Wednesday, July 31, 2013 THE NEW MEXICAN
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Horse slaughterhouse hit by arson, owner says ‘Suspicious’ blaze to delay opening of Roswell meat processing plant By Jeri Clausing
The Associated Press
ALBUQUERQUE — Arsonists set fire to the southeastern New Mexico company that planned to resume domestic horse slaughter next week, the company’s owner said Tuesday. “They tried to burn the place down,” Valley Meat Co. owner Rick De Los Santo said Tuesday in refer-
ence to opponents who have been making threats against the company over the past year as it has fought the federal government for permission to convert its cattle operations into a horse slaughterhouse. Chaves County officials told the Roswell Daily Record they are investigating what they characterized as a “very suspicious” blaze. Sheriff Rob Coon did not immediately return phone calls Tuesday, but in the past, he has expressed concern about potential trouble at the Roswell plant. Attempts by companies like Valley
Meat Co. to resume domestic horse slaughter have ignited an emotional national debate that has resulted in a string of threats against De Los Santos, his family and his business. “We have had some say, ‘I hope your building burns down,’ ” De Los Santos said. “That’s not good at all. What are they going to do next? Take a pot shot at us when we are walking in?” On Saturday, De Los Santos said someone apparently jumped the fence, then poured accelerant over the compressors to his refrigeration unit. A passer-by alerted authorities. “The fire inspector was out there,”
De Los Santos said. “He took samples of the dirt and stuff just to make sure. But he said this was something that was not done by electricity or lightning. He said something was poured on it to light it.” De Los Santos says the company will be unable to open as planned Monday without a working refrigeration unit. The company also goes to federal court Friday to fight attempts by The Humane Society of the United States and other groups to block the opening of Valley Meat and another recently approved horse slaughterhouse in Iowa.
The groups contend that the Department of Agriculture failed to conduct the proper environmental reviews before issuing the companies permits to slaughter horses. The USDA also opposes horse slaughter. But after being sued by Valley Meat Co. for failing to act on its application, the agency said it was obligated to issue the permits since Congress lifted a ban on domestic horse slaughter in 2011. Meat from the slaughterhouses would be shipped to some countries for human consumption and for use as zoo and other animal food.
Deal: Some Adobe dishes still on menu Continued from Page C-1
Police and medical personal attend to the scene of a car crash Monday evening on U.S. 550 near Cuba, about 85 miles north of Albuquerque. Texas A&M said Tuesday that redshirt freshman Polo Manukainiu, Gaius Vaenuku, an incoming member of the Utah football team, and Andrew ‘Lolo’ Uhatafe, 13, were killed in the single-car rollover. COURTESY KRQE.COM
Crash: News of deaths stuns communities Continued from Page C-1 lin, Texas A&M coach. “Polo was loved by his teammates and coaches. Anyone who came in contact with him was struck by his sense of humor and smile. My heart aches for his mom and family members.” “Heart hurts waking up to news about Polo,” Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel tweeted on Tuesday. “I think I speak for everyone on our team when I say we love you brother you will be missed.” It is the second such tragedy for Texas A&M in less than two years: Senior offensive lineman Joseph Villavisencio, 22, was killed in a December 2011 car accident after veering head-on into the path of an 18-wheeler 40 miles from College Station. He had spent part of that day delivering gifts to families at a local shelter. Manziel mentioned Villavisencio during his Heisman acceptance speech last year. Vaenuku was a defensive tackle who had planned to play one year at Utah before going on a two-year Mormon mission. “Everyone who knew Gaius is heartbroken today,” said Kyle Whittingham, Utah
coach. “He was the kind of young man who lit up a room and his future in football and life had no boundaries. Words cannot express our devastation over the loss of Gaius.” Vaenuku was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and considered playing at church-owned Brigham Young, but he said he felt more at home in Salt Lake City playing for the Utes. His mother, Cela Vaenuku, said the last time she spoke to him was on Sunday — a brief conversation on how he had spent his day. “He was a wonderful son,” she said. “He was very social, very outgoing young man and a people person who always made people laugh.” She said he was the third oldest among seven brothers and sisters, and “they took it very hard” when they heard the news of his death. She said her son had planned to be dormitory roomma1tes with Siaosi Utahafe, the driver. The news stunned Trinity High in Euless, where Manukainiu, Vaenuku and Siaosi Utahafe all played football. The team
has been one of the best in Texas in recent years, with three state titles in a span of five seasons from 2005-09 and a trip to the championship game in 2010. Principal Mike Harris said the deaths have affected a majority of the Euless community, where there is a tight-knit Polynesian community. “They were students with bright smiles that everybody knew and everybody loved,” the principal said. Texas A&M associate athletic director Alan Cannon said Manukainiu was known for his sense of humor and “will be sorely missed as a person you enjoyed being around.” He said the football staff was working Tuesday to notify teammates of his death. Players are scheduled to report to campus Sunday to begin practicing for the upcoming season. Cannon said Manukainiu was to wear jersey No. 90 and that it was too early to determine if players will affix the number to their uniforms as a tribute. The NCAA must approve any such recognition, Cannon said.
It is the second such tragedy for Texas A&M in less than two years: Offensive lineman Joseph Villavisencio, 22, was killed in car crash in December 2011.
First gay divorce finalized in Colorado The Associated Press
DENVER — Supporters of Colorado’s new civil unions law say a court ruling declaring a same-sex divorce final means gay couples married in other states can legally terminate their relationships in Colorado without uprooting their lives. Juli Yim and Lorelei Jones wed in Massachusetts in 2009, where same-sex marriage is legal. Yim said that relationship went sour, and she found a new partner in Colorado. Colorado is one of several states that treat gay and straight couples the same in almost every respect through civil unions or domestic partnerships. Gay couples are not allowed to marry in Colorado, but can get divorced there under state statute. Gay rights advocates said other states also grant divorces to gay couples who were married elsewhere, but some require in-state residency to dissolve the relationship. Gay-rights advocates contend the requirement is more than an inconvenience because it can put lives on hold for those who have moved to different states. Denver lawyer Kyle Martelon said there is some confusion on how gay couples can get divorced, and the issues are different in other states.
“A lot of people kind of think if they went on vacation to Iowa or Massachusetts or New York and got married and came back to their state, that when they break up they can just go their separate ways,” Martelon said. “It’s not like that.” Colorado’s civil union law, which took effect May 1, provides legal protections including division of property, financial responsibility between former spouses, parental visitation and child support to splitting couples, provided one involved individual has lived in Colorado for more than 90 days. The new law prohibits anyone who is married or in a civil union in another state from entering a civil union in Colorado with someone other than their legally recognized spouse. Yim and Suzie Calvin have been friends since high school and plan to marry next May 1, most likely in another state unless Colorado’s ban on gay marriage is overturned, which is unlikely to happen soon. Yim’s divorce became final Monday in El Paso County, the Fort Collins Coloradoan reported Tuesday. Yim’s was among seven dissolution cases filed during the first two months the new law was in effect. The other six are pending.
While in some cases, like Yim’s, relationships fell apart soon after the new law went into effect. In other cases, Colorado provided an opportunity closer to home for gay couples looking to end relationships legally recognized in other states. Denver lawyer Tawni Cummings, who represents the petitioner in one of the state’s pending dissolution cases, said her client and partner have been in a 32-year lesbian relationship and established a domestic partnership in 2008 in California. They moved to Colorado in 2011 before their relationship came to an end. “I think [Colorado’s civil union law] is really going to provide a lot of protection to people in relationships of this length,” Cummings said. “You hear horror stories about people losing a lot of what they’ve spent a life together building.” Colorado law now recognizes similar legal affirmations from other states, including gay marriage, as civil unions. Under that provision, Cummings’ client is seeking to dissolve her California domestic partnership in a Colorado court. Gay marriage is legal in 13 states and the District of Columbia, and six more states recognize some form of civil unions between same-sex couples.
they had their own take on it,” Isabelle Koomoa said. “But I’ve just gone back to her original cookbooks, and we’ve redone everything. I feel it’s not as wonderful as hers, but it’s very, very close, I think, at least from the feedback I’ve gotten.” She said she will retain Pink Adobe specialties like Steak Dunnigan, Poulet Merengo, Tournedos Bordelaise, French onion soup and apple pie, and resurrect at least one dish that used to be popular there but has been dropped from the menu in recent years — Pork Napoleon. Koomoa said she remembers eating the pork dish soon after she arrived in Santa Fe in 1967 to run the restaurant at the Inn of the Governors with her first husband, Bill Jennison. After they divorced, Koomoa and Barbara Buckingham, now Barbara Heller, opened the
Guadalupe Cafe on Guadalupe Street in 1975. Jennison went on to open the Tecolote Cafe on Cerrillos Road. Since his death a few years ago, his daughter has run the Tecolote. In 1995, Koomoa and her Hawaian-born husband, Leonard Koomoa, moved the Guadalupe Cafe to 422 Old Santa Fe Trail. The space is now being renovated for Jalapeño’s Restaurant. She said she hopes this article will clear up some misconceptions about what is going on in Santa Fe’s most recent case of restaurant musical chairs. “There have been so many misnomers and misunderstandings about whether we’re opened, we’re closed or we’re going to change everything,” she said. “So it’s good to clear the air.” Contact Tom Sharpe at 986-3080 or tsharpe@ sfnewmexican.com.
Clinic: VA signs 10-year lease deal Continued from Page C-1 Taos and urged the government to raise the quality of services. The VA has entered into a 10-year lease for the Las Soleras property with Beckner Road Equities for a total cost of $3.2 million. The lease option was chosen so the VA can reassess its space and facility needs after the first 10 years, said Armstrong. Las Soleras and Beckner Road Equities are owned by an Albuquerque fatherand-son partnership, both of whom started in law and then expanded out into real estate and commercial development, including construction. Father Gordon “Skip” Skarsgard has been involved in real estate through his law office since the 1980. His son, Josh Skarsgard, is a 2006 graduate of The University of New Mexico School of Law, according to Albuquerque Business First. In addition to the Santa Fe property, the Skarsgards have projects in Rio Rancho, Española and Albuquerque. Also a partner in Las Soleras is George Mahoney, while Santa Fe planning consultant James Siebert is doing much of the land-use work for Las Soleras, which also includes a residential component that may reach 2,000 homes. The 550-acre project is across from the new Wal-Mart Supercenter and stretches from Cerrillos Road near Governor Miles Road to Interstate 25, and then past the Fashion Outlets of Santa Fe and east to a portion of Richards Avenue. The state of New Mexico also was looking at the
property for a new Human Services Department headquarters and has an option on 20-acres at Las Soleras. It was not known Tuesday if the state planned to move forward. If the VA clinic opens, it may not be the only health care facility on the site. Presbyterian Healthcare Services owns a 40-acre parcel, which sits in the middle of the project. Beckner Road is now finished and extends east to the border of the Presbyterian property, Siebert told The New Mexican in December. Presbyterian, a nonprofit that writes insurance and provides direct patient care, just opened a new hospital in Rio Rancho, and its corporate energy is focused on making that a success. And Siebert thinks the provider would likely start with an urgent care center, then phase into a hospital, depending on the economics. Presbyterian has declined to discuss their Santa Fe plans. The site for the VA clinic is already on an approved plat for that use, said Heather Lamboy, city planner, so no additional public input is necessary. But, because the tract is within 265 feet of the I-25 right-ofway, there will have to be “a visual impact analyses of views from I-25 both northbound and southbound.” “At a minimum,” Lamboy said, “we will likely see a subdivision plat and the visual impact analysis go through a public hearing process with the Planning Commission,” if they decide to develop.
The 10-year lease option was chosen so the VA can reassess its space and facility needs after the first 10 years.