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CNM and Central New Mexico Educators Union reach impasse in bargaining process
Central New Mexico Community College and the Central New Mexico Educators Union have reached an impasse in their bargaining process. According to the union, the parties are scheduled to begin mediation with a federal mediator Thursday, after no agreement was reached by the end of August on either full or part time faculty contracts. Union […]
Pueblo leaders travel to Washington, DC, to reaffirm support for Chaco drilling ban
Representatives of the All Pueblo Council of Governors went to Washington, DC, last week to protest a proposed law that would reverse a freeze in drilling and mining around Chaco Canyon after efforts by Republican representatives from Arizona to roll back a rule passed earlier this year. In June this year, Secretary of the Interior […]
Report finds Native people got sicker from Covid-19 despite fewer pre-existing conditions
A new Covid-19 study published in PNAS Nexus by UNM researchers found that Native patients were sicker and more likely to die in the hospital than others, even though they had fewer pre-existing conditions. The report is based on data from 475 patients brought to UNM hospital during the period April 2020 through December 2021. The patients […]
Report finds agriculture uses 80% of NM’s fresh water
As climate change and drought make water an ever-scarcer commodity in New Mexico, a report last month by the non-governmental organization Food and Water Watch found agriculture is using more than 80% of the state’s fresh water. The report analyzed water use in the state and criticized dairies, alfalfa farming and pecan farming as, “egregious examples of […]
Navajo Nation water attorney sees seeds of optimism in SCOTUS defeat
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the Navajo Nation in a landmark water rights case. The Nation had called on the federal government under its treaty obligations to the tribe to assess Navajo water needs and make a plan to fulfill them if necessary, but the court’s decision was that the government had no obligation to […]
Judge halts efforts by city of Eunice to sue the state over abortion access
A judge has stayed a lawsuit filed by the city of Eunice, after the city tried to sue the state over a law related to access to reproductive and transgender healthcare. In a hearing Tuesday, Judge Lee A. Kirksey of the Fifth Judicial District Court granted the state’s request to stay a lawsuit filed by the […]
Edgewood passes ordinance restricting abortion access, despite legal concerns
The town of Edgewood early Wednesday morning passed an ordinance restricting the ability of abortion facilities to operate, despite concerns the move could embroil the town in legal battles. Edgewood is following the cities of Clovis, Hobbs and Eunice, as well as Roosevelt and Lea Counties, in passing ordinances that cite federal law to restrict access […]
City of Eunice sues governor and attorney general over abortion rule
Officials from the city of Eunice announced Monday they are suing Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and Attorney General Raúl Torrez, after the city passed an ordinance restricting access to abortion. At a press conference held in Washington DC, outside the Supreme Court of the United States, Mayor of Eunice Billy Hobbs, announced the legal action. […]
State Supreme Court suspends ordinances restricting abortion access
The New Mexico Supreme Court has ordered a suspension of ordinances in Eastern New Mexico that restrict access to abortion, in response to a request by Attorney General Raúl Torrez. The court has agreed to hear the argument made by Torrez in an extraordinary writ filed in January that several counties and cities acted unlawfully when they […]
Whole Woman’s Health opens clinic in Albuquerque
Whole Woman’s Health today opens a clinic in Albuquerque, nine months after the Supreme Court decision that removed the federal right to an abortion and forced the closure of four of its facilities in Texas. The opening comes just after a state legislative session in which bills were passed to shore up protections for abortion […]
Bill to study expanded access to affordable health care headed to governor’s desk
A bill that would study a program to expand access to affordable health care passed the Senate. House Bill 400, known as Medicaid Forward, could allow New Mexicans of any income level to buy coverage with Medicaid. Bill sponsor Senator Leo Jaramillo (D-Los Alamos) called the bill a historic opportunity to continue New Mexico’s leadership […]
Candidates seem to move into middle ground in CD2 debate
Republican incumbent Rep. Yvette Herrell and Democratic challenger Gabe Vasquez came together to debate issues concerning voters on Friday on KOB TV in the tightest of the state’s three Congressional races. Following redistricting, the 2nd Congressional District includes parts of Albuquerque as well as the whole of the border with Mexico and many communities that […]