New Mexico
Auburn’s Game Against New Mexico Means Reunion for Defensive Lineman
The Auburn Tigers host the New Mexico Lobos this weekend for their second to last non-conference game of the regular season.
Auburn will be looking to earn another convincing win and iron some things out ahead of conference play. On the field, games like this often get overshadowed by what’s next, but for one Auburn player, it has been circled on the calendar for a while.
Philip Blidi, a veteran defensive lineman who joined the Tigers via the transfer portal this offseason, went to high school in New Mexico and has numerous connections to the Lobos football team.
“The head coach there (Bronco Mendenhall), he’s real good friends with my head coach from high school,” Blidi said. “A lot of the players there, I played against in high school too. I was one of the top players in the state so I know a lot of people from that area and I still have a lot of relationships in that area. It’s going to be really cool seeing some familiar faces.”
New Mexico, a state with the 15th smallest population in the country, is a place that many people in the southeastern region of the country do not know much about. Blidi likes New Mexico and enjoyed his time there.
“There’s a lot of space and really friendly people,” Blidi said. “Great Mexican food, it has a lot of land, a lot of people go hunting there. It has great scenery, a lot of great mountains there. We used to go up to the mountains and spend weekends there.”
Blidi moved to Auburn along with his wife Emma and two children, Amara and Brooks. The family has settled in nicely and it did not take long for the Blidi family to feel at home on the Plains.
“They have loved it,” Blidi said. “This experience here, there is no other place like Jordan-Hare Stadium. When we got to experience Tiger Walk, it was breathtaking. They really love the gameday experience. They love the stadium and how hectic it was. That was something they really loved and they enjoyed that experience.”
Blidi and the Tigers will take on New Mexico on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. CT. ESPN2 will carry the broadcast.
SANTA FE, N.M. — A federal judge has dismissed part of a lawsuit that accused police of violating constitutional protections when they fatally shot a man after showing up at the wrong address in response to a domestic violence call.
The shooting of Robert Dotson, 52, in the northwestern New Mexico city of Farmington prompted a civil lawsuit by his family members, though public prosecutors found there was no basis to pursue criminal charges against officers after a review of events. The suit alleged that the family was deprived of its civil rights and officers acted unreasonably.
Hearing a knock at the door late on April 5, 2023, Dotson put on a robe, went downstairs and grabbed a handgun before answering. Police outside shined a flashlight as Dotson appeared and raised the firearm before three police officers opened fire, killing him. Dotson did not shoot.
“Ultimately, given the significant threat Dotson posed when he pointed his firearm at officers … the immediacy of that threat, the proximity between Dotson and the defendant officers, and considering that the events unfolded in only a few seconds, the court finds that the defendant officers reasonably applied deadly force,” U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Garcia said in a written court opinion.
The judge also said the officers were entitled under the circumstances to qualified immunity — special legal protections that prevent people from suing over claims that police or government workers violated their constitutional rights.
The opinion was published May 15 — the same day the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in a separate case that courts should weigh the totality of circumstances and not just a “moment of threat” when judging challenges to police shootings under the Fourth Amendment.
Tom Clark, one of the Dotson family’s attorneys, said the lawsuit against Farmington police will move forward on other claims under tort law and provisions of the New Mexico Civil Rights Act, which limits immunity for police and other government agencies.
Defense attorneys said in court filings that the officers acted reasonably under “the totality of circumstances,” noting that they repeatedly knocked and announced that police had arrived and saying Dotson “posed an imminent threat of death or great bodily harm to police.”
Philip Stinson, a professor of criminal justice at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, said Tuesday that court evaluations of police immunity in shootings “sometimes lead to results that end up leaving you scratching your head.”
“Here the court is saying the police made a mistake — but in that moment they were confronted with a decision to use deadly force,” he said. “I don’t think this is the last word in this case.”
Lawyers for Dotson’s family emphasized that police were at the wrong address and that he was likely blinded by the flashlight with little inkling that police were there. They said officers did not give him sufficient time to comply with commands as an officer shouted, “Hey, hands up.”
According to the lawsuit, Dotson’s wife, wearing only a robe, came downstairs after hearing the shots and found her husband lying in the doorway. She fired outside, not knowing who was out there. Police fired 19 rounds but missed her.
New Mexico state leaders know the best way to get more kids to graduate is to get more of them to go to school every day, and that means giving students a reason to show up.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – New Mexico state leaders know the best way to get more kids to graduate is to get more of them to go to school every day, and that means giving students a reason to show up.
State lawmakers are hoping to do just that with a new, modernized set of high school graduation requirements focused on teaching kids the skills they need to thrive in the real world.
“I think it could have a huge impact, and I hope that it will,” said Albuquerque Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Gabriella Blakey.
Blakey says the state’s new high school graduation requirements are not a one-size-fits all approach, and that’s the point.
“It’s really connecting students to like why they go to school, and really finding what their own passions and interests are, and not making every student’s career path in high school look the same,” said Blakey.
Students will still be required to earn 24 total credits, including four units of English, and four units of math. Although, Algebra 2 will no longer be required to graduate.
“We have opened up opportunities for students to make wise choices about their career and make wise choices about their interests and strengths in order to support a really strong mathematics pathway through their four years of high school,” said Amanda Debell, deputy secretary of the Public Education Department.
Students will still need three units of science, and four units of social studies, which must include some type of financial literacy coursework.
“So students are learning when it’s appropriate time about money and their financial lives, post and during high school, because many of them are earning money now,” said Debell.
There are still PE and health class requirements, but the biggest change is coming to the electives. Individual school districts will get to decide on two credit requirements for their students based on local input.
“For example, we see districts offering more agricultural type electives because they are in an agricultural area, or we see additional language courses being added as a requirement,” Debell said.
Giving New Mexico’s students more power over their future.
“By being able to open up these credits in this way, we’re really able to tailor a more personalized environment for our students. And our students really tell us that that’s what they want,” said Blakey.
The incoming freshman class, the Class of 2029, will be the first class to graduate under these new requirements.
PED leaders say districts will have to decide on those extra two credits in the next few weeks.
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