- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW MEXICO
JEMEZ SPRINGS, N.M. (AP) — A popular music camp in New Mexico is canceling its summer program for the first time in more than 60 years because of COVID-19. KRQE-TV reports organizers for the Hummingbird Music Camp in Jemez Springs, New Mexico, recently made the decision as the state remains under health orders due to the virus. Camp Director Teena King says organizers had no choice. King says she's keeping her business afloat by renting out the cabins on the camp's property to families. Health officials in New Mexico on Sunday reported 113 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, bringing the state to 23,408.
- NEW MEXICO STATE-CUTS
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico State University faculty members are considering forming a union after President John Floros recently announced faculty cuts were possible amid the pandemic. The Las Cruces Sun-News reports university regents approved a budget reduction after the state took money to accommodate for its COVID-19 pandemic response. The revised budget means a 10.5% budget cut to the main campus. Every unit at New Mexico State needs to submit plans to Floros by Sept. 15 for a 6%, 9%, and 12% budget cut. Government professor Christa Slaton told KVIA-TV the president's comments helped stir pro-union sentiments among faculty.
- TRUMP-PUBLIC LANDS
SEATTLE (AP) — A senior administration official says President Donald Trump intends to withdraw the nomination of William Perry Pendley to head the Bureau of Land Management. The news was cheered by conservationists who insisted the longtime advocate of selling federal lands should not be overseeing them. Pendley is a former oil industry and property rights attorney from Wyoming who has been leading the Bureau of Land Management for more than a year under a series of temporary orders from Interior Secretary David Bernhardt. Democrats alleged the temporary orders were an attempt to skirt the nomination process, and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock and conservation groups have filed lawsuits to have him removed from office.
- DEPUTY SHERIFF CHARGED
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico undersheriff is accused of ordering his subordinates to draw guns on other officers who arrested his boss in May. Prosecutors say Rio Arriba County Undersheriff Martin Trujillo ordered his deputies to a police station where other officers were gathered to execute a warrant on Sheriff James Lujan. Trujillo directed his officers to draw their weapons on the Taos and Española officers. He surrendered to New Mexico State Police on Friday and was booked into the Los Alamos County jail. He was released the same day. His lawyer says Trujillo is innocent and is being used as a pawn in political machinations.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NUKE REPOSITORY
CARLSBAD, N.M. (AP) — Managers of the federal government's underground nuclear waste repository in southern New Mexico say operations are ongoing despite a recent increase in COVID-19 cases among workers. The Carlsbad Current-Argus reports that the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant has seen cases among employees and contract workers more than double in the last week. The plant this week announced four new cases among employees of Nuclear Waste Partnership, the contractor hired to oversee daily operations at the facility. The plant is in the second phase of resuming normal operations after having slowed the emplacement of waste this spring when the pandemic began.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-BLACK RODEO
OKMULGEE, Okla. (AP) — The oldest continuously held Black rodeo in the U.S. rode on in eastern Oklahoma despite months of uncertainty because of the coronavirus pandemic, though this year some cowboys wore face masks along with boots. The Roy LeBlanc Invitational Rodeo, first held in 1956, took place Aug. 7-8 in Okmulgee with a crowd of about 1,000 and some 200 Black cowboys with most wearing masks and socially distancing according to co-owner Kenneth LeBlanc. Steer wrestler Rodney Demery said the crowd in the approximately 2,500 seat arena seemed smaller, but was enthusiastic and the cowboys were just happy to be able to compete.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico on Saturday reported 146 additional confirmed COVID-19 cases with eight more deaths, increasing the state's totals to 23,302 cases and 711 deaths. Over half of the newly reported cases occurred in five counties _ Bernalillo, Dona Ana, Eddy, Lea and McKinley. The deaths reported Saturday involved people from five counties — Bernalillo, Cibola, Dona Ana, Eddy and Rio Arriba. The 7-day rolling averages of daily new cases in New Mexico and daily deaths in the state both dropped over the past two weeks.
- SPACE COMMAND-ALBUQUERQUE
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's largest city — Albuquerque — is among 31 potential locations for the federal government's new space command center. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller announced Friday that they will lead a community effort to land what is expected to be a major federal facility that would add more than 1,000 jobs. The officials had submitted in June a letter of interest proposing the city as an ideal location. They cited New Mexico's existing defense and science installations and the state's growing aerospace sector. Members of the state's congressional delegation also have voiced support for the effort.