Health
New Mexico likely to further relax COVID testing in schools
As federal public health officials are set to further relax COVID-19 guidance, their New Mexico counterparts say they will closely follow the changes. The CDC is likely to update its COVID-19 guidance as soon as this week, including de-emphasizing social distancing, lifting testing guidance and quarantine timelines for schools, and increasing the focus on ventilation […]
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 […]
People of Middle Eastern, Northern African descent say census categories erase their experience
When Leena Aggad was applying to graduate schools, she was pleasantly surprised when she saw that one of the universities she was considering included Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) among the race and ethnicity categories on the application. “Seeing that made me feel more included,“ Aggad said. “And I actually took a picture of […]
U.S. House passes ban on assault weapons after spate of gun violence
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday passed a ban on semi-automatic firearms — the weapons used in multiple mass shootings during the last three months — on a near party-line vote. With the 217-213 vote, the bill, H.R. 1808, will head to the evenly divided Senate, but it’s unlikely to advance there, […]
‘These people don’t care’: U.S. Senate GOP stalls bill for veterans exposed to burn pits
WASHINGTON — Veterans and their advocates gathered outside the U.S. Capitol on Thursday for what was supposed to be a celebration, one day after a crucial Senate vote on bipartisan legislation that would expand health care and benefits to 3.5 million veterans exposed to burn pits during their deployments. The gathering instead became a forum […]
U.S. Senate fails to advance burn pits bill for veterans in dispute over spending
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate came up short Wednesday in trying to move ahead on legislation that would provide health care and benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits overseas. The bill, from Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester and Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran, has been bogged down for nearly two months as U.S. lawmakers […]
Bill guaranteeing right to birth control blocked in U.S. Senate by Republican
U.S. Senate Democrats tried to pass legislation Wednesday that would guarantee women can continue using contraception if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the long-standing precedent, the way it did with abortion.
‘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 […]
Loss of Medicaid coverage could ramp up crime in NM, lawmaker warns
If authorities end the public health emergency in the fall and allow people to lose access to health care, it could lead to an increase in violent crime in New Mexico, a state lawmaker said in a hearing last week. Since the federal government declared the COVID-19 pandemic a public health emergency, people on Medicaid […]
Manchin and U.S. Senate Democrats strike a deal on major health, climate, tax package
WASHINGTON — West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin III and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer struck an agreement Wednesday for a Democrats-only reconciliation package that would allow negotiations on some Medicare prescription drugs, end corporate tax loopholes and address climate change as well as invest in energy projects. President Joe Biden in a statement on […]
Gun company CEOs tell Congress they’re not to blame for mass shootings
WASHINGTON — The CEOs of major gun manufacturing companies told a U.S. House panel on Wednesday that their production of AR-15-style guns did not contribute to recent mass shootings that left 29 people dead, and that the killings were due to the actions of individual shooters. Ahead of the hearing, the House Oversight & Reform […]
Albuquerque ranked second in the nation for pedestrian deaths despite city initiatives
A new study ranks New Mexico as the most dangerous state in the nation to be a pedestrian, and the state’s largest city as the second most deadly metro area for those on foot. While Albuquerque’s numbers dipped some during the early pandemic, rates nearly doubled over the last decade despite new initiatives to bring […]