- SPECIAL SESSION-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's Legislature has approved a bill to ensure adequate voting locations in Native American communities that have been hit hard by the coronavirus. The state House on Saturday approved the bill that gives Indigenous nations and pueblos final say before a local polling place can be closed or consolidated. The voting initiative also aims to make absentee balloting more reliable by extending mailing deadlines and using postal bar codes to track ballots. Some polls were closed for the state's June 2 primary election because tribal communities shut borders to visitors. The bill needs Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's signature to become law.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico health officials on Saturday reported 172 additional COVID-19 cases and two additional deaths. The increases raised the state's total number of cases to 10,430 and the death toll to 466 . Sixty-four of the new cases, or about a third of the total, involved state or federal inmates at the Otero County Prison Facility in southern New Mexico, while 30 new cases were reported in McKinley County in northwestern New Mexico McKinley County residents accounted for both new deaths.
- COURT OF APPEALS APPOINTMENT
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has appointed a lawyer in private practice in Santa Fe to fill a vacancy on the New Mexico Court of Appeals. Lujan Grisham's appointment of Jane Yohalem to succeed recently retired Judge Linda Vanzi was announced Saturday by the governor's office. The announcement said Yohalem specializes in appeals and complex civil litigation and has 44 years of experience in appellate law. Vanzi retired effective May 29.
- SPECIAL SESSION-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The state House of Representatives has approved a budget solvency plan that fills a gaping general fund deficit by harnessing federal recovery funds, tapping half of New Mexico's financial reserves and pulling back planned spending increases. Approved by the House on Friday, the bill would reduce general fund spending for the fiscal year that begins July 1 to about $7 billion from $7.6 billion, while still increasing spending on public education. New Mexico legislators also pushed forward Friday with temporary election reforms and an initiative to require body cameras by all law enforcement officers. A proclamation celebrated Juneteenth without making it an official state holiday.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW MEXICO
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — One of New Mexico's top health officials said about one-quarter of confirmed coronavirus cases in the state involve people who had no symptoms. Human Services Secretary David Scrase said that percentage represents a huge number when talking about a pandemic. Scrase said Friday that New Mexico has been able to keep its cases from skyrocketing like Arizona, Texas and other states because it has kept in place the stay-at-home order and established other counter measures aimed at limiting spread. New Mexico has 10,260 cases and officials say the rate of spread is on a downward trend.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NAVAJO NATION
CHINLE, Ariz. (AP) — A 50-year-old Navajo Nation police officer has died at a Phoenix hospital, becoming the first officer on the tribal police force to die from COVID-19 in the line of duty. Police Department officials say Officer Michael Lee died Friday at Banner-University Medical Center in Phoenix. Police Chief Phillip Francisco said the department was "devastated and heartbroken" by the death of Lee, whom Francisco called "a husband, a father, a son and a protector of his community." Lee served 29 years with the tribal department, beginning his law enforcement career as a police recruit with the Navajo Police Academy in 1990. The department says survivors include Lee's wife and children.
- BANKING RECORDS-PRIVACY PROTECTION
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Supreme Court has ruled that prosecutors can obtain a person's banking records using a warrantless grand jury subpoena without violating the individual's right to privacy under the state's Constitution. In a unanimous decision Thursday, the justices concluded that a district court properly allowed the use of five years of personal financial records as evidence in a pending criminal case against a Taos couple facing charges of tax evasion and other finance-related offenses. The high court rejected the married couple's argument that the state's Constitution provided greater privacy protections for their financial records than offered under the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures.
- ELECTION 2020-VP
WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden is facing growing calls to select a Black woman as his running mate as an acknowledgement of their critical role in the Democratic Party and a response to the nationwide protests against racism and inequality. The shifting dynamics were clear late Thursday when Amy Klobuchar took herself out of contention. The white Minnesota senator told MSNBC that "this is a moment to put a woman of color on that ticket." The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee has already pledged to select a woman as vice president. After the police killing of George Floyd, many Democratic strategists say there's growing consensus that the pick should be a Black woman.