Los Alamos County Invites Community To Open Houses Highlighting Capital Improvement Projects
COUNTY News:
Los Alamos County will host two open houses for the community to be held in Los Alamos and White Rock in March to learn about capital improvement projects (CIP) under development and recently completed, along with other active projects in the community included in the projected Fiscal Year 2026 budget.
Residents are encouraged to drop in between 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and engage with County staff at either of the following events:
- Monday, March 10, at White Rock Fire Station 3 (129 N.M. 4, White Rock); or
- Monday, March 17, at the Municipal Building, Council Chambers (1000 Central
New Mexico Stand Up For Science Rally March 7
Retired Fire Chief Eddie Varela Announces His Campaign For Mayor Of Albuquerque
Eddie Varela
From the Eddie Varela Mayoral Campaign:
ALBUQUERQUE – Eddie Varela, a Republican and retired fire chief with more than 30 years of public service, today officially announced his campaign for Mayor, pledging “to restore law and order, rebuild trust in government, and prioritize the safety of law-abiding residents”.
Varela’s campaign says it is built on a powerful vision: “Reclaim Albuquerque” — “a city where respect is restored, crime is tackled head-on, and city government puts residents first”.
Varela’s Stated Key Priorities:
- Restoring Public Safety – No more lawlessness.
Robinson: Paid Family Leave Backers Ignore Employers
By SHERRY ROBINSON
All She Wrote
The family leave bill is another great idea New Mexico can’t afford.
Progressive Democrats passed House Bill 11 through two committees and the House, changing its name and its more onerous provisions while ignoring the state’s employers, who are saying loud and clear that they can’t afford it. For many, it would be disastrous.
The rebranded Welcome Child and Family Wellness Leave Act would allow workers to take up to six weeks of paid time off to care for a loved one, deal with serious health issues, welcome a foster child, grieve the loss of a child, or recover from Read More
Dannemann: New Mexico Leaders Respond To Trump Radical Changes
By MERILEE DANNEMANN
© 2025 Triple Spaced
When Donald Trump was elected to his second term, it was a foregone conclusion that he would attempt to make radical changes to our federal government. But we didn’t know what he would do first or how it would affect us, nationally and personally.
It also was predictable that his proposed changes would encounter massive opposition from many sides, ranging from Democrats in Congress to state governments and numerous advocacy organizations. Many of these efforts, we could anticipate, would go through the courts, some with frustrating slowness. Meanwhile, Read More
Luján, Shaheen, Colleagues Call On Secretary Kennedy To Undo Drastic Cuts To Critical Health Care Assistance Program
U.S. SENATE News:
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) joined U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and a group of their Senate colleagues in a letter calling on U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to reverse drastic funding cuts to the Affordable Care Act Navigator program, which helps Americans access quality, affordable health insurance coverage, including for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
The nearly 90 percent funding cut threatens to leave millions of Americans without critical assistance to help save Read More
New Mexico Paid Family And Medical Leave Bill Passes House Of Representatives, Heads To Senate
Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos, debates House Bill 11 on the House floor at the state Capitol Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. Photo by Michael G. Seamans/The New Mexican
By DANIEL J. CHACÓN
The Santa Fe New Mexican
A revamped but still highly controversial proposal to provide paid family and medical leave to New Mexicans is heading to the state Senate after winning approval Friday from the state House of Representatives.
The passage of House Bill 11 marks a major win for supporters of the measure after a yearslong effort to offer paid leave to working families in the state failed to pass the chamber Read More
Sigmon: HB342 & SB527 Will Be Good For New Mexico
By LANCE SIGMON
Principal
Allen Sigmon Real Estate Group
As a past chair and current board member of NAIOP New Mexico, I am recommending legislators pass HB342 & SB527, which will provide equitable property tax reform for non-residential real estate. I’m a registered Republican. Many of the Assessors across the state are Democrats. I’ve been complaining to my wife about the divisiveness and partisanship our country and communities have been engaged in. Instead of complaining about divisiveness, we wanted to be an example to the state of how compromise could actually work.
Instead of Read More
Legislative Roundup: 20 Days Remaining In Session
The New Mexican Staff:
House overwhelmingly approves regents oversight: Voters will be asked in November 2026 whether to increase oversight over university boards of regents, if a resolution that passed the House on Saturday also makes it through the Senate.
House Joint Resolution 12, which passed 64-1, would amend the state constitution to “clearly detail regents’ responsibilities to the students and institutions they serve and provide the state with authority to take disciplinary actions, including potential removal, of regents who violate their duties,” according to a news release Read More
Nationwide Recovery Of Radioactive Devices By Los Alamos National Laboratory Hits Major Milestone … 100th Shipment
Last October, the Lab’s Mobile Loading Source Recovery Team and Off-Site Source Recovery Program managed the removal and shipment of a high-activity radioactive device, from Philadelphia, pictured above. The truck departed the facility at 1:18 a.m. to minimize impacts to city roadways. Courtesy/LANL
LANL News:
- Partnership helps mitigate risk of terrorist attacks using a “dirty bomb”
Two Los Alamos National Laboratory teams that travel nationwide recovering potentially harmful radioactive material from devices at hospitals, universities, and research facilities completed a momentous Read More
Los Alamos County And Local Organizations To Be Highlighted March 12 At Roundhouse
COUNTY News:
This year’s Los Alamos County Day at the Legislature in Santa Fe is Wednesday, March 12.
The County has invited several local organizations to join staff at the Roundhouse, including Los Alamos Commerce and Development Corporation, which includes the Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce and Los Alamos MainStreet & Creative District, UNM-LA, National Park Service, Pajarito Environmental Education Center, North Central New Mexico Economic Development District, Regional Development Corporation, New Mexico Consortium and others.
Each organization and various County divisions Read More
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright Makes First Visit To Los Alamos National Laboratory … Calls It America’s ‘National Security Brain Trust’
DOE Secretary Chris Wright is escorted into one of the lab’s facilities by Deputy Director for Weapons Bob Webster and Laboratory Staff Director Frances Chadwick. Courtesy/LANL
LANL News:
- Site tour covered Weapons, AI, Supercomputing and more
DOE Secretary Chris Wright is escorted into one of the lab’s facilities by Deputy Director for Weapons Bob Webster and Laboratory Staff Director Frances Chadwick.
During his inaugural visit to Los Alamos National Laboratory on Feb. 24, U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright told staff and leadership his administration believes Los Alamos is the nation’s Read More
Sonic Talk On Nuclearism And Atomic History At New Mexico History Museum Wednesday March 12 In Santa Fe
Sean J. Patrick Carney
NMHM News:
The community is invited to join the New Mexico History Museum (NMHM) for a special presentation by writer and visual artist Sean J. Patrick Carney based on his podcast, Time Zero, which looks at nuclear history and the cultural architecture of postwar America.
What: From the first nuclear detonation in New Mexico’s Tularosa Basin in 1945, through decades of mutually assured destruction, to science-fiction-like visions of atomic energy powering advanced artificial intelligence platforms, to radioactive half-lives numbering tens of thousands of years, Read More
Tax Credits And Stipends For Families Caring For New Mexico’s Abused And Neglected Children Face Uphill Battle
Roundhouse in Santa Fe. Post file photo
By ESTEBAN CANDELARIA
The Santa Fe New Mexican
Cher Baca’s foster daughter came to her with almost nothing but the clothes on her back.
The now-14-year-old had no nice belongings she could call her own, Baca said, bringing with her just one pair of shoes that fit and bags of possessions and clothes that didn’t fit her. Getting her the things a teenage girl needs — makeup, a dresser, a bed — was expensive, as is every part of taking in a child who has faced abuse or neglect.
“Having an extra child in your house increases all of your bills,” the Albuquerque resident Read More
Overhaul Of New Mexico Game Commission Passes Senate
Sponsor Sen. Crystal Brantley, R-Elephant Butte
By NATHAN BROWN
The Santa Fe New Mexican
A push years in the making to overhaul the way game commissioners are appointed and update the Game and Fish department’s mission to managing non-game species came a step closer to reality Saturday.
Senate Bill 5 passed after a roughly three-hour debate with 12 mostly Republican “no” votes and now heads to the House of Representatives. It would create a legislative-appointed committee to vet Game Commission candidates as well as making mostly modest increases to hunting and fishing license fees.
“This Read More
Legislative Roundup: 21 Days Remaining In Session
The New Mexican Staff:
“Turquoise Alert” bill passes Senate: The Senate voted unanimously Saturday to set up a “Turquoise Alert” system, modeled on existing systems such as Amber and Silver alerts for missing children and elderly people respectively, to send out alerts about missing Native Americans.
Sponsor Sen. Angel Charley, D-Acoma, called the system “[not] merely a procedural enhancement but a moral imperative,” noting the high rates at which Native American people go missing.
“This crisis has left families and communities in anguish, often feeling … unsupported,” she said. Read More
Turquoise Alert Bill Passes In Senate, Enhancing Public Safety And Missing Person Response Across New Mexico
Bill Sponsor Sen. Angel Charley
STATE News:
SANTA FE – In a historic move aimed at improving the safety of Indigenous New Mexico residents, the New Mexico Senate today passed Senate Bill 41, the Turquoise Alert Bill, an initiative designed to quickly mobilize resources and aid in the search for missing persons.
The bill passed today with unanimous support of 39-0.
The Turquoise Alert Bill would create a new statewide alert system specifically for missing Indigenous people, including Native American women and children, who are disproportionately affected by abductions and disappearances. Read More
New Mexico Governor Signs Landmark Public Safety And Behavioral Health Bills
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Thursday signed legislation to improve public safety and behavioral health services across New Mexico. Courtesy photo
STATE News:
SANTA FE — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham Thursday signed legislation to improve public safety and behavioral health services across New Mexico, marking the halfway point of the 60-day legislative session with a landmark accomplishment on behalf of New Mexicans.
“These bills represent a significant milestone for both behavioral health services and criminal justice reform in New Mexico,” said Gov. Lujan Grisham, who was joined Read More
Op-Ed: Reform The Medical Malpractice System To Address The Doctor Shortage
By FRED NATHAN
Executive Director
Think New Mexico
New Mexico’s lawyer-centered medical malpractice system, with no statutory caps on attorney’s fees or punitive damages and the lowest standard in the country for awarding punitive damages, is out of balance. It is driving up medical malpractice rates for New Mexico doctors to nearly twice what doctors pay in neighboring states.
That in turn is causing doctors to retire early or leave the state. In fact, New Mexico is the only state in the nation that experienced a loss of practicing physicians between 2019 and 2024. This is why so many New Mexicans Read More
Nearly 2,000 County Leaders Set To Visit Washington, D.C.
NACo News:
WASHINGTON, D.C. — This year the National Association of Counties (NACo) will once again welcome cabinet secretaries, senior administration officials, members of Congress, and private sector partners to its Legislative Conference, taking place March 1-4 at the Washington Hilton Hotel.
Nearly 2,000 county leaders will attend from across the country with the goal of shaping NACo’s policy priorities, engaging on pressing policy issues facing county governments, and building relationships with federal partners.
Among the topics being discussed at this week’s conference Read More
