Meb b Keflezighi g first American Ame man in 31 years to win Boston Marathon Sports, B-1
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Tuesday, April 22, 2014
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SWAIA loses another staffer
Wellness report shows progress among youth
Judge bumps Jeff from ballot
Tailinh Agoyo, the marketing and public relations director, announces her resignation on Facebook. LOCAL NEWS, A-6
Santa Fe’s seventh- and ninth-graders report less cigarette, alcohol and drug use, and they say they are spending less time with gang members. LOCAL NEWS, A-6
Controversial state Rep. Sandra Jeff, D-Crownpoint, did not file enough valid petition signatures to qualify for the June primary election in House District 5, leaving candidates Doreen W. Johnson of Church Rock and Charles Long of Crownpoint in the race. LOCAL NEWS, A-6
N.M. plans to pay state employees back wages
Questions linger after fatal train collision Police say safety equipment was working when cyclist was hit
Funds ‘subject to budget availability,’ agency says
Governor blasts decision that restricts number of felony possession charges
By Steve Terrell The New Mexican
By Barry Massey The Associated Press
Cyclist Suzanne LeBeau, left, was crossing the railroad tracks at Zia Road near St. Francis Road late Saturday morning when she was fatally struck by a southbound Rail Runner Express passenger train. LUIS SÁNCHEZ SATURNO/THE NEW MEXICAN
By Chris Quintana The New Mexican
COURTESY PHOTO
Crossing gates Police say bicyclist Suzanne LeBeau was struck by the Rail Runner train here, where the Rail Trail crosses the track.
Pasapick www.pasatiempomagazine.com
Brother Benedict Camillus, F.S.C. Christine (Thomas M. Baca, 63, Santa Fe, April 16 George Westrick), William Random 92, April 14 Kilgore Jr., April 19 PAGE A-8
Obituaries
Today Mostly sunny and breezy. High 77, low 47. PAGE A-12
Index
Calendar A-2
Classifieds B-5
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The local author launches Op. Cit. Books’ World Book Night, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Sanbusco Market Center, 500 Montezuma Ave., Suite 101, 428-0321. More events in Calendar, A-2 and Fridays in Pasatiempo
Rail Trail
Cerrillos Road
Zia Road
Please see WAGES, Page A-4
Armistead Maupin
uzanne LeBeau was an experienced bicyclist, say neighbors and friends, and they and cycling advocates don’t understand what led the Santa Fe woman to ride in front of a Rail Runner Express passenger train at the Zia Road rail crossing, where she was struck and killed Saturday morning. Santa Fe police say LeBeau, a 60-year-old property management consultant, was riding her bicycle northbound on the Santa Fe Rail Trail west of St. Francis Drive, which mostly parallels the railroad tracks until just south of Zia Road — near the still unused Zia Station — where the trail crosses the railroad tracks. Red, flashing signal lights, bells and security arms warn of oncoming trains and block Zia Road vehicular traffic, although the crossing gates don’t
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Zia Station
Rail Runner track
Some 10,300 past and present state employees will get extra cash this summer as the state of New Mexico begins forking over money owed as a result of a 5-year-old union contract dispute that spanned two administrations. As the state Supreme Court ordered nearly a year ago, Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration in July will start cutting checks for back pay — in some cases dating back to 2009. However, a news release from state Department of Finance and Administration said payments will be “subject to budget availability.” The statement also said 5,700 current employees will receive a “corrected hourly salary” beginning in June. About two dozen members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees who gathered Monday afternoon at the Joseph Montoya Building in the South Capitol Complex cheered when their state president, Patrick Gutierrez of Las Vegas, N.M., made the announcement. Gutierrez and other union representatives had just met with representatives from various state agencies and a Maryland accountant hired to calculate how much is owed to each of the affected employees. The state Department of Finance and Administration released a statement that said, “We had a very productive meeting today with union officials where we presented our progress to date on calculating raises and back pay for certain union employees.”
Court urges rewrite of N.M. child porn law
N SOURCE: GOOGLE EARTH
THE NEW MEXICAN
physically block pedestrians or bicyclists from continuing onto the tracks. And while the signals were operating at about 11 a.m. Saturday and the train’s engineer sounded a horn several times, police said, LeBeau rode onto the tracks and was hit by the train. She died at the scene. Santa Fe police Lt. Andrew Padilla told a reporter at the scene on Saturday that a witness said the woman was wearing earphones. A final police investigative report on the incident was not yet available on Monday. Tim Rogers, an avid bicyclist who helped draft the city’s bicycle master plan, said he worked as the bicycle and pedestrian coordinator with the New Mexico Department of Transportation as the rail trail was being built in 2007. He said state officials deemed the flashing lights, bells and
Please see FATAL, Page A-5
New Mexico’s highest court on Monday overturned more than two dozen convictions in separate child pornography cases in a ruling that drew sharp criticism from Republican Gov. Susana Martinez, a former prosecutor. The state Supreme Court said the defendants can be charged with only one felony count of possessing child pornography despite having many pornographic images of children. Martinez spokesman Enrique Knell said the ruling “will place children at risk.” “Hundreds of children, including infants, can be repeatedly abused and exploited by these predators, with images and videos preserved on a single computer, and prosecutors should have the ability to charge those individuals with multiple crimes,” Knell said in a statement. “This decision allows predators to victimize kids over and over again, for an extended period of time, without fear of additional jail time.” The court said state law is unclear about the circumstances under which prosecutors can bring more than one charge against someone for possessing multiple pornographic images of children. In its 4-1 decision, the court recommended the Legislature rewrite the law against possession of child pornography.
Please see PORN, Page A-5
Designer gets new digs Char at The White Studio features unique women’s clothing, whimsically upholstered chairs and gemstoneladen jewelry. LOCAL BUSINESS, A-9
Homeland Security weighs curbing deportations By Erica Werner The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson is weighing limiting deportations of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally who don’t have serious criminal records, according to two people with knowledge of his deliberations. The change, if adopted following an ongoing review ordered by President Barack Obama, could shield tens of thousands of immigrants now removed each year solely because they committed repeat immigration violations, such as re-entering the country illegally after having been
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deported, failing to comply with a deportation order or missing an immigration court date. However, it would fall short of the sweeping changes Jeh Johnson sought by activists. They want Obama to expand a two-year-old program that grants work permits to certain immigrants brought here illegally as children to include other groups, such as the parents of any children born in the U.S. John Sandweg, who served until
Lotteries A-2
Opinions A-10
Sports B-1
February as acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said he had promoted the policy change for immigrants without serious criminal records before his departure and that it was being weighed by Johnson. An immigration advocate who’s discussed the review with the administration also confirmed the change was under consideration. The advocate spoke on condition of anonymity because the proceedings are confidential. “Any report of specific considerations at this time would be premature,” Clark Stevens, a spokesman for the Homeland Security Department,
Time Out B-11
Local Business A-9
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said Monday. Stevens said Johnson “has undergone a very rigorous and inclusive process to best inform the review,” including seeking input from people within DHS as well as lawmakers of both parties, and other stakeholders. The approach outlined by Sandweg and the immigration advocate would change the existing priority categories that now include immigrants who’ve re-entered the country after they have been deported previously, and those who are fugitives from immigration proceedings. Such people would be
Please see CURBING, Page A-4
Two sections, 24 pages 165th year, No. 112 Publication No. 596-440