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As New Mexico’s energy production looks to bounce back from historic lows, some regulators and lawmakers support the idea of a new federal fund to give oil and gas workers jobs plugging abandoned wells. There are more than 700 orphaned or abandoned oil and natural gas wells in New Mexico, said Adrienne Sandoval, director of the Oil...

WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats stood in silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds Thursday at the U.S. Capitol to honor the lives of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, all unarmed black individuals whose deaths have spurred worldwide protests against racism and police brutality.  Senate Democrats, some...

A proposed public works program would send conservation crews to scores of national parks and other federal sites, such as Bandelier National Monument, to complete up to $2 billion in improvements each year. It would not be the first time the federal government put unemployed people to work at Bandelier. In the 1930s, young men working with...

New Mexico lawmakers sought increased federal funding to plug abandoned oil and gas wells across the country as the industry struggles to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent decline in fuel demands that caused an historic bust in the price of oil. The state’s Congressional delegation called upon the House Natural Resources...

The U.S. Transportation Department has awarded $2.9 million to a regional transit district to help replace fuel-powered buses with electric vehicles.  The money will be used to replace three diesel- and two gasoline-powered buses within the North Central Regional Transit District's 55-vehicle fleet.  Boosting the green bus program is...

New Mexico congressional delegates are pushing for the creation of a federal fund to help cover the costs of plugging and reclaiming abandoned oil and gas wells. U.S. Reps. Ben Ray Luján, Xochitl Torres Small and Deb Haaland, all New Mexico Democrats, participated in a virtual congressional hearing on the proposal earlier this...

FARMINGTON — Congressional members from New Mexico and Arizona are seeking answers from the Indian Health Service over a $3 million purchase of respirator masks that may be unsuitable for use by medical workers. They were procured from a company recently started by a former White House official. U.S. Sens. Tom Udall and Martin...

Situated between Holloman Air Force Base and White Sands Missile Range is a large swathe of gypsum desert. White Sands National Park was designated a national park in November and is considered to be a local jewel in Otero County. Under more regular conditions, tourists visiting White Sands National Park would stop at one of the City of...

Hundreds of thousands of potential voters will be ineligible to cast ballots in November unless the Trump administration resumes citizenship ceremonies and clears a pandemic-related backlog of immigrants waiting to take the naturalization oath, according to rights groups and lawmakers from both parties. President Trump, who claims falsely that...

In a phone call from the Santa Fe Penitentiary, Vincent Delara tells his wife that if he’s going to die, he would rather die at home. Currently behind bars on a probation violation, the 43-year-old suffers from diabetes, sleep apnea and autoimmune deficiencies. “My husband, if you were to look at him you’d probably say he’s...

LAS CRUCES - Over the past decade, an average of 720,000 immigrants have been naturalized each year, according to data from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. In New Mexico, naturalizations peaked at nearly 3,600 in fiscal year 2018, the latest year for which data are available.  This spring, however, U.S. Citizenship and...

The novel coronavirus raging in the Navajo Nation and New Mexico pueblos in part prompted U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt to announce Thursday the extension of the public comment period on a plan that will shape the future of oil and gas drilling near Chaco Culture National Historical Park. Tribal officials have met with or spoken remotely...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said Thursday he’ll extend the public comment period on a contested plan that will guide oil and gas drilling and other development in an area of northwestern New Mexico that includes a national park and locations important to Native American tribes. A coalition of tribal...

U.S. Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich announced Tuesday that legislation to protect 450 miles of the Gila River system under the 1968 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was introduced in the Senate late last week. Members of the agricultural community and some private landowners along the river, as well as the New Mexico Entity of the Central Arizona...

U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich introduced legislation Tuesday that would designate portions of the Gila River as Wild and Scenic, after a “years-long” effort to protect what’s known as one of the country’s last wild rivers.  The M.H. Dutch Salmon Greater Gila Wild and Scenic River Act would designate 446...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) –KRQE Media Group hosted a Special Virtual Town Hall on COVID-19 featuring both of New Mexico’s U.S. Senators Wednesday, May 13. U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D) and U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D) addressed the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic. The senators also answered questions from...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, both New Mexico Democrats, have introduced legislation to designate 446 miles of the Gila River and its tributaries as “wild and scenic.” The “M.H. ‘Dutch’ Salmon Greater Gila Wild and Scenic River Act” is named in memory of the longtime Gila River...

The most environmentally sensitive portions of New Mexico’s Gila River watershed would be protected under a bill the state’s two U.S. senators introduced Tuesday. Parts of the Gila River, its wilderness area and the San Francisco River tributary would be placed under the Wild and Scenic Rivers designation to preserve their natural...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico will soon receive its first shipment of the antiviral medication Remdesivir to help speed up the recovery process in COVID-19 patients. Sen. Martin Heinrich, in partnership with the University of New Mexico Hospital and state health department, have been working for several weeks to secure...

NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich announced Saturday that the state will soon receive its first shipment of remdesivir, an antiviral drug that could modestly speed recovery in patients infected with the coronavirus. Heinrich has reportedly been working with UNMH and the New Mexico Department of Health to secure...