- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW MEXICO
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Vaccination clinics scheduled for hundreds of public school employees throughout Albuquerque and surrounding communities won't happen after all. New Mexico health officials say the state is focusing the current round of vaccinations on people age 75 and older and those who have underlying medical conditions that put them at risk from COVID-19. But news of the scuttled clinics angered one state senator and left school administrators with two of the state's largest districts extremely disappointed. Republican Sen. Craig Brandt of Rio Rancho said the Health Department's actions demonstrate a callous disregard for families and teachers in his district.
- CORONAVIRUS RELIEF-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A $100 million burst of grants to small business across New Mexico illustrates the overwhelming breadth and depths of economic distress brought on by the coronavirus. Public records obtained by The Associated Press show that successful applicants included businesses run by leading state legislators and a family amusement park that has sued the governor twice to reopen. Others include Catholic charities, local chambers of commerce and near-empty restaurants and hotels run by lone proprietors and local business magnates. The money ran out too soon for thousands of applicants that were denied grants. State lawmakers are now devising new lifelines for local businesses crippled by the pandemic.
- HIGHER EDUCATION-NEW MEXICO
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Officials at New Mexico's two largest universities say freshman enrollment is holding steady if not increasing despite the challenges brought on by the pandemic. However, University of New Mexico President Garnett Stokes acknowledged that enrollment overall has decreased and officials are concerned about the negative trend. Stokes on Thursday delivered her annual state of the university address as colleges and universities across the country grapple with shrinking enrollments. At New Mexico State University, President John Floros expects spring enrollment to hold steady. He said the challenges going forward will be finding more ways to make higher education accessible to more people.
- AP-US-BIDEN-OIL-MORATORIUM
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Biden administration has suspended new oil and gas leasing and drilling permits on U.S. lands and waters for 60 days as officials move to reverse the energy and environmental policies of the Trump administration. The suspension announced Thursday follows campaign pledges by President Joe Biden to halt new drilling on U.S. lands and end the leasing of federal energy reserves as part of his plan to address climate change. It drew a quick backlash from the oil industry and Republicans who said it could kill jobs. The order did not ban new drilling outright and a small number of senior Interior Department officials can still issue approvals.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NAVAJO NATION
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) — The Navajo Nation has announced it is extending its stay-at-home order with a revised nightly curfew to limit the spread of COVID-19 while lifting weekend lockdowns to allow more vaccination events. Tribal officials announced late Thursday that the actions in the tribe's latest public health emergency order will take effect Monday and run through at least Feb. 15. Officials said the daily curfew will run daily from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. The tribe through Thursday reported a total of 26,782 cases and 940 known deaths on the reservation where 75 communities had uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 from Jan. 1 through Jan. 14.
- INAUGURATION-NATIVE AMERICANS
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Native Americans celebrated as Joe Biden revoked a pipeline permit and halted border wall construction on his first day as president. But amid the revelry, some saw a glitch in his swearing-in ceremony with the lyrics of the song "This Land is Your Land." The folk tune is popular around campfires and in grade schools, but it also called to mind the nation's long history of land disputes involving tribes. Woody Guthrie wrote the song in the 1940s as a retort to "God Bless America." Other inaugural events showcased tribes across the country wearing traditional regalia, dancing and praying.
- LEGISLATURE FUNDING BILL SIGNED
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is signing the first bill of the 2021 legislative session, funding the work of the legislature amid heightened security concerns. The $32 million bill is a sliver of the approximately $7 billion in general funds the legislature will deliberate allocating in this year's longer 60-day session. New this year, the bill includes $2.1 million in additional security costs amid an unprecedented hardening of the capitol complex following the Jan. 6 riot in Washington, D.C. The New Mexico legislative session has been closed to the public because of the pandemic, and the capitol is guarded by soldiers, sheriff's deputies and state police due to threats.
- BIDEN-BORDER WALL
SAN DIEGO (AP) — President Joe Biden has ordered a "pause" on all border wall construction, one of 17 executive orders issued his first day in office. The move leaves billions of dollars in unfinished work under contract after his predecessor, Donald Trump, worked feverishly to successfully to build 450 miles. A Senate aide tells The Associated Press that the government has spent $6.1 billion of $10.8 billion under contract. The full amount under contract would have extended Trump's wall to 664 miles. The Biden administration will negotiate cancellation fees and and look into whether what's left can be spent elsewhere.