- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW MEXICO
New Mexico governor warns of family, Labor Day gatheringsALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham says family gatherings and long holiday weekends have been a source of infection for many New Mexicans who have contracted COVID-19. She warned during a briefing Thursday that gatherings in a COVID-19 world make for the worst possible situation. She asked everyone to buckle down and stick to the five-person limit mandated by the state's public health order. Her plea comes as state officials monitor the rate of spread as a deadline approaches for determining whether public schools can resume limited in-person classes after Labor Day. The governor and health officials were optimistic as they reported a decline in daily case counts.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NAVAJO NATION
Navajo president: Schools should use online learning in fallWINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) — Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez is urging all schools on the tribe's reservation to use online learning during the fall semester to help reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus. Nez's statement released Thursday night cited all public and private schools, including charter schools, schools operated by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs and those controlled by the tribe. Over 9,300 confirmed COVID-19 cases have been reported on the reservation, which includes parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah..
- ELECTION 2020-HOUSE-NEW MEXICO
Hopefuls in key US House race in New Mexico OK 2 debatesRIO RANCHO, N.M. (AP) — Democratic U.S. Rep. Xochitl Torres Small and Republican challenger Yvette Herrell have agreed to at least two televised debates in a closely watched race in southern New Mexico. Torres Small and Herrell said this week they agreed to participate in a KOB-TV debate and another sponsored by KOAT-TV and the Albuquerque Journal. Both say they'd like to add some more debates in the El Paso, Texas, market, which is home to many residents in the southern part of the district. Torres Small defeated Herrell by less than 4,000 votes in 2018, but the two never faced off in a televised debate.
- AP-US-COLORADO-RIVER-FUTURE
US West faces reckoning over water but avoids cuts for nowCARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Levels in two massive lakes in the U.S. West are projected to remain high enough to avert severe water cuts in states that rely on the Colorado River. The levels forecast Friday will only trigger voluntary reductions in Arizona and Nevada that haven't yet trickled down to homes. Despite optimistic forecasts, officials say they must prepare for a drier future as climate change and prolonged drought shrink the amount of water available for cities and farms. With a combination of conservation and alternative sources, officials hope to avoid painful cuts to their water supply from the river that serves 40 million people in seven states.
- RACIAL INJUSTICE-LAS CRUCES
New Mexico city agrees to police reforms in choke settlementA New Mexico city will seek to adopt racial bias training for police and may require officers to intervene in possible excessive force episodes following the choking death of a Latino man. An agreement announced Thursday between the city of Las Cruces and a lawyer for the family of Antonio Valenzuela was part of the relatives' push to reform the city's police. Police say then-Las Cruces Officer Christopher Smelser applied the chokehold after Valenzuela fled during a traffic stop in February. Valenzuela died at the scene. Smelser was later fired and faces a murder charge. His lawyer says the charge was a political move meant to grab headlines.
- UNIVERSITY FACULTY UNION
Report: New Mexico State faculty consider unionizingLAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — A newspaper says New Mexico State University faculty members are considering whether to form a union after President John Floros announced faculty cuts were likely as a result of budget problems. Floros said the university would keep its best people and anyone else who doesn't "get on the bus" would need to find another place to work. The Las Cruces Sun-News reports that his comments stimulated interest in unionization. The faculty's last attempt to organize in 2013 was unsuccessful. The expected cuts to staff and faculty will be finalized in October.
- VIRUS-OUTBREAK-CHILD CARE
Parents scramble for child care as schools stay onlineSANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Working parents in New Mexico are scrambling to find child care as summer programs and in-person public schooling is delayed until at least Labor Day. Hundreds of child care centers remain shuttered due to staffing shortages stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham says New Mexico will fall short on meeting everyone's child care needs in the short term. Efforts by Lujan Grisham's newly created child care agency could help, but parents still are having to decide whether to pay for private schooling, cut back hours or create home schooling groups.
- WATER SETTLEMENT-CONSTRUCTION
Project will bring drinking water to New Mexico pueblosPOJOAQUE PUEBLO, N.M. (AP) — Work is underway on a project that will bring drinking water to residents of four northern New Mexico pueblos as part of a settlement that ended a decades-long fight over water rights. Federal officials said construction on the Pojoaque Basin regional water system began this week. The pueblos of Pojoaque, Nambe, San Ildefonso and Tesuque will benefit along with other residents of Santa Fe County. The system will divert water from the Rio Grande. It will include treatment facilities, storage tanks and transmission and distribution pipelines with the capability to supply about 3.57 million gallons of drinking water a day.