- Interior secretary's mother, a longtime civil servant, dies
U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland's mother, longtime civil servant Mary Toya, has died. Officials with the Interior Department confirmed Toya's passing Saturday but didn't immediately release her age or cause of death. Interior spokeswoman Melissa Schwartz said in a statement the department is celebrating Toya's long life and is grateful for her "25 years of service to Native students as a member of the Interior team within Indian Affairs." Toya also was a U.S. Navy veteran. Her daughter became the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary when she took office in March. Haaland is a member of the Pueblo of Laguna and a 35th generation New Mexican.
- Ex-chairwoman of Grant County GOP dies in small plane crash
SILVER CITY, N.M. (AP) — Authorities have identified a Silver City woman who died in the crash of a small plane in Gila National Forest. New Mexico State Police say 74-year-old Linda Pecotte was pronounced dead at the scene of Friday's crash south of Reserve. They say Pecotte's two passengers were injured and airlifted to a hospital. Their names, ages and conditions aren't immediately available. The Albuquerque Journal reported Sunday that Pecotte was a former chairwoman of the Grant County Republican Party. An online profile shows that Pecotte was a real estate agent in Silver City at the time of her death. The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the cause of the crash.
- Navajo Nation: No COVID-related deaths, 11th time in 17 days
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) — The Navajo Nation has reported 31 more COVID-19 cases, but no additional deaths for the 11th time in the past 17 days. The latest numbers released Saturday pushed the tribe's totals to 34,814 confirmed COVID-19 cases from the virus since the pandemic began more than a year ago. The known death toll remains at 1,464. Tribal officials still are urging people to get vaccinated, wear masks while in public and minimize their travel. The tribe's reservation is the country's largest at 27,000 square miles (70,000 square kilometers) and it covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
- State Fair returns after pandemic hiatus but attendance down
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Attendance at this year's New Mexico State Fair dropped by about two-fifths from the 2019 fair, the last before the 2020 event was canceled because of the pandemic. State Fair General Manager Dan Mourning said over 275,000 people attended the nine-day September event, a 41.6% decrease from 2019's attendance of about 472,000. Revenue figures weren't available. Mourning said it's likely the decreased attendance generated less than the 2019 fair's revenue figure of over $5 million. The 2021 fair instituted requirements that included requiring people to show a COVID-19 vaccination card in order to enter and to wear a mask in all indoor spaces.
- Police: Driver fatally shot in apparent road rage incident
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Albuquerque police say road rage apparently triggered a fatal shooting discovered when officers responded to a crash. Police Department spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said a car's driver was pronounced dead Friday night at a hospital where he was taken when officers discovered he had gunshot wounds. Gallegos said witnesses told police that there were gunshots in the area and an argument involving a person in another vehicle. The investigation was ongoing and no additional information was released.
- New Mexico governor defends power to spend pandemic relief
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is defending her authority to decide how the state will spend more than $1 billion federal pandemic aid — without the approval of the Legislature. Lujan Grisham said in a written court briefing Friday that a state Supreme Court decision nearly 50 years ago upheld the governor's discretion over federal funding at universities and should hold true today regarding federal pandemic relief funds. Some senators have asked the Supreme Court to intervene and rein in the governor's authority to spend without legislative approval. Lujan Grisham, who is running for reelection in 2022, has used the relief funds to replenish the state unemployment insurance trust, prop up agriculture wages, among other things.
- Advisory panel endorses redistricting maps for New Mexico
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — An advisory board on political redistricting is deciding on recommendations to the state Legislature for realigning the boundaries of U.S. House and state legislative seats across New Mexico. The maps endorsed Friday by the Citizens Redistricting Committee are nonbinding. Several states, including New Mexico and Indiana, are using citizen advisory boards to temper political inclinations without taking redistricting powers away from state lawmakers. New Mexico's heavily Latino and Native American population presents unusual challenges in efforts to unite communities of interest and give minority voters a fair shot to elect candidates of their choice.
- New Mexico judge denies lab workers' claim in vaccine fight
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico judge has denied a request by dozens of scientists and others at Los Alamos National Laboratory who sought to block a vaccine mandate. Workers risk being fired if they don't comply with the lab's Friday afternoon deadline. It's possible an appeal could be filed pending more proceedings on the merits of the case. While the vaccination rate among adults in New Mexico hovers below 72%, the rate among lab employees stands at 96%. Still, 114 workers sued, saying the mandate violates their constitutional rights. Attorneys for the lab argued that being vaccinated is a condition of working there. Meanwhile, New Mexico has extended its indoor mask mandate.