• TRUMP-PUBLIC LANDS

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration's leading steward of public lands has been serving unlawfully and blocked him from continuing in the position. U.S. District Judge Brian Morris said Friday that U.S. Bureau of Land Management acting director William Perry Pendley was never confirmed to the post by the U.S. Senate and served unlawfully for 424 days.

• DRY SOUTHWEST

BERNALILLO, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's state climatologist says the fingerprints of climate change are evident in the persistent drought that's plaguing the American Southwest. Dave DuBois says dry areas are becoming drier due to a semi-permanent high-pressure system over the West that has become stronger in recent years. He also warned during an online briefing Thursday that the region should be prepared for more warm temperatures and less precipitation this fall and winter.

• AP-US-TRIBAL-ARTIFACTS-NEW-MEXICO

ZUNI PUEBLO, N.M. (AP) — A hand-carved figure held sacred by a Native American community in New Mexico has been returned to the tribe by an Ohio auction house. Cowan's Auctions announced Thursday that the 15-inch carving of a Zuni Pueblo war god was returned in late August after being discovered in an estate collection that had been consigned to the auction house. The wooden war god carvings are ceremonially brought to shrines on tribal lands where they are left to return to the elements.

•  Demand surges for absentee ballots across New Mexcio

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Voters across New Mexico have submitted nearly 250,000 absentee ballot requests with especially strong demand among Democrats for alternatives to in-person voting amid the pandemic. State election regulators on Thursday also said initial vote tallies could extend beyond Election Day if voters wait until late in the cycle to mail or hand deliver ballots. Fewer than 8,000 absentee ballots were cast statewide in the 2016 presidential election.

• Today in History

Today is Friday, Sept. 25, the 269th day of 2020. There are 97 days left in the year.

• Today's Highlight in History:

On Sept. 25, 1957, nine Black students who'd been forced to withdraw from Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, because of unruly white crowds were escorted to class by members of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division.

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