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Federal program — with no money attached — created to tackle uranium mine cleanup
The Department of Interior was ordered just months ago to create a program to address the longstanding problem of abandoned hardrock mines across the country, including uranium mines abandoned in New Mexico. The new program comes from an amendment to the bipartisan infrastructure package, which President Joe Biden signed Nov. 15 of last year. Sponsored […]
Lawmakers approved $46 million for new housing projects across New Mexico
Lawmakers across New Mexico approved at least $46 million to spend on new housing or housing-related projects, according to a new database of capital outlay requests. Rural and urban parts of the state are facing issues with deteriorating housing stock, housing shortages and homelessness. Over the last two years of the pandemic, home and rent […]
Congress members from NM, Texas work to ban interim nuclear fuel storage funding
A bipartisan group of members of Congress introduced a bill that would prevent federal money from going toward private interim nuclear waste storage facilities, an effort to prevent such sites from being built in Southeastern New Mexico and Western Texas. Elected officials and environmental groups fear so-called “interim” sites will become permanent nuclear storage sites. […]
Stanley NM fire department ‘effectively dissolved’ after staff terminated for refusing to get vaxxed
Four of six responders at the Stanley Volunteer Fire Department in Santa Fe County have resigned or were terminated as of Thursday due to the county’s vaccine requirement, the department’s former fire chief told Source New Mexico. The Stanley district is the biggest in Santa Fe County, covering 420 square miles in the southeast section […]
Tenant advocates awaiting word of eviction ban being lifted in most of New Mexico
Tenants and advocates in Santa Fe said Tuesday they are hoping for big changes to a new eviction diversion program before it is rolled out across New Mexico sometime this month, replacing a 2-year-old eviction ban here. Cathy Garcia, a member of the tenant advocacy group Chainbreaker Collective, said at a news conference Tuesday that […]
NM governor signs bill for uranium mine cleanup
There are an estimated 1,100 uranium mines and mills in New Mexico, 500 of which are on or near the Navajo Nation.
State spends $100 million on rent assistance, with $200 million more to go
A state agency announced last week that it had spent $100 million on rental and utility assistance for state residents, helping to stave off mass evictions during a pandemic. New Mexico officials called the big, round number a “historic milestone” and said hundreds of millions more are on the way to help renters and landlords. […]
New Mexico to join western coalition in bid for federal hydrogen hub
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Thursday morning that New Mexico would join three other states in a bid to lure billions of dollars toward the creation of a federal hydrogen hub in the region. The federal infrastructure package includes $8 billion toward the creation of at least four hydrogen production centers around the country. The […]
Bill banning nuclear waste storage dies in Legislature. Activist says fight goes on
A bill that would have made it illegal to store spent nuclear fuel in New Mexico died in the Legislature this year, but a prominent activist says he’s still confident a proposed facility will never operate here The company Holtec International submitted an application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in March 2017 to open a […]
Chile labor program finally gets funded – but at less than half of what was asked for
A program boosting wages for chile laborers in New Mexico can start again, thanks to its inclusion in the state budget adopted last week. But the $1 million appropriation is less than half of what farmers and contractors were anticipating. They were hoping that $2.2 million remaining from $5 million initially set aside by Gov. […]
A problem of ‘infinite scope and cost’
A bill invigorating New Mexico government to coordinate the cleanup of abandoned uranium mines passed both chambers of the Legislature this session, but the state will confront a decades-old problem that experts say has a potentially “infinite” scope and cost. Sen. Jeff Steinborn (D-Las Cruces) sponsored the “Uranium Mine Cleanup” bill, one that will mobilize […]
Legislature passes Opportunity Scholarship in session’s final hours, making paying for college even easier
The New Mexico Legislature passed a law a little after midnight in the session’s final hours that creates a new scholarship aimed at making college affordable for any resident who wishes to enroll. The Opportunity Scholarship Act is expected to cost $190 million over the next three years, according to an analysis by the Legislative […]