- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW MEXICO
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Health Secretary Dr. Tracie Collins says New Mexico is among the top states in the U.S. when it comes to vaccine distribution. During a briefing Wednesday, she pointed to New Mexico's registration app, saying it has helped in the scheduling of shots for health care workers and others who are most at risk. Collins said the state this week will release its plans for how other groups of people will be prioritized when more doses become available. More than 106,500 doses have been delivered to New Mexico so far. While not all providers are reporting, the state estimates around 60% of those doses have been administered.
- ELECTORAL COLLEGE-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Statehouse was largely evacuated on Wednesday as hundreds of supporters of President Donald Trump gathered peacefully outside the building and violence broke out in the nation's Capitol in Washington, D.C. Democratic Speaker Brian Egolf said state police ordered the evacuation of the building that includes the governor´s office and secretary of state´s office, though some officials remained inside. He highlighted concerns about the violence in Washington. A spokesman for the governor's office said there was no indication of threats and unrest. Caravans of Donald Trump supporters arrived at the building in cars, trucks and on horseback at midday.
- IMMIGRANT TEACHERS EXPLOITED
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's attorney general is accusing a company that recruits immigrant teachers from the Philippines to work at public schools of charging exorbitant fees and using deceptive financial tactics. Announced on Tuesday, the lawsuit was filed in state district court against Total Teaching Solutions International and CEO Janice Bickert of Ruidoso, alleging exorbitant fees to place Filipino teachers in schools on work visas. The suit accuses the company and Bickert of violations under the state unfair practices act. It seeks a permanent restraining order against the company, financial restitution to immigrant teachers, fines and damages. Bickert and company officials could not be reached immediately for comment.
- AP-US-MIGRANT-DEATHS
PHOENIX (AP) — A project that maps where the bodies of border-crossers were recovered from Arizona's inhospitable deserts, valleys and mountains says it documented 227 deaths in 2020. That was the highest in a decade following the hottest, driest summer in state history. The previous annual high mapped by the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office and the nonprofit Humane Borders was 224 migrant deaths in 2010. Enforcement efforts in California and Texas over the years have pushed migrants into dangerous terrain in Arizona without easy access to food and water. Some advocates believe border wall construction also has played a role.
- SOLAR CARPORTS
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The construction of solar carports in the parking lots of four New Mexico government buildings begins later this month. It's part of the General Services Department's State Buildings Green Energy Project _ an initiative to cut the energy consumption of 30 buildings in Santa Fe and reduce state government's carbon footprint. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has made reducing emissions of climate-warming gases a priority of her administration. The $32 million Green Energy Project began in 2019 and also includes construction of rooftop solar on 16 buildings. When the project is completed later this year, it is expected to reduce electric bills for the buildings by 50 percent and save the state more than $1 million annually.
- NEW MEXICO ENERGY FUTURE
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Three Democratic state senators who initially supported New Mexico's landmark energy law say changes are needed to protect utility customers from significant rate hikes. The 2019 Energy Transition Act allows Public Service Co. of New Mexico to recover from customers 100% of the costs of closing its coal-fired power plant. The lawmakers are warning that a deregulation provision in the law could expose customers to potentially astronomical costs stemming from other power plant closures in the future. That includes a nuclear plant in Arizona in which PNM holds a share. Some consumer advocates raised similar concerns when the law was being debated.
- LEGISLATURE-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico legislators are unveiling initiatives on issues ranging from minimum sick-day requirements as a precaution against contagions in the workplace to halting discrimination against racial minorities for hair styles. The year's first draft bills were posted Monday on the Legislature's website and hint at an ambitious agenda for annual legislative session that starts on Jan. 19. Hundreds of bills, resolutions and proposed constitutional amendments are likely to be heard. A proposal from Democratic state Rep. Christine Chandler of Los Alamos would establish a minimum amount of sick leave that can be used to care for family members.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Las Cruces city officials will be creating a vaccination task force to help coordinate distribution when doses become more widely available. In Albuquerque, officials say nearly 300 first responders with the city's fire and rescue department have received their first shots. Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said Tuesday that the city is supporting the state Health Department's efforts to make sure all residents have access to both testing and the vaccine as the coronavirus pandemic continues. Confirmed COVID-19 cases neared 150,000 as an additional 1,201 cases were reported Tuesday. Nearly 2,600 New Mexicans have succumbed to the virus.