Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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SANTA FE — Attorneys for the state Republican Party asked a judge Monday to bar New Mexico from conducting this year's congressional elections under the new map adopted in last year's special session, describing it as an illegal partisan gerrymander. Lawyers for the Legislature and Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, by contrast, urged the judge to dismiss the lawsuit altogether, contending the map complies with every requirement in the state Constitution. The clash played out before Clovis-based District Judge Fred Van S... Full story
SANTA FE — Two days before a critical deadline, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed civil rights legislation Wednesday that grew out of last year’s protests against racial injustice and police brutality. The civil rights measure — one of the most fiercely debated of the 60-day legislative session — will allow the filing of lawsuits in state District Court to recover financial damages if a public agency or officer violates a person’s rights under the state Bill of Rights. The law will also bar qualified immunity as a defense t...
SANTA FE — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham began a critical week Monday by signing legislation that will deliver extra money to some schools and ban animal trapping on public land — a burst of action as she faces a Friday deadline to act on dozens of bills. She approved 50 bills altogether Monday, touching on public financing for judicial candidates, community solar projects and medical debt. Much of Monday’s action centered on children — including the creation of an independent office to review special education and a ban on...
SANTA FE — After years of hitting a brick wall at the Roundhouse, cannabis legalization finally burst through on Wednesday. New Mexico is poised to join a wave of other states in legalizing and taxing recreational cannabis sales, after both the House and Senate voted to approve a special session bill during a marathon day at the Roundhouse that featured lengthy debates and stinging political accusations. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who has pushed for creation of what could be a multimillion-dollar industry, said she would s...
SANTA FE — New Mexico legislators are doing almost everything they can — short of making it mandatory — to get public schools to extend the school year as part of a strategy to boost academic achievement. They have passed legislation that would add flexibility to the state’s extended learning and K-5 Plus programs, in addition to authorizing about $280 million to pay for the extra school days, enough for any district or school that wants to participate. The state budget package also would require districts to explain in writ...
SANTA FE — The push to legalize recreational cannabis for New Mexico adults will have to wait after stalling in the final hours of this year’s 60-day legislative session — but maybe not for long. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said she plans to call lawmakers back to the Capitol for a special session on marijuana legalization in about a week, adding a framework for a deal that was already largely in place despite its failure to win final approval. “It’s not really goodbye — it’s take a rest and I’ll see you soon,” Lujan Gr...
SANTA FE — A proposal to require paid sick leave in New Mexico beat the deadline Saturday and passed the Legislature with less than an hour to spare. But the noon adjournment extinguished any chance of a last-minute deal on cannabis legalization — a proposal that could resurface in a special session. The last 24 hours at the Capitol included a burst of activity as New Mexico lawmakers signed off on proposals to establish an independent redistricting committee, extend public financing to District Court judicial candidates and...
SANTA FE — Legislation to establish a New Mexico Civil Rights Act — a proposal sparked by protests against racism and police misconduct — won approval in the state Senate early Wednesday, pushing it to the brink of final passage. The measure passed the House a month ago, but senators revised the bill, so it will have to go back to the other chamber for agreement on the amendments. It passed the Senate on a 26-15 vote about 10 minutes after midnight. The legislation, House Bill 4, emerged quickly this year as one of the most...
SANTA FE — Amid tears and tense debate, the state Senate adopted legislation Monday that would allow terminally ill New Mexicans to seek a doctor’s help to end their lives, moving the proposal to the brink of final passage. The measure, House Bill 47, passed the House last month, but the Senate made amendments to the legislation before Monday’s vote — changes that will have to go back to the House for agreement. The bill has triggered some of the most emotional debate of the session. Legislators shared tears Monday as they sp...
SANTA FE — New Mexico would expand options for alcohol delivery and the sale of mixed drinks at restaurants under a sweeping package of liquor-law changes moving toward passage in the Capitol. The measure would prohibit the sale of miniatures at convenience stores and broadly reshape a host of New Mexico liquor regulations. Senators adopted the legislation, House Bill 255, on a 29-11 vote Tuesday after making a series of amendments to the proposal. The House quickly agreed to the Senate amendments, sending the measure next t...
SANTA FE — Two proposals working their way through the Roundhouse have the potential to reshape New Mexico’s citizen Legislature — one by establishing salaries for lawmakers, the other by reviewing the need for staffing and transparency. Both measures passed the House last week and will have to move quickly in the Senate to have a chance at final approval. The 60-day session ends at noon Saturday. Supporters say the proposals would modernize the only Legislature in the country where lawmakers don’t draw a salary. Instead...
SANTA FE — Student athletes at New Mexico colleges and universities would be allowed to earn compensation from product endorsements and similar work under legislation nearing passage in the state Legislature. The proposal, Senate Bill 94, advanced through a House committee Monday and is now headed to the full House for consideration — the last approval necessary to send the measure to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. Sen. Mark Moores, an Albuquerque Republican and former college football player, said the legislation would uph...
SANTA FE — The state House adopted legislation Sunday that would require private employers in New Mexico to offer paid sick leave to their workers, sending the measure over to the Senate with 20 days left in the session. Supporters said the proposal, House Bill 20, would offer critical protection for low-income New Mexicans who might otherwise have to choose between a paycheck or caring for a sick loved one. It would also, they said, reduce the spread of illness in the workplace. "This is the right thing to do, not only f...
SANTA FE — The state House adopted legislation Sunday that would require private employers in New Mexico to offer paid sick leave to their workers, sending the measure over to the Senate with 20 days left in the session. Supporters said the proposal, House Bill 20, would offer critical protection for low-income New Mexicans who might otherwise have to choose between a paycheck or caring for a sick loved one. It would also, they said, reduce the spread of illness in the workplace. "This is the right thing to do, not only f...
SANTA FE — New Mexico hit the halfway point of its unusual 60-day session Thursday with abortion-rights legislation and pandemic relief measures speeding toward passage. But hundreds of other proposals — ranging from cannabis legalization to restricting the governor's emergency powers — hang in the balance as legislators begin the crucial back stretch of the session. "There's plenty of time still," said Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque. "The last few days is when most of the action happens, unfortunately." It's already...
SANTA FE — Even before schools reopen, New Mexico lawmakers are mapping out how to help students catch up next year after a lack of in-person learning over the past 10 months. One possibility began moving through the Capitol on Wednesday — a $139 million plan requiring schools to extend the next academic year by either 10 or 25 days, depending on which program they opt into and the age of the students. Teachers would be paid for the extra work, and districts would decide when to add the days. The proposal immediately dre...
SANTA FE — A proposal to establish a New Mexico Civil Rights Act began moving through the state House on Monday over the objection of city, county and school agencies — all of which expressed fear about the cost of new legal claims. Supporters, in turn, offered blunt testimony about the need to hold law enforcement and government bodies accountable in state court for wrongdoing. They cited the wrongful arrest of a teenager later cleared of a murder charge, sexual abuse of foster children and the shooting of a woman by she...
New Mexico and the rest of the United States are in the early stages of a mass vaccination effort to crush the COVID-19 pandemic. The vaccines now on the market are proving to be incredibly effective at preventing severe cases of the virus, but the national vaccine rollout has been complicated by logistical challenges as states wrestle with how to get the vaccines out quickly, while also targeting residents most at risk. Here's a Q&A intended to help readers better understand how New Mexico is pursuing vaccination. Q. Is New...
SANTA FE — A proposal to hold legislative committee hearings at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center would create a “medium high” risk for an outbreak of COVID-19 infections, according to statistical modeling by Los Alamos National Laboratory. But the Legislature could reduce the risk substantially by opting instead to hold virtual committee hearings, reducing the number of floors sessions, testing legislators and staff regularly, and achieving broad compliance with a face mask requirement. The findings are outli...
SANTA FE — Residents and employees of nursing homes throughout the state are rolling up their sleeves this week as New Mexico expands its COVID-19 vaccine program to some of its most vulnerable adults. Local pharmacies working with the state began administering vaccines at long-term care facilities Sunday, tapping an initial supply of about 15,000 vaccine doses from Moderna Inc. The state expects to receive about 31,000 vaccines from Moderna overall in coming months. It marks a significant expansion of the state’s vac...
SANTA FE — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham was elected Thursday to lead the national Democratic Governors Association next year. She is already the vice chair of the organization, a position that put her on track to take over as chairwoman in 2021. The association is dedicated to electing and supporting Democratic governors. Lujan Grisham is the third consecutive New Mexico governor to hold a leadership post with a governors association. Susana Martinez served as chairwoman of the Republican Governors Association in the 2016 e...
New Mexico was thrust into a national fray Thursday as President Donald Trump’s campaign tried to cast doubt on the accuracy of unofficial election results. Without citing specific evidence, Rudy Giuliani, a lawyer for the president, said the campaign was looking into fraud allegations in New Mexico, among other states. “We have very, very significant amount of fraud allegations in the state of New Mexico,” Giuliani said during a news conference in Washington, D.C. While two lawsuits were filed by the state Republican Party...
SANTA FE — Research published this month takes aim at a question New Mexico and other states are wrestling with: Where are all these COVID-19 infections happening? A peer-reviewed paper in the journal Nature suggests a small number of “superspreader” environments drive most of the infections — with full-service restaurants by far the riskiest locations. But the authors also said that even partly limiting capacity at certain “points of interest” — such as restaurants, gyms and similar nonresidential locations — can have an...
SANTA FE — A surge in Republican turnout throughout southern New Mexico helped carry Yvette Herrell to a solid victory over U.S. Rep. Xochitl Torres Small in Tuesday’s election — a reversal from their matchup just two years ago. But strong voter participation also buoyed Democrats, who rode huge margins in Albuquerque and Santa Fe to hefty wins in the statewide race for an open U.S. Senate seat and in the other two congressional districts. For Democrats and Republicans alike, New Mexico’s historically high turnout shaped thei...
SANTA FE — Coronavirus cases have surfaced at dozens of school and education sites in New Mexico this month, even without the return of traditional in-person classes, according to state records. They’ve popped up across the state, from Albuquerque to Artesia, triggering the temporary closure of school buildings, contact tracing and deep cleaning. Records published by the state Environment Department — which helps oversee rapid-response testing of employers — show schools have reported about 50 positive tests among employees a...
