- MEMORIAL PROCESSION-CODE TALKER
Memorial procession for Navajo lawmaker traverses stateSANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A procession in honor of deceased state Sen. John Pinto will travel from Gallup to the state Capitol to honor the former Navajo Code Talker and politician.
The procession including State Police and the Navajo and Hopi Honor Riders motorcycle group is scheduled to accompany Pinto's casket through the communities of Shiprock, Farmington, Bloomfield, Cuba, Bernalillo and Santa Fe.
Afternoon memorial services were scheduled in the Statehouse rotunda.
Pinto died on Friday at age 94 after setting a record for serving 42 years in the state Senate.
Potential successors to Pinto in the Senate will be nominated by the McKinley and San Juan county commissions. Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham makes the final appointment.
Pinto this year voted in favor of progressive initiatives on gun control and abortion rights.
- MEDICAID SPENDING-NEW MEXICO
New Mexico shores up Medicaid spending rates at hospitalsSANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Public comments are being sought on a plan to increase annual Medicaid spending on reimbursements to hospitals in New Mexico by $169 million.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Tuesday announced the increased reimbursement rates designed to shore up professional health care networks.
All told, lawmakers have arranged a quarter-billion dollar increase in annual spending on Medicaid services starting July 1.
For hospitals, about $34 million of the $169 million increase will come from the state general fund, while the federal government pays the rest. The new announcement comes on the heels of a proposed $60 million annual increase in Medicaid reimbursements to physicians and clinicians.
Human Service Department spokeswoman Jodi McGinnis-Porter says reimbursements are set to increase by 18% for outpatient services and 9% for in-patient hospital stays.
- CENSUS DIRECTOR-NEW MEXICO
Census director meets in Albuquerque ahead of 2020 countALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The U.S. Census director is visiting New Mexico as the state pushes to ensure there is an accurate count of its heavily Hispanic and Native American populations.
U.S. Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham is in the state for a series of meetings. On Tuesday, he toured the border communities of Sunland Park and Chaparral before visiting Los Lunas in Valencia County.
He's expected to take part in round-table meetings Wednesday at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque.
New Mexico's U.S. senators say the state faces a high likelihood of an undercount, which could put the state's federal funding at risk.
Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has signed an executive order calling on her Cabinet and advocacy groups to encourage census participation.
- BORDER ACTIVIST-TRIAL
Arizona border activist to stand trial for helping migrantsTUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — A federal trial is scheduled to begin in Tucson for a border activist charged with harboring migrants and conspiring to transport and harbor two Mexican men who were in the U.S. illegally.
Scott Daniel Warren says his spiritual values compel him to help all people in distress.
Prosecutors have argued the two migrants — Kristian Perez-Villanueva and Jose Arnaldo Sacaria-Goday — never were in any real distress.
Warren's parents gathered more than 126,000 online petition signatures asking the court to drop the case, which was to go to trial Wednesday in U.S. District Court.
The 36-year-old Warren was arrested last year when Border Patrol agents found him at a property in Ajo about 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of the border where the two recently-arrived migrants were staying.
- CHACO CANYON-DRILLING
Interior secretary, tribes meet amid drilling fightCHACO CANYON NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK, N.M. (AP) — U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt has met with tribal leaders who are supporting legislation to prevent drilling on land they consider sacred around Chaco Culture National Historical Park.
The meeting Tuesday at the centuries-old site in northwest New Mexico came at the urging of Democratic U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich amid a yearslong dispute over oil and gas development surrounding the park.
Legislation sponsored by Heinrich and other members of New Mexico's all-Democratic congressional delegation would halt new oil and natural gas lease sales on federal land within a 10-mile (16-kilometer) buffer zone around the park's ancient stone structures and avenues.
Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez has previously said that many tribes want a greater area around Chaco protected from industrial incursions.
Oil developers say robust protections already are in place.
- SCIENTIST CHARGED-NUCLEAR LAB-THE LATEST
The Latest: US scientist pleads not guilty in China caseALBUQUERUE, N.M. (AP) — A scientist for a U.S. laboratory in New Mexico has pleaded not guilty to charges that he lied about contacts with a state-run program in China that seeks to draw foreign-educated talent.
Turab Lookman of Santa Fe entered the plea Tuesday before a judge ruled that he could be released on a $50,000 secured bond with his family's home as collateral.
His travel will be restricted to the Albuquerque and Santa Fe areas as he awaits trial on charges of making false statements while working at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
The facility is tasked with ensuring the safety of the nation's nuclear stockpile and reducing weapons threats.
Prosecutors say Lookman had lied three times about being recruited by China's Thousand Talents Program and applying to participate in work there.
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- BORDER WALL-FUNDRAISER
City issues cease-and-desist order for private border wallSUNLAND PARK, N.M. (AP) — A border suburb of El Paso, Texas, has issued a cease-and-desist order against construction of a privately funded border barrier.
A spokesman for Sunland Park, New Mexico, said Tuesday that the barrier being erected by We Build The Wall Inc. on private property doesn't comply with city ordinances. City spokesman Peter Ibarbo says the company had applied for a construction permit but the application was incomplete.
The company didn't immediately respond to a message from The Associated Press.
In a statement to KVIA-TV in El Paso , the company says it had "done everything they need to do to be in compliance with all regulations." The company calls the stop order "a last ditch effort to intimidate us from completing this project."
- NEW MEXICO SETTLEMENTS
New Mexico auditor cites timing as concern in settlementsSANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The state auditor is investigating whether proper protocols were followed for state financial settlements to resolve workplace complaints by personnel including member of the former governor's security detail.
New Mexico State Auditor Brian Colón on Tuesday announced the investigation of settlement payments of $1.7 million to resolve complaints by six individuals that ranged from wrongful termination to hostile workplace issues.
The settlements involving Public Safety Department personnel were authorized last year near the end of Republican Gov. Susana Martinez's administration.
Details have been sealed until 2023. Martinez denies involvement in the agreements.
Colón says the review aims to ensure financial settlements are made in the best interest of taxpayers.
He says the timing of settlements raises procedural concerns. Colón's office has subpoena authority.