Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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The New Mexico Organized Crime Commission released its annual report Monday highlighting achievements in its first full year of operations after being reinstated in 2023 following years of inactivity. Described as “a unique government agency created to fight criminal enterprises by leading multi-agency efforts across multiple jurisdictions,” the commission was established by executive order in 1973 to combat out-of-state crime syndicates but had become dormant by the early 1990s, according to the report. Gov. Michelle Luj...
SANTA Fe -- Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey has decided not to appeal the dismissal of the involuntary manslaughter case against actor Alec Baldwin after the state attorney general decided he was not willing to pursue the appeal, the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office said. Morrissey withdrew her notice of appeal Monday, according to a statement from District Attorney’s Office spokesperson Catherine Lynch. The online court file for Baldwin’s case did not yet reflect the withdrawal. Baldwin’s attorneys hailed the deci...
U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is quietly preparing to run to be New Mexico’s next governor, according to news reports last week, fueling speculation about a potential high-profile Democratic primary matchup between her and the state’s senior U.S. senator. Sen. Martin Heinrich’s political future has been the subject of speculation amid talk for the last year that he is also mulling a run for governor in 2026. Neither Heinrich, who was reelected to the Senate in November, nor Haaland, who will leave her post as inter...
The long-planned sale of a helium storage reservoir, enrichment plant and pipeline system near Amarillo, Texas, to a private firm was finalized early this month, finally allowing a federal agency to hand off responsibility for the entity after nearly a century of management. The Bureau of Land Management's New Mexico office announced in a Dec. 12 news release it had transferred $460 million in proceeds from the sale of the Federal Helium System to the U.S. Treasury. The state BLM office long had served as the manager of the...
New Mexico is not faring better than it was a year ago on some of the key problems plaguing its child welfare system, according to presentations given to lawmakers on Tuesday. In particular, the state Children, Youth and Families Department struggled to make gains in recruiting resource and foster families and stabilizing its own workforce. The agency is also losing out on federal funds that would help it implement important prevention programs, Legislative Finance Committee staff told lawmakers on the committee. Committee...
• During the past year, how often do you have a drink with alcohol? • During the past year, how often did you have six or more drinks at one time? v During the past year, how often were you not able to stop drinking once you had started? Those are the questions the state Department of Health and Health Care Authority are asking in the new ePrevention tool, an online screening tool to combat alcohol misuse. For those whose responses indicate potentially dangerous alcohol use, the tool connects them with nationwide and New Mex...
An angler, a biologist and a farmer walk into a commission meeting. It might sound like the start to a bad joke. But that could be the makeup of a future New Mexico Game Commission, as some legislators and nonprofits push for changes to the seven-member committee. A draft of a bill that would create specific "job descriptions" for commissioners, as well as raising hunting and fishing fees for the first time in decades, was presented last month at a meeting of the Water and Natural Resources Committee. Under the proposal,...
The New Mexico Senate Republican caucus has selected a former state representative as its new chief of staff. Dennis Roch, who served in the House from 2009 to 2018, was selected after an “exhaustive process,” the caucus announced Wednesday. “Dennis clearly has extensive knowledge of the Legislature and the legislative process,” Senate Minority Leader Bill Sharer, R-Farmington, said in a statement. “He also possesses contacts and connections across the state ensuring we fulfill our mission to represent all New Mexicans....
New Mexico lawmakers have long talked about changing the way the state handles capital outlay as projects that have been awarded funding fail to materialize and huge sums of money that could be used for other purposes sit in the bank. With balances of unspent capital outlay now approaching $6 billion, lawmakers pledged last week to finally take action. The amount includes the roughly $932 million budgeted for that purpose in the current fiscal year. "It's gotten out of hand," said Sen. George Muñoz, a Gallup Democrat who chai...
New Mexico lawmakers Wednesday discussed the prospect of giving “police power” to the state Cannabis Control Division, which issues permits for the state-legal industry, to ramp up enforcement against the still-thriving illicit market. The proposal comes amid concern from many retailers and growers who have sounded the alarm about black market products and a high volume of state-licensed dispensaries. “It’s a big problem. The underground market is very prevalent in New Mexico,” said Sen. Moe Maestas, D-Albuquerque, during a...
Hours of public comment, testimony and questions kicked off the first day of a four-day hearing to decide if certain dangerous "forever chemicals" that the oil and gas industry maintains it no longer uses should be banned from use. The proposed rule from WildEarth Guardians recommends several changes to existing rules, including requiring companies to disclose the chemicals they use in well operations and certify no perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances — commonly known as PFAS — or other undisclosed chemicals wer...
Across New Mexico, crisis triage centers are having a moment. Santa Fe has one, based at Santa Fe County’s La Sala Center. Gallup is line for one, a new center operated by the Santa Fe Recovery Center that’s scheduled to open its doors in less than a week. Bernalillo and Sandoval counties are soon to have one, too, a facility state leaders say will be run by the University of New Mexico. Clovis, working hand in hand with about a half-dozen other communities, wants a crisis triage center as well. City leaders put out a cal...
ALBUQUERQUE -- Expect a big and enthusiastic crowd when former President Donald Trump holds a campaign rally Thursday in Albuquerque - as well as a boost for GOP candidates up and down the ballot, said Republican Party of New Mexico Chairman Steve Pearce. "When that plane rolls up, and he steps out, I will guarantee you you're not going to be able to control the enthusiasm," Pearce said. Others, are less enthusiastic. "I'm disappointed that Donald Trump is bringing his cruel,...
It costs between $50 and $100 to produce a pound of a product containing forever chemicals. But if those chemicals infect a public water system, cleanup can cost millions per pound, according to a panel presentation at a meeting Tuesday of the Legislature's interim Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee. "You can see why it's so important for my job and my department to educate and prevent PFAS from getting into our water system," said New Mexico Environment Secretary James Kenney. Kenney on Monday made clear to the...
Sharon Clahchischilliage, 75, is the Republican candidate for New Mexico’s Congressional District 3. She answered questions from The Santa Fe New Mexican: Educational background: BSE, Portales; MSW, University of Pennsylvania Occupation: Retired Political Experience: Former state legislator; political appointee with the Navajo Nation in the legislative and executive branches; PEC commissioner Relevant life experience: Special education teacher; counselor; social service work; local grassroots civic service Have you ever b...
Teresa Leger Fernández, 65, is the Democratic candidate for New Mexico’s Congressional District 3. She answered questions from The Santa Fe New Mexican: Educational background: West Las Vegas, Head Start to High School; Yale College, B.A.; Stanford Law School, J.D. with distinction. Occupation: Congresswoman for New Mexico’s 3rd District Political experience: Completing second term in Congress Relevant life experience: My life’s work prepared me to serve the communities I love. A daughter of rural New Mexico, I owned my own...
The fight over the New Mexico Public Education Department’s rule requiring 180 instructional days — a plan that has drawn criticism from teachers, administrators and lawmakers for nearly a year — will continue after a judge delayed issuing a ruling in a key lawsuit. In a hearing Monday, 5th Judicial District Judge Dustin Hunter heard arguments from attorneys representing the New Mexico School Superintendents Association and more than 50 school districts across the state, which sued the Public Education Department over the 1...
As the name suggests, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish was originally formed to manage game and fish, and much of its budget still comes from licenses for hunting and fishing. But several panelists at a Thursday meeting of the Legislature's interim Water and Natural Resources Committee pushed for a broader focus — and a more diverse funding base — so the department can do a better job managing the many non-game species that fall under its purview. One biologist at Game and Fish is dedicated specifically to the thr...
Still reeling from fires and floods that caused two deaths, the destruction of hundreds of homes and a puny summer tourism season, local leaders in the Ruidoso area are asking: How much could have been avoided? Local and tribal officials told a group of state lawmakers gathered Wednesday in Las Cruces they believe insufficient forest thinning and maintenance played a role in scope of the South Fork and Salt fires this summer, as well as the subsequent burn scar flooding that caused heavy damage at the Ruidoso Downs Race...
New Mexico's attorney general has filed a lawsuit accusing the owners of the social platform Snapchat of promoting illicit sexual material involving children and facilitating "sextortion" and the trafficking of children, drugs and guns. The 164-page complaint against Snap Inc., filed Wednesday in state District Court, accuses the company of violating the state's Unfair Practices Act by designing its product to be addictive to young users, failing to impose significant age-verification mechanisms, promoting harmful content and...
U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich and his Republican challenger, Nella Domenici, are turning up the heat and going on the attack in their TV ads in the final stretch of election season. While TV ads reach a wide audience, they don’t come cheap. Heinrich has spent more than $1 million across broadcast and cable. Domenici has spent more than $2 million in broadcast, cable and streaming ads, including coordinated expenditures with the National Republican Senate Committee. Heinrich’s most recent ad, which accuses Domenici of sup...
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Nella Domenici has joined the minority of Republican officeholders and seekers who say President Joe Biden was "legitimately elected." "Of course President Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were legitimately elected in 2020 — and our country and state are worse off because of it," she told The New Mexican in a statement late Wednesday night. Domenici, who has been dodging questions about former President Donald Trump, initially refused to tell Roswell Daily Record reporter Alex Ross on Wednesday w...
A day after basking in the spotlight at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham had another moment on national TV. It was less than flattering, though. The Daily Show, which has a huge following, poked fun at the governor and her speech Wednesday night. After highlighting and praising the speeches of former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, calling them "masters of the craft," correspondent and host Jordan Klepper said he almost didn't want to listen to...
Readers across Texas found an unusual message in the Sunday editions of their newspapers: A letter from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, inviting the neighboring state's medical providers to come work in New Mexico. In addition to the state's natural beauty, the governor touted New Mexico's commitment to "protecting women's health and abortion access" as one reason to move out of Texas, where nearly all abortions are banned. "I certainly respect those of you who remain committed to caring for patients in Texas, but I also invite...
ALBUQUERQUE — When state workers paid a surprise visit to an Albuquerque assisted living facility earlier this year, they stumbled across a family wandering the halls, looking for a relative who lived there. They eventually found her about a mile away. At an Albuquerque nursing home, workers spoke with a woman who was recovering from surgery and had been left in a soiled diaper for 12 hours overnight. She was still clad in a hospital gown after her own clothes got lost in the laundry. The two situations — at Morada Alb...
