- Navajo Nation finds 11 new COVID-19 cases, 6 deaths
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) — The Navajo Nation has reported 11 new COVID-19 cases and six deaths this weekend. Tribal health officials issued a breakdown of the latest virus stats Sunday, which saw only two new cases but no deaths. There were nine new cases and six deaths on Saturday. This brings the number of deaths on the Navajo Nation to 1,340.There have been 30,914 virus cases as of Friday. Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez says residents must remain vigilant and not act like the pandemic is already over. More than half of residents on the reservation that stretches into New Mexico, Arizona and Utah eligible to get vaccinated are fully vaccinated.
- Widow of New Mexico police officer suing for wrongful death
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The widow of a New Mexico State Police officer fatally shot in the line of duty in February has filed a wrongful death lawsuit, asserting the agency failed to equip her husband. The Albuquerque Journal reported Sunday that Gabriella Jarrott has filed suit against the state Department of Public Safety. Officer Darian Jarrott was fatally shot after pulling over 39-year-old Omar Cueva along I-10 east of Deming. Cueva, the target of a federal drug sting, was later killed in a shootout with police. The lawsuit contends Jarrott was tasked with pulling Cueva over without knowing how dangerous he was. It is asking for unspecified damages.
- Crews trying to contain wildfire south Belen
BELEN, N.M. (AP) — A wildfire south of Belen that jumped the Rio Grande has residents preparing for a possible evacuation. Valencia County Fire Department officials say the blaze, which has burned 0.47 square miles, was at zero containment as of early Sunday. The fire was first reported Saturday afternoon north of Veguita, near Highways 346 and 304. According to fire officials, it has managed to cross the river and burn on both the east and west sides as well as spread north. Firefighters are trying to contain the fire outside the bosque in order to also protect homes nearby. Authorities say homes in Jarales and near Highway 304 are at risk.
- Schools across US brace for surge of kindergartners in fall
Districts across the country are hiring kindergarten teachers and preparing summer programs as they brace for a supersized class that will include more children who missed out on preschool and older classmates whose parents decided to wait an extra year because of the pandemic. Public school enrollment tumbled last fall nationwide, but the sharpest drops were in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten programs. With large amounts of federal relief money available, school districts are taking a range of approaches to prepare. It remains uncertain just how big kindergarten classes will be in the fall. Regardless, education leaders say they expect to addressing the effects of the pandemic for years.
- GOP ramps up misleading attack on Democrats' policing policy
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — As rising murder rates gain attention in American cities, Republicans have ramped up a misleading campaign to cast Democrats as anti-police and lax on public safety. It's a message that Republicans believe helped them stave off greater Democratic gains in last year's elections and one with renewed potency as cities consider cuts to department budgets as part of an effort to revamp policing. It's not at all clear that the GOP strategy, which stretches back to President Richard Nixon and was used by President Donald Trump, is a winning one. But it may be prominent as Republicans search for ways to gain ground in suburban areas critical to winning control of the U.S. House next year.
- Fallen smokejumper honored by fellow wildland firefighters
CODY, Wyo. (AP) — Fellow wildland firefighters, U.S. Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen and Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon paid tribute during a weekend memorial for Tim Hart, a 36-year-old smokejumper from Cody, Wyoming, who died following a hard fall while fighting a New Mexico wildfire on May 24. Hart's flag-draped casket was carried by a Forest Service honor guard to the service on Saturday at Cody High School's football field. Pipes and drums played "Amazing Grace" after tributes from Christiansen, Gordon and Hart's supervisor, Mike Blinn, who described Hart as "fit, fast, gritty and funny." Hart was working for the West Yellowstone Smokejumpers, based in the Custer Gallatin National Forest in Montana, at the time of his death.
- Albuquerque officer involved in 4 shootings over 6 years
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — An Albuquerque police officer who fatally shot a man two months ago during a domestic dispute call had shot three other people in separate earlier incidents. Police Chief Harold Medina said told the Albuquerque Journal that Officer Bryce Willsey asked to be temporarily taken out of the field after the April 16 call in which the officer fatally shot Juan James Cordova. Attorney John D'Amato, a police union lawyer who is representing Willsey, said officers don't go out looking to shoot people.
- Governor settled harassment claim to focus on pandemic
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is defending her handling of accusations of harassment by a former campaign spokesman that resulted in a financial settlement. Lujan Grisham has long denied the accusations by James Hallinan and said Friday that it was more important that she focus her attention on the pandemic. Hallinan worked as a spokesman for Lujan Grisham's 2018 campaign for governor and has accused Lujan Grisham of dropping water on his crotch and then grabbing his crotch in the midst of a campaign staff meeting prior to the election. Lujan Grisham says there have been no other financial settlements and nondisclosure agreements of a similar nature.