- ELECTORAL COLLEGE-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Five New Mexico electors have cast their votes for Joe Biden to formalize the Democratic candidate's victory in the state's presidential vote. The electors wore face masks as a precaution against the coronavirus as they met Monday inside a Statehouse committee room. Biden won the statewide popular vote by a margin of nearly 11 percentage points over President Donald Trump. The last time New Mexico sided with a Republican presidential candidate was for the 2004 reelection of George W. Bush. Monday's meeting was accessible to the public and media by video webcast only. Electors of diverse backgrounds greeted the public briefly in English, Spanish and a Native American language.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW MEXICO
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The first coronavirus vaccines have arrived in New Mexico as hospitals prepare to distribute doses to frontline health care workers. State officials said Monday that shipments arrived at the state Health Department's warehouse and elsewhere. New Mexico will get more than 17,500 doses as part of the first wave. The shipments come as new COVID-19 cases have decreased but hospitalizations and deaths remain high. On Sunday, New Mexico tied its previous record of 44 for the number of coronavirus-related deaths reported in a single day. Hospital leaders say they're excited about the vaccine. They warned that protective gear and protocols are still necessary.
- OIL AND GAS-RARE LIZARD
CARLSBAD, N.M. (AP) — Federal wildlife managers are considering offering permits to landowners in the Permian Basin that environmentalists say could further compromise habitat for a rare lizard found only in parts of southeastern New Mexico and West Texas. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be accepting comments on the proposal through Dec. 21. The Carlsbad Current-Argus reports that the permits would be available to landowners who are participating in candidate conservation agreements with the federal government. The permits would cover situations when lizards are harmed or killed during oil and gas operations, sand mining, renewable energy development, agriculture or construction activities.
- AP-US-VIRGIN-GALACTIC-TEST-FLIGHT
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A Virgin Galactic test flight Saturday ended prematurely as the spacecraft's rocket motor failed to ignite. It then glided down safely to its landing site in southern New Mexico. The spacecraft's engine is supposed to ignite moments after the craft is released from a special carrier jet, sending the craft into a near-vertical climb towards the edge of space. Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier said in a statement that the spaceship's onboard computer that monitors the motor lost connection, triggering a fail-safe scenario that halted ignition. It was to be the first rocket-powered flight to space from Virgin Galactic's headquarters at Spaceport America.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NAVAJO NATION
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) — Navajo Nation health officials are reporting 231 new COVID-19 cases and 12 more deaths as they prepared to implement a weekend-long lockdown for reservation residents. The tribe has now reported 19,199 cases and 711 known deaths since the pandemic began. The lockdown that begins at 8 p.m. Friday will require everyone on the reservation except essential workers to stay at home. All businesses are are required to remain closed until the locldown ends at 5:30 a.m. Monday. The tribe also has a generral stay-at-home order in place through Dec. 28.
- BC-VIRUS OUTBREAK-TEACHER VACCINES
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Education advocates are calling for teachers and other school workers to get priority in the national coronavirus vaccine rollout expected to start next week. In New Mexico, state legislators are calling for educators teaching in-person to receive the vaccine alongside healthcare workers and first responders. In separate statements this week, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert and Indiana Congressman Rep. Jim Banks are saying that teachers should be in the second phase of vaccinations, after health workers but ahead of the general public. Teacher union officials from the National Education Association agree teachers should get priority, but caution that even with a vaccine for adults, schools will have to practice social distancing, mask-wearing and frequent hand-washing.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-VACCINES-NATIVE AMERICANS
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — The federal agency that provides health care to Native Americans says it's expecting more than enough vaccines to protect all the people working in the hospitals and clinics that it funds. The Indian Health Service was treated much like a state for distribution purposes. It submitted a plan to vaccinate more than 2 million Native Americans and Alaska Natives. The agency expects to receive 22,425 doses of the Pfizer vaccine next week and 46,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine by the end of the year. Those doses will cover the more than 44,000 people who work at hundreds of facilities that are receiving vaccine allocations through the Indian Health Service.
- MLK COMMISSION-AUDITS
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico State Auditor Brian Colón says the Martin Luther King Jr. State Commission and its executive director are failing to meet their fiscal responsibilities. Colón this week released audit findings, saying his office has yet to see what procedures have been implemented to address what he called critical issues. He said the shortcomings are concerning. Commission executive director Leonard Waites vowed to provide details of new policies and procedures by Dec. 21. The commission's problems go back years. The former executive director and two others were convicted of felony embezzlement and fraud for offenses that occurred from 2013 through 2015.