- 50-YEAR WATER PLAN
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's administration is asking lawmakers for money and manpower to create a plan for managing the state's water resources for the next five decades. Legislative analysts have recommended less money than requested be spent on the effort, but supporters say it's critical the state starts charting a course that will allow for flexible water management in the face of more drought and climate change. The state's most recent water plan was rolled out in 2018 and includes details about policies, historical legal cases and regional water plans. While it offers an inventory of the state's needs, critics say it falls short of laying out a concrete path for how to solve water problems.
- IMMIGRATION-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Activists for immigrant communities are pushing for legislation that allows New Mexico residents without Social Security numbers to qualify for state tax credits aimed at working families. Immigrants and allied advocacy groups thronged the state Capitol building Monday to lobby for stronger enforcement of laws that ensure low-wage workers are fully paid and reforms that would shield state records from access by federal immigration authorities. The group Somos Un Pueblo Unido says the initiatives are designed provide fair and equitable treatment of working families that are vital to the state economy. The group also supports greater state spending to encourage participation in the U.S. Census.
- ELECTION 2020-HOUSE-NEW MEXICO
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A Republican congressional hopeful in a critical New Mexico race who has made her "100% support for Donald Trump" part of her campaign once sought backing for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz. A March 2016 email from former New Mexico lawmaker Yvette Herrell asked fellow Republican state legislators if they were interested in supporting Cruz. Her GOP primary opponents say the emails counters the story Herrell told voters in the 2018 race and recently that she supported Trump from "day one." Herrell's campaign manager Dakotah Parshall dismissed the email and said Herrell was just being helpful to her fellow state legislators.
- EMU FOUND
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — A former state lawmaker's emu that has been missing since Thanksgiving is safely back at its home near Las Cruces. The Las Cruces Sun-News reported Sunday that former state Rep. Brad Cates learned his pet emu had resurfaced last week thanks to a barrage of images people shared on social media. Cates with some help corralled the 150-pound (68-kilogram) emu named "Hey You!" Cates was also the Republican nominee for Dona Ana County district attorney in 2016. He lost to Mark D'Antonio.
- ALBUQUERQUE FATAL SHOOTINGS
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Police are investigating the shooting death of a man at an Albuquerque complex, the second homicide in the city in less than 24 hours. Sgt. Tanner Tixier said a report of a shooting was made late Sunday night and responding officers found one man wounded. The victim was transported to a hospital, where he later died. A second victim was treated and released. Neither victim's identity has been released. Investigators have not identified a suspect. Police are also investigating a shooting fatality in a downtown corridor. Officers heard gunfire in the area around 12:45 a.m. Upon their arrival, they found one man who had been fatally shot.
- PUBLIC LAND ACCESS
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. land managers say they will release by mid-March a priority list of federal lands that need but don't have public access. U.S. Bureau of Land Management officials want people to nominate lands where the public could legally hunt, fish or pursue other recreational purposes, except the lands have no or limited access. The agency manages 383,000 square miles of land, primarily in western states. A representative of the National Wildlife Federation says the public access initiative is laudable but must be considered in the context of Trump's broad rollbacks of environmental rules.
- MISSING INDIGENOUS MEN
TUBA CITY, Ariz. (AP) — A movement to draw attention to Native American women and girls who have been killed or reported missing is expanding in some areas to include males. Margaret Bitsue's son is among them. The Navajo woman hasn't seen or heard from her youngest child in more than four years. She says a recent forum on the Navajo Nation that centered on males gives her hope that she's not alone in her search for answers. Late last year, the Trump administration announced it would dedicate more resources to all missing and slain Native Americans and Alaska Natives.
- ELECTION 2020-LEGISLATURE-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Legislative elections and ideological divisions among Democrats are looming over major initiatives backed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on gun safety, recreational marijuana and pension reform. It's the second straight year of unified Democratic control over the Statehouse and governor's office. Democrats reclaimed the governor's office from a Republican and picked up eight seats in the state House as a blue wave swept through politics in 2018 elections. This year, the entire House and Senate are up for election for the first time since President Donald Trump took office. Democrats including the House speaker and Senate president are confronting primary challenges within a restive party.