- Sheriff: Baldwin fired shot on movie set that killed woman
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A prop firearm discharged by veteran actor Alec Baldwin, who is producing and starring in a Western movie, killed his director of photography and injured the director Thursday at the movie set outside Santa Fe, authorities said. The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office says 42-year-old Halyna Hutchins, director of photography for the movie "Rust," and 48-year-old director Joel Souza were shot. Authorities say Hutchins was airlifted to University of New Mexico Hospital where she was pronounced dead by medical personnel. Souza was taken by ambulance to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center for treatment of his injuries. Production has been halted on the film.
- Navajo Nation: No COVID related deaths, 15th time in 22 days
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) — The Navajo Nation on Thursday reported 77 more COVID-19 cases, but no coronavirus-related deaths for the 15th time in the past 22 days. Tribal officials had reported 78 more cases and seven deaths on Wednesday. The latest numbers pushed the tribe's totals to 35,660 confirmed COVID-19 cases from the virus since the pandemic began more than a year ago. The known death toll remains at 1,471. Tribal officials still are urging people to get vaccinated, wear masks while in public and minimize their travel. Based on cases from Oct. 1-14, the Navajo Department of Health issued an advisory for 31 communities due to the uncontrolled spread of the coronavirus.
- NASA launches tool that measures Western water loss
DENVER (AP) — NASA launched an online platform Thursday with data on how much water evaporates into the atmosphere from plants, soils and other surfaces in the U.S. West. It says that information could help water managers, farmers and state officials better manage resources in the parched region. The platform uses satellite imagery from the Landsat program, a decades-long project of NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey that records human and natural impacts on Earth's surface.
- Human rights panel to hear Navajo uranium contamination case
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A group representing Navajo communities is presenting its case to an international human rights body, saying U.S. regulators violated the rights of tribal members when they cleared the way for uranium mining in western New Mexico years ago. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights based in Washington, D.C., decided earlier this year that the petition filed by Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining was admissible. The group filed additional testimony and exhibits Thursday. The commission is expected to hold a hearing in the spring. On the Navajo Nation, uranium mining has left a legacy of death, disease and environmental contamination.
- New Mexico governor returns contribution, amends filing
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's campaign for reelection has amended its October campaign finance report and returned $4,200 to a corporate contributor after a donation exceeded limits set in state statute. An opposition political committee titled Stop MLG highlighted the original $25,000 donation from Denver-based Intrepid Potash to Lujan Grisham. New Mexico caps campaign contributions at $20,800 in the course of a four-year election cycle. Intrepid Potash supplies water and minerals to the oil and natural gas industry and has a water rights case pending before the state Supreme Court. The campaign also identified the sources of four contributions that were not previously disclosed.
- North Dakota man charged in Navajo Nation decapitation
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Federal authorities say a North Dakota man is charged with second-degree murder in the decapitation killing this month of a man at the victim's home on the Navajo Nation in northwestern New Mexico. A criminal complaint alleges 28-year-old Shilo Aaron Oldrock attacked and decapitated the victim with an ax on Oct. 10 and burned his head in a wood stove before fleeing. A statement Thursday from the U.S. Attorney's Office for New Mexico says Oldrock is from Fargo. Federal officials didn't release the victim's full name, giving only his initials. A lawyer representing Oldrock did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
- Ballot confuses financing of proposed Albuquerque stadium
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Voters in Albuquerque may be confused about how a proposed soccer stadium will be funded. That's because the ballot measure includes inconsistent language about financing for city's $50 million stadium bond proposal. The Albuquerque Journal reports that the ballot initially describes the project financing's financing as coming from gross receipts tax revenue bonds. But the place where voters will mark their ballots refers to general obligation bonds. Officials say they don't know how the mix-up happened but that it doesn't pose a legal issue. The New Mexico United professional soccer team has said it would pay $10 million upfront toward the stadium's construction.
- Advisory panel endorses redistricting maps for New Mexico
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — An advisory panel on political redistricting has advanced three proposals for overhauling district boundaries in New Mexico's Democrat-dominated House of Representatives, with special deference to Native American communities. Two of the endorsed redistricting maps conform to proposals from Indigenous nations and tribes in northwestern New Mexico, a celebrated cradle of ancient civilization where a recent decline in population threatens to disrupt and dilute majority-Native American voting districts. The maps endorsed by the Citizens Redistricting Committee are nonbinding. 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.