034, brucek@sfnewmexican.com Design and headlines: Brian Barker, bbarker@sfnewmexican.com

Sports B-1

Storms in p.m. High 90, low 63.

Time Out A-8

Case spotlights worker complaints against state agency Some employees claim harassment, intimidation at Homeland Security and Emergency Management By Staci Matlock The New Mexican

A former investigator with the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management is seeking a restraining order against the department’s chief counsel for alleged slander and a pattern of harassment. The case, heard in First District Court on Wednesday, is the latest of several complaints filed by employees in the last year against top administrators at the department. In complaints and in interviews, employees say they are being harassed, intimidated, retaliated against and prevented by administrators from doing their jobs properly. One person alleges witness tampering. “Some very good employees have been treated very badly,” said one manager, who asked to remain anonymous, as several did, in fear of retaliation. “It is a scary situation.” Cabinet Secretary Gregory Myers said in a statement, “As this is part of ongoing legal action and involves personnel actions, the department is limited in what it can discuss. … It is the priority of the department and employees to continue efforts to keep New Mexicans safe and

Please see COMPLAINTS, Page A-4

Scoop A-9

Main office: 983-3303 Late paper: 986-3010

Two sections, 24 pages 164th year, No. 192 Publication No. 596-440


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