The Eastern New Mexico News - Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

SANTA FE -- As Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham started her post-session news conference Saturday, she already knew the score. Of the roughly 40 public safety bills introduced this year, the governor said she championed 10. “We have... — Updated 3/21/2023

SANTA FE -- With just a little over a day to go in the 2023 legislative session, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a bill into law extending learning time for students in the state's public schools. House Bill 130 will mandate an... — Updated 3/18/2023

SANTA FE -- The state Senate passed a nearly $9.6 billion spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year Sunday amid accusations the proposed budget was hijacked at the eleventh hour. Discussion on the proposed budget, which would... — Updated 3/14/2023

I used to say Portales was the only town in the world where the neutron bomb had been successfully tested. The buildings are intact, but no people walk the streets. Kidding, Portales! Just kidding. (Sort of.) Still, the sleepy... — Updated 3/14/2023

A proposed overhaul of New Mexico’s public education system — eliminating the Cabinet secretary position and reestablishing a statewide board of education — is headed to its last stop, the House floor. The House Education... — Updated 3/11/2023

New Mexico got one step closer to the possibility of a paid Legislature when the state House of Representatives on Saturday voted 40-24 to approve a resolution that would, if voters agree, open the door to lawmaker pay. House... — Updated 3/9/2023

SANTA FE -- George W. Bush was serving his first term as president and the first season of American Idol premiered on TV the last time the governor of New Mexico received a salary increase. Not just the governor but the attorney... — Updated 2/28/2023

SANTA FE -- A bill updating New Mexico’s high school graduation requirements for the first time in over 15 years has made its way halfway through the legislative marathon. The state House of Representatives on Wednesday voted... — Updated 2/25/2023

SANTA FE -- After faltering last year amid pushback from district attorneys, a revised bill that would end life without parole as a sentencing option for juvenile offenders passed the Senate with bipartisan support Wednesday.... — Updated 2/25/2023

SANTA FE -- Actor Alec Baldwin pleaded not guilty Thursday and waived a virtual first appearance hearing scheduled for Friday in New Mexico’s First Judicial District Court. The actor is charged with involuntary manslaughter in... — Updated 2/25/2023

SANTA FE -- First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies has abandoned her attempt to apply a five-year sentencing enhancement to the charges against actor Alec Baldwin and Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. Both still... — Updated 2/21/2023

SANTA FE -- At the halfway point of the 60-day legislative session, New Mexico’s proposed budget is halfway to the governor’s desk. The $9.43 billion spending plan, which includes average 5% pay raises for state government... — Updated 2/18/2023

BERNALILLO — Cars manned by anxious parents lined the edges of Bernalillo High School on Thursday after local law enforcement received a false report of a fatal shooting inside the cafeteria. The report may have been a hoax ... — Updated 2/18/2023

The New Mexico State University men's basketball season is officially over as the troubled program deals with an internal hazing incident that had sexual overtones, according to a police report. Just before 4 p.m. Sunday, NMSU... — Updated 2/14/2023

SANTA FE -- Alec Baldwin's lawyers are seeking to have state Rep. Andrea Reeb, R-Clovis, disqualified as a special prosecutor in the criminal case tied to the 2021 fatal shooting on the set of the movie “Rust,” claiming the... — Updated 2/11/2023

SANTA FE – Members of the House Transportation, Public Works and Capital Projects Committee got their first look at House Bill 158, which would allow police officers to bring in lab analysts to conduct blood draws on motorists... — Updated 2/4/2023

SANTA FE -- The first court hearings in the criminal cases against actor Alec Baldwin and two other people involved in the ill-fated production of the Western film Rust are scheduled Feb. 24, the New Mexico Administrative Office... — Updated 2/4/2023

SANTA FE -- Some 875,000 New Mexicans would get a cut of the state's record revenues under a bill that received unanimous approval during its first legislative committee hearing Thursday. Senate Bill 10, a priority of Gov.... — Updated 2/4/2023

SANTA FE -- State Supreme Court Chief Justice C. Shannon Bacon delivered the first State of the Judiciary address in four years Tuesday, telling a joint session of the House and Senate that New Mexico's court system is "battered... — Updated 1/28/2023

SANTA FE -- New Mexico taxpayers who received rebates in 2022 are likely to see another round of payments. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said late last year she wanted to use part of the projected $3 billion in new state revenues to... — Updated 1/28/2023

A routine budget bill to pay staff salaries and fund other operations of a legislative session usually sails through both chambers of the Legislature when lawmakers reconvene in Santa Fe every year. Not this year, though. The... — Updated 1/24/2023

SANTA FE -- Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s push to ban assault weapons in New Mexico may dominate the Legislature’s discussion on guns. But it will have company. Several gun-related bills have been or will be introduced in this... — Updated 1/21/2023

An Albuquerque lawmaker who has tried in the past to pass legislation to limit a gun’s magazine capacity is sponsoring a similar bill in this year’s legislative session. Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero, D-Albuquerque, on Monday... — Updated 1/14/2023

Increasing required learning time for students in New Mexico’s public schools would be a big step toward boosting achievement — but only if the effort were combined with flexibility for districts and higher-quality... — Updated 1/14/2023