- SPRING WILDFIRES
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Crews fighting the second-largest wildfire in New Mexico's history are trying to take advantage of several days of mild winds to gain control over a fire that had charred more than 450 square miles by Sunday. Fire officials say the wildfire grew by about 14 square miles since Saturday night but now was at 36% containment, up from 27% previously. It was originally forecast that winds would pick up Monday, but fire officials said that likely won't happen until later in the week. Nearly 2,000 firefighters were battling the 5-week-old fire that has already destroyed at least 473 structures including homes and other buildings.
- BC-NM-GREAT GRANDMA GETS HONORARY DEGREE
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — An 84-year-old woman has received an honorary degree from Northern New Mexico College for her contributions to the small community north of Española. The degree was awarded Saturday to Socorro Herrera. The Santa Fe New Mexican reports the great grandmother and is known for feeding the elderly, singing at weddings and running Socorro's Restaurant, a staple of the little town whose customers have included former President Barack Obama and famed actor John Travolta. Herrera was born in the same house in Hernández where she operates the restaurant for the past 28 years. She married at 16, had the first of her four children by the time she was 17 and didn't graduate from high school back then. Herrera now is on her way to holding a diploma from the Peñasco Independent School District.
- NATIVE AMERICANS-BOARDING SCHOOLS-CHURCHES
A new Interior Department report underscores how closely the U.S. government collaborated with churches in operating boarding schools for Indigenous children. The federal government saw churches as useful in Christianizing Native children as part of a project to sever them from their culture, their identities and ultimately their land. The role of churches forms part of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report, released Wednesday after a yearlong review that found Indigenous children were sent to at least 408 schools from 1819 to 1969. Catholic and Protestant church groups ran many of the schools.
- SPRING WILDFIRES
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's governor is asking for additional federal assistance to respond to wildfires burning across the state's north, including one that is the second-largest in the state's history and that officials estimate has destroyed hundreds of homes. The governor said Friday in a letter to President Joe Biden that New Mexico needs more help than is being provided under a recent disaster declaration. Officials said Saturday that weather conditions still included unhelpful high temperatures and low humidity but that less smoke allowed firefighting aircraft to take to the skies for a second straight day. Elsewhere, a fire burning southwest of Colorado Springs grew to 1.5 square miles overnight.
- ENDANGERED WOLVES
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — U.S. wildlife managers want to see at least 320 Mexican gray wolves roaming the Southwest within the next several years. While a population cap would be eliminated under a proposed management rule, environmentalists say the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service isn't going far enough to ensure the recovery of the endangered species. They're pushing for the release of more captive wolves — specifically bonded pairs with pups. Federal officials on Friday released their proposed management plan for the wolves and a related environmental review. A court order required the revised plan to be finalized by July 1.
- AP-US-SPRING-WILDFIRES-NUCLEAR-LAB
LOS ALAMOS N.M. (AP) — Lighter winds allowed for the most intense aerial attack this week on multiple wildfires in New Mexico, including the biggest U.S. wildfire burning northeast of Santa Fe. In Southern California, where a fire that has destroyed at least 20 homes in the coastal community of Laguna Niguel, the mandatory evacuation area was scaled back Friday from 900 residences to 131. West of Santa Fe, residents remain on alert as a fire slowly creeps toward the city of Los Alamos. That's where scientists at a U.S. national security lab are charged with assessing apocalyptic threats, including wildfires. Public schools remained closed there Friday as many residents prepared for possible evacuations.