- ENDANGERED WOLVES-MEXICO
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico zoo has sent a pair of endangered Mexican gray wolves and their seven pups to Mexico as part of conservation efforts in that country. Officials at the zoo in Albuquerque said Tuesday that the pack of predators was sent south last week and will eventually be released into the wild after they learn to hunt and survive on their own. The zoo has partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for decades on Mexican gray wolf recovery efforts. Several wolves born at the zoo have been released into the wild over the years, but officials say this marks its first international pack release.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW MEXICO
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico health officials say they don't expect to run out of coronaviruis vaccine. Health Department spokesman Matt Bieber said Wednesday that the state orders the maximum number of doses it can and its orders are typically filled. The state continues to have one of the fastest distribution times in the U.S. It has administered nearly 153,000 shots so far. More than 471,000 New Mexicans have registered for the vaccine. While health care workers were given first priority, officials with some of the state's largest hospitals say between 20% and 30% of their medical staff have declined a shot and may be waiting to see how it affects people.
- EDUCATION FUNDING-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Education accounts for about half of New Mexico's $7 billion general fund — the money that legislators can spend. This year the agenda ranges from emergency efforts to mitigate learning loss caused by the pandemic and reopen schools, to long-term funding changes that require a constitutional amendment. Most students have been learning remotely since March because of the pandemic. That has laid bare longstanding inequalities in education funding that have been dogging the state for years. Lawsuits are attacking existing funding, and lack of internet access is making legislators rethink in-person learning and the state's antiquated rural internet infrastructure.
- AP-WET WEATHER-SOUTHWEST
Forecasters say the drought-stricken Southwest can expect some relief from off-and-on wet weather the rest of this week and into next, with rain expected in lower elevations and snow in higher terrain. The AccuWeather forecasting service said the next round of rain moving through the Southwest through Thursday is likely to be heavier than the quarter of an inch that many areas got Tuesday. National Weather Service forecasters in Flagstaff in northern Arizona said stronger and colder storms will produce widespread rain and snow this weekend and early next week. Forecasters said increased precipitation is on tap Thursday and again this weekend and early next week.
- BIDEN-IMMIGRATION REFORM-REACTION
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) — Immigrants are cheering President Joe Biden's plan to provide a path to U.S. citizenship for about 11 million people without legal status. From Phoenix to New York and rural Florida, immigrants mixed their hopes with guarded optimism amid a seismic shift in how the American government views and treats them. The newly inaugurated president moved Wednesday to reverse four years of harsh restrictions and mass deportation with a plan for sweeping legislation on citizenship. He also issued executive orders reversing some of former President Donald Trump's key immigration policies.
- PRESCRIBED BURNS-PRIVATE LAND
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's energy and natural resources agency is putting its support behind legislation that it says would clear the way for more prescribed fires as the state deals with climate change. The measure would clarify liability for private landowners who conduct prescribed burns. Officials with the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department say that would make it easier and more affordable for landowners to get insurance. They say similar legislation in other states has resulted in increased prescribed burning. The bill's sponsor says the intensity of recent fire seasons underscores the need for action.
- LEGISLATURE CONVENES-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico lawmakers are confronting daunting challenges as they begin a 60-day session during the coronavirus pandemic. Lawmakers met Tuesday at a Statehouse guarded by troops and encircled by fencing, barricades and mobile security cameras. Proposals aimed at reviving the economy are at the top of the agenda for lawmakers in the Democratic-led Legislature. Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is pushing for increased state spending on pandemic relief, education and health care. Lightning-rod initiatives also have been drafted that would allow broad marijuana sales, shore up abortion rights and reform police oversight.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW MEXICO
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Officials with New Mexico's largest health care providers say a recent decrease in statewide COVID-19 hospitalizations is not enough to ease up on mask wearing or other measures aimed at curbing spread. Hospital administrators provided an update during a briefing Tuesday. The number of people hospitalized in New Mexico due to the virus was just over 640 on Tuesday, which was among the lowest levels in recent months. But the hospital officials described the decrease as more of a plateau, saying modeling suggests they could see increases through February. New Mexico has confirmed nearly 165,000 infections since the pandemic began.