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June 7, 2013
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AG sidesteps marriage issue
Spurs shine San Antonio returns to the NBA Finals just the way it left — with a win over LeBron James. SPoRTS, B-1
Staff: State law doesn’t allow gay nuptials; King says legal questions up to courts The Associated Press
Beat the boredom Discover the many things Santa Fe offers for teens. GEN NEXT, D-1
ALBUQUERQUE — New Mexico Attorney General Gary King on Thursday declined to issue a formal opinion on whether same-sex marriage is legal in New Mexico. An internal legal analysis by his staff, however, concluded
that state law doesn’t allow same-sex marriage but is vulnerable to a constitutional challenge. At an Albuquerque news conference, King said the legal questions of samesex marriage need to be sorted out by lawmakers and the courts. Until that happens, he cautioned county clerks
against issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. “Based on extensive research, we cannot state definitively that New Mexico law currently permits samesex marriage,” King said. “Although
Please see ISSUE, Page A-6
HOPING TO WED IN N.M.
Rivera to run for mayor
By Susan Montoya Bryan
The Associated Press
LoCAL, C-1
From left, Alex Hanna and Yon Hudson of Santa Fe speak to County Clerk Geraldine Salazar about obtaining a marriage license Thursday. Salazar denied them the license. PHOTOS BY LUIS SÁNCHEZ SATURNO/THE NEW MEXICAN
Santa Fe men file court action over marriage license
Partly sunny; a thunderstorm in the afternoon. High 83, low 52. PAGE C-6
obituaries Sandra Lee Daughters, 80, June 3 Rabbi Leonard A. Helman, 86, June 6 Charles “Chuckie” B. Marsh IV, 38, May 25
By Julie Ann Grimm
The New Mexican
T
wo Santa Fe men who want to marry are asking a judge to order the county clerk to let them. Alex Hanna and Yon Hudson tried to apply for a marriage license Thursday afternoon from Santa Fe County Clerk Geraldine Salazar, who refused their request. Accompanied by their attorneys, the men then walked down Grant Avenue to the law firm of Egolf + Ferlic + Day, where a petition for a writ of mandamus was electronically submitted to the First Judicial District Court. Attorney Brian Egolf, who is also a Democratic state representative for
Please see WED, Page A-6
PAGE C-2
INSIDE u Wildfire takes toll on Pecos businesses. u PRC to study power line regulations. u Biologist: Outlook usually good for wildlife escaping fire. PAGE A-4 Hudson and Hanna leave the County Clerk’s Office on Thursday after being denied a marriage license.
INSIDE
oN oUR WEBSITE
u Most Americans expect gay marriage to become legal across U.S. PAGE A-6 u Same-sex couple sue Colorado bakery over wedding cake refusal. PAGE C-4
u Read the petition filed Thursday on behalf of Alex Hanna and Yon Hudson, online at www.santafe newmexican.com
By David J. Salazar The New Mexican
NEW MEXICAN FILE PHOTO
Calendar A-2
Classifieds D-2
Rabbi Leonard A. Helman, an attorney, judge, bridge master, tapdancing champion and longtime member of Santa Fe’s religious community, died early Thursday at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center. He was 86. Funeral services for Helman, who was committed to interfaith efforts throughout his life, will be held next week at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. The Rev. Monsignor Jerome Martinez y Alire said recently that when he was the rector of the cathedral, he and Helman made arrangements for his funeral there. Gail Rappaport, executive
Comics B-8
Lotteries A-2
director of Congregation Beit Tikva, of which Helman was the founding rabbi, said the service is planned for 11 a.m. Monday. She said it’s a testament to his interfaith commitment that “he would just as soon have his Jewish soul honored in the cathedral as in our Jewish sanctuary.” “I think this is his way of showing everybody that it matters more the kind of life you live and not the label you put on yourself,” said Paul Grace, Helman’s longtime friend. Helman was born in Hartford, Conn., on Nov. 30, 1926, to Abraham and Anna Helman, the eldest of two children. He attended Trinity College and graduated Phi Beta Kappa, and went on to attend Hebrew Union College in
Opinions A-5
Regulators repeal, replace waste pit rule Staff and wire reports
Rabbi built ties across faith lines
Rabbi Leonard A. Helman in 2007.
ALBUQUERQUE — With changes in the weather fast approaching, firefighters were racing Thursday to build bigger buffers around a pair of wildfires that have charred 34 square miles of tinder-dry forest in Northern New Mexico. Forecasters are predicting hot, dry and windy weather to move into New Mexico by the end of the week. The conditions are expected to last a few days, meaning fire behavior will be intense. On the Valles Caldera National Preserve, crews battling the Thompson Ridge Fire were focusing on getting ahead of the blaze to burn vegetation and other forest debris in hopes of creating a break that would serve to starve the flames as they advance. “We want to get that work done before it starts to rage again,” said fire information officer Peter D’Aquanni. The Thompson Ridge Fire has charred about 13,000 acres north of Jemez Springs since being sparked last Friday by a downed
Please see RACING, Page A-4
LEONARD A. HELMAN, 1926-2013
Index
Crews racing to beat winds
Bigger buffers become priority ahead of dry, breezy weekend
The new city councilor becomes the third member of the governing body to announce his plans to run.
Today
NORTHERN N.M. WILDFIRES
Police notes C-2
Editor: Rob Dean, 986-3033, rdean@sfnewmexican.com Design and headlines: Kristina Dunham, kdunham@sfnewmexican.com
Cincinatti, receiving his Master of Hebrew Letters in 1955. In 1970, Helman earned his law degree from Duquesne University while serving a congregation nearby. Helman came Santa Fe in 1974 to be a part-time rabbi at Temple Beth Shalom. When he joined the congregation, it was serving 60 families and meeting in a small building. He was hired as the full-time rabbi in 1986, and by the time he left the congregation in 1991, it had grown to serve more than 300 families. “He started a conservative group and an orthodox group that all were on the same campus of Temple Beth Shalom,” Rappaport,
Sports B-1
New Mexico regulators on Thursday repealed and replaced portions of the “pit rule” intended to help manage wastes produced by oil and gas drilling. The rule, which regulates oil and gas drilling waste pits, sumps and below-grade tanks, has been a source of contention between the industry and environmentalists, who have criticized Gov. Susana Martinez for siding with the view that regulations are too stringent, a position she took while campaigning for office. Adopted in 2009, the rule required companies to line waste pits and remove waste from well sites as part of a closed-loop system. The intent was to prevent oil and gas drilling mud waste from leaching into groundwater. The New Mexico Oil and Gas Association and the Independent Petroleum Producers Association filed requests to change the rule, saying it made drilling too expensive and created unnecessary paperwork, pushing producers from the state and costing New Mexico jobs and revenue. Environmental and sportsmen organizations
Please see RABBI, Page A-4
Time Out B-7
Generation Next D-1
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Please see PIT, Page A-6
Four sections, 28 pages Pasatiempo, 64 pages 164th year, No. 158 Publication No. 596-440