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Flow of cash
When New Mexico farmer Ron Moya looks out at the 10 acres of dead and dying alfalfa on his field near Tome, N.M., he sees green. Specifically, he sees $2,750. That’s the cash he’s being paid for the simple act of not watering the field this year. Moya is one of 44 farmers paid to […]
Records say NM tenants faced extreme heat, rent spikes and evictions during the pandemic
Tenants across New Mexico faced illegal lockouts, price-gouging, harassment and unsafe living conditions throughout much of the pandemic, according to more than 100 complaints that went to the state Attorney General’s Office between March 2020 and February 2021. The AG’s Office released more than 160 such complaints in response to a request from Source New […]
Amid outcry, Gallup hospital board promises open meetings and more transparency
The chairman of the Gallup hospital board announced Monday that the public would soon be allowed into sections of board meetings, following weeks of criticism that the hospital is being mismanaged and the board is too secretive. Chairman Steve McKernan made the announcement at the beginning of Monday’s three-hour special meeting of the McKinley County […]
Gallup hospital’s birthing unit to reopen, but former nurse says fix is just a Band-Aid
Administrators of a Gallup hospital announced Thursday afternoon that the hospital would reopen its labor and delivery unit a month after it closed, sending soon-to-be parents scrambling to find a new place to give birth. The unit at Rehoboth-McKinley Christian Hospital will reopen at 7 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 24, according to an all-staff email […]
Shortened irrigation season means NM will ‘chip away’ at water debt to Texas, official says
The controversial choice to ban irrigation along the Rio Grande as of Oct. 1 in central New Mexico has already shown some benefits, an official told board members of the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District on Monday. The Board of Directors voted Aug. 20 to shorten the irrigation season by one month, a decision that […]
‘It’s my livelihood’: Drought and restrictions could kill farms along Rio Grande, farmers say
New Mexico farmers along a central stretch of the Rio Grande say two years of irrigation restrictions imposed amid severe drought threaten their farms, many of which have been around for generations. In late August, the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District imposed a ban on surface-water irrigation. It went into effect about a week ago. […]
Labor pains: Delivery rooms closed at a Gallup hospital as employees resign
A year ago, 18 nurses and four doctors staffed the labor and delivery unit at one of Gallup’s two hospitals. Today, all the nurses are gone, and the last doctor announced her resignation two weeks ago. The unit closed last week, forcing many soon-to-be parents to find a faraway delivery room and making it harder […]
NM agency says it’s met federal deadline for spending $170 in emergency rent money
A state agency tasked with spending $170 million in rental and utility funds has met its deadline for getting some of that assistance out the door, preventing the money from being clawed back by the federal government, according to a spokesperson. The state was required to either distribute or approve the spending of 65% of […]
Landlords refuse emergency rent money and Section 8 vouchers
Cree Walker and her family have a roof over their heads for at least the next couple weeks. If things don’t work out at her extended-stay hotel, she said, it’s hard to see where they’ll find shelter next. She assumed it would be much easier to find a place. She moved to New Mexico in […]
Shadow evictions
Cristobal Sanchez knows what rent day sounds like at the Siegel Select complex on University Boulevard in Albuquerque. First, bangs echo down the hall from the manager rapping his knuckles against his neighbors’ apartment doors. Then Sanchez hears him shouting about rent, even if it’s only a few hours late. Then, if the manager is […]
State’s 19 pueblos and tribes band together for redistricting pitch in light of NM demographic changes
The state’s pueblos and tribes released their ideas for how political maps being drawn this year will help them express political power amid increases in numbers of Native Americans overall — and population losses around pueblos. The Citizen Redistricting Committee is soliciting public feedback on maps its staff put together after weeks of meetings. The […]
Grants mayor’s anti-vax tirade derails Military and Veterans’ Affairs meeting
A meeting of the state Legislature’s veterans committee began as many do these days, with a reminder of the statewide mask mandate. The meeting a week ago at an auditorium continued with legislators introducing themselves, followed by honored guests in the audience at the Grants campus of New Mexico State University. Then the microphone was […]