Officials with the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department are hoping for a major budget boost next fiscal year. They appealed to the Legislative Finance Committee Wednesday for a 12-million dollar budget increase, five million of which would go towards filling agency vacancies and hiring an extra 50 caseworkers to protect neglected kids. CYFD says its investigators handle about 17 cases at a time when federal guidelines recommend between 10 and 12 cases. Senator Howie Morales of Silver City pointed to Socorro County, where he said caseloads reached 43 per worker.
In Washington, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell says she's seen no evidence of criminal negligence in a toxic wastewater spill triggered by federal workers at an inactive Colorado gold mine. Jewell said during congressional testimony Wednesday that the three-million-gallon spill was clearly an accident by a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency crew. She says the August fifth case highlights the hazards posed by tens of thousands of abandoned mines across the country. However, Republicans counter that Interior's investigation into the spill amounted to a "whitewash" that fails to hold the EPA accountable. House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop is asking the non-partisan Government Accountability Office to review Interior's investigation. The spill from the Gold King Mine unleashed a surge of arsenic, lead and other contaminants that fouled rivers in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.
New Mexico Senator Tom Udall joined other Democratic members of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee this week to urge some in Congress to stop debating whether climate change is real and instead work together to fight global warming. Udall says New Mexico is “at the center of the storm” when it comes to climate change’s impacts. *****121015-Udall-1 :31***** Udall and the other Senate Democrats spoke in advance of a hearing chaired by Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who they say has stacked the hearing’s panel with academics who doubt the impact of global warming. Udall attended the Paris Climate Change Conference, and discussed the importance of U.S. action on global warming. The Democrat says that includes climate change research being done at Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico.
Members of New Mexico's congressional delegation have announced federal transportation funding to repair and rebuild roads and highways damaged by storms and flooding in September 2014. The delegation supported the state's request for disaster recovery assistance following Hurricane Odile. The funding includes nearly nine-million dollars to the state for road and highway repairs and just more than one-million for repairs of National Park Service roads in Sandoval County. Money also is being provided for repairs to Bureau of Indian Affairs roads in Sandoval County, Forest Service roads in San Miguel and Catron counties, and Bureau of Land Management roads in Luna, Sandoval and Socorro counties.
The Santa Fe National Forest has approved a 10-year-plan to restore streams and thin forests in the Jemez Mountains. The New Mexican reports that forest officials have worked out an agreement with at least one of two environmental groups that had opposed the project, which will see road closures and restoration work in more than 170 square miles of the area. WildEarth Guardians had filed a formal objection to the plan, contending that some of the activities would cause more harm than good. The group settled their differences with the Forest Service. The Southwest Jemez Mountains Landscape Restoration Project is a multi-agency project to make the forest better able to withstand insect infestations, wildfire, drought, disease and climate change.
Incumbent Santa Fe County Commissioner Miguel Chavez is running for re-election. Chavez, the Commission’s vice-chair, announcing this week that he’s seeking another term in the District Two seat. The former Santa Fe City Councilor has been on the Commission since 2013.
Santa Fe Weather: Mostly sunny, with a high near 55. Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 35. Friday: Partly sunny and a bit cooler, with the high near 51.