Author
NM reacts to leaked opinion showing SCOTUS is poised to end federal abortion rights protections
Hundreds gathered in Albuquerque in front of Downtown courthouses to demonstrate in support of abortion rights on Tuesday night after it was leaked that a majority of U.S. Supreme Court justices are ready to strike down the constitutional right to abortion in the coming weeks. Elected officials weighed in, too, with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham […]
Lujan Grisham calls on local governments to ban fireworks sales around New Mexico
As at least 20 wildfires consumed thousands of acres this weekend, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced that she would ask local governments to temporarily ban the sale of fireworks around the state. State government can ban the use of fireworks — and it has — but under the law, banning sales is something that has […]
Legendary author Rudolfo Anaya on banning books
Ten years ago, Bless Me, Ultima was being pulled from the shelves in Arizona classrooms as Tucson’s Mexican American Studies program was dismantled. I was a reporter at Albuquerque’s now defunct alt-weekly. In our rundown brick office, I pulled out the city’s actual phone book. The big old paper version was already like a thing […]
Source NM takes home awards for stories and columns from our first four months as an outlet
There’s not a journalist out there who does it for the awards. That’s maybe hyperbolic, sure. I’m pretty certain though. Still, I’m glad for a chance to celebrate the hardworking and talented Source New Mexico staff and freelancers who made this outlet from scratch — if they’ll tolerate me bragging on them real quick. With […]
Congressional oversight panel to investigate ‘vigilante’ audit in Otero County
Canvassers have been knocking on doors in Otero County as part of what they say is an attempt to verify voter rolls and the results of the 2020 election. On Thursday, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform announced a probe of possible voter intimidation in the southeast New Mexico county as part of a […]
Little earthquakes point state regulators to oil company’s violations
A major oil company pulling crude from quaking earth in southeastern New Mexico was hit with fines and violation notices Monday. XTO Permian Operating LLC faces more than $2 million in civil penalties for what the state says are operational and reporting violations at four Class II injection wells. A dramatic increase in seismic activity […]
Secrecy is a pathogen, too
The Legislature can be dirty. I mean that in a skeevy germ way, and in a lack-of-transparency way. Yesterday, senators approved a substitute bill about pay for chile farmworkers that was only available on dead-tree paper in the capital building itself. In an especially opaque part of the lawmaking process, amendments to legislation are posted […]
TURMOIL AT THE STATE’S BIGGEST JAIL: Staff members flee as crises unfold
It all comes down to the jails. So many of the problems that plague this state land there. Less than a year after former Gov. Susana Martinez knocked out the state’s behavioral health care system, exiting jail Chief Ramon Rustin confirmed what staff members told me in interviews: The Metropolitan Detention Center in Bernalillo County […]
LIVE: State of the State 2022
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham delivered the State of the State virtually on Tuesday to launch the 30-day legislative session. The session is budget-focused, though other measures can be added if the governor puts them on the call. Reporters and editors from around New Mexico fact-checked and annotated the speech live. Watch the address and scroll […]
Albuquerque advocates say the attack on democracy is still unfolding
People aiming to protect voting rights and recall the full measure of what happened a year ago in the U.S. Capitol carried signs and filled out petitions in the cold on Albuquerque’s Civic Plaza Thursday evening as part of simultaneous gatherings marking Jan. 6 around the country. “What do we have to do to make […]
BernCo DA wields the state’s records law to try and track the movements of felony defendants
Bernalillo County District Attorney Raúl Torrez made a public records request and — this won’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s ever filed one — received only some of the information he was after. On Dec. 2, the DA’s Office sought a list of all defendants on GPS monitoring. What came back was a […]
NM lawmakers shouldn’t haggle over your voting districts behind closed doors
Sunday afternoon, lawmakers hit pause on the redistricting special session — the part that we could see anyway. After tribal leaders strongly objected to what legislators were doing, the state’s elected officials closed the blinds and took the debate out of public view, hashing out state Senate voting districts in secret. House and Senate floor […]