- COLORADO RIVER-CLIMATE CHANGE
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Snow swamped mountains across the U.S. West last winter, likely fending off mandated water shortages next year for states that rely on the Colorado River.
Although snow and rain swelled rivers and streams, that doesn't mean conditions are improving long term. Climate change means the region is still getting drier and hotter.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will issue its projection Thursday for the supply from a key reservoir that feeds Colorado River water to Nevada, Arizona, California and Mexico.
After a wet winter, the agency isn't expected to require any states to take cuts to their share of water.
But Arizona, Nevada and Mexico could give up some water voluntarily in 2020 under a drought contingency plan approved this year by seven Western states that rely on the river.
- VIRGIN GALACTIC-SPACEPORT
UPHAM, N.M. (AP) — Virgin Galactic plans to unveil its digs at Spaceport America, providing the first glimpse of mission control, a prep area for pilots and a lounge where paying customers will wait for their flights to space.
Company officials are gathering Thursday at the remote facility in the New Mexico desert to show off two levels of the custom-tailored hangar at the taxpayer-financed spaceport.
It's unclear how soon commercial flights could begin. Company officials have said a small number of test flights must be completed.
Billionaire Richard Branson and former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat, first pitched the plan for the facility nearly 15 years ago.
Virgin Galactic's spaceship development has taken far longer than expected and had a major setback when the company's first experimental craft broke apart during a 2014 test flight, killing the co-pilot.
- ENDANGERED WOLVES-DEATH
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Wildlife managers are investigating the death of a Mexican gray wolf found last month in New Mexico.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Wednesday the endangered wolf belonged to the Whitewater Canyon pack, which has been roaming in the north-central area of the Gila National Forest.
Officials say there have been seven documented wolf mortalities between January and June. They initially reported eight.
Survey results released earlier this year indicated there were at least 131 wolves in the mountain ranges spanning southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona.
A subspecies of the Western gray wolf, Mexican wolves have faced a difficult road to recovery that has been complicated by politics and conflicts with livestock.
- SANTA FE FIESTA
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Organizers of the retired annual re-enactment of a 17th-century conquistador reclaiming Santa Fe after a Native American revolt are set to hold a new ceremony.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports the Caballeros de Vargas last announced Tuesday it will hold a new event this year that will include Hispanics and Native Americans.
Amid public outcry, the Caballeros de Vargas last year retired the dramatization of the Spanish re-entry into Santa Fe after abandoning the city during the Pueblo Revolt. Native American activists had long complained the re-enactment was offensive.
Group president Thomas Baca-Gutierrez said the new ceremony will emphasize "the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary" in the lives of Spanish settlers and Native Americans.
- IMMIGRATION-PUBLIC BENEFITS
CHICAGO (AP) — Attorneys general in 13 states have filed a lawsuit challenging a Trump administration rule that'll allow immigration officials to deny green cards to migrants who use public assistance, including food stamps or housing vouchers.
The federal lawsuit filed Wednesday in Richland, Washington, follows a similar one Tuesday by two California counties.
Under new rules unveiled this week, Citizenship and Immigration Services will consider whether applicants have received public assistance among other factors such as education to determine whether to grant legal status.
The attorneys general argue the expansion will cause "irreparable harm" and deter noncitizens from seeking "essential" public assistance.
The lawsuit names the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. A spokesman didn't return a message Wednesday.
The states involved are: Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Virginia and Washington.
- MASS SHOOTINGS-NEW MEXICO-THE LATEST
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Leading New Mexico state legislators and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham want to write new definitions and possibly penalties related to domestic terrorism into state law in the aftermath of a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas.
The announcement Wednesday came as lawmakers, public safety Cabinet members and local law enforcement officials gathered for a briefing by the FBI and discussions about how to respond to the shooting at a Walmart in El Paso that killed 22.
Lujan Grisham said changes to state statutes regarding terrorism-related crimes would be aimed at strengthening investigative capabilities. Attorney General Hector Balderas says those legislative proposals could include stronger penalties for hate-related crimes.
Democratic House Speaker Brian Egolf says the state may create a domestic terrorism unit to increase preparedness. Democratic Senate majority leader Peter Wirth expressed support for "red-flag" legislation that makes it easier to take guns away from people who pose a danger to themselves or others.
- LAKE STURGEON PROTECTION
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says it will consider whether to list the lake sturgeon as an endangered or threatened species.
The agency said Wednesday there is "substantial information" to justify a study of whether the ancient fish should receive federal protection.
Lake sturgeon are members of a family of fish that reach back to the dinosaur era. Their range extends from Hudson Bay to the southern Mississippi River. They are the largest native freshwater fish in the Great Lakes.
Their numbers were once in the millions but have fallen drastically in the past century because of pollution and overfishing.
The Fish and Wildlife Service also said it would consider changing the Gila topminnow's status from endangered to threatened. It rejected a proposal to protect the Siskiyou Mountains salamander.
- MARIJUANA-NEW MEXICO-THE LATEST
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Health Secretary Kathyleen Kunkel says states that have legalized recreational marijuana use have seen their medical cannabis programs affected.
Kunkel told a bipartisan group studying legalizing recreational marijuana in the state on Wednesday that's why any proposal to legalized recreational marijuana should seek to protect New Mexico's current medical program.
She says medical marijuana patients seek items like oils and suppositories that wouldn't be sought by potential recreational users.
Kunkel says separate the medical marijuana and recreational systems would help current medical cannabis users.
Her comments came as medical marijuana providers told the study group that any proposal to legalized recreational marijuana in New Mexico should offer protections to their operations.