- Virgin Galactic gets NASA contract, prepares for test flight
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — Virgin Galactic has been selected to provide regular access to flights for NASA payloads as the space agency conducts more research and development and plans for exploratory missions. NASA announced the partnership Monday, saying the flight and integration services will benefit the agency's Flight Opportunity program managed out of Edwards, California. Virgin Galactic joins other companies with similar commercial contracts with NASA. The agency says the contracts are worth a combined $45 million. Virgin Galactic is preparing for its first test space flight from Spaceport America in New Mexico. The window for that flight opens Dec. 11.
- New Mexico jail seeks to return stolen money to inmates
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Officials are seeking to return funds that were stolen from inmates' accounts at the Bernalillo County jail over several years. The Metropolitan Detention Center said Tuesday it is trying locate 99 former inmates so the misappropriated money can be refunded. An independent audit recently made public by the state auditor's office alleges that a former fiscal supervisor at the jail tapped into inmate trust accounts to issue fraudulent debit cards. Jail officials were tipped off in 2019 when a former inmate called about money missing from the account. Officials say they've instituted new procedures and taken other corrective actions.
- New Mexico residents endure long wait for virus results
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico residents have encountered longer lines for COVID-19 testing and are waiting several days or weeks for results as the pandemic surges throughout the state. Another 2,330 confirmed cases were reported Tuesday, bringing the statewide total to more than 99,400 since the pandemic began. State Health Department spokeswoman Marisa Maez says the waits are happening because more daily cases mean more testing. Some public health restrictions will be eased Wednesday, and officials in some New Mexico cities are opting to reopen senior centers, libraries and other facilities at reduced capacities. Rio Rancho, Roswell and Farmington are among them.
- Peppered chub proposed by agency as endangered species
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The U.S, Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to list a small minnow-like fish known as the peppered chub as an endangered species and designate parts of rivers in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and New Mexico as its critical habitat. The agency on Tuesday published the proposal in the Federal Register. The proposal says the fish, once found in each of the four states and in Colorado, is now found only in one river from New Mexico into Texas and rivers in Kansas and Oklahoma must also be protected to ensure they could be relocated, if necessary, to prevent extinction.
- Pop-up school for US asylum seekers thrives despite pandemic
MATAMOROS, Mexico (AP) — It started as a kind of pop-up school on a sidewalk to teach reading, writing and math to Central American children living in a camp of U.S. asylum seekers stuck in Mexico. Like countless other schools during the coronavirus pandemic, the so-called sidewalk school has had to go virtual. But instead of being hampered by the change, it has blossomed. Now some 20 teachers who are seeking asylum themselves give Zoom classes to Central American children in not only the camp, but at various shelters elsewhere in Mexico. Thousands of Central American families have been living in tents or at Mexican shelters since a Trump administration policy forced asylum seekers to wait south of the border as their cases proceed.
- Watchdog: US nuclear dump facing space, staffing challenges
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A nonpartisan congressional watchdog says the federal government's underground nuclear waste dump could run out of room if the number of drums shipped to the New Mexico site keeps expanding or if a new method for measuring the waste is upended as part of a legal challenge. The Government Accountability Office in a recent report said better planning is needed at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant to avoid potential disruptions. The U.S. Energy Department estimates the facility's existing physical space will be full around 2025. The agency faces a statutory limitation on how much waste can be entombed at the site.
- Navajo Nation lawmakers consider extending junk food tax
FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) — Lawmakers on the Navajo Nation are considering a bill to extend a 2% sales tax on unhealthy food and beverages sold on the reservation. The tribe approved the Healthy Diné Nation Act in November 2014 to tax food with minimal or no nutritional value. The tax expires this year unless lawmakers vote to extend it. The bill refines what would be subject to the tax, and clarifies its administration and enforcement. The Daily Times in Farmington reports that the tax has generated more than $7.5 million over the past few years. It is meant to fund things like wellness centers and walking trails.
- New Mexico Land Office offers online Christmas tree permits
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The State Land Office is joining other land management agencies in New Mexico in offering online Christmas tree cutting permits. The Land Office also is allowing people to get permits to gather sand for filling their luminarias, which are traditional holiday fixtures of candles inside paper bags weighted with sand. Permit applications, maps, directions and other information is available on the agency's website. Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard says her office is pleased to offer the low-cost permits as New Mexicans honor two long-held holiday traditions. Like other activities on state trust land, the tree cutting and sand gathering fees help support public schools.