- MARIJUANA-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico lawmakers are embarking on an unusual legislative session that focuses on the legalization of recreational marijuana. Efforts at legalizing the sale of cannabis to adults 21 and older faltered during the regular annual session that ended March 20, amid divergent views about government oversight among supporters of legalization. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has called back legislators to the Statehouse to hammer out an agreement on thorny issues of tax rates on pot sales, precautions against child access and court procedures for reversing past cannabis convictions. Negotiations are well underway in private.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico on Saturday reported 185 additional confirmed COVID-19 cases with only two more deaths amid continued slowing of the coronavirus outbreak. The state's pandemic totals rose to 190,887 cases and 3,925 deaths. Meanwhile, seven-day rolling averages of daily new cases and daily deaths declined over the past two weeks, according to Johns Hopkins University data Bernolillo and Sandoval counties each had one death from COVID-19 while Bernalillo accounted for about a third of the additional cases. Dona Ana, Sandoval, San Juan and Valencia counties also had double-digit numbers of additional cases.
- CONGRESS-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A cadre of New Mexico state Republican Party leaders on Saturday chose state Sen. Mark Moores to run for the Albuquerque-based congressional seat held by Deb Haaland before she was confirmed as secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Moores was chosen with 40% of the 121 votes cast during a videoconference meeting by members of the Republican Party central committee who live in the 1st Congressional District. The seven-candidate field also included conservative radio talk show host Eddy Aragon, who placed second with 28% of the vote. Democrats have held the seat since 2009. But Republicans see an opening in a potentially low-turnout special election set for June 1.
- CLAIM TOSSED-RANCHER KILLS WOLF
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A federal judge has tossed a rancher's claim that he should still have the right to use federal land in New Mexico after it was revoked for killing a wolf. The Santa Fe New Mexican reported Friday that Craig Thiessen killed an endangered Mexican wolf in Gila National Forest six years ago and has since argued he should still be allowed to graze his cattle on the 48,000 acres of public land. That argument was rejected this week by a federal judge. Thiessen pleaded guilty in 2018 for killing the wolf. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service then revoked his company's permit to graze cattle on the public land.
- NEW MEXICO PRISON
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico plans to close a women's prison located in a small rural town and transfer the inmates and workers elsewhere. Officials said Friday that timing and other details regarding the closure of the Springer Correctional Center in the Colfax County community of Springer remain to be determined. The head of the Department of Corrections said closing the prison "will allow for more fiscally responsible operation of the remaining state facilities, while maintaining safe housing for the inmate population." Numerous women have filed lawsuits alleging they were sexually harassed, assaulted or raped by guards and then ignored or retaliated against when they reported the abuse.
- AP-US-AIRPORT-BODIES
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A man accused in the beating death of a New Jersey resident he claimed sexually abused him as a child has been charged with killing his ex-wife and two of her friends whose bodies were found at a New Mexico airport. The charges came Friday following numerous interviews and searches of a house, storage units and other locations in the city of Grants, where suspect Sean Lannon, his ex-wife and their children lived. The remains of Jennifer Lannon, two of her friends and an Albuquerque man were found earlier this month in a vehicle at an Albuquerque airport parking garage. Charges related to the death of the Albuquerque man have not yet been filed.
- GOVERNOR VACCINATED-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has received an initial vaccination shot as the state opens eligibility to more residents. The 61-year-old governor and former congresswoman announced in a news release that she received the shot of the Pfizer-manufactured vaccine at a clinic on a school campus in Santa Fe. The state is making the vaccine available to residents ages 60 and over, essential workers and a variety of health and hospice workers. About one-quarter of New Mexico residents are fully vaccinated. Local rates of COVID-19 positivity in testing and related deaths in New Mexico have plummeted in recent months.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NAVAJO NATION
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) — The Navajo Nation has reported nine new COVID-19 cases for a second day. The latest numbers released Friday, including two additional deaths, raises the tribe's numbers to 30,040 cases and 1,245 known deaths since the pandemic began. Health care providers across the Navajo Nation are administering the vaccine either at drive-thru events or by appointment. Tribal President Jonathan Nez says around half of the Navajo Nation's adult population has been fully vaccinated. However, he urged the community to minimize travel, continue to wear masks and social distance. Mask mandates and daily curfews remain on the reservation that covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.