At its special August 23rd meeting, the Artesia Public Schools Board of Education voted 5-0 to join the current lawsuit initiated by the Gallup Schools, Gallup-McKinley County Schools et. Al. vs. Ryan Stewart, Ed. L. D., et. Al. No. D-101-CV-202-02194. The lawsuit seeks to establish more authority for local decisions regarding schools, to curtail state … Read more
An Indigenous leader from New Mexico and former U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt called on the federal government Tuesday to overhaul its oil and gas leasing program to ensure the protection of cultural resources, saying for far too long tribal expertise has been ignored to the detriment of sacred landscapes. Acoma Pueblo Gov. Brian Vallo … Read more
A lawsuit filed on behalf of a New Mexico nurse and an agricultural worker challenges the constitutionality of recent public health orders requiring people with certain jobs to get COVID-19 vaccinations and restricting admittance to the state fair. The lawsuit filed last week in federal court asks a judge to block enforcement of an order … Read more
A developing story out of Roswell. RPD officers responded to the report of a shooting Monday afternoon in the 300 block of South Beech Street. Once there, the officers discovered a man who had been shot at least once. Paramedics arrived and began treating the unnamed victim, eventually taking him to an area hospital. Dteectives … Read more
The Artesia Public Schools Board of Education will meet in a Special Board Meeting tonight at 5:30 p.m. in the Lowell M. Irby Board room at the Administration Building located at 301 Bulldog Boulevard. The meeting may also be joined via Zoom. The Zoom link is included on the agenda. A copy of the agenda … Read more
State labor officials warned Thursday that unemployment benefits are scheduled to come to a close for about 50,000 New Mexico residents in early September, as the federal government ends supplemental payments to people who lost jobs or self-employment income during the pandemic. Employers are warily watching whether those individuals will return to work and stabilize … Read more
U.S Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm met with Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and other tribal leaders Thursday at a power plant in northwest New Mexico Thursday to discuss renewable energy initiatives, including a solar project and energy storage system. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, D-N.M., and U.S. Office of Indian Energy Director … Read more
New Mexico is on the cusp of finalizing prison takeovers that will reduce private prison operations to 25% of inmate beds, amid a plunge in prison population numbers statewide. Corrections Secretary Alisha Tafoya Lucero briefed a panel of state lawmakers Wednesday on negotiations by her agency to take over day-to-day prison operations from CoreCivic at … Read more
The Artesia School Board did not vote Monday on whether or not to go against the public education department’s mask mandates. The board did unanimously approve a resolution encourging the state PED to allow more local control over school district policies. The resolution vote took place prior to public comment from over two dozen residents … Read more
Federal prosecutors have offered a confidential plea agreement to Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin that might resolve misdemeanor criminal charges against him linked to the Jan. 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol, according to discussions at a Monday court hearing in Washington. The county commissioner from New Mexico still denies federal charges that he … Read more