Judge blocks release of public records that show the bodies of Gene Hackman and his wife - By Morgan Lee Associated Press
A court on Monday blocked the release of any public records that show the bodies of Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, but said other images and documents can be disclosed.
A representative for the Hackman family estate had urged a New Mexico judge to seal photos, video and documents to protect the family's privacy. Santa Fe-based Judge Matthew Wilson had court put a temporary hold on the release of records pending Monday's hearing.
Wilson said anything that does not include images of the couples' bodies could be released.
The partially mummified remains of Hackman and Arakawa were found in their Santa Fe home on Feb. 26, when maintenance and security workers showed up at the home and alerted police. Authorities have confirmed Hackman, 95, died of heart disease with complications from Alzheimer's disease about a week after his wife's death. Hackman may have been unaware Arakawa, 65, was dead.
Her cause of death was listed as hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which is a rare, rodent-borne disease.
New Mexico's open records law blocks public access to sensitive images, including depictions of dead bodies. Experts also say some medical information is not considered public record under the state Inspection of Public Records Act.
Estate representative Julia Peters has emphasized the possibly shocking nature of photographs and video in the investigation and potential for their dissemination by media in the bid to block them from being released. The Hackman family estate also sought to block the release of autopsy reports by the Office of the Medical Investigator and death investigation reports by the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office.
An attorney for the estate, Kurt Sommer, argued during Monday's hearing that the couple took great pains to stay out of the public light during their lifetimes and that the right to control the use of their names and likenesses should extend to their estate in death.
The bulk of death investigations by law enforcement and autopsy reports by medical investigators are typically considered public records under state law in the spirit of ensuring government transparency and accountability.
At the start of Monday's hearing, Wilson granted a request from media outlets including The Associated Press to intervene.
Authorities unraveled the mysterious circumstances of the couple's deaths and described their conclusions at a March 7 news conference without releasing most related written and photographic records.
One of the couple's three dogs, a kelpie mix named Zinna, also was found dead in a crate in a bathroom closet near Arakawa. Two other dogs were found alive.
Susan Madore, a publicist who had worked with the Hackmans for years, testified that the couple relished living in Santa Fe because it afforded them anonymity. Hackman retired in the early 2000s.
Arakawa had no children, while Hackman is survived by three children from a previous marriage. Privacy likely also will play a role as the couple's estate is settled. According to probate court documents, Hackman signed an updated will in 2005 leaving his estate to his wife while the will she signed that year directed her estate to him. With both dying, management of the estate is in Peters' hands.
A request is pending to appoint a trustee to administer assets in two trusts associated with the estate. Without trust documents being made public, it's unclear who the beneficiaries are and how the assets will be divided.
Attorneys who specialize in estate planning in New Mexico say it's possible more details could come out if there were any legal disputes over the assets. Even then, they said, the parties likely would ask the court to seal the documents.
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Associated Press writer Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque contributed to this report.
Fire at New Mexico GOP headquarters under investigation as arson - Associated Press
A fire that damaged the entryway to the New Mexico Republican Party headquarters in Albuquerque is being investigated as arson, a fire official said Monday.
No suspect has been named in the Sunday morning blaze that's under investigation by local authorities, the FBI, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Incendiary materials were found on the scene, according to an ATF spokesperson. Spray paint on the side of the building read "ICE=KKK," said Lt. Jason Fejer with Albuquerque Fire Rescue. Fejer said federal officials were taking over the arson investigation.
Republican leaders described the fire as a deliberate attack. The building had extensive smoke damage, which Republican party spokesperson Ash Soular said left the offices uninhabitable.
Surveillance video from the inside the building captured images of the fire, Soular said. She declined Monday morning to give further details and said law enforcement asked the party not to release the video or discuss its contents in detail.
State Republican leaders planned a news conference Monday afternoon to address the fire and other damage.
The weekend fire followed vandalism across the U.S. in recent weeks targeting dealerships for Tesla, the electric car company owned by Elon Musk, who is leading Republican President Donald Trump's efforts to slash the federal workforce. Trump has also sought to ramp up deportation efforts against people living in the country illegally, led by agents at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
Democrats including New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller denounced the fire and said politically motivated crimes are unacceptable.
"There is no excuse for political violence or vandalism of any kind, and I strongly condemn Sunday's attack on the New Mexico Republican Party headquarters," Lujan Grisham said in a Monday social media post.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signs New Mexico flood recovery, ambulance purchasing bills into law - By Danielle Prokop,
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has signed two bills into law that will give local governments more ways to access money to aid in disaster recovery and emergency response.
One will allow the use of property tax bonds to fix infrastructure damaged by floodwaters, and the other will change a funding mechanism to help cities and towns purchase ambulances. Lujan Grisham signed them both Friday.
These bills provide critical tools for our municipalities to recover from devastating floods and strengthen our emergency medical services across the state, the Democratic governor Lujan Grisham said in a written statement Monday.
The first law, , expands the use of revenue bonds to include rebuilding, repairing, replacing, and hardening of municipal property damaged by a flood, and allows local governments including cities and counties to implement a 0.327% gross tax to help pay for the bonds.
Previously, the law only allowed municipalities to enact the tax on property sales or services bought within the area.
Sen. Candy Spence Ezzell (R-Roswell) the sponsor of SB 383, said she was beyond thrilled, about the signing when reached by phone on Monday. The new law will allow Roswell to raise funds to apply for federal dollars after in October, killing two people.
It will help Roswell get matching funds where they can apply for the FEMA money to help with getting everything back, Ezzell said. The bill also gives other towns and counties the opportunity to do the same thing in case they are faced with some other natural disaster as well.
In order to enact the tax, local governments will have to adopt bonds and send them to the voters for approval. SB383 contains an emergency clause, which enacts the bill into law immediately.
allows municipalities to purchase ambulances using bonds and allows the state to move money from the Emergency Medical Services Fund to the Department of Finance and Administration to pledge in repaying the loans, similar to the process to buy fire trucks.
Ambulances are often too expensive for small local governments to purchase outright, said , which lobbies on behalf of cities, in an of the bill. A single ambulance often costs over $200,000.
SB197 goes into effect July 1.
This is still not normal: In town halls, Stansbury warns of Democratic peril, calls for action - By Kevin Hendricks,
In a pair of town hall meetings last week, U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury issued a strong warning about the current state of American democracy, urging constituents to take action against what she describes as unprecedented challenges under the current administration.
Addressing a large audience in La Entrada Park in Corrales, Stansbury, a New Mexico Democrat with a water resources and science education background, highlighted the nations critical threats, including the head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk.
I genuinely believe the most dangerous tool in Donald Trumps arsenal right now is Elon Musk, Stansbury said. Hes the wealthiest man on earth and he has accumulated even more wealth since he came into the White House. He has unlimited money to spend. He can literally spend hundreds of millions of dollars in dark money to run elections, either for people he supports or against people he doesnt.
Stansbury, the ranking member of the DOGE Subcommittee on Oversight, spoke in Corrales after holding an earlier town hall in Placitas. Both events had a similar theme that democracy is under threat from the Trump administration and requires active defense from citizens and legal professionals.
We, as Americans, are rebellious people, Stansbury said. We are seeing an unprecedented attack on our democracy, our institutions, our federal agencies and our federal workers, and New Mexicans are scared and frightened.
Stansbury said the countrys resilience stems from its ability to challenge authority and continuously improve democratic institutions. However, she also expressed deep concern, especially for New Mexico, where she said federal funding cuts have hit local organizations, including programs at the University of New Mexico and immigrant rights groups. Stanbury said, funds were being illegally impounded and that thousands of New Mexicans have been affected by job losses and program cancellations.
A lot of organizations in Albuquerque still have their funding frozen, Stansbury said, adding that her office is working to restore these funds.
Immigration enforcement policies, tariffs, healthcare, and Social Security were also major topics of discussion. Stansbury criticized the Trump administrations immigration policies as unconstitutional and ineffective and highlighted the lack of federal support for border security in New Mexico. She also expressed concern over potential layoffs of 15,000 Health and Human Services employees and the threat to Social Security.
Social Security is the thing that we will fight to the death to protect, Stansbury said.
Stansbury repeatedly stated, The house is on fire, to convey the urgency and severity of the situation.
This is a fire because of the speed, intensity and enormity of how fast, serious and careless this current administration is being in trying to achieve their policy goals, how theyre breaking laws norms and violating the separation of powers, and the ways in which the Republican controlled Congress has completely abdicated its responsibilities and rolled over for Donald Trump, Stansbury said.
A defiant Stansbury urged constituents to raise their voices, contact their representatives and engage in electoral politics to address these issues. She also encouraged legal professionals to support court cases challenging the administrations actions.
We need an army of legal professionals to help the people whove been impacted, she said.
Despite the slew of concerns shared by Stansbury and an emotional crowd, Stansbury concluded the town hall by expressing hope and resilience.
I genuinely believe that we are going to not only save this democracy, but I think that even though the things that theyre doing are so destructive right now we are going to survive.
City of Albuquerque to e-scooter companies: The honeymoon phase is over 91做厙 News
Its not an uncommon sight in Albuquerque in recent months: rentable e-scooters strewn across the sidewalk, tipped over in yards, or otherwise in the way. The City of Albuquerque announced today/yesterday [MON] that it will no longer stand for it.
The city says it seized and impounded 38 improperly parked e-scooters following a sweep of the Nob Hill and university areas.
In a statement, city officials say the action was the result of the vendors' slow response times to reported issues.
Planning Department Director Alan Varela told the scooter companies permitted to operate in the city, including Spin, Lime and Beam, that The honeymoon phase is over.
The city is charging the companies $200 a day to store their scooters and a $100 fee to relocate them.
New Mexico taps UC San Diego's Eric Olen to replace Richard Pitino - Associated Press
New Mexico hired UC San Diego's Eric Olen on Sunday as its next basketball coach.
Olen will replace Richard Pitino, who left to become Xavier's coach on Tuesday.
"Eric is a proven winner with an incredible track record," New Mexico athletic director Fernando Lovo said in a statement. "Beyond the accolades and success on the court, he is a values-driven leader who puts student-athletes first. We're confident he'll bring tremendous energy and vision to our program."
Olen spent 21 years at San Diego, the last 12 as head coach, and guided the Tritons through their transition from Division II to Division I. San Diego qualified for the NCAA Tournament this season in its first year of eligibility after winning the Big West Conference regular-season and tournament titles. The Tritons lost to Michigan 68-65 in the first round.
Olen is the school's all-time leader in wins at 240-119.
He takes over a Lobos program that reached the NCAA Tournament the past two seasons. New Mexico won its opening game over Marquette before losing to Michigan State.
Abiquiu Lake to close vehicle access to swim beach and paddle boat launch - By Matthew Reisen,
Officials say visitors will have to hoof it to go swimming or launch paddle boats at Abiquiu Lake this summer out of caution amid a ranger shortage and federal hiring freeze.
Lisa Lockyear, a spokesperson with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said vehicle access to the lakes Swim Beach, Paddle Craft Launch Area and two group shelters will be closed from April 1 until Oct. 15.
Despite the closures, she said, visitors will be able to park at the top of the hill before the gate and walk down into the recreation area of the lake, which is northwest of Espa簽ola.
Lockyear said they are currently down three park rangers at Abiquiu and, due to the hiring freeze, cannot backfill positions or hire more rangers. For that reason, she said they are being extra cautious to avoid getting to the point where the rangers would be unable to ensure public safety.
Lockyear said the Corp of Engineers is closing vehicle access only at Abiquiu, one of New Mexicos most popular lakes with a visually stunning backdrop that inspired many of the landscapes of painter Georgia OKeeffe.
We dont want to stretch our park rangers to where they are limited in their ability, she said of the closure.
New Mexico lawmakers pass bill allowing immigrants to work as police - Austin Fisher,
State lawmakers sent Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham a bill that would, if enacted, allow immigrants authorized to work by the federal government to become police officers in New Mexico.
Currently, New Mexico law policing jobs to people with U.S. citizenship.
would open these jobs up to applicants who have work authorization from the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services, part of the federal Department of Homeland Security.
According to a spokesperson for the governor, she has not yet decided whether to sign SB364.
The governor is going through each bill that made it to the 4th floor and there is a process where she evaluates each one. She has until April 11 to decide, Deputy Director of Communications Jodi McGinnis Porter told Source NM on Friday.
SB364 co-sponsor Sen. Cindy Nava (D-Bernalillo) the Senate Judiciary Committee the bill would remove outdated restrictions in state law and allow immigrants with federal work authorization to be police officers and sheriffs deputies.
The bill, if enacted, would allow legal permanent residents and beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to become police officers, if they meet all the standards and qualifications, Nava said. She told the House Judiciary Committee it would open the door to more than 51,000 New Mexicans to apply for police jobs.
These are individuals who are desperately needed by our police departments and sheriffs offices, said Nava, who is a .
The Albuquerque Police Department has indicated that its 885 sworn officers are 74% of the budgeted capacity, according to the Department of Workforce Solutions of the bill.
Using national survey data from the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the department estimates New Mexico has between 749 and 1,947 empty but funded positions for patrol officers, supervisors and detectives.
SB364 was sponsored by Nava, House Speaker Javier Mart穩nez (D-Albuquerque), Senate Majority Whip Michael Padilla (D-Albuquerque), Senate Judiciary Chair Joseph Cervantes (D-Las Cruces), and Sen. Craig Brandt (R-Rio Rancho).
SB364 passed the on March 13 and the on March 21. It passed unanimously through the and the , and passed with bipartisan support through the .
Jessica Inez Martinez, director of policy and coalition building at the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center, was an expert witness on SB364 and told the House Judiciary Committee that legal permanent residents must go through a lengthy process to achieve that status and then in order to maintain it, must not commit specific crimes. DACA recipients, to maintain their status, cant commit any crimes, she said.
They would go through the process to do the background checks like every other candidate that is going through the law enforcement process, she said.
She also noted people who achieve legal permanent residence can also become citizens within three to five years. DACA recipients cannot achieve citizenship but can get work authorization, she said.
Rep. Nicole Chavez (R-Albuquerque) said she had thought that noncitizens cant carry firearms and asked how that would work under the bill. Sen. Brandt responded by reading from a from the U.S. Department of Justice that outlines exceptions to that prohibition, including DACA recipients who are certified police officers, who may possess firearms and ammunition issued to them by the police department for official use.
If an officers job requires them to be armed 24/7, then they are allowed to take the gun home, but if their job only allows them to carry while on shift, then they lock the gun up in the departments armory every day, Brandt said.
In her presentations to legislative committees about the bill, Nava spoke in detail about her brother, who is a DACA recipient like her and moved away from New Mexico to work for the police department in Blue Island, Illinois.
Jeffrey Farr, chief of police in Blue Island, told the House Judiciary Committee via Zoom that his department employs seven DACA recipients and started hiring them about two years ago because they found it increasingly difficult to communicate with the community that we are supposed to serve.
Each of them have played a vital role in the success of our police department, Farr said. I highly encourage you to pass this law.
Mexican wolf heads toward Mount Taylor - Hannah Grover,
A female Mexican gray wolf is wandering toward Mount Taylor.
This wolf, who was given the name Ella by school children and is identified by the number F-2996, left the experimental population area by crossing north past Interstate-40.
Ella is not just a numbershes a sentient being, a bold young wolf charting her own path and showing us that wolves are the true agents of their recovery. By dispersing north of I-40, shes proving that suitable, wild habitat still exists where wolves once thrived, Claire Musser, the executive director of the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project, said in a press release. Each wolf carries unique knowledge, instincts, and personalitytraits essential to building strong, resilient packs. We need all of them, and they need the freedom to roam.
Wildlife advocates say Ella is heading in the direction of a pristine area with large elk herds, where wolves historically roamed. The advocates say Ella is near a location called Lobo Canyon, which suggests the area is appropriate for wolf populations.
Ella is the third female in three years to leave the experimental population area and head northward. A female wolf called left the experimental population area twice in 2022 and 2023 though wildlife officials captured her in late 2023 in the Jemez Mountains near the Valles Caldera National Preserve in late 2023. Wildlife officials cited the lack of suitable mates and risks that Asha could be mistaken for a coyote and killed as reasons why they chose to capture her.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service does not currently have plans to capture Ella, who was roaming about 20 miles north of I-40 on Thursday.
Wildlife advocates are urging the Fish and Wildlife Service to allow wolves like Ella to move out of the experimental population area.
True recovery of the endangered Mexican wolf will require allowing them to expand their range, Kirk Robinson, executive director of Western Wildlife Conservancy, said in a press release. Insisting on an artificial boundary that wolves must not cross makes no sense.
The advocates say Mount Taylor which is sacred to various Indigenous groups including the Navajo, Hopi, Zuni and the Pueblos of Laguna and Acoma provides excellent habitat for Mexican wolves.
Twenty-seven years ago this week, the wilds of the southwest were once again greeted with the howls of Mexican gray wolves. How exciting that as we honor this anniversary, were also celebrating another milestone yet another courageous wolf is proving that wolves belong north of I-40, Regan Downey, director of education at the Wolf Conservation Center, said in a press release.
At least half of US states now outlaw devices that convert pistols into machine guns - By David A. Lieb, Associated Press
In New Mexico, police and prosecutors backed an effort to outlaw devices that convert pistols into machine guns. In Alabama, the governor made it a priority.
Lawmakers in both states one led by Democrats, the other by Republicans responded this year with new laws making so-called Glock switches illegal.
At least half of U.S. states now have similar laws prohibiting the possession of such devices, a list that has grown over the past decade as law enforcement officers have found more of the tiny yet powerful devices attached to guns.
States are mimicking federal law, which for decades has generally prohibited machine guns and any parts that can transform semiautomatic weapons into automatic ones.
WHAT DOES FEDERAL LAW SAY?
U.S. law defines a machine gun as a weapon that automatically fires more than one shot with a single pull of a trigger. The definition also includes any parts designed to convert a weapon into a machine gun.
Federal law prohibits possessing machine guns made after 1986, with some exceptions for law enforcement, the military and certain licensed dealers. Nearly all conversion devices are illegal because they were made more recently.
People convicted of possessing machine guns and conversion devices can face up to 10 years in prison.
WHAT IS A GLOCK SWITCH?
A Glock switch is one type of a machine gun conversion device. It's a metal or plastic piece, about the size of a coin, that attaches to the back of Glock pistol, a brand that is popular with both police and criminals. The switch interferes with a gun's internal trigger components so that it fires continuously when the trigger is pulled back and held.
A gun outfitted with a switch can fire dozens of bullets in mere seconds, similar to a factory-made machine gun.
Other brands of pistols that mimic Glocks also can be converted to machine guns. So can some semiautomatic rifles. Such conversion devices also are referred to as auto sears, selector switches or chips.
WHAT DOES THE DATA INDICATE?
The use of auto sears spiked in the past decade, partly because they can be made inexpensively with 3D printers.
From 2012 to 2016, just 814 machine gun conversion parts were taken into custody by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. That swelled to 5,454 from 2017-2021.
In January, former President Joe Biden's administration said 12,360 suspected machine gun conversion devices had been recovered in the U.S. and submitted to the ATF during a roughly 34-month period ending in October 2024.
Five states including Florida, Illinois, Texas, Montana and North Dakota accounted for nearly half that total.
WHAT HAVE STATES BEEN DOING?
Alabama is the latest state to outlaw Glock switches. A law signed this month by Republican Gov. Kay Ivey makes possessing parts designed to convert pistols into machine guns a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
The bipartisan push in Alabama came after police said they believed conversion devices had been used in fatal shootings, including one in September that killed four and injured 17 people outside a Birmingham lounge.
Democratic New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a law in February making possession of a weapon conversion device a felony punishable by up to three years in prison.
Similar legislation passed the New Jersey General Assembly last week and now heads to the Senate. Bills also are pending in other states.
Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed a law last year making auto sears illegal. But Youngkin vetoed legislation this past week that would have broadened an existing ban on "trigger activators" to cover additional devices that increase firing rates of semiautomatic weapons.
WHAT DO GUN CONTROL ADVOCATES WANT?
Groups such as Everytown for Gun Safety say state laws provide a sometimes easier alternative to federal prosecution for possessing Glock switches. But they want to go further.
Everytown for Gun Safety is backing legislation in California, Maryland and New York that would make it illegal to sell pistols that could be transformed into machine guns.
"That really puts the pressure where it belongs on the manufactures that are making money off of guns that they know can be readily turned into machine guns," said Nick Suplina, senior vice president for law and policy at Everytown for Gun Safety.
Several cities and states including Baltimore, Chicago, Minnesota and New Jersey have sued Glock for making pistols that can be converted by others to automatic weapons.
WHAT DO GUN-RIGHTS GROUPS SAY?
The National Rifle Association notes U.S. attorneys already can prosecute people for misusing gun conversion devices without the need for state laws.
Gun Owners of America, another gun-rights group, contends people should have a Second Amendment right to own machine guns. State laws against machine gun conversation devices are "duplicative" and "pure virtue signaling," said Aidan Johnston, federal affairs director for Gun Owners of America.
He said guns converted to fire automatically can have practical uses like eliminating large groups of feral hogs that are destroying land.
"Just because you put that on your firearm doesn't mean that you are a violent criminal or that you necessarily are a dangerous person," Johnston said.
Former New Mexico guard Donovan Dent headed to UCLA. St. John's star RJ Luis Jr. declares for draft - Associated Press
UCLA has landed former New Mexico guard Donovan Dent, one of the most sought-after players in the transfer portal.
Dent announced his decision to play at Westwood on Instagram on Friday, less than a week after opting to enter the transfer portal.
St. John's second-team All-American RJ Luis Jr. is declaring for the NBA draft while retaining his eligibility and entering the transfer portal, his agent told ESPN.
ESPN also reported Kansas big man Flory Bidunga will enter the portal as well.
Dent was the Mountain West Conference player of the year after averaging 20.4 points and 6.5 assists per game. The 6-foot-2 guard is expected to fill the hole left at UCLA by Dylan Andrews, who also is in the transfer portal.
Dent played three seasons under Richard Pitino, who became Xavier's head coach after leading the Lobos to the NCAA Tournament the past two years.
Luis was the Big East player of the year after averaging 18.2 points and 7.2 rebounds. The 6-7 forward was the Big East Tournament most outstanding player and helped St. John's earn a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. But he was on the bench late in the Red Storm's 75-66 loss to Arkansas in the second round.
Luis finished 3 for 17 from the floor without an assist, scoring nine points in 30 minutes. He was removed by coach Rick Pitino with 4:56 remaining in a two-point game and didn't return.
The 6-9 Bidunga averaged 5.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.6 blocks while providing a spark off the bench behind All-American Hunter Dickinson.