in the news

Janeth Nuñez del Prado, a social worker in Albuquerque, said her father had booked a flight from Bolivia to the United States to try to get the COVID-19 vaccine, which he didn’t have access to in his home country. But he fell ill shortly before the trip. And on May 27, Hugo Nuñez del Prado, a 62-year-old father of five, died...

Senate appropriators on Wednesday backed White House plans for another substantial boost in funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs next year, signaling strong support for the idea across congressional chambers. The committee also supported plans from the administration and House appropriators to spend about $11...

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) took aim at greenhouse gas emissions through legislation introduced last month in the U.S. Senate that would help Americans electrify their homes. The Zero Emissions Homes Act was introduced by Heinrich on July 15 and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of which Heinrich is a member. If...

Paul Gessing, director of the Rio Grande Foundation, wrote about the need to continue using oil and gas without once acknowledging climate change and its effects. No mention of heat domes, wildfires across the entire western United States, and a “drought” that has been running since the late 1990s and is now considered by...

The manager of the Artesia Municipal Airport was shocked by the announcement of a $59,000 federal appropriation awarded to the facility. U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) said the Federal Aviation Administration  (FAA) awarded $150,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for...

SUNLAND PARK, New Mexico (Border Report) – Since before it became a city in 1983, residents of this Southern New Mexico community have been lobbying for a border crossing into Mexico. With a young, growing population base of 17,978, abutting both El Paso, Texas, and Mexican manufacturing giant Juarez – and with Interstate...

Jobs aimed at addressing climate change would be funded if calls from New Mexico’s congressional Democrats and a coalition of lawmakers are heeded.   All four of New Mexico’s Democrat in Congress signed onto a letter to their party’s leadership demanding funds for a Civilian Climate Corps be included the reconciliation deal...

NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – Senator Martin Heinrich is backing the federal mandate requiring the vaccine for health care workers with Veterans Affairs. The United States Department of Veteran Affairs announced the requirement Monday, as the delta variant spreads and parts of the country see a surge in cases. Sen. Heinrich says he supports...

WASHINGTON — The Eastern New Mexico Rural Water Project will be fully funded if an infrastructure bill is passed through Congress, U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., announced last week. In a phone message to Gayla Brumfield, former mayor of Clovis who has been active in eastern New Mexico water supply issues, Heinrich said a provision in the...

The curtains will rise at UNM Popejoy Hall once again. The venue announced on July 21 that it was awarded nearly $3.4 million from the Small Business Administration's Shuttered Venue Operators Grant. “This grant will ensure the safe reopening of Popejoy Hall. We are forever grateful to our extraordinary donors who also stepped up to support...

New Mexico Democrat U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich sought to strengthen federal actions to protect endangered species in a bill introduced alongside a Republican from Missouri. On Wednesday, Heinrich and U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) introduced the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA), aiming to invest federal funds in wildlife conservation...

Calling it the single biggest investment into wildlife and habitat restoration in more than half a century, Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., announced this week the Senate introduction of the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, which if enacted would funnel more than $1 billion to conservation efforts each year. Heinrich, along with Sen. Roy...

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., during a multi-day tour through the state, paid a visit Wednesday to New Mexico State University's Agricultural Science Center just outside of Clovis. Heinrich spoke with The News following the tour. Q: What are your immediate takeaways from the center tour? A: That we are just now starting to use agriculture...

When U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich first visited the Sabinoso Wilderness Area — a rugged landscape of steep canyons, lush riparian areas and sandstone cliffs near Las Vegas, N.M. — he was struck by how dramatically different it was from the rest of the state. “Its geography felt more like some of the areas I used to guide in...

Senator Martin Heinrich was in attendance on Thursday to announce NewSpace New Mexico’s launch of its Unite and Ignite Space. The space will serve as a co-innovation hub that will aim to bring together resources to support the space industry in New Mexico.  “We have an incredible opportunity to establish New Mexico as the best...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — NewSpace New Mexico announced the launch Thursday of a new innovation hub in Albuquerque to help grow the state’s space industry. The hub, called the “Unite and Ignite Space,” is housed in an 8,700-square-foot facility near the Albuquerque International Sunport. It will provide co-working areas, access to...

NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – New Mexico public lands could get $49 million in federal funding for projects. The money would be coming from the Interior Department’s Great American Outdoors Act 2022 budget. If the budget is approved by Congress, Carlsbad Caverns National Park could get $375,000, Bandelier National Monument could get roughly...

New Mexico’s two Democrat U.S. Senators introduced legislation last week aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from energy development and shifting the nation to lower carbon forms of power with their state at the helm. U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) announced on July 23 the Clean Hydrogen Future Act, which would establish a program to...

New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich sees a clean energy future. He introduced legislation on Wednesday to support that vision.   The legislation — dubbed the Advancing the Clean Hydrogen Future Act of 2021 — would create an authorization of $200 million annually over a five-year span focused on the research, development,...

Two of U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich’s conservation bills — one to ban new hard-rock mining in the Pecos watershed and the other to create a wilderness area near Taos — are gaining momentum. The New Mexico Democrat presented the bills this week to a Senate Energy and Natural Resources subcommittee in Washington, D.C., arguing both...