- NEW MEXICO-DAMAGES CAP
New Mexico's highest court has ruled that monetary limits on some types of damages due to medical malpractice are not unconstitutional. The New Mexico Supreme Court on Monday unanimously upheld the Medical Malpractice Act, which maintains non-medical and non-punitive damages at $600,000. The limit does not extend to punitive damages and compensation for medical and rehabilitative care. The five-member panel argue that a cap will just be a legal consequence when juries determine amounts to award. The decision reverses a 2018 ruling made by the Bernalillo County District Court. A woman was awarded $2.6 million in damages in her lawsuit against an Albuquerque doctor and health provider.
- NEW MEXICO OIL AND GAS
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham says nearly three-quarters of $1 billion could be lost over the next four years if New Mexico sees even a 10% reduction of oil and gas production due to President Joe Biden's actions to curb leasing on public lands. The first-term Democratic governor said Monday in a letter to the president that financial losses of that magnitude would have real effects on the state's ability to achieve goals like universal access to early childhood education. The governor is asking that New Mexico be granted energy transition credit for actions the state already is taking to address pollution and move toward more renewable energy.
- CAPITOL BREACH-LEGISLATURES
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Troops, extra police details and fences cordoning off the New Mexico state Capitol grounds and adjacent streets from public access have cost taxpayers at least $700,000 in police overtime, salaries for National Guard troops, equipment rental and other special expenses. State officials provided the accounting for security spending in response to inquiries by The Associated Press. The unprecedented security measures were instituted by Democratic majority legislative leaders in the aftermath of the storming of the U.S. Capitol. Republican state Sen. William Sharer of Farmington says the security perimeter is an infringement on political speech as the legislative majority pushes hot-button progressive proposals.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Health officials in New Mexico on Sunday reported 160 additional confirmed COVID-19 cases and two more deaths. The latest numbers increasing the state's totals to 188,311 cases and 3,852 known deaths since the pandemic started. Of the additional cases, 45 were reported in Bernalillo County and 29 in Dona Ana County. With the slowing of the coronavirus outbreak, Albuquerque Public Schools will resume in-person learning for five days a week on April 5 although students can continue remote learning for the rest of the school year. New Mexico's largest school district announced its startup date Friday after the state Public Education Department earlier in the week said all schools were expected to reopen classrooms after spring break.
- MARIJUANA-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — State legislators are at a stalemate regarding popular efforts to legalize marijuana in New Mexico with less than a week remaining to send a bill the governor. A state Senate panel pulled cannabis discussions off its agenda minutes before a Sunday hearing. Legislators are searching for common ground among advocates for legalization who say the industry would help New Mexico's economic recovery from the pandemic. Divergent views on marijuana taxation, licensing and pardon procedures for past convictions are complicating efforts to bring a final bill to a crucial Senate vote. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has set cannabis legalization as a high priority. Legislators have a March 20 deadline to send bills to the governor.
- AP-US-BIDEN
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and their spouses are hitting the road on a cross-country tour this week to highlight the benefits of the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan. The road show started Monday with Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, heading to Las Vegas while first lady Jill Biden visited Burlington, New Jersey. The president plans to stop in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, and he has an appearance with Harris in Atlanta on Friday. Stops at vaccination sites, businesses, schools and more are meant to educate the public about different aspects of the giant American Rescue Plan.
- NUCLEAR WASTE-SLOW CLEANUP
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The U.S. Energy Department has rolled out its 2021 priorities for cleaning up tons of toxic waste left behind by decades of bomb-making and nuclear research around the country. Included is a goal of sending 30 shipments from the birthplace of the atomic bomb — Los Alamos National Laboratory — to the federal government's underground waste repository. But some elected officials and watchdog groups say the list is another indication that New Mexico is on the back burner when it comes to cleaning up legacy waste. They also are raising concerns that new waste generated by the lab will need to be cleaned up and could further sideline decontamination efforts.
- SHIPROCK DEATH-INFORMATION REWARD
SHIPROCK, N.M. (AP) — The FBI is offering a $5,000 reward for information in the death of a Shiprock man last year. Authorities say the body of 30-year-old Isiah Terrell Billy was found in October along Highway 64 near a gas station in Shiprock. The FBI says the cause of death is pending, but is considered suspicious. Albuquerque TV station KRQE reports that the FBI and the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety are investigating the case.