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More than 10% of New Mexicans eligible for student debt relief, numbers show
Figures released this week show that more than 1 in 10 New Mexicans are eligible to have some of their student loan debt wiped out. According to the White House, 215,900 New Mexican borrowers are eligible for at least $10,000 in debt relief, not to mention a slew of other changes meant to ease the […]
New map shows where burn scar threatens historic acequias
After months of effort, contractors with the New Mexico Acequia Association have a clearer picture of the 200-year old acequias in the burn scar of the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire. The irrigation ditches are carved through much of northern New Mexico, and there are about 80 in the 530-square-mile burn scar north of Las Vegas, […]
As government roadblocks pile up for acequias in the burn scar, visions spring of a gran limpia
Those who rely on historic irrigation ditches in the burn scar of the biggest fire in state history continue to face government roadblocks as they try to get acequias flowing and life to return to the charred landscape. The Federal Emergency Management Agency only recently verbally agreed to accept applications from local acequias for funding […]
Activist group seeks state takeover of troubled Gallup hospital
A local group concerned about finances and patient care at a major Gallup hospital are asking the state to explore taking the facility over under a rarely invoked receivership law. The Community Health Action Group has protested the leadership of Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital for several years, saying the for-profit management company running the hospital […]
Las Vegas slowly rebuilds clean water supply, but residents worry about long-term future
Residents of the New Mexico city downriver of the biggest fire in state history have been drinking bottled water and eating off paper plates for several months now, an effort to preserve the city’s dwindling clean water supply. This month, a stopgap filtration system installed in nearby Storrie Lake State Park means the city of […]
Learning from NM mistakes, Forest Service to better heed drought factor before burns
The United States Forest Service announced big changes to the way it will authorize prescribed burns in light of mistakes the agency made in igniting what became the biggest wildfire in New Mexico’s recorded history. The agency released a 107-page review of its prescribed burn practices on Thursday. It came after a 90-day pause on […]
Sanctioned encampments will be legally allowed, after ABQ Council fails to override mayor’s veto
In the latest chapter of a months-long saga, the Albuquerque City Council on Wednesday opted to allow the establishment of “safe outdoor spaces” within the state’s largest city, an effort to give unsheltered folks a safe place to stay overnight. At the meeting, the Council failed to muster the six votes required to override a […]
US executive branch acknowledges NM Downwinders for the first time
A top official with President Joe Biden’s administration on Wednesday acknowledged the federal government’s role in sending cancer-causing dust into the lungs of thousands of New Mexico residents when it detonated the world’s first atomic bomb in 1945. The 15-minute meeting Wednesday morning was the first acknowledgement by the executive branch of the feds’ role […]
Coronado Park residents need more help to find stable housing, survey shows
Finding safe and stable housing for the former residents of a now-closed Albuquerque encampment will require more effort from the city’s service organizations, as those who needed help “were not well served by traditional outreach methods,” according to a team who surveyed them. City staff and Albuquerque StreetConnect, a Heading Home program, surveyed 94 people […]
As Forest Service wraps up 90-day pause on burns, NM scientist fears what comes next
The United States Forest Service chief is planning to release results soon of a department-wide evaluation of prescribed burning, a review that came after an escaped burn in New Mexico that eventually became the largest in the state’s recorded history. On May 20, which was 105 days ago, United States Forest Service Chief Randy Moore […]
New Mexico has $47 million left to help homeowners fearing foreclosure
A state agency announced this week that it would be merging two pandemic-era programs aimed to keep people housed despite economic upheaval, and officials said that millions are still available for those who need it. The Homeowner Assistance Fund comes out of a $10 billion allocation in the federal American Rescue Plan Act. It’s there […]
Gallup hospital staff didn’t report death of patient during call system breakdown, report says
Someone admitted to a beleaguered Gallup hospital died this year after being forced to ring an old-fashioned hand bell to call for help instead of being able to use a modern call-light system, a report shows. The failed call-light system was one of several major issues at the hospital that prompted a group of doctors […]