ARIZONA
Phoenix has driest monsoon season since record-keeping began in 1895
PHOENIX — After a summer of extreme heat, Arizona’s most populous city is in the record books again. This time Phoenix is notching a record for dry heat.
The National Weather Service said on Oct. 1 that the monsoon season this year in the arid Southwest dropped only 0.15 inches of rainfall from June 15 to Sept. 30. That’s the driest since the agency began keeping records in 1895. The previous mark was 0.35 inches in 1924.
The monsoon season normally runs for about three months each year starting in June, when rising temperatures heat the land and shifting winds carry moisture from the eastern Pacific and Gulf of California to the Southwest via summer thunderstorms.
Phoenix’s average rainfall during a monsoon season is 2.43 inches. Arizona gets less than 13 inches of average annual rainfall as America’s second driest state behind Nevada, which meteorologist say averages less than 10 inches of rain per year compared to the national average of about 30 inches.
Phoenix this summer experienced the hottest July and the second-hottest August. The daily average temperature of 97 F in June, July and August passed the previous record of 96.7 F set three years ago.
In July, Phoenix also set a record with a 31-day streak of highs at or above 110 F, creating a health hazard for people whose bodies were unable to cool off sufficiently amid the persistent, relenting heat.
Maricopa County public health data shows that as of Sept. 23, there were 295 heat-associated deaths confirmed with a similar number — 298 — still under investigation for causes associated with the heat.
NEBRASKA
State imposes 7-day wait for trans youth to start gender-affirming medications
Nebraska is requiring transgender youth seeking gender-affirming care to wait seven days to start puberty blocking medications or hormone treatments under emergency regulations announced on Oct. 1 by the state health department.
The regulations also require transgender minors to undergo at least 40 hours of “gender-identity-focused” therapy that are “clinically neutral” before receiving any medical treatments meant to affirm their gender identities. A new law that took effect on Oct. 1 bans gender-affirming surgeries for trans youth under 19 and also required the state’s chief medical officer to spell out when and how those youth can receive other care.
The new regulations remain in effect while state Department of Health and Human Services takes public comments on a permanent set of rules.
Grant Friedman, a legal fellow for the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska, said it’s helpful to have the rules in place so that new transgender patients can get care. However, he said, medical professionals already follow international standards for treating trans youth, making the Legislature’s intervention unnecessary.
During the signing ceremony for the new Nebraska law, Republican Gov. Jim Pillen suggested that children and their parents who seek gender-affirming treatment are being “duped,” adding, “that is absolutely Lucifer at its finest.” The state’s chief medical officer, Dr. Timothy Tesmer, is a Pillen appointee.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends gender-affirming care for people under 18, citing an increased risk of suicide for transgender teens.
NEW MEXICO
Attempted murder charged in shooting at protest over conquistador statue
SANTA FE — A New Mexico man was charged on Sept. 29 with attempted murder in a shooting that wounded one person at a protest over plans to install a statue of a Spanish conquistador outside government offices in the city of Española.
Defendant Ryan David Martinez, from Sandia Park, was read the felony charges of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon at his first appearance in municipal court. No plea was entered.
A temporary public defender assigned to Martinez could not be reached immediately by phone and didn’t respond to voice messages.
Martinez was arrested on Sept. 28 after chaos erupted and a shot was fired during protests in Española about plans to install a bronze likeness of conquistador Juan de Oñate, who is both revered and reviled for his role in establishing early settlements along the Upper Rio Grande starting in 1598.
Installation of the statue was planned for Sept. 28 but was canceled by county officials amid security concerns.
The victim of Thursday’s shooting, a 42-year-old man, was flown to an Albuquerque hospital for treatment of a wound to the abdomen. His condition was not immediately available from state police overseeing the shooting investigation.
A warrant for Martinez’s arrest includes testimony from witnesses who described an otherwise peaceful protest and the arrival of several men in “MAGA” hats.
Police reviewed video of the confrontation as recordings circulated on social media.
A pretrial services report showed no prior convictions for Martinez and no prior failures to appear in court.
Feds announce plans to safeguard sacred tribal lands
ALBUQUERQUE — In an effort to safeguard sacred tribal lands, federal authorities announced a plan on Sept. 18 to protect more than 4,000 acres within the Placitas area in New Mexico’s Sandoval County.
The U.S. Department of the Interior and federal Bureau of Land Management said a proposed mineral withdrawal would bar new mining claims and oil and gas development in the area for 50 years, subject to valid and existing rights.
The Pueblos of San Felipe and Santa Ana have long sought protections for the Placitas area, which they consider ancestral and sacred lands.
Authorities said the federal proposal would help protect, preserve and promote the scenic integrity, cultural importance, recreational values and wildlife habitat connectivity within the Placitas area near Albuquerque.
The proposed withdrawal is on four separate tracts and contains known archaeological resources that range from as early as the prehistoric Paleoindian period through the historic Statehood period and beyond.
“We’re responding to call from tribes, elected leaders and community members who want to see these public lands protected,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement.
A 90-day public comment period on the proposal began on Sept. 18.
MUSCOGEE NATION
Judge rules in favor of citizenship for slave descendants
OKLAHOMA CITY — A judge for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation in Oklahoma ruled in favor of citizenship for two descendants of Black slaves once owned by tribal members, potentially paving the way for hundreds of other descendants known as freedmen.
District Judge Denette Mouser, based in the tribe’s headquarters in Okmulgee, ruled late on Sept. 27 in favor of two Black Muscogee Nation freedmen, Rhonda Grayson and Jeff Kennedy, who had sued the tribe’s citizenship board for denying their applications.
Mouser reversed the board’s decision and ordered it to reconsider the applications in accordance with the tribe’s Treaty of 1866, which provides that descendants of those listed on the Creek Freedmen Roll are eligible for tribal citizenship.
The Cherokee Nation has granted full citizenship to its freedmen, while other tribes, like the Muscogee Nation, have argued that sovereignty allows tribes to make their own decisions about who qualifies for citizenship.
Muscogee Nation Attorney General Geri Wisner said in a statement that the tribe plans to immediately appeal the ruling to the Muscogee Nation’s Supreme Court.
Mouser pointed out in her decision that slavery within the tribe did not always look like slavery in the South and that slaves were often adopted into the owner’s clan, where they participated in cultural ceremonies and spoke the tribal language.
Plaintiff’s attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons said the judge’s ruling has special meaning to him because one of his own ancestors, Cow-Tom, was among those who signed the Treaty of 1866 and ensured it included a provision guaranteeing citizenship for tribal members of African descent.
