Claire Lynch: Bluegrass and Old Time Music Festival Inside zine an’s Weekly Maga re The New Mexic tainment & Cultu of Arts, Enter August 23, 2013
Claire Lynch 39th Ann ual
Locally owned and independent
Friday, August 23, 2013
www.santafenewmexican.com $1.25
ass and Santa Fe Bluegr Festival Old Time Music
gop vows to block gay marriages Gay and lesbian couples flock to Doña Ana County to tie the knot By Barry Massey and Juan Carlos Llorca The Associated Press
LAS CRUCES — Republican legislators in New Mexico will challenge a Doña Ana County clerk’s decision this week to issue marriage licenses to
Solid line of offense
same-sex couples. Republican Sen. William Sharer of Farmington said a lawsuit will be filed, potentially by the end of the week, seeking a court order to stop County Clerk Lynn Ellins. “It has to do with a county clerk cannot make law. That is the Legislature’s job,” said Sharer, who sponsored a constitutional amendment in 2011 to define marriage as between a man and woman. He said more than two dozen GOP lawmakers have agreed to join the
lawsuit. It likely will be filed with the state Supreme Court, but Sharer said lawyers were trying to decide the best legal strategy. Democratic Attorney General Gary King, who plans to run for governor next year, said Thursday he won’t take action against the Doña Ana clerk. But he told The New Mexican that legislators probably would have legal standing to challenge Ellins’ action. Meanwhile, gay and lesbian couples
Hatchery-raised trout band together after being placed in the Pecos River last week, when the state Department of Game and Fish resumed stocking the river.
Catherine Martinez and Linda Montoya hug after they were wed Wednesday at the Doña Ana County Clerk’s Office in Las Cruces, one of dozens of samesex couples who received their marriage licenses.
JUAN CARLOS LLORCA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Coss: Keep city’s main post office downtown
Some Pecos River recreation areas reopen after devastating fires
Pojoaque coach works to build a powerhouse of players.
Mayor wants agency to reconsider move to Sanbusco Market Center
SportS, B-1
By Chris Quintana The New Mexican
floor. Because of the fire and then the floods, authorities had kept the only road leading into the canyon closed, along with the camping and fishing areas, until recently reopening some of them. But even now, a good portion of the lower river remains off-limits until the threat of monsoon-related flooding subsides. “It’s just too dangerous,” said Steve Romero, Pecos and Las Vegas District ranger for the Santa Fe National Forest. “We’ll be patrolling these areas and issu-
Santa Fe Mayor David Coss has joined the fight to keep the city’s main post office at its downtown location in the federal building at 120 S. Federal Place. In a letter to the U.S. Postal Service on Thursday, Coss asked the agency to reconsider the move and cited concerns about lack of community involvement and the agency’s failure to answer questions from the public. “I formally appeal what continues to be a unilateral decision to relocate Santa Fe’s main post office … ” he wrote. “As Mayor, I must respectfully reiterate that community input is essential prior to making such an important decision that directly affects the daily lives of our residents and our business owners.” The Postal Service wants to move the downtown post office to the Sanbusco Market Center, according to a letter Coss received from the agency in July. Initially, Coss had said he would not fight the decision to move because the Postal Service would still maintain a downtown location. However, City Councilor Chris Calvert reminded the mayor that the Postal Service had said it would meet with the public before moving, a promise that hasn’t yet been met. Moreover, several citizens expressed similar concerns, so Coss said he had to reconsider his decision. The Postal Service’s original letter gave the mayor 30 days to appeal and said it would respond within 15 days. It is unclear whether Coss’ Thursday letter will have any effect on the Postal Service’s plans or whether the agency will merely acknowledge the concerns and move ahead. Previously, the Postal Service and the General Services Administration, the federal agency that owns the building on South Federal Place where the main post
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Please see poSt oFFICe, Page A-4
Seven hidden wonders Think you know your hometown? Teen writer uncovers the secrets of Santa Fe. gen next, D-1
A scorched mountainside above the village of Tererro can be seen from the only road leading in and out of Pecos Canyon. Heavy summer rains following the Tres Lagunas Fire have kept much of the area closed. PHOTOS COURTESY KARL F. MOFFATT
Time to heal By Karl F. Moffatt For The New Mexican
today Clouds and sun. High 86, low 58. pAge C-6
obituaries Earl “Mike” Clemmer, Aug. 15 Virginia B. Fuller, 94, Santa Fe, Aug. 18 Amy Marie Mathews, 52, Santa Fe, Aug. 13 Jerome “Cheese” Romero, 28, Tampa, Fla., Aug. 15 Kathryn E. Romig, 44, Santa Fe, Aug. 17 Frank “Sonny” Valencia, 76, Santa Fe, Aug. 17
Convicted soldier in WikiLeaks case wants to live as a woman
Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, shown Tuesday as he is escorted to a security vehicle outside a courthouse in Fort Meade, Md., said he plans to live as a woman named Chelsea and wants to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible.
By David Dishneau and Pauline Jelinik The Associated Press
FORT MEADE, Md. — Three years after Bradley Manning rocked the Pentagon by leaking a mountain of secrets, the soldier created a whole new set of potential complications for the military Thursday when he announced he intends to live as a woman named Chelsea and undergo hormone treatment.
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO
pAge C-2
Index
A
nglers returning to the recently reopened Pecos River will find far fewer places to camp and fish — as well as fewer trout to catch — in the wake of two devastating forest fires earlier this summer. “But it could have been a whole lot worse,” said Richard Hansen, a cold water fisheries biologist for the state Department of Game and Fish. Hansen was inspecting the river at the Mora recreation area last week. “The upper
canyon is in pretty good shape, so we’re stocking here again.” The Tres Lagunas Fire erupted in late May from a downed power line in the canyon and scorched thousands of acres before it could be extinguished many weeks later. The Jaroso Fire deep within the Pecos Wilderness also burned for weeks in the upper Pecos River watershed before it, too, could be brought to bear. Then heavy summer rains brought on floods, with torrents of water pushing rocks and burned timber down scorched hillsides and into the river on the canyon
Calendar A-2
Classifieds C-7, D-2
Comics B-6
Interim Editor: Bruce Krasnow, 986-3034, bkrasnow@sfnewmexican.com
Lotteries A-2
Opinion A-7
Police notes C-2
Sports B-1
Time Out B-5
Manning’s gender-identity struggle — his sense that he is a woman trapped in a man’s body — was brought up in his defense at his court-martial, and a photo of him in a blond wig and lipstick was submitted as evidence. But the latest twist, announced the morning after Manning was sentenced to 35 years behind bars, surprised many and confronted the Pentagon with questions about where and
Generation Next D-1
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Four sections, 28 pages Pasatiempo, 76 pages 164th year, No. 235 Publication No. 596-440