- MIGRANT DEATHS
DOUGLAS, Ariz. (AP) — After a record hot and dry summer, more deaths among border-crossers have been documented in Arizona's desert and mountains. It's a reminder that the most remote paths to enter the U.S. from Mexico can be the deadliest. There were 214 confirmed or suspected migrants whose deaths at the Arizona border were documented from January to November. That's according to the nonprofit Humane Borders that works with the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office to map the recoveries of migrants' bodies. It counted 144 deaths last year. The highest annual number that the project documented was 224 in 2010.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico on Saturday reported 1,442 additional known COVID-19 cases and 27 additional deaths. The statewide totals increased to 128,930 cases and 2,155 as seven-day rolling averages for daily new cases dropped and daily deaths rose over the last two weeks. According to data from Johns Hopkins University and The COVID Tracking Project, the rolling average of daily new cases dropped from 1,869 on Dec. 4 to 1,542.1 on Friday while the rolling average of deaths rose from 28.9 to 34.1. A pandemic-high 48 daily deaths were reported Thursday as Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said daily deaths could grow even higher over the year-end holidays.
- NEW MEXICO SUICIDES
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico has a suicide rate 1.5 times that of the national average, and legislative analysts say a new plan is needed to address the many causes. Analysts with the Legislative Finance Committee released their findings this week, saying the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated mental health issues and suicide rates are likely to increase. The state is projecting a 20% increase in behavioral health needs. New Mexico has yet to develop a statewide suicide prevention plan, but the analysts are recommending that the state as part of that work establish a goal to reduce suicides by 10% in five years.
UNLICENSED PROSECUTOR
Prosecutor lacked active law license; cases being reviewed
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — District attorney and public defender offices are reviewing cases handled by a metro Albuquerque prosecutor who wasn't properly licensed to practice law in New Mexico. District Attorney's Office spokeswoman Brandale Mills Cox said the New Mexico State Bar notified the office on Dec. 8 that a clerical error occurred after Brian Jeffries applied to both reinstate his inactive New Mexico law license and to obtain a limited license available to prosecutors licensed in another state. Mills Cox told the Albuquerque Journal that Jeffries has resigned and that only nine cases could be substantively affected by the licensing problem. However, public defender Jennifer Barela said dozens of cases could be affected.
- RESORT PROJECT-CULTURAL CONTROVERSY
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — A large campground resort project proposed for a northern Arizona high desert site near the Navajo Nation is stalled amid objections centering on cultural sensitivity and teepees. The planned inclusion of wagons and teepees, the tents that weren't typically used by Indigenous people of the Southwest, drew criticism when the Coconino County Board of Supervisors considered a rezoning request and development plan for the project. The Arizona Daily Sun reports that the board concluded hours of discussion and presentations by delaying a vote on whether to approve the Two Guns Resort project. The board delayed a vote pending further possible changes to the project.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Health officials in New Mexico say the state has discarded a 75-dose shipment of the new COVID-19 vaccine this week after a digital device showed it overheated during transportation to a hospital. Amid vaccination efforts, state health officials on Friday reported 1,463 new daily cases of COVID-19 statewide and 31 related deaths. The Albuquerque Journal reported that a temperature-tracking device may have malfunctioned, but state officials threw out the doses to be safe. The problem appears to be isolated. Pfizer had already delivered the doses to New Mexico, and temperature problems arose during transportation from a state Department of Health warehouse to Union County General Hospital in Clayton. Officials say a new shipment was sent Wednesday to the hospital.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NAVAJO NATION
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) — Navajo Nation health officials are reporting 175 new COVID-19 cases and 10 new virus-related deaths. The tribe has now reported more than 20,000 coronavirus cases resulting in 742 deaths since the pandemic began. Friday's new statistics come as the vast reservation enters the latest in a string of weekend-long lockdowns designed to limit activity that can spread the virus. The Navajo Nation remains in a three-week lockdown requiring residents to remain home at all times. Only essential workers reporting to work and those going for food or other vital items are allowed to travel. The nation's roads remained closed to visitors.
- EDUCATION LAWSUIT DISMISSED
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A U.S. district judge in Santa Fe has dismissed one of the education lawsuits that have sprung up against the state or intensified during the coronavirus pandemic. At one point in the lawsuit, the judge ordered state education officials to intervene in the case of a 13-year-old girl with special needs in Hobbs and figure out why here school wasn't providing all of the services called for in her learning plan. The state faces other lawsuits, including one from school boards and administrators over what they describe as state overreach.