in the news

Picuris Pueblo welcomed U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich for a tour last Friday (May 13) of the tribe's buffalo program, which Picuris is working to expand by adding to its current herd of 50 bison in order to produce more products, as well as add more genetic diversity to its stock. The visit served as an opportunity for both parties to bring attention...

Glorieta Adventure Camps, just outside Santa Fe, are usually full of kids biking in the mountains or swimming in the lake. But now, the scenic retreat is swarming with Red Cross volunteers, FEMA officials and hundreds of evacuees from the worst fire anyone here can remember. “This is unimaginable,” says Raymond Sanchez, having lunch in...

The leaked draft of a U.S. Supreme Court decision on the case that appears poised to overturn Roe v. Wade woke up many on Tuesday to a “shocking” reality which may be imminent. Politico released on Monday a leaked draft document, dated February from the Supreme Court. The document is a majority opinion on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A local nonprofit recently received $1 million in federal funding to support formerly incarcerated women to get their lives back. The nonprofit is ‘Crossroads for Women’ and the funding comes at a good time as they’ve seen an increased need. "We saw an increase in behavioral health needs, an increase in...

Marlene Simon, one of scores of people who gathered to protest Tuesday evening outside the federal courthouse in Santa Fe, said she now worries other women will have to experience what she went through in 1969. Just 19 years old, she had an illegal abortion after she was raped. Simon said she was scared and ashamed and had no one to talk to about...

Several hundred people crowded outside Downtown Albuquerque courthouses Tuesday evening to rally for abortion rights. “We really need to act and not wait,” said Melissa Belfry, one of the demonstrators who gathered outside the state and federal courthouses, and marched in Downtown Albuquerque. “This is a good start, trying to get...

Government programs provide insurance for ranchers if they lose their forage crops due to lack of rain, but the scarcity of rain gauges in New Mexico has limited the usefulness of this insurance, according to legislators who secured funding to build a network of weather stations throughout the state. State Sen. Pat Woods, R-Broadview, told NM...

Key improvements to the City of Carlsbad’s Double Eagle Water System moved forward after a $2 million federal grant, according to the U.S. Department of Economic Development Administration (EDA). The grant was from EDA’s American Rescue Plan’s (ARP) Economic Adjustment Assistance Program, read a news release from EDA. Passed by...

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich visited Northern New Mexico last week, making two stops in Taos to discuss domestic violence with Community Against Violence (CAV) staff and affordable, sustainable housing with representatives from the town, county and state. On Wednesday afternoon (April 20), Heinrich met with community leaders involved with CAV to...

SANTA FE – With schools around the nation returning to a new normal after two years of disruptions and distance learning, U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona got a first-hand glimpse Thursday of how some New Mexico schools are still dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic fallout. The nation’s top education official talked with Santa Fe...

More than a month after the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs recommended closing down four New Mexico VA clinics, including the one in Las Vegas, Senators Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján, as well as Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, were in town to speak to local veterans as they fight to keep them open. On March 14, the VA announced...

Since going operational in 1980, the Very Large Array in Socorro County has seen continual upgrades and additions, a recently announced planned project would expand and enhance learning opportunities for STEM students. To that end, a press release from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory stated that Associated Universities, Inc. which operates...

LAS VEGAS, N.M. — Barbara Perea Casey told the assembly she did not want her husband, a U.S. Army veteran, to be on the next list of veteran suicide statistics. Speaking before U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján and a panel of military veterans discussing a recent report recommending the closure of four VA medical clinics in the northern half of...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — In 2021, the Violence Intervention Program was introduced as a way to try and prevent gun violence by reaching out to victims with the help necessary to break the cycle of violence – now, the program is receiving a boost as it has proved to be successful. The program has a 93% success rate and, thanks to new funding,...

LAS VEGAS, N.M. – Bob Phillips said he’s been in pain since he was 19. That’s how old he was when he was badly injured while serving in the Air Force. Now, at age 66, he has two prosthetic knees, several rods, screws and pins in his legs, back and feet. He lives in Las Vegas, New Mexico, and sees a health care professional several...

New Mexico’s U.S. senators are holding discussions with veterans this week on a recent recommendation to shut down smaller Department of Veterans Affairs’ health clinics in four New Mexico towns. Sen. Martin Heinrich, an Albuquerque Democrat, will be at the VFW San Juan Argonne Post 1547 in Las Vegas, N.M., Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.,...

A bill aimed at supporting some of the America’s most imperiled plant and animal species passed a Senate committee last week after it was introduced by New Mexico U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM). The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act was also sponsored by U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) and was passed April 7 by the U.S. Senate Committee on...

The federal Recovering America’s Wildlife Act cleared the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on a 15-5 vote Thursday, advancing what proponents call the “most significant wildlife conservation bill in half a century.” This bill, which is sponsored by U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich, a New Mexico Democrat, and Roy...

New Mexico is in the running to be the home of two parts of the U.S. Space Force’s Space and Training Readiness Command Headquarters, or STARCOM. The U.S. Air Force this week announced that Kirtland Air Force Base is a finalist to be the home of two of five space deltas – which are essentially a specific mission or area of focus –...

Homes throughout New Mexico could become more energy efficient during extreme weather events as the state will receive up to $22 million in federal grant dollars to do so via the infrastructure bill recently signed into law by President Joe Biden. The bill earmarked the federal dollars for New Mexico through the U.S. Department of Energy’s...