New Mexicans have mixed reactions to U.S. attack on Venezuela – Santa Fe New Mexican, KOB, KRQE
Hundreds of protestors gathered in downtown Albuquerque Saturday following the U.S. attack on Venezuela.
The U.S. military captured President Nicolás Maduro and his wife in the early hours of Saturday and spirited them to the U.S. to stand trial. This followed months of pressure since early September and deadly strikes on boats the administration claimed were smuggling drugs to the U.S.
KRQE and KOB reports many called the move by the Trump Administration illegal and met in Robinson Park before walking down Central Avenue to Civic Plaza. Some said they’re worried about being dragged into another violent conflict overseas and that President Trump’s actions were motivated by the country’s vast oil reserves.
About 60 people also gathered in Santa Fe Plaza with chants of “No war for oil.” But the Santa Fe New Mexican reports on the city’s south side, a community of Venezuelan immigrants celebrated the removal of Maduro while expressing uncertainty about the future.
The five members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation, all Democrats,universally condemned the action. Sen. Martin Heinrich said Trump acted without legal authorization by Congress.
Sen. Ben Ray Luján said Maduro was an oppressive ruler who devastated Venezuela, but that Trump’s action sets a dangerous precedent for U.S. adversaries to use against Americans and its allies.
But the Republican Party of New Mexico praised the action and said opposition by Democrats is, quote, “grossly offensive” to Venezuelans and others who suffered under Maduro.
Metro Court program aims to treat mentally ill defendants – Oliver Uyttebrouck, Albuquerque Journal
A pilot program intended to redirect people with serious mental illness into treatment as an alternative to criminal prosecution is coming to New Mexico’s busiest courthouse.
The Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court program is directed at people who previously have had criminal charges dismissed because they were found incompetent to stand trial.
The criminal competency diversion court will be the fifth such program statewide but the first in the state’s largest county. The Administrative Office of the Courts announced the new pilot this week ahead of the official launch scheduled for Tuesday.
Candidates for the program are people charged with misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies, excluding those facing drunken-driving charges. The program comes at a time when encampment sweeps around Albuquerque have led to an increase in misdemeanor charges like unlawful camping and blocking the sidewalk.
In cases involving the unhoused or those with mental illness, misdemeanor citations often lead to jail stays down the line due to missed court hearings. According to a Bernalillo County jail population dashboard, just over 7,000 people were booked on misdemeanor charges in 2025.
The competency diversion program is intended to guide people with severe mental illness into services that may include housing, medical needs and appropriate mental health or substance-use treatment.
“We improve public safety by connecting people with a history of severe mental illness to the treatment and community-based support services they need for potential recovery,” said Justice Briana H. Zamora, the Supreme Court’s liaison to the Commission on Mental Health and Competency.
Bennett Baur, chief public defender for the New Mexico Law Offices of the Public Defender, said Wednesday he is uncertain how the program will work but applauded the effort to find alternatives to prosecution for people with severe mental illness.
“I think it’s a really good thing for us to look at different ways to address serious behavioral health issues, rather than just depending upon prosecution, jail and prison, which clearly doesn’t work for these folks,” Baur said.
“I’m concerned that there may not be enough appropriate treatment, but let’s give this a chance,” he said.
The current competency examination process is expensive and time-consuming, Metropolitan Court Judge Nina Safier wrote in a Dec. 13 opinion column in the Albuquerque Journal. Safier, who will preside over the program in Bernalillo County, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
“For decades, individuals experiencing mental illness who were charged with nonviolent crimes remained in limbo for extended periods of time while costly professional forensic evaluations were completed,” Safier wrote.
A person assigned to the competency diversion program will not go through a competency evaluation process, Safier wrote. Instead, they are referred to the program and are assigned to trained staff, called navigators, who can refer them to services, she said.
Jails and courts weren’t designed to provide care for people with mental illness, Safier wrote.
“We can and should try to make our communities safer and healthier by helping individuals connect with and receive the services they most need,” she wrote.
The Administrative Office of the Courts has launched four competency diversion courts since mid-2024 — in the 3rd Judicial District in Las Cruces, the 4th Judicial District in Las Vegas, the 1st Judicial District in Santa Fe and the 12th Judicial District in Otero and Lincoln counties.
New Mexico’s craft beer industry grapples with Bosque Brewing closure, industry headwinds – Natalie Robbins, Albuquerque Journal
When Bosque Brewing Co. filed for bankruptcy last fall, the New Mexico craft beer scene rooted for the company to pull through, said Ebbie Edmonston, executive director of the New Mexico Brewers Guild.
Last week, the brewer announced it was closing its six remaining taprooms statewide after a federal judge threw out the company’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, which would have allowed Bosque to continue operations while it repaid its debts.
“The ultimate decision from the judge — that was surprising, but we did kind of see the trail leading up to this,” Edmonston said.
Times are tough for the craft beer industry. More than 434 breweries nationwide shut down last year, due in part to the rising cost of doing business and the changing drinking habits of Americans, according to the Brewers Association, a Colorado-based trade group.
Local brewers and craft beer lovers say that the loss of Bosque is indicative of deeper challenges.
“Tariffs, inflation and the changing drinking habits of consumers, particularly young people — I think it’s all played a part,” said Chris Jackson, who runs the blog New Mexico Dark Side Brew Crew under the name “Stoutmeister.”
The company’s bankruptcy filings showed Bosque had accrued $10 million to $50 million in liabilities, compared with less than $10 million in assets and roughly 190 unsecured creditors.
Bosque’s rapid expansion across the state led some in the industry to speculate on whether the owners were racking up debts, though nobody anticipated that its debts were as substantial as they were, Jackson said.
“It’s just sort of a sad, cautionary little tale about, sometimes there’s such a thing as getting too ambitious. Just from the outside looking in, that seemed to be what happened here,” Jackson said. “You don’t rack up that much debt in like, two or three years.”
Management at Bosque did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday, though Natasha Souther, the brewer’s now-former spokesperson, said last week that the closures were a result of the court’s decision to dismiss Bosque’s bankruptcy case.
“Bosque has been built on community, and we are forever grateful to everyone who supported our taprooms, shared a pint with us, and made our spaces feel like home,” the company said in a social media post.
When the company filed for bankruptcy in October, Souther told the Journal that Bosque intended to restructure its finances while keeping its locations open.
In early December, Bosque closed locations in Santa Fe — a bar called The Drinkery and a Restoration Pizza restaurant — before shuttering two Albuquerque locations the following week. Bosque closed the rest of its locations during Christmas week.
“It’s an interesting situation in that Bosque was pretty upfront with the struggles they were facing,” Edmonston said.
Taryn Bernicke works in the warehouse at Marble Brewery’s Downtown Albuquerque facility in September 2025. Marble will continue to produce Bosque beers despite Bosque closing its taprooms last month.
Bosque beers will continue to be offered in stores and will be brewed at Marble Brewery in Albuquerque, the company said on its website. Bosque announced the partnership with Marble before the closures in September.
“As difficult as it is to see the Bosque taprooms close, we’re grateful for the opportunity to keep Bosque beer alive and available in stores across New Mexico,” said Jarrett Babincsak, a Marble managing partner, in a statement. “Bosque has meant a lot to this city, and keeping it brewed locally is our way of honoring that connection and the community that built it.”
Babincsak said Marble had hired some of Bosque’s production team to help with the brewing. Marble will continue to brew Elephants on Parade, Scotia, Salt Money, Up North, Riverwalker, and Weekend Trails — beers from the Bosque repertoire.
In 2025, brewery closings outpaced openings nationally for the second year in a row and openings declined for the fourth consecutive year, according to a December report from the Brewers Association.
Craft beer production is down slightly, too. As of July, the group reported that American breweries had produced 5% less beer than the year before.
“The tariffs are impacting all of your costs — your kegs, your fermenters, your ingredients. The cost of labor has definitely gone up,” Edmonston said.
Whether driven by a focus on health and wellness or a lack of disposable income, Gen Z is also drinking less and opting for other drinks instead of craft beer when they do.
“I think a lot of the 20-somethings probably aren’t going out anymore. It’s not because they don’t want to go out and have a drink,” Jackson said. “It’s because they’ve got to pay rent and car insurance and stuff like that first.”
Industry contractions nationwide have an extra effect on small businesses that don’t have the same large volume margins as big chains, said Scott Salvas, owner of Brew Lab 101, a Rio Rancho-based brewery that opened an Albuquerque location in late 2023.
Salvas is offering free one-year memberships to Brew Lab 101 for members of the Bosque Rewards Club.
“I think everyone was surprised when one of the largest breweries in the state closed,” Salvas said. “It’s certainly sad (for) everyone in the community.”
