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N.M. seeking ideas for how to spend Gold King Mine settlement, but no direct cash to individuals
New Mexico is accepting applications to help it spend $10 million in settlement money from the Gold King Mine Spill, which turned rivers yellow in 2015 and caused immense economic and environmental damage in the region. But some lawmakers in Northwest New Mexico on Tuesday questioned during a legislative meeting why the funds can only […]
City officially shuts down Coronado Park, leaving some to find new place to sleep
City officials put up fences around Coronado Park near Downtown Albuquerque on Wednesday, the official closure of a place where as many as 125 unsheltered people once camped. Mayor Tim Keller made the announcement about closing the park last month, surprising many. The move comes amid a housing shortage in the city and right after […]
Cannon Air Force Base ducking public meetings about ‘forever chemical’ risk, neighbors say
Dairy farmers and advocates near Cannon Air Force Base say officials there are stonewalling their call for transparency and more public forums to discuss PFAS contamination. In October 2018, representatives from the military base just outside of Clovis approached Art Schaap, a dairy farmer on more than 3,500 acres adjoining the base, and told him […]
Witnesses detail Santa Rosa arrest of man suspected in Muslim shooting deaths in New Mexico
The arrest of a suspect connected to the shooting deaths of four Muslim men in New Mexico occurred at an exit off Interstate 40 near Santa Rosa, N.M., several witnesses and local police told Source New Mexico. The arrest occurred overnight near Exit 277, according to a Santa Rosa police dispatcher and an employee at […]
NM’s nuclear waste site could be open ‘forever’ despite 2024 closure date, advocate warns
Shipments of nuclear waste to the nation’s only deep geological repository for the hazardous material show no signs of slowing in the coming years, despite the current permit calling for the plant to begin closing in 2024. The future of shipments to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant east of Carlsbad was the subject of debate […]
ABQ City Council makes it a crime to loiter or camp near drainage ditches, citing drowning risk
The Albuquerque City Council this week approved a measure criminalizing camping or loitering along the city’s diversion ditches, an effort they say will cut down on drowning risk to the public and first responders. In 2021, four people who “domicile or loiter in stormwater channels” drowned, according to a report reviewed by the Albuquerque City […]
NM evictions at 65% of normal rate, Supreme Court Justice says at White House event
Eviction filings in New Mexico have stayed at below-average rates despite the lifting of state and federal eviction bans imposed during the pandemic, New Mexico’s Chief Supreme Court Justice said during a virtual White House event Tuesday. Justice Shannon Bacon, who became chief justice earlier this year, was one of several speakers chosen nationally to […]
Hotel chain in NM used ‘egregious’ tactics in pandemic to force out tenants, report finds
A congressional report on a national extended-stay hotel chain with properties in New Mexico found the corporation lied to tenants, turned off amenities, towed vehicles and otherwise engaged in “egregious” and “illegal” tactics to force people out of their homes despite pandemic-related eviction bans. Siegel rooms are often the last housing people with low incomes […]
‘We’re stable here.’ Residents say ABQ’s Coronado Park provides what a shelter can’t.
News of the Coronado Park closure filtered through to residents quickly enough. The day after Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller’s announcement, many were already thinking through their options. But no option seems great, several people said in interviews with Source New Mexico. The Westside Emergency Housing Center is crowded and feels like jail because it used […]
ABQ mayor to close Coronado Park, uprooting encampment amid housing shortage
Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller released more details Tuesday about his decision to close Coronado Park where about 100 unsheltered people reside. Keller, in a news conference across the street from the park, said the decision to break up the longtime camp partly comes from increased violence there. It’s also finally time to do something about […]
After fire and flood, ash chokes acequias in northern NM
Grace Vigil peered through the blinds of her mobile home near Mora last week and, seeing the wall of water rushing toward her, realized how few options she had. To her left was Cañoncito Creek, which had swelled over its banks, growing large and fast enough to carry trees and debris at high speed. To […]
After passing US House, Hermits Peak Fire aid act won’t hit the Senate for weeks
A bipartisan effort to get more money in the hands of victims of the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire is on its way to the United States Senate after clearing the House on Thursday, but it won’t be considered again until at least September. The bill is an effort to fully compensate those who lost homes […]