Santa Fe New Mexican, June 26, 2013

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Wednesday, June 26, 2013

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Magazine ban up for vote

Council to consider controversial proposal to restrict ammunition By Tom Sharpe The New Mexican

The Santa Fe City Council is scheduled to vote Wednesday, June 26, on a proposal to ban firearms with magazines capable of holding more than

Report: Ability to police gambling limited

10 bullets, despite opposition from the National Rifle Association and the Republican Party of New Mexico, as well as a warning by the city attorney. Mayor David Coss and Councilors Patti Bushee and Ron Trujillo, who are sponsoring the ordinance, say the aim is to prevent a repeat of the mass shootings such as those that have occurred in Newtown, Conn.; Aurora, Colo.; and Tucson, Ariz. The proposed ordinance has strong support from gun-safety groups and strong opposition

from gun-rights advocates who say it violates the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, as well as a provision of the state constitution, and outlaws many common firearms that hold more than 10 rounds. A similar proposal was defeated earlier this year in the New Mexico Legislature. “I understand that I am limited in what I can do at the municipal level,” Bushee said in a written

Please see VOTE, Page A-4

Growing pains

Still going strong Serena Williams puts aside distractions at Wimbledon to extend her win streak to 32 matches. SPORTS, B-1

Urban farm cited for alleged land-use violations trying to get up to code, thrive again

Too few state auditors, restrictions on tribal data cited as factors By Steve Terrell The New Mexican

New Mexico has too few auditors and inspectors to enforce regulations covering the $1 billion-plus gambling and horse-racing industries in the state, says a recent Legislative Finance Committee report. The evaluation, presented to the committee last month, also found that proper oversight of casinos run by Indian tribes is hampered by the inability of the Legislature or the State Auditor’s Office to review tribal casino records. Provisions in the Gaming Control Act and tribal gaming compacts, the report says, limit “the Legislature’s ability to monitor the Gaming Control Board’s effectiveness as an oversight agency.” According to the report, the Gaming Control Board has only 13 auditor positions — three of which were vacant as of March — for 86 gambling sites. And while Indian and racetrack casinos are by far the major source of gaming revenue in the state, the lion’s share of the audits performed by the board are for nonprofit gambling operations, such as veteran and fraternal organizations. In the 2012 fiscal year, for instance, 112 audits were done on nonprofits, 29 on Indian casinos and 10 on racetrack casinos.

Please see GAMBLING, Page A-4

Obituaries Anna Marie Agni, 60, June 16 Annie Coriz, 81, June 20 Antonio (Tony) Gallegos, 80, Santa Fe, June 23 Roberta Lorraine Gomez (Peña), 49, June 21 Anita Morris Kaune, 79, June 19 Gerald K. Metter, Carson, June 17 Leona Quade, 82, June 19 Walter Reichelt, 87, June 21 Neil A. Rougemont, 30, June 23 Shane Lee Schultz, 43, June 19 Jerry Wayne Taylor, 56, May 28 Father Anthony Vasaturo

Calendar A-2

By Phaedra Haywood

The New Mexican

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n urban farm that abuts an arroyo in a residential neighborhood near Santa Fe High School recently stopped using volunteer labor and allowing visits by schoolchildren and other groups after being notified that the farm is in violation of city ordinances. Gaia Gardens was started last year by Poki Piottin and Dominique Lozo on land leased from

Pasapick www.pasatiempomagazine.com

Music on the Hill 2013 Straight Up jazz ensemble with J.Q. Whitcomb and Brian Wingard, 6 p.m., outdoors at the college’s athletic field, 1160 Camino de Cruz Blanca, visit stjohnscollege.edu for series lineup, 984-6000, continues weekly through July 24. More events in Calendar, A-2 and Fridays in Pasatiempo

Today Sunshine mixed with clouds. High 96, low 61.

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Index

Poki Piottin started an urban farm called Gaia Gardens last year in a residential area, but after a neighbor’s complaint resulted in a notice from the city charging the farm with several code violations, the future of the operation is unclear. JANE PHILLIPS/THE NEW MEXICAN

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a Colorado resident. With help from numerous volunteers from area schools and a national group that places volunteers on organic farms, the couple grows chard, arugula, corn, beans, tomatoes, broccoli, cucumbers, tomatoes, garlic and other “market” vegetables on about a third of an acre on the edge of a 3.5-acre property that also includes seven residential units. Until recently, the pair have had help with weeding, watering, transplanting and other garden work from dozens of volunteers, including students

from Monte del Sol Charter School, Santa Fe High School and Wee Spirits (a nursery school whose young charges walked across the arroyo every Thursday morning to help in the garden). The couple sold their produce at the farmers market, to local restaurants (including Joe’s Diner and Counter Culture) and from a stand located along their back fence, which was accessed mostly by pedestrians using trails in the adjacent arroyo.

Please see FARM, Page A-4

Court rejects key part of voting law John Roberts

By Mark Sherman The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — A deeply divided Supreme Court threw out the most powerful part of the landmark Voting Rights Act on Tuesday, a decision deplored by the White House but cheered by mostly Southern states now free from nearly 50 years of intense federal oversight of their elections. Split along ideological and partisan lines, the justices voted 5-4 to strip the government of its most potent tool to stop voting bias — the requirement in the Voting Rights Act that all or parts of 15 states with a history of discrimination in voting, mainly in the South, get Washington’s approval before changing the way they hold elections. Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for a majority of conservative, Republicanappointed justices, said the law’s provision that determines which states are

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Editor: Rob Dean, 986-3033, rdean@sfnewmexican.com Design and headlines: Kristina Dunham, kdunham@sfnewmexican.com

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Writing for the majority, he said the law’s provision that determines which states are covered is unconstitutional. covered is unconstitutional because it relies on 40-year-old data and does not account for racial progress and other changes in U.S. society. The decision effectively puts an end to the advance approval requirement that has been used to open up polling places to minority voters in the nearly half century since it was first enacted in 1965, unless Congress can come up with a new formula that Roberts said meets “current conditions” in the United States. That seems unlikely to happen any time soon. President Barack Obama, the nation’s

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

first black chief executive, issued a statement saying he was “deeply disappointed” with the ruling and calling on Congress to update the law. But in the South, Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley said that, while the requirement was necessary in the 1960s, that was no longer the case. He said, “We have long lived up to what happened then, and we have made sure it’s not going to happen again.” The advance approval, or preclearance, requirement shifted the legal burden and required governments that were covered to demonstrate that their proposed election changes would not discriminate. Going forward, the outcome alters the calculus of passing election-related legislation in the affected states and local jurisdictions. The threat of an objection from Washington has hung over such

Please see COURT, Page A-4

Four sections, 28 pages 164th year, No. 177 Publication No. 596-440


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