Divers from the Albuquerque Police Department will assist Santa Fe officers this morning to determine the best way to remove the body discovered Wednesday afternoon by SFPD inside a culvert and drainage pipe eight feet beneath the surface. Police officials said they weren’t sure how the man died or how his body got into the pipe near the Lena Street Lofts. They also didn’t say if they suspected foul play. A spokeswoman with the Santa Fe Police Department said the body had likely been in the pipe for several weeks. Investigators were not able to identify the man as of 3 p.m. Wednesday, when police and emergency responders were still trying to figure out how to remove the body from the pipe. The body had been reported to police a couple of hours earlier.
Santa Fe’s Genoveva Chavez Community Center is open today following an incident where a city contractor doing duct work Wednesday fell through the ceiling and onto a weight bench. The male unidentified worker was talking to paramedics while being transported to Christus-St. Vincent Hospital.
The New Mexico Republican Party is banking on an effort aimed at building a “grassroots” movement to assist the GOP presidential nominee and keep the New Mexico House under Republican control. State Republican Communications Director Pat Garrett says it’s called the “New Mexico Grassroots initiative,” noting that the days of party staff coming in three to four months before an election to organize are long gone.
AM Feature 1:44 (Script follows cut 1):
Garrett-1 :24 Q: different from the past.”
Garrett says the party’s anticipating hundreds of volunteers from across the state to enlist in the effort. Garrett stresses the new effort is a shift from the past, where party leaders called the shots. Garrett says GOP volunteers will be taking the lead.
Garrett-2 :05 Q: of orders, per se.”
The effort is a paradigm shift from the past, where state or sometimes out-of-state party officials led the organizing effort.
Garrett-3 :11 Q: candidate as well.”
Garrett’s indicating that issues raised during the 2016 campaign will be familiar ones to New Mexico voters.
Garrett-4 :37 Q: for our electoral votes.”
New Mexico Democrats, asked to comment on the GOP effort, don’t seem concerned about their opposition, despite their success in the 2014 elections. Joe Kabourek is Executive Director of the state Democratic Party.
Kabourek-1 :16 Q: in this state.”
New Mexico Democratic Party Director, Joe Kabourek.
Testimony resumes today in a legal challenge against New Mexico's teacher evaluation system. Former Public Education Department assistant secretary Pete Goldschmidt faces cross examination in Santa Fe over how well the evaluation system is working. Teacher unions say the evaluation system is forcing veteran educators to retire or have their licenses jeopardized. They want the evaluation system tossed.
Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry says he has vetoed a City Council measure to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana. The council voted 5-4 along party lines last week in favor of making it a civil offense to possess up to an ounce of marijuana, with Berry vowing to veto the legislation. He vetoed the measure on Wednesday, saying he has a "hard time signing any legislation that preempts federal law" and that his oath of office requires him to uphold the Constitution. State law for marijuana possession carries penalties of up to 15 days in jail and fines up to one-hundred dollars.
Santa Fe Weather: Sunny today with the high reaching 80. Tonight: Partly cloudy with the overnight low dipping to 54. Tomorrow: Mostly sunny with the high 77. It will also be breezy tomorrow afternoon with a slight chance for showers and thunderstorms.