- ELDERLY ADVOCATE-NEW MEXICO
New Mexico chooses ombudsman for nursing home complaintsSANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico has hired attorney and social worker Linnea Forsythe as the state's new ombudsman for long-term care to address concerns and complaints from the residents of nursing homes.
Aging and Long-Term Services Secretary Alice Liu McCoy announced the appointment Wednesday. She says the position is critical to protecting the health, safety and rights of vulnerable residents of long-term care facilities.
States are required to have an ombudsman program for long-term care under the federal Older Americans Act. The ombudsman in New Mexico relies on a network of volunteers that currently number fewer than 50.
The state's long-term care agency is attempting to expand that network of volunteers with the hiring of Forsythe.
- TROUBLED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Troubled Mora district hires 9th superintendent in 3 years(Information from: Las Vegas Optic, http://www.lasvegasoptic.com)
LAS VEGAS, N.M. (AP) — A troubled northern New Mexico school district that has had eight superintendents in three years has hired another one.
The Las Vegas Optic reports the Mora Schools Board of Education voted last week to offer a two-year contract to Peñasco Schools Superintendent Marvin MacAuley. The move comes days after two-thirds of voters defeated a mill levy for Mora Public Schools.
Last year, the Mora Schools Board of Education fired Superintendent Ella Arellano after no school earned higher than a C grade from the state.
Former Superintendent Charles Trujillo pleaded guilty to a felony charge for falsifying credentials.
In November, the Las Vegas Optic reported Interim Superintendent Carla Westbrook-Spaniel once was arrested for public intoxication and accused of leaving two preschool-age children alone while she went to a nightclub.
___
- INDIAN CHILD WELFARE
US Supreme Court denies review of Arizona child welfare caseFLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has denied review of an Arizona case challenging a law that gives preference to American Indians in adoptions of Native children.
The order this week leaves in place a lower court ruling that dismissed a complaint from a Phoenix-based, right-leaning think tank.
The Goldwater Institute sought to keep two children with ties to the Gila River and Navajo tribes from being removed from their non-Native foster parents.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the case was moot because the children had been adopted.
The 9th Circuit didn't rule on the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act.
That question is before a federal appeals court in Louisiana in a separate case out of Texas that represents the most significant challenge to the 40-year-old law.
- DEVON ENERGY-HOBBS
Devon Energy to open office in southeastern New Mexico(Information from: Hobbs News-Sun, http://www.hobbsnews.com)
HOBBS, N.M. (AP) — Devon Energy, an independent company engaged in finding and producing oil and natural gas, is opening up an office in southeastern New Mexico.
The Hobbs News-Sun reports the Oklahoma City-based company recently announced plans to expand to Hobbs.
The Hobbs office is expected to open later this summer and will house approximately 40 of Devon's 225 employees in the currently booming oil and gas region.
It will be one of five Devon offices situated across southeast New Mexico and west Texas to support the company's Delaware Basin operations.
Devon operates in several of the most prolific oil and natural gas plays in the U.S. and Canada.
___
- ELECTION 2020-HOUSE-NEW MEXICO
District attorney kicks off Democratic bid for CongressSANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Northern New Mexico District Attorney Marco Serna is diving into his campaign for the Democratic nomination to an open Congressional race in 2020.
Serna was scheduled Thursday to kick off a campaign tour of 16 communities in the 3rd Congressional District with an event at his mother's jewelry store in Espanola.
Serna already has pledged to make solutions to the state's opioid addiction crisis a top priority if elected to Congress. As district attorney, he has helped divert some nonviolent drug offenders into counseling and supportive services as an alternative to incarceration.
Serna joins a field of at least seven Democratic candidates. Third-District Rep. Ben Ray Luján is running for U.S. Senate in 2020.
On Tuesday, Espanola native and economic development consultant Rob Apodaca announced his Democratic candidacy.
- ELECTION 2020-IMMIGRATION
Immigration largely absent from Democrats' 2020 policy blitzWASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic presidential contenders are in a feverish battle to one-up each other with ever-more-ambitious plans to beat back global warming, curb gun violence and offer universal health care coverage.
But largely left out of the policy parade: immigration.
The 20-plus-candidate field is united in condemning President Donald Trump's support for hard-line immigration tactics. They've particularly bashed his push to wall off the U.S. border with Mexico and roll back asylum rights.
But only two contenders, ex-Obama Housing Secretary Julián Castro and former Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke, have released detailed, written policies addressing the future of the immigration system.
Trump has continued to view the issue as a winner heading into 2020 and may have a clear path on it if Democratic presidential hopefuls don't eventually go deeper.
- CENSUS 2020-MINORITIES
Census head vows 'independent' count amid heated politicsALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The U.S. Census director is promising the 2020 Census will remain independent and will avoid political pressures amid uncertainty over how the bureau will question immigrants.
U.S. Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham told reporters in Albuquerque on Wednesday bureau workers have taken a "lifetime oath" not to share private information from residents. He also vowed the bureau would make sure states with high percentages of Latinos and Native Americans receive accurate counts.
Dillingham was in New Mexico for a bureau's four-day tour of the state's rural communities and the Navajo Nation.
His visit comes as the U.S. Supreme Court reviews a possible question about whether a person is a United States citizen.
Democratic U.S, Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico says all communities should feel safe about filling out the 2020 Census.
- CHACO CANYON-DRILLING
US officials to put off oil leases near sacred tribal landALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt has agreed to put off oil and gas leasing for a year on land that tribes consider sacred surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park in northwestern New Mexico.
Officials say that will allow time to finish an updated management plan to guide energy development across the region. The decision comes after Bernhardt visited the ancient site Tuesday.
The area has been central to an ongoing dispute over drilling in the San Juan Basin in northwestern New Mexico and southwestern Colorado.
Native American tribes and others are pushing for a formal buffer to protect culturally significant sites within 10 miles (16 kilometers) of the park.
The management plan will include an alternative that reflects the views of Native American leaders and provisions from pending federal legislation.
___
This story has been corrected to show the park's name was incorrect.