- POLICING REFORMS-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A bill that would end police immunity from prosecution in New Mexico to allow civil right lawsuits in state court cleared its last major hurdle with Senate approval, as Democratic legislators responded to concerns about police brutality and accountability. The state Senate on Wednesday endorsed the bill 26-15. The proposal would apply to violations of state civil rights guarantees ranging from racial discrimination to illegal search and seizure and freedom of speech violations. County sheriffs, police associations and insurance authorities for local governments assembled a united front against the initiative. The U.S. Justice Department has intervened in Albuquerque to resolve concerns about excessive force by police.
- STATE GRANT-BUENO FOODS
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Bueno Foods has been awarded a $500,000 state grant to expand its 70-year-old family business and help boost sales of New Mexico products nationwide. Economic Development Department Cabinet Secretary Alicia J. Keyes announced Tuesday that Bueno Foods' economic assistance will be used to expand storage and manufacturing capacity and better distribute New Mexico chiles and food products throughout the U.S. The expansion will be on Bueno Foods property in Albuquerque. The $10 million project is expected to begin this summer and be completed by the end of 2022, at which time Bueno will start to add 49 employees over five years. The company already has about 280 full-time employees.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NAVAJO NATION
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) — The Navajo Nation on Tuesday reported two new cases of COVID-19 and one more death. The latest numbers pushed the tribe's pandemic total to 29,957 confirmed cases and 1,219 known deaths. The Navajo Nation had a soft reopening Monday with 25% capacity for some businesses under certain restrictions. Still, mask mandates and daily curfews remain. The Navajo Department of Health has identified two communities, Baca Prewitt and Coyote Canyon, as having uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 from Feb. 26 to March 11. That compares with 75 communities that were identified in January as having uncontrolled spread of the coronavirus.
- LEGISLATURE-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A budget bill is advancing toward a Senate vote in New Mexico that would boost public salaries, shore up spending on public education and provide at least $400 million in state spending on economic relief measures in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The Senate finance committee voted 6-4 with majority Democrats in support and Republicans in opposition to endorse amendments to a House-approved budget plan for the coming fiscal year. State general funds spending would increase by $373 million to $7.45 billion under the proposal for the fiscal year starting July 1. State spending on public education would increase by 5.8% to $3.35 billion.
- EDUCATION FUNDING-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico legislature is advancing a constitutional amendment to increase funding programs for children for decades to come. The state Senate is considering an additional 1.25% withdrawal from an educational endowment that has nearly doubled in the last decade to $20 billion. The Finance Committee is voting along party lines to advance the bill. Republicans say it will deplete the fund too quickly. Democrats united behind it after including K-12 funding. The additional withdrawals would amount to hundreds of millions of dollars over the next five years. Most of the increase would support programs for children 5 and under.
- CONGRESS-HAALAND'S SUCCESSOR
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Rep. Deb Haaland's departure from Congress to serve as Interior secretary will trigger a special election to choose a successor, starting with a rarely invoked nomination process that relies on party insiders. Haaland's farewell to the House of Representatives on Tuesday sets in motion a June general election for her 1st Congressional District seat. Major party nominees will be chosen by central committee members. First Congressional District voters rejected the Democratic nominee under similar procedures in 1998 to elect Republican Heather Wilson. The district has grown increasingly progressive since then.
- ENDANGERED WOLVES
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — U.S. wildlife officials are asking a federal judge for more time to rewrite rules that guide management of Mexican gray wolves in the wild. The population of endangered predators is starting to rebound despite many hurdles since releases began more than two decades ago. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service contends that progress is being made under the current rules and that extra time is needed to gather more data and to conduct public meetings. The agency also said its short-staffed. Environmentalists are opposed to more delays. Meanwhile, ranchers in New Mexico and Arizona are worried their concerns are being ignored.
- ATTORNEY'S DEATH-ALBUQUERQUE
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Court of Appeals has overturned a District Court judge's order requiring the state Office of the Medical Investigator to rule that the cause of a prominent Albuquerque attorney's 2010 death was unknown. The Court of Appeals' ruling Monday said the judge abused his discretion by ordering the Office of the Medical Investigator to change its finding that lawyer Mary Han's death was a suicide as police believed. Han was found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning in a vehicle in her garage, and her estate contended that police violated state constitutional protections for Han as a crime victim when her death was investigated.