- INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Indigenous people marked Monday with celebrations of their heritage, education campaigns and a push for the Biden administration to make good on its word. The federal holiday created to recognize Christopher Columbus' sighting of what came to be known as the Americas increasingly has been rebranded as Indigenous Peoples Day. Protesters marched in Washington to call on the Biden administration to do more to combat climate change and ban fossil fuels. Organizers of the Boston marathon honored Indigenous runners. Oregon observed Indigenous Peoples Day for the first time Monday, one of more than a dozen states that do so.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NAVAJO NATION
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) — The Navajo Nation on Monday reported 11 more COVID-19 cases, but no additional deaths for the eighth time in the past 12 days. Tribal health officials had reported 55 news cases and two deaths on Sunday. The latest numbers pushed the tribe's totals to 34,458 confirmed COVID-19 cases from the virus since the pandemic began more than a year ago. The known death toll is at 1,456. Based on cases from Sept. 24 to Oct. 7, the Navajo Department of Health issued an advisory for 33 communities due to uncontrolled spread of COVID-19. Tribal officials still are urging people to get vaccinated, wear masks while in public and minimize their travel.
- ELECTION 2022-SPENDING-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The final price tag for a settlement reached by New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and a former campaign spokesman is now $150,000. The latest round of payments to settle accusations of harassment are disclosed in a mandatory campaign finance report that the Democrat's campaign filed Monday. The staffer had said Lujan Grisham dropped water on his crotch and then grabbed his crotch during a 2018 campaign staff meeting prior to her election. The twice-annual report on campaign spending and contributions shows the governor has raised about $2.5 million since April. Several Republicans are vying to take back the office.
- FIRED PROFESSOR-NEW MEXICO
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico State University professor who publicly opposed campus vaccine and mask mandates will no longer be teaching there. The Las Cruces Sun-News reports David Clements, a business college professor, posted on his social media account on the Telegram platform that he had been "terminated." The university confirmed Monday that Clements was "no longer employed by NMSU." The professor, who was on track for tenure, had been suspended since August over public declarations that he would not abide by any COVID-19 vaccine or mask mandate. The provost recommended Clements be fired during a meeting last week. Clements has argued masking and vaccine policies are illegal.
- COUNTY BUILDING SHOT AT
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The downtown Albuquerque headquarters of Bernalillo County is closed after someone fired shots at the property. Bernalillo County officials say some upper atrium windows sustained damage from gunshots that came from the outside. Nobody was injured. Officials say the 800 employees who work out of the property will work remotely for the time being. Albuquerque police are investigating. No suspects have been identified. The $68 million offices, dubbed Bernalillo County @ Alvarado Square, opened only two months ago.
- FATAL FARMINGTON CAR CRASH-IDS
FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico State Police have identified two Arizona residents who died in a vehicle crash on the Navajo reservation. They say 50-year-old Michael McCraren of Tucson and 28-year-old Hannah Cornelson of Surprise were killed in the Oct. 5 head-on collision. Police say an unidentified 27-year-old man from Surprise was driving a sports car on Navajo Route 5 when the vehicle drifted into oncoming traffic for an unknown reason. They say the car crashed into an SUV driven by McCraren, who was pronounced dead at the scene. Police say Cornelson was the passenger in the sports car and later died from her injuries in a Farmington hospital.
- DOG-FATAL SHOOTING
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Albuquerque police say a man charged with fatally shooting an Albuquerque man and wounding the man's service dog has been arrested in Gallup. Albuquerque police said Gallup police aided by state police arrested 22-year-old Xavier Marquez on a homicide warrant in the Sept. 22 shooting of 34-year-old Shawn Lynch. According to police, Marquez was sitting in a vehicle in front of his house when Lynch walked by with his dog. Police said there was an encounter that involved an exchange of shouts and resulted in the shootings. Court records don't list an attorney for Marquez who might comment on his behalf.
- NEW MEXICO NATIONAL GUARD-AFGHANS
BELEN, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico Army National Guard unit is deploying within the United States to support resettlement operations for Afghan refugees. The guard a departure ceremony was held Friday for the Belen-based 919th Military Police Company,. A guard statement didn't specify where the unit's soldiers would deploy. Afghans resettling to the United States are being housed temporarily at eight military bases while obtaining special immigrant visas. The bases include Holloman Air Force Base in southern New Mexico and the Army's Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. The Afghans include former interpreters and others who worked with the U.S. military in Afghanistan.