Albuquerque Journal from Albuquerque, New Mexico • A8

METRO NM ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2020 PAGE A8 Candidates emerge for US House seat Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal BY DAN BOYD JOURNAL CAPITOL BUREAU SANTA FE The field for an Albuquerque-based congressio- nal seat continued to take shape Monday after U.S. Rep. Deb Haa- nomination as interior secretary, even as a Democratic legislator said he is working on a proposal to overhaul the law for filling such vacancies. President-elect Joe Biden announced last week that he will nominate Haaland to lead the U.S. Department of Interior, which would make her the first Native American Cabinet secretary.

While Haaland does not have to relinquish her 1st Congressional District seat until confirmed by the U.S. Senate, the prospect of an open seat has already gener- ated a torrent of interest among potential candidates. Two Democrats officially announced campaigns for the seat Monday state Rep. Mela- nie Stansbury and state Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, both of Albuquerque.

Stansbury is a consultant for community programs who pre- viously worked for the U.S. Sen- ate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, while Sedillo Lopez is a retired law school pro- fessor who also ran for the con- gressional seat in 2018. In addition, Rep. Georgene Lou- is, D-Albuquerque, an enrolled member of Acoma Pueblo, said she was considering running and would make a decision in the com- ing days. Several other candidates have also said they are planning to run for the seat in the Democratic- leaning district, such as Republi- cans Eddy Aragon and Michelle Garcia Holmes, who lost to Haa- land in the November general election by 16 percentage points.

But one high-profile Democrat who had been mulling over a cam- paign, Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, said Sunday that she would not be running for Haa- congressional seat. Meanwhile, Rep. Daymon Ely, D-Corrales, said he was working on a bill to change the current law for filling a vacant congres- sional seat that features party insiders picking a nominee. Under the pro- posal floated by Ely, all qualify- ing candidates would instead appear on the a a ranked-choice voting, an elec- toral system in which voters can cast votes for multiple candidates in order of Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez Rep.

Melanie Stansbury See CANDIDATES A9 Legislator working on bill to overhaul law for filling vacancies Chilly holiday week, but no snow for Albuquerque Any snowfall will be confined to higher elevations Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal BY THERESA DAVIS JOURNAL STAFF WRITER New Mexico may have some frosty tem- peratures mid-week, but the state will likely warm up by the holiday weekend. A moisture-starved cold front will arrive Tuesday, said Daniel Porter, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque. you have any snow on the ground now, probably not going to have a white Porter said. Albuquerque is expecting a high of 54 degrees on Tuesday. The city has a zero percent chance of precipitation all week.

Meteorologist Alyssa Clements said high winds will accompany the cold front. On Tuesday, winds of up to 45 mph will blow through areas along and east of the central mountain chain. That could cre- ate strong crosswinds on north-south oriented roads. system is potentially bringing light snow to portions of northern New Mexico, but not expecting much snow at Clements said. Any snowfall will be relegated to high elevations and will likely be less than an inch.

Raton Pass will have the greatest chances for snow accumulations this week. The high winds could create critical fire weather in southeast New Mexico this week. Temperatures will drop on Wednesday. northerly winds will make it feel even Clements said. Wednesday in Albuquerque is expected to have a high of 45 degrees and low of 20.

On Thursday, the storm system will exit New Mexico, leaving cold temperatures in its wake. Thursday will see a high of 44 degrees in Albuquerque, with a low of 23. New Mexico will slowly start to warm up again on Christmas Day. Friday should have a high of 48 and low of 27 degrees. Weekend temperatures will warm up to the mid-50s in the metro area.

Theresa Davis is a Report for America corps member covering water and the environment for the Albuquerque Journal. ADOLPHE U.S. Attorney for New Mexico John Anderson, left, talks about how federal agencies are partnering with Bernalillo County Office and other local departments as Capt. David Funes and Sheriff Manuel Gonzales listen. BCSO touts partnerships with federal agencies Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal BY ELISE KAPLAN JOURNAL STAFF WRITER In addition to the highly-publicized Operation Legend billed as a way to strengthen partnerships between local and federal agencies the Bernalillo County Office has been steadily increasing the number of deputies it has assigned to federal task forces.

In a news conference Monday with the U.S. Attorney for New Mexico John Anderson, Sheriff Manuel Gonzales said while the collaboration is not new, it is some- thing he has put a concerted effort toward. He said a total of 26 BCSO detectives are assigned full time to task forces with the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Secret Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and 25 are assigned part time to the Marshals Service.

decided to invest more of our human resources to these task forces because we feel like getting more mileage or bang for our buck from these Gonzales said. having more of an impact of holding these people The task force investigations are more likely to result in federal prosecutions which typically bring harsher penalties than state prosecutions. are proud to be working closely with state and local law enforcement including the Ber- nalillo County Office to accept for prosecution those federal offenses that we collectively believe will have the greatest impact on violent Anderson said. recognize the violent crime issues facing in most cases are driv- en by a small number of actors and if they can be addressed through an effective prosecution mechanism that will have a material effect on the safety of our communities and U.S. Attorney General William Barr and President Donald Trump unveiled Operation Legend over the summer as a way to fight violent crime in select cities across the country.

Gonzales said although Barr has tendered his resignation from the Department of Justice, he expects the work being done under the ini- tiative to continue into next year. Altogether the task forces made Hobbs businessman Johnny Cope created jobs and served the public Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal BY RICK NATHANSON JOURNAL STAFF WRITER Johnny Cope was New Mexican to his core. Although born in Midland, Texas, his family moved to Hobbs when he was an infant. Cope graduated from Hobbs High School in 1966, where he played varsity baseball, and subsequently attended Eastern New Mexico University where he earned a degree in finance and accounting. came back from college to work for a local oil and gas operator and then branched out and started his own con- struction lifelong friend Sam Cobb, mayor of Hobbs, said Monday.

there, he got into all kinds of oil field service companies and real estate Those companies and investments not only made him wealthy, but also contrib- uted to the economic health of the communi- ty, providing hundreds of jobs, and allowed his philanthropy to benefit many institutions and organizations. Cope, 72, died Dec. 13 at a home he owned in Palm Desert, Califor- nia. No cause of death has been released. was a tireless advocate, really, for the entire state, but naturally his focus was on the southeast part of the state, because that was his home and where most of his business interests Cobb said.

Cope was also a public servant, sitting on several state boards including the New Mexico Community Assistance Council under Gov. Toney Anaya, and on the New $2.5 million relief fund depleted eight Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal BY JESSICA DYER JOURNAL STAFF WRITER Demand for pandemic relief has far exceeded the capacity of a city of Albu- querque program established to help residents ineligible for other assistance, with applications exhausting funding in less than a day. Officials said Monday that the nearly $2.5 million Community Impact Fund that opened for applications Dec. 7 in eight All told, 3,233 people applied the first day they could. The city was able to fund grants for 1,213 households.

just really underscores the very, very deep need in our community of peo- ple who have been left out of other forms of Michelle Melendez, the director of equity and inclusion, said in a media briefing Monday. The city created the fund for people who lost income during the pandemic including via job loss, work hour reduc- tion or a temporary, COVID-19-related workplace shutdown but who did not qualify for unemployment insurance or benefits. The grants also were aimed at those who were ineligible for last fed- eral stimulus payment, including undoc- umented immigrants and mixed-status families. One city representative called it a of last when announcing the pro- gram earlier this month. He estimated that 5,000 individuals in Albuquerque may meet the criteria for the program.

The nonprofit Family Independence Initiative of Albuquerque processed the applications for the city, approving the 1,213 recipients on a first-come, first- served basis, according to a city spokes- man. Some recipients have already received the money, depending on the payment method they selected. The city paid for the program with fed- eral COVID-19 relief money. He also spearheaded several economic development projects Johnny Cope See HOBBS A9 See BCSO A9 50 detectives assigned full or part time to task forces Rep. Daymon Ely.