U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan’s $4.7 billion proposal would plug abandoned wells, including 700 in New Mexico U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., toured various well sites in Lea County on Tuesday hoping to get a complete picture of what new legislation sponsored by him would mean to New Mexicans. The Democratic senator is co-sponsor of the Revive Economic Growth …

From the N.M. Governor’s office SANTA FE – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Tuesday will announce that the state of New Mexico will re-implement a statewide requirement that facemasks be worn in all public indoor spaces, with only limited exceptions, and regardless of vaccination status, to stem the state’s rising tide of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations. The governor also announced …

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The head of the state’s foster care and child welfare system was replaced Tuesday as New Mexico grapples with the effects student isolation during the pandemic and wages a longstanding struggle to improve childhood wellbeing. Recently retired Supreme Court Justice Barbara J. Vigil will take the reins of the Children, Youth and Families Department on …

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The number of children traveling alone who were picked up at the Mexican border by U.S. immigration authorities likely hit an all-time high in July, and the number of people who came in families likely reached its second-highest total on record, a U.S. official said Monday, citing preliminary government figures. The sharp increases from June were …

LOVINGTON — Is it déjà vu all over again? With about 10 times as many lesser prairie chickens in New Mexico today than seven years ago, Lea County officials believe federally approved public and private conservation efforts are working well enough. Yet, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which in 2014 applauded local efforts to protect the grouse, recently proposed …

SANTA FE – In light of the continued spread of COVID-19 and enhanced viral risk driven by vaccine hesitancy and resistance, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Thursday signed an executive order requiring all state employees to either be fully vaccinated or otherwise submit to regular COVID-19 testing. Under the order, state employees who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 shall …

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Authorities are investigating longtime New Mexico legislator Sheryl Williams Stapleton’s possibly illegal connections to a company that received more than $5 million in contracts to do business with the school district where she works and whether she got financial kickbacks. Authorities executed search warrants at the Albuquerque Public Schools offices and Stapleton’s home this week as …

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A bitterly divided U.S. Senate panel deadlocked Thursday on President Joe Biden’s pick to oversee vast government-owned lands in the West, as Democrats united behind a nominee whose credibility was assailed by Republicans over her links to a 1989 environmental sabotage case. The 10-10 tie in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee sets up a …

President Joe Biden has issued an executive order to increase federal land holdings by 30 percent by the year 2030 and Lea County Commissioners Dean Jackson and Pat Sims are hosting an information session Thursday evening in Lovington to let people know how they can protect their property from seizure. “They (the Biden administration) want another 30 percent of land …

President Joe Biden has issued an executive order to increase federal land holdings by 30 percent by the year 2030 and Lea County Commissioners Dean Jackson and Pat Sims are hosting an information session Thursday evening in Lovington to let people know how they can protect their property from seizure. “They (the Biden administration) want another 30 percent of land …