- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW MEXICO
SANTE FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's governor says a record-setting 48 daily deaths have been linked to the coronavirus pandemic, as the state delivers economic relief payments to the unemployed and small businesses. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham says that she is concerned daily deaths could grow even higher over the year-end holidays. In other virus-related developments, more than 50 inmates have sued the Penitentiary of New Mexico, claiming the facility near Santa Fe did not protect its inmates from the coronavirus. The New Mexico Supreme Court was asked to intervene after 56 inmates submitted a handwritten petition alleging lax precautions caused an outbreak in late October.
- AP-US-VIRUS-OUTBREAK-VACCINES-NATIVE-AMERICANS
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The first doses of the coronavirus vaccine are arriving at Native American communities that have been disproportionately sickened and killed by the pandemic. The communities around the U.S. have been hit hard despite curfews, roadblocks and the suspension of business including casinos and artisanal trading posts. Vaccinations began Tuesday for health workers at clinics across the Navajo and Hopi nations in parts of Arizona and New Mexico, where 3,900 doses are being delivered to clinics. On Thursday, the vaccine reached the Lummi Nation on an oceanside Washington state peninsula. Small tribes including Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico are partnering with trusted state health officials to vaccinate.
- BIDEN-INTERIOR DEPARTMENT
President-elect Joe Biden has picked New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland as interior secretary. The historic pick Thursday would make Haaland the first Native American to lead the powerful federal agency, which has wielded influence over the nation's tribes for generations. If confirmed by the Senate, the first-term congresswoman would also be the first Native American Cabinet secretary in U.S. history. Tribal leaders and activists around the country, along with many Democratic figures, have urged Biden for weeks to choose Haaland to lead the Department of Interior. Haaland promised Thursday to "be fierce for all of us, our planet, and all of our protected land."
- MEXICAN WOLVES-CROSS FOSTERING
PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Game and Fish Department officials say at least seven Mexican wolf pups have successfully cross-fostered into wild packs since last spring. Members of the Mexican Wolf Interagency Field Team and the Mexican Wolf Species Survival Plan cross-fostered 20 genetically diverse wolf pups from captive facilities into litters of wild wolf packs. The IFT reports that one of two pups cross-fostered from the Phoenix Zoo to the Iron Creek pack in New Mexico was caught and radio-collared plus one of two pups cross-fostered from the Endangered Wolf Center to the San Mateo pack in New Mexico.
- IOWA HOMICIDE SUSPECT-BORDER PATROL
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — The U.S. Border Patrol says a man later determined to be wanted in an Iowa homicide was fatally shot after his vehicle went around an immigration checkpoint in southern New Mexico. The Border Patrol says it wasn't immediately known whether the man killed himself or was struck by Border Patrol agents' gunfire when they returned his fire during a pursuit Wednesday. The incident began at a checkpoint on a highway near Las Cruces and ended west of Truth or Consequences. The Border Patrol said a female passenger in the car was taken into custody. No identities were released and no details were provided on the Iowa homicide.
- MEXICO-BORDER KILLINGS
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has attended the inauguration of a monument to honor nine U.S.-Mexican dual citizens killed on Nov. 4, 2019 by suspected drug gang assassins. The monument in the small town of La Mora is in the northern border region near New Mexico, near the site where the group was ambushed along a rural road. Sonora state Gov. Claudia Pavlovich said the monument "is a testament to the need that this never be forgotten, that it always be remembered, and that it never be repeated." The killings of three women and six children shocked Mexico.
- WIND FARM-NEW MEXICO
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Xcel Energy says work is done on the Sagamore Wind Project, and the turbines will go online at the end of the month. Covering 100,000 acres, the wind farm is the largest in New Mexico and the second largest on the utility's eight-state system. CEO and chairman Ben Fowke said during a virtual celebration that Sagamore will be a key asset for Xcel in its push to reach carbon-free electricity generation by 2050. Xcel officials said the new wind farm will result in lower costs for customers and will provide hundreds of millions of dollars in lease payments and tax revenues over the next 25 years.
- AP-US-ENDANGERED-SPECIES
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. wildlife officials have finalized a rule to exempt some areas from habitat protections meant to save imperiled species. Thursday's announcement by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would place greater weight on the economic benefits of development when deciding if land or water should be protected. It's the latest move by the Trump administration in a years-long overhaul of how the Endangered Species Act is used. Wildlife advocates say it would allow more drilling, mining and other activities in areas crucial to the survival of dwindling populations of plants and animals. Administration officials say the proposal gives more deference to local community needs.