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Four months after emergency law passed, more than $46M in state disaster loans approved for northern NM recovery efforts
Nearly half the $100 million pot of state loans to help with Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire disaster relief has finally arrived for public officials in Mora and San Miguel Counties. Not even a third of the eligible entities listed on the application have applied for help in the three months since the application has been […]
Discrimination against asylum seeker with disability in NM leads to national policy change
Edgar Garrido Diaz came to the U.S. seeking safety from his home country. In August 2022, Garrido Diaz suffered a knee and ankle injury during recreation time while detained by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Cibola County detention center in northwestern New Mexico. A few weeks after that, federal immigration officials tried […]
New Mexicans can listen to updates from state agencies during legislative meetings this week
New Mexico legislators will get work going this week to hear about what’s going on around the state. This comes before the official 30-day legislative session starts up in January 2024. These interim meetings will be held across New Mexico and are a space for lawmakers to get updates from state agencies, hear from experts […]
NM uses Gold King Mine spill settlement dollars to monitor watershed after federal dollars dried up
In 2015, the Animas River turned yellow copper when toxic waste water was released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a company contracted by the federal government. Water health is still a concern today. That’s why New Mexico officials, along with other states and tribal nations, continue to track water quality, even after some […]
$3.95B not enough to meet all New Mexico disaster victims’ needs, NM delegation says
New Mexico’s federal delegation is pushing to urgently get more disaster relief money to all fire victims in the state. The members say there could be as much as $1.54 billion in unmet needs, even after Congress last year approved billions of dollars for disaster victims. U.S. Sens. Ben Ray Luján and Martin Heinrich, joined […]
PRC delays community solar energy reserve meant for low-income New Mexicans
Despite New Mexico having the highest number of Hispanic or Latino communities of any state in the U.S., it took over a year for officials to translate transparency documents for the state’s community solar program into Spanish. That contributed to a recently enacted two-month delay on a requirement that’s supposed to save half of the […]
New financial institution announces first major loans to BIPOC businesses on Juneteenth
If it weren’t for a newly running financial institution that gives loans to people of color, Finnie Coleman said his small business couldn’t afford to stay afloat. He’s been involved in the pet care industry for years and soon wants to start fostering dogs that are set to be euthanized. With help from the newly […]
U.S. Forest Service starts assessing fencing damage on southern half of Black Fire burn scar
Wandering livestock in the Gila National Forest could be contained again later this year as the U.S. Forest Service works on repairing and replacing fences that the 2022 Black Fire and following flooding wiped out. Federal officials are paying for it, too. It’s something ranchers living in the Gila need assistance to cover. They’ve seen […]
New Mexico regulators look into alleged issues with community solar facility selection process
The process to make renewable energy more accessible to New Mexicans through community solar has been met with multiple delays and issues. Now, the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission is looking into more alleged errors that could weigh down the setup of the renewable energy program. At a public meeting on Wednesday, the state’s Public […]
NM state department received disaster relief funds by mistake. Now, officials commit to quickly getting money to the right place.
An error sent $2 million dollars in relief aid for Black Fire disaster victims to the wrong state agency, and New Mexico officials say they want to quickly fix this mistake. State lawmakers approved the allocation in the budget to help victims recover from New Mexico’s second largest wildfire in 2022 as well as flooding […]
Northeastern NM thunderstorms expected to turn into dry, critical fire weather
After thunderstorms tore through northeastern New Mexico for weeks, the National Weather Service anticipates a complete change of pace as dry and windy weather conditions are forecasted to start up on Thursday, and could fuel large fires. For the past month, areas of New Mexico bordering Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas have been experiencing intense rains, […]
USDA awards $43.3M to Oklahoma internet company that should benefit Union County in northeast NM
A telephone company that normally serves Oklahomans and Texans will be reaching beyond its boundaries to set up high-speed internet for New Mexicans in the most northeastern part of the state using federal dollars announced on Monday. The United States Department of Agriculture awarded $714 million in grants and loans aimed to connect rural areas […]