Nation

Micah Jay Andersen Awarded Purple Heart

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LAHS graduate First Lt. Micah Jay Andersen receives the Purple Heart. Courtesy photo

Staff Report

First Lieutenant Micah Jay Andersen received the Purple Heart Aug. 13 from 4-star General Daniel B. Allyn, Commanding General U.S. Army Forces Command.

The Los Alamos High School graduate was serving as an Armor Officer in Afghanistan June 1 and suffered severe combat injuries when an improvised explosive device detonated while he was conducting a combined dismounted patrol.

The Purple Heart award ceremony was attended by members of his family including his father Skip Andersen who works at Read More

DoD Shuts Down Burn Pits at Camp Leatherneck

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Burn pit in Afghanistan. Courtesy photo

U.S. SENATE News:

  • Senators applaud measure, say more work still needs to be done

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Tom Udall, D-N.M. and Bob Corker, R-Tenn., announced today that the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has ceased burn pit operations at one of two camp sites supporting Operating Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

Its closure follows Udall and Corker’s recent call for immediate action to halt the use of open-air burn pits after findings by Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) that found Read More

Udall Unveils Bill to Help Turn Innovative Ideas into Successful Businesses

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SENATE News:
  • Launched at Udall-hosted conference with labs, educators, entrepreneurs and investors called, “Tech Transfer: Key to New Mexico’s Future”

SANTA FE – U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M. announced legislation to help create high-tech jobs and industries in New Mexico by streamlining the process for getting cutting-edge research and development from our state’s universities and national labs to the marketplace.

Udall unveiled the bill during a half-day conference and workshop he organized at Santa Fe Community College called, “Technology Transfer: Key to New Mexico’s Read More

Valles Caldera Trust Releases Landscape and Restoration Stewardship Plan Draft EIS

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Valles Caldera Trust Releases Landscape and Restoration Stewardship Plan Draft EIS

  • Public Input Requested

JEMEZ SPRINGS — The Valles Caldera Trust (Trust) has released a 10-year plan for the proposed stewardship of the Valles Caldera National Preserve (preserve.)

The Landscape Restoration and Stewardship Plan (Stewardship Plan) Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) details a number of actions aimed at reducing the potential for severe burning and moving the forest to a more sustainable and resilient condition. Proposed actions include forest thinning, wildland fire Read More

Udall, Heinrich Call For Emergency Help To Support Food Bank

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U.S. SENATE News:

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Tom Udalland MartinHeinrich called on Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to make emergency purchases for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) to ensure food banks in New Mexico and across the country are able to help families in need.

TEFAP buys food and makes it available to agencies, such as New Mexico’s Human Services Department, which work with the state’s major food banks to distribute to food pantries, soup kitchens and homeless shelters.

In a letter, Udall, Heinrich and a bipartisan group of 20 other senators urged Vilsack to use Read More

Food Aid Cuts to Affect 442,000 New Mexicans

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STATE News:

ALBUQUERQUE—Around 442,000 people in New Mexico will see a cut in their food assistance benefits this fall, when a temporary boost to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) is set to expire.

This is according to new data released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) discussed in a new report from the Washington, D.C.-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Nearly half of all New Mexico children—42 percent or more than 215,000 children—benefit from SNAP. All of them will be impacted by this cut. This news comes on the heels Read More

‘Make It In America’ Added to Agenda

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CONGRESSIONAL News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján announced that legislation he has introduced to increase partnerships between businesses and national laboratories has been included as part of House Democrats’ Make It In America Agenda (MIIA.)

Luján’s legislation authorizes a dedicated fund to provide for the government’s share of Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADA) that support maturing lab technology and transferring it to the private sector. The bill will help foster relationships between businesses and national laboratories that can help spur Read More

Udall Unveils Major Legislation to Reform FISA Courts

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U.S. SENATE News:

WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Tom Udall, D-N.M., joined by Senators Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., unveiled two bills that would ensure FISA courts properly balance the need to protect national security with constitutional and statutory requirements to safeguard individual rights to privacy and liberty.

The first bill, the FISA Court Reform Act of 2013, would create a Special Advocate with the power to argue in the FISA courts on behalf of the right to privacy and other individual rights of the American people. The second bill, The FISA Judge Selection Reform Read More

Heinrich Includes Amendment Expanding Tech Development

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Sen. Martin Heinrich

U.S. SENATE News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Tuesday, July 30,  U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., a member of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, successfully included an amendment to S. 1317, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Reauthorization Act of 2013, to expand the development and testing of new space technologies within NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program. 

The NASA Reauthorization Act of 2013, including Sen. Heinrich’s amendment, passed the committee and can now go to the Read More

Udall: Time to Reform ‘Broken’ Chemical Safety Law

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U.S. SENATE News:

  • Senate should build on bipartisan agreement and pass law to protect Americans from dangerous chemicals

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – During a hearing of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Tom Udal, D-N.M., urged his colleagues to work together to pass major bipartisan legislation to protect Americans from toxic chemicals.

 

Udall, who chairs the EPW Subcommittee on Superfund, Toxics and Environmental Health, has been leading a bipartisan effort with Senator David Vitter (R-La.) to update and replace the federal government’s Read More