Posted inAlbuquerque, Education, Syndicated

Missed deadlines lead to $11.5M veto, upending plans for UNM public health school

BY: Austin Fisher / Source NM New Mexico’s flagship research university missed two deadlines to ask for state money to establish an accredited school of public health within the next year to deal with infectious disease pandemics. The lapse means the UNM Health Sciences Center will not receive $11.5 million for the school, placing in limbo […]

Posted inJobs, Workers & Economy, National

Haaland in NM touting new Biden rule for public land conservation

By MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press / BILLINGS, Mont. The Biden administration on Thursday finalized a new rule for public land management that’s meant to put conservation on more equal footing with oil drilling, grazing and other extractive industries on vast government-owned properties. Officials pushed past strong opposition from private industry and Republican governors to adopt the proposal. The rule […]

Posted inAlbuquerque, crime-courts

Whistleblowers outline allegations of nepotism and retaliation within Albuquerque’s police academy

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press Several members of the Albuquerque police academy’s training staff who were dismissed from their duties last summer filed a lawsuit Wednesday outlining allegations of nepotism and retaliation by leadership within the force. The whistleblower complaint centers on a requirement that male cadets shave their heads with a razor daily. […]

Posted incrime-courts, State News

MLG Announces Special Legislative Session to Focus on Public Safety

Associated Press / SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) New Mexico’s Democratic governor on Wednesday announced a mid-summer special legislative session on public safety after many crime initiatives languished. In an emailed statement, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said she’ll call legislators back to Santa Fe on July 18 “to finish what they started during the 30-day legislative […]

Posted inJobs, Workers & Economy, State News

US court rejects a request by tribes to block $10B energy transmission project in Arizona

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press / ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) A federal judge on Tuesday rejected a request by Native American tribes and environmentalists to stop work on a $10 billion transmission line being built through a remote southeastern Arizona valley that will carry wind-generated electricity from New Mexico to customers as far away as […]

Posted incrime-courts, New Mexico, Uncategorized

How to tackle crime in Indian Country? Empower tribal justice, ex-Justice Department official says

LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press / WASHINGTON (AP) A quarter-century ago, the Justice Department had few meaningful relationships with Native American tribes. While the federal government worked with state and local police and courts, tribal justice systems did not have the same level of recognition, said Tracy Toulou, who oversaw the department’s Office of Tribal Justice […]

Posted inHousing & Homelessness, New Mexico, State Government, Syndicated

Lengthy to-do list before NMFA begins approving $125 million in new housing loans

Patrick Lohmann/Source New Mexico The head of the state’s finance authority tasked with doling out a windfall of housing loans said the authority is on track to OK loans in the fall — so long as what she called the “timeline gods” are merciful. In the legislative session that wrapped up in February, lawmakers approved […]