- LEGISLATURE-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico legislators are unveiling initiatives on issues ranging from minimum sick-day requirements as a precaution against contagions in the workplace to halting discrimination against racial minorities for hair styles. The year's first draft bills were posted Monday on the Legislature's website and hint at an ambitious agenda for annual legislative session that starts on Jan. 19. Hundreds of bills, resolutions and proposed constitutional amendments are likely to be heard. A proposal from Democratic state Rep. Christine Chandler of Los Alamos would establish a minimum amount of sick leave that can be used to care for family members.
- HAIR DISCRIMINATION ACT
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — City officials in New Mexico have voted in favor of an ordinance prohibiting race-based discrimination against hair texture and hairstyles in schools and the workplace. The Albuquerque City Council voted on Monday to amend its Human Rights Ordinance to adopt the Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair, or CROWN Act, joining a national campaign. Councilmember Lan Sena introduced the act after several states passed similar laws, including California, Colorado, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Virginia and Washington. The act prohibits workplace discrimination based on hairstyles as well as headdresses worn for cultural or religious reasons.
- METHANE FIGHT-NEW MEXICO
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico oil and gas regulators have kicked off a public hearing on proposed rules for managing venting and flaring by the industry. Oil and gas revenues underpin the state's budget, but Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has promised that her administration would adopt some of the toughest rules in the U.S. for cracking down on methane and other emissions. Under the proposal, operators would need to reduce their waste by a fixed amount every year to achieve an ultimate gas capture rate of 98% by December 2026. Environmentalists are concerned about loopholes, saying the state should prohibit all venting and flaring.
- WIND POWER-NEW MEXICO
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A California-based renewable energy company says financing is in place and work has started on a new transmission line that will funnel wind power from central New Mexico to other markets. Pattern Energy Group said Monday that the Western Spirit transmission line and more than a gigawatt of wind projects are expected to come online by the end of 2021. CEO Mike Garland called it the largest single-phase construction of renewable power in the U.S. New Mexico's largest electric utility — Public Service Co. of New Mexico — will own and operate the 150-mile long transmission line when its complete.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — More than 230,000 New Mexicans have signed up since the state launched its vaccination registration website two weeks ago. The state Health Department said Monday that the site has been updated to allow people to complete a comprehensive profile that includes personal medical conditions, employment information and other data. Officials said the site was created to help manage distribution once more vaccines become available. Those who register will be notified when they become eligible and shots are available in their area. Confirmed COVID-19 infections total 147,315, while 2,574 people in the state have succumbed to the virus since the pandemic began.
- NEW YEAR'S-RANDOM BULLET
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Albuquerque police are searching for the person who randomly fired a gun on New Year's Eve, sending a bullet into a boy's pillow moments before he would have been sleeping. KOAT-TV reports that investigators have recovered a projectile from the home of Sheri Kraemer. Police said they intend to use ballistics technology to track down the gun that it came from. Kraemer says late Thursday night she heard a loud noise from the bedroom where here 10-year-old grandson, Grant, was staying. Kraemer found a bullet on the pillow. The boy says he likely would have been sleeping there had the bullet hit a few minutes later.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NAVAJO NATION
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) — Navajo Nation health officials on Monday reported 110 new COVID-19 cases and three more deaths. The latest figures increased the tribe's totals since the pandemic began to 23,841 cases and 822 known deaths. The number of infections is thought to be far higher than reported because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected with the virus without feeling sick. Also on Monday, the Navajo Department of Health on Monday identified 73 communities with uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 on the tribe's vast reservation that covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
- MURAL GRAFFITI SPURS CONVERSATION
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Two Santa Fe art groups say they'll complete and debut a mural designed to bring people together during the pandemic, despite graffiti damage found on it just before Christmas. KRQE-TV reports the mural features animals, color, hints of New Mexico and a central figure homage to the Tewa people. All Aboard Earth co-founder Jonathon Meade says creators were saddened to find graffiti on a work that aims to convey togetherness, happiness and "upliftment." Playful Passages founder Hannah Rapp says the muralists would rather talk with the taggers so everyone feels heard. The work was commissioned with coronavirus relief funds and a mini-grant from the City of Santa Fe.