Video: Councilor Neal-Clinton Shares Highlights From Tuesday’s Meeting
Los Alamos County Councilor Beverly Neal-Clinton shares highlights from Tuesday’s regular Council meeting. Video by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com Read More
DFA, Counties And Fire And EMS Associations Urge New Mexico House Of Representatives To Pass Critical 911 Modernization Bill
DFA Secretary Wayne Propst
DFA News:
SANTA FE – The Department of Finance and Administration (DFA), New Mexico Counties, and Metro Fire Chief Association are calling on the New Mexico House of Representatives to pass Senate Bill 137, sponsored by Senator Michael Padilla, which would provide essential funding for local communities to modernize their 911 systems.
New Mexico’s emergency response infrastructure has fallen behind neighboring states and risks further deterioration without immediate investment in next-generation technology that would make emergency response faster, Read More
Governor Appoint Two Judges To Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court
Judge Andrea Gunderson
STATE News:
SANTA FE — New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has announced the appointment of two judges to fill vacancies on the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court following the retirements of Honorable Linda S. Rogers and Honorable Frank A. Sedillo.
A graduate of the University of New Mexico School of Law, Andrea Gunderson, of Albuquerque, currently serves as a special commissioner on the 2nd Judicial District Court conducting hearings on behalf of District Children’s Court Judges in areas of abuse and neglect, juvenile delinquency, and mental health commitments, Read More
Paid Leave Likely Dead After Stalling In Senate Committee
New Mexico Capitol in Santa Fe. Courtesy/wikipedia/Einar Einarsson Kvaran
By NATHAN BROWN
The Santa Fe New Mexican
A bill to create a state-run paid family and medical leave program is not likely to pass this year after failing in the Senate Finance Committee.
House Bill 11 failed on an 8-3 vote Saturday, with just three Democrats voting in favor of the measure.
Advocates for the concept have been pushing for the past several years to create such a program, offering extended paid leave for workers for certain reasons, such as to seek medical care, welcome a new child or care for a family member.
Last Read More
Senate Oks Revised Bill To Create CYFD Oversight Agency
The Roundhouse in Santa Fe. Post file photo
By DANIEL J. CHACÓN
The Santa Fe New Mexican
A yearslong effort to create an agency to provide independent oversight of the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department won Senate approval Friday.
House Bill 5, which would establish an Office of the Child Advocate responsible for monitoring the services CYFD provides and receiving complaints about the agency, now heads back to the House for concurrence after it was amended — and some say watered down — in the Senate.
Although he was the lone “no” vote on an amendment crafted in consultation with Read More
New Mexico Senate Floor Wrap For March 15, 2025
STATE News:
SANTA FE – This is officially the last week of the 60-day legislative session, with all business ending at noon Saturday, March 22.
Legislation considered today include measures that:
Allow Certified Nurse Anesthetists to Provide Care Independently
Senate Bill 78 (passed 29-2) grants Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists the ability and authority to practice independently without the requirements for supervision by physicians, osteopathic physicians, dentists, and podiatrists. This bill would provide enhanced care in rural areas, cost efficiency, professional Read More
NMED Petitions For Rule On Workplace Heat Protection
NMED News:
SANTA FE—The New Mexico Environment Department’s (NMED) Occupational Health and Safety Bureau yesterday submitted a petition to the state’s Environmental Improvement Board to adopt a proposed rule on occupational heat illness and injury prevention.
The rule is a critical step in protecting New Mexico workers from exposure to high temperatures while at work.
The New Mexico Environment Department, and the Department’s Occupational Health and Safety Bureau, have been actively advocating for worker safety in hot environments for several years through public outreach, presentations Read More
Community Invited To Second CIP Open House March 17
Community Services staff Chelsea Ashcroft, Katherine Hudspeth and Director Cory Styron speak with a resident about projects related to the libraries, trails, parks, ball fields, Aquatic Center and ice rink. Courtesy/LAC
Community Development Housing and Special Projects Manager Dan Osborn, left, shares the latest information on housing projects with local residents. Courtesy/LAC
COUNTY News:
Community members unable to attend the first Capital Improvement Project (CIP) open house March 10 are invited to join Los Alamos County for a second event Monday, March 17, in Council Chambers Read More
Rural, Librarian Protection Bills In Limbo With Week Left
Rep. Kathleen Cates, D-Rio Rancho
By ESTEBAN CANDELARIA
The Santa Fe New Mexican
At the start of this year’s legislative session, lawmakers seemed eager to provide more protections for New Mexico’s librarians and ban, well, book bans.
House Bill 27 — a measure that would effectively bar libraries from banning books based on political objections to them or their authors — advanced relatively quickly during the first half of the session.
But after passing through two House committees, HB 27 has sat on the calendar of the state House since Feb. 18. With a week left in the session, Rep. Kathleen Cates, Read More
County: Utilities Department To Propose Two Rate Changes
COUNTY News:
The Los Alamos Department of Public Utilities (DPU) is proposing two rate changes, for electric and sewer services, and a future rate restructuring that would allow DPU to implement Time-of-Use billing for electric service.
Proposals for the rate ordinances will be introduced to the BPU at its regular monthly meeting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 19, with the public hearings at the following BPU meeting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 16. Ordinances for these proposals are posted to the DPU website on the Rates and Fees page at ladpu.com/rates.
If approved by BPU, the proposals will Read More
Legislative Roundup: 8 Days Remaining In Session
The Santa Fe New Mexican Staff:
Governor begins filling out WNMU board: Some two months after all but one of Western New Mexico University’s regents stepped down amid a scandal over allegations of improper spending at the school, the state Senate voted unanimously to confirm a former one of its own to the board: Steven Neville.
Neville, a Republican from Aztec who served in the Senate from 2005 to 2024, was the first confiree of four people Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham appointed to the board on Thursday. The appointments came amid calls from lawmakers for her to hasten her selection of new regents Read More
Lunch With A Leader: Gwen Kalavaza March 20
LWV News:
The Los Alamos League of Women Voters (LWV) will host its next community event, Lunch with a Leader, noon to 1 p.m., March 20, at the Unitarian Fellowship Hall on Sage.
This month’s leader is Gwen Kalavaza who has been a dedicated member of the Los Alamos Public Library since 2001, serving in various roles such as Branch Manager, Digital Services Manager, and, since 2022, as Library Manager. In her current role, she oversees both the Mesa Public Library and the White Rock Branch Library, leading a team that includes eight senior librarians and librarians.
Born and raised in Andover, Maine, Read More
Op-Ed: Yet Another Misguided Gun Ban – SB 279
Figure: All of these AR-15 variants would remain unaffected, but others would be subject to retroactive registration requirements that could make you a felon if you did it wrong.Courtesy/Michael Ham
By MICHAEL HAM
Los Alamos
As a New Mexican who generally votes Democratic for their economic and personal freedom agenda, I dread the repeated efforts by some of the party’s legislators to criminalize law-abiding gun owners—not for any wrongdoing, but simply by changing the law. SB 279 is the latest misguided attempt, transforming legal gun ownership into a crime through technicalities riddled Read More
Los Alamos Board Of Public Utilities To Meet March 19
COUNTY News:
The Los Alamos County Board of Public Utilities will hold a regular meeting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 19 in Council Chambers at the Municipal Building, 1000 Central Ave.
Members of the public may attend the meeting in person and provide public comment or view the proceedings online and provide public comment via Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85828927209.
The complete agenda packet is available online here: https://losalamos.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx.
BPU meetings may be watched at ladpu.com/BPULiveProceedings. Read More
Join The Fight—Democratic Party Of Los Alamos County CCC Convention March 22
By ANDREA DETERMAN
DPLAC Chair
ademla2023@gmail.com
If you would like to run for the following offices: County Chair, County Vice Chair, State Central Committee member, please read the following announcement:
WHAT’S HAPPENING: CCC Convention – Noon to 2 p.m., Saturday, March 22, 2025, at the Unitarian Church, Los Alamos (Fellowship Hall).
Nomination Process:
- Nominees must be registered Democrats in the County as of Feb. 22, 2025
- You may nominate yourself or someone else who agrees to serve, in person, or on Zoom, or by emailing the Chair
- Nominees must email a statement of 200 words or less
Bills To Make Safe Surrenders Of Babies Anonymous Sink In Committee
Roundhouse in Santa Fe. Post file photo
By Esteban Candelaria
The Santa Fe New Mexican
Thirty-one babies across the country were abandoned in dumpsters, backpacks and other dangerous locations in 2021, according to the nonprofit National Safe Haven Alliance. Twenty-two of them were found dead.
Allowing parents who feel incapable of caring for their newborns to safely and confidentially give up their children in safe, temperature-controlled containers known as “baby boxes” was at the heart of two bills taken up by the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee on Wednesday.
But amid concerns Read More
House Passes Bill To Regulate Hemp-Derived Products With Strong Bipartisan Support
NMDP News:
SANTA FE — Thursday, the House of Representatives voted 54-7 to advance House Bill 346, which would improve regulation of the sale of hemp products, including synthetic cannabinoids like “Delta-8,” in the state of New Mexico.
While the cannabis industry is already well regulated in the state, House Bill 345 closes a loophole that leaves similar cannabinoid and hemp-derived products without proper oversight and consumer safety regulations. This bill would task the The Environmental Improvement Board (EIB) with establishing rules for the manufacturing, sale, and distribution Read More
Legislative Roundup: 10 Days Remaining In Session
Academy Award-winning makeup artist Barney Burman applies makeup to Sid Linkletter as he transforms her into the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz Thursday, March 13, 2025, at the Roundhouse. Photo by Michael G. Seamans/The New Mexican
Sid Linkletter, dressed as the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz, takes a selfie with fans as she walks the halls of the Roundhouse Thursday, March 13, 2025. Photo by Michael G. Seamans/The New Mexican
Sen. Leo Jaramillo, D-Española
The Santa Fe New Mexican Staff:
Cruising through the Senate: Your car may not feature hydraulics, chrome accents Read More
Governor-Endorsed Bipartisan CYFD Reform Legislation Unanimously Clears New Mexico Senate
CYFD News:
SANTA FE — The bipartisan Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) Omnibus Bill Senate Bill 42 unanimously passed the Senate Thursday.
This comprehensive legislation represents the most comprehensive and thoughtful plan introduced in this session to reform and strengthen New Mexico’s child welfare system.
“We have consistently supported CYFD reform legislation, and SB 42 provides lawmakers and our state with the wide-ranging solution we’ve been seeking,” CYFD Secretary Teresa Casados said. “The CYFD omnibus bill is a crucial step in the right direction for New Mexico’s Read More
After Weeks Of Waiting, Lawmakers Set To Consider Key Medical Malpractice Reform Bill For New Mexico
Sen. Linda López
Chair
Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee
By MARGARET O’HARA
The Santa Fe New Mexican
Why the wait?
Senate Bill 176, a major piece of medical malpractice legislation, was introduced just days after the start of this year’s legislation session.
And since the session’s start, New Mexico lawmakers from both parties have listed reforms to the medical malpractice system among their top priorities, framing the issue as a major step toward alleviating the state’s acute shortage of health care providers.
Though the proposal has garnered strong opposition from medical malpractice Read More
