- 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 once-mighty 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.
- 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 quickly to reverse the energy and environmental policies of the Trump administration. The suspension follows campaign pledges by President Joe Biden to halt new drilling on U.S. lands and end the leasing of publicly owned energy reserves as part of his plan to address climate change. The suspension went into effect immediately under an order signed Wednesday. It drew a quick backlash from the oil industry and Republicans who said it would kill jobs.
- 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.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Ten inmates at a state prison and one inmate at a federal lockup in central New Mexico are among the latest confirmed COVID-19 cases. State health officials on Thursday reported an additional 997 cases. That puts the statewide total since the pandemic began at nearly 167,000 cases. Another 35 deaths were also reported, bringing that tally to nearly 3,050. Hospitalizations also remained steady, with more than 640 people being treated around the state. Nearly all New Mexico counties remain in the higher risk red zone, with spread and positivity rates above the targets set by health officials.
- 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 within a week, one of 17 executive orders he issued on his first day in office. The move Wednesday leaves projects throughout the border unfinished but still under contract after his predecessor, Donald Trump, worked feverishly to successfully to build 450 miles. In Arizona, crews have been blasting dynamite in remote mountains to complete work. In Texas, construction equipment lay idle Thursday. In San Diego, work continued at an iconic cross-border park overlooking the Pacific Ocean, which then-first lady Pat Nixon inaugurated in 1971 as symbol of international friendship.
- PAY EQUITY-PROCUREMENT PREFERENCE
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The city of Albuquerque, Bernalillo County and their joint water authority say they will promote gender pay equality by giving a 5% contract preference to businesses that pay men and women equitably. A statement released Thursday said the preference being offered by the city, the county and the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Authority means that a company's bid amount will be considered 5% lower if equal pay is verified within the company. According to the statement, agencies in the three governments will implement the change starting Monday and that a company's pay equity reporting from is valid for one year.
- 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.