Legislative Roundup: 15 Days Remaining In Session
HB 137 Sponsor Rep. Susan Herrera, D-Embudo
The Santa Fe New Mexican Staff:
Water’s for agreeing: The formerly controversial Strategic Water Supply Act may be controversial no longer.
House Bill 137 sailed through the House of Representatives on a 57-4 vote Friday, with four Democrats opposed. The bill was amended last month to remove the most controversial provision allowing the treatment of fracking wastewater, leaving only provisions dealing with treating brackish water for other uses.
“By developing New Mexico’s brackish water resources, we’re charting a new course that balances Read More
LANL: Research Unravels Mysteries Of Lightning’s Origins
Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory are studying the origins of lightning. Courtesy/LANL
LANL News:
Researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory have discovered that cosmic-ray showers seem to play a pivotal role in triggering lightning flashes; the research was published in the journal JGR Atmospheres.
“Scientists still don’t fully understand how lightning starts in thunderstorms,” said Xuan-Min Shao, of Los Alamos’ Electromagnetic Sciences and Cognitive Space Applications group and lead author of the new study. “Using our 3D radio frequency mapping and polarization Read More
Musk/Trump And CDC – Laying The Foundation For The Next Pandemic
By RICHARD SKOLNIK
White Rock
The staffing and budget cuts that Musk/Trump are taking to CDC will do immeasurable harm to the health of Americans and to the health of people globally. These harms will take many years to overcome and must be stopped now.
Eliminating critical personnel and funds will immediately harm CDC’s ability to detect, prevent, and help us respond to infectious disease threats. It will harm our preparedness to deal in a timely manner with the next emerging infectious disease, at a time when vaccination rates are falling and bird flu poses potentially grave risks to us and to Read More
Santa Fe Osteopathic Medicine School Pitch Hits Snag Over State Support Request
The Roundhouse in Santa Fe. Post file photo
By GABRIELLE PORTER
The Santa Fe New Mexican
An embryonic proposal to launch a new osteopathic medical school in Santa Fe hit a snag this week over a request for state support.
The idea to create New Mexico’s third school of medicine came from an organization called Access Health Initiative, led by the same people behind the Orlando College of Osteopathic Medicine, and is “really at the inception,” partner Phil Zaveri said in an interview Friday.
A key part of that plan was a bill sponsored by Rep. Tara Lujan, D-Santa Fe, calling for $40 million from New Mexico’s Read More
Fentanyl, Juvenile Crime Bills Shot Down In House Committee
HB 274 Sponsor Rep. Elaine Sena Cortez, R-Hobbs
By ESTEBAN CANDELARIA
The Santa Fe New Mexican
During debates on the crime package passed last month — which bundled together several tough-on-crime measures but which critics said was inadequate — lawmakers said they were just getting started.
But Thursday evening, a panel known for killing Republican-sponsored legislation shot down two bills held up by GOP lawmakers, prosecutors and Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham as ways of tackling some of the state’s greatest public safety issues.
House Bills 134 and 274, which respectively would Read More
USAF Thunderbirds Return To Spaceport America
Courtesy/USAF Ssgt. Breanna Klemm
SPACEPORT AMERICA News:
LAS CRUCES — In preparation for another packed performance schedule in 2025, the United States Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron “Thunderbirds” once again spent the better part of January honing their collective skills at Spaceport America.
For nearly three weeks in January, the Thunderbirds, comprised of 12 officers and over 130 enlisted personnel serving in 31 Air Force job specialties utilized the spaceport to log dozens of hours of training.
“This is now the fourth time the USAF Thunderbirds have been on site to train since Read More
U.S. Attorney’s Office Secures Conviction Of Two Former Jal Police Officers For Civil Rights Violations
FBI News:
ALBUQUERQUE — A federal jury has convicted two former Jal Police Department officers of violating the civil rights of an individual, identified as John Doe in the indictment, during a July 2021 incident, after which John Doe died. The verdict came after a seven-day trial and approximately 13 hours of deliberation.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, July 31, 2021, former Jal Police Officer Corey Patrick Saffell, 35, stopped John Doe for driving without headlights at the Pilot Gas Station in Jal, NM. Former Jal Police Officers Ceasar Enrique Mendoza, 28, Read More
Lea County Resident Tests Positive For Measles After Death
NMDOH News:
SANTA FE — The New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) confirms that a deceased resident of Lea County, who was unvaccinated, tested positive for measles.
The official cause of death is still under investigation by the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator. However, NMDOH Scientific Laboratory has confirmed the presence of the measles virus. The individual did not seek medical care before passing.
Measles is a highly contagious respiratory illness that can cause severe complications. One in five cases requires hospitalization, and approximately three in every 1,000 Read More
Bill To Battle Climate Change Sparks Divide In Senate
Senate President Pro Tempore Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, debates on the floor of the state Senate Thursday, March 6, 2025. Photo by Michael G. Seamans/The New Mexican
Senate Minority Leader Bill Sharer, R-Farmington, takes a break from debating on the floor of the state Senate Thursday, March 6, 2025. Photo by Michael G. Seamans/The New Mexican
By Daniel J. Chacón
The Santa Fe New Mexican
Republicans rebuked a bill Thursday to fight climate change, describing it as an assault on the oil and gas industry that has provided a revenue boom for the state of New Mexico.
Senate Bill 83, which calls for Read More
New Mexico Delegation Opposes Plans To Use Kirtland And Fort Bliss For Immigration-Related Operations
NM Delegation News:
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), and U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) and Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) sent a letter to President Donald Trump and Department of Defense (DoD) Secretary Pete Hegseth opposing the Trump administration’s reported plans to use military installations, including Kirtland Air Force Base (KAFB) and Fort Bliss, to create a nationwide network of military detention facilities.
“Using our military installations for these purposes threatens Read More
