- ALBUQUERQUE-RECORD HOMICIDES
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Albuquerque has shattered its annual homicide record, marking 117 killings within city limits in 2021. The previous record of 80 was set in 2019. The Albuquerque Journal reports that all but three of the 2021 killings are being investigated by Albuquerque police. City officials and family members of many victims have pointed to a lack of consequences for repeat offenders as one of the reasons Albuquerque continues struggling with crime. In December, the city also named 14 people to its gun violence prevention and intervention task force. The group will be working on recommendations over the next year.
- TEEN KILLED
RIBERA, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico State police say they've arrested an 18-year-old man after another teen was shot to death at a New Year's Eve party in the small San Miguel County community of Ribera. State police said in a statement that they were called to a Ribera home on Friday night and found 17-year-old Joshua Vigil dead of an apparent gunshot wound. Police investigating the shooting learned that the 18-year-old homeowner had been having a party. Some sort of fight broke out between the homeowner and Vigil that ended in the fatal shooting. The 18-year-old was arrested on a 2nd degree murder charge and a weapons charge.
- BC-US-STUCK-ON-TRAM-RESCUE
Authorities in New Mexico say icing on a cable caused two tram cars to get stuck high up in the Sandia Mountains overlooking Albuquerque, stranding 21 people overnight. A Bernalillo County Fire Department spokesman said 20 people in one car were rescued early Saturday afternoon and that the one person in a second car was rescued several hours later. The spokesperson said the people were all employees of the Sandia Peak Aerial Tramway or a mountaintop restaurant. Rescuers used ropes to lower the employees from the cars to ground and then they were ferried off the mountain by helicopter. No injuries were reported.
- AP-US-VIRUS-OUTBREAK-SCHOOLS
Mask requirements are returning in some school districts that had dropped them. Some are planning to vastly ramp up virus testing among students and staff. And a small number of school system are switching to remote learning. Educators hope that's for just a short while, though. Soaring coronavirus infections mean the return from schools' winter break will be different than planned for some as administrators again tweak protocols and make real-time adjustments in response to the shifting pandemic. Even those promising to bring students back as planned are signaling a need to stay flexible.
- LEGISLATOR RETIRES-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Republican state Rep. Alonzo Baldonado of Los Lunas is retiring from the New Mexico Legislature after a decade of advocacy for a district in central New Mexico and socially conservative causes. A spokesman for House Republicans announced Baldonado's departure Friday in a news release. The statement highlights efforts to fund a regional hospital and highway interchange in Valencia County. As a Hispanic legislator, Baldonado also participated in efforts by the Republican Party to expand racial and ethnic diversity within its ranks. The Valencia County Commission will name a replacement to serve out the remaining year of Baldonado's term.
- NEW LAWS-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — With the arrival of the new year, new laws are taking effect in New Mexico that aim to bolster access to health insurance and to eliminate many court-imposed fines against juveniles that are viewed as counterproductive. A bill signed by Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham adds a 2.75% surtax on health insurance premiums. Insurance Superintendent Russell Toal says the surtax will provide a crucial subsidy when Medicaid coverage under special federal pandemic provisions expires for an estimated 85,000 residents. New Mexico also is eliminating many financial fees and sanctions in the juvenile justice system, including fines for possession of marijuana by a minor.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico is running short of free at-home rapid tests to detect COVID-19 infections as the state struggles with the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. The company that runs the state's program said Thursday that the state's supply of tests was overstretched. The announcement came hours after Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham wrote that residents could "order a testing kit today." By afternoon "all available tests have been shipped" and Vault Health was offering paid testing instead. The state reported an additional 2,209 cases of COVID-19 on Thursday and 26 additional deaths.
- NAVAJO NATION-RELIEF CHECKS
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) — The Navajo Nation's tribal council has voted to send $2,000 checks to each qualified adult and $600 for each child using $557 million in federal coronavirus relief funds. The vote to send the checks to about 350,000 tribal members was approved Thursday by Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez to take effect. Wednesday's 18-2 vote during a special session of the tribe's lawmaking body will tap some of the approximately $2.1 billion the tribe is receiving from President Joe Biden's American Rescue Plan Act.