NM Legislature

Marsella Duarte appointed to fill state House vacancy

By |

The Bernalillo County Commission voted to appoint kindergarten teacher Marsella Duarte to fill the vacancy in state House District 16 at a special meeting Wednesday. The appointment lasts until the end of the term, which is Dec. 31 of this year. Duarte was one of seven applicants in attendance at the meeting. Duarte is a lifelong resident of the district, which covers portions of Albuquerque’s Westside along Coors Boulevard from Central Avenue to Montaño Road.

Bernalillo County

Bernalillo County Commission fight over when to fill state senate vacancy

By |

Jacob Candelaria left an open seat when he resigned his position in the State Senate on Oct. 19. The district, 26, is completely within Bernalillo County, which means that the task of replacing Candelaria falls to the Bernalillo County Commission. During a discussion of upcoming meetings at its regular meeting on Tuesday, the Bernalillo County Commission fell into heated discussion about the timing of naming a replacement for Candelaria. 

No decisions were made at the meeting. Initially, Bernalillo County Commission Chairwoman Adriann Barboa suggested Nov.

Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority

City of Albuquerque tries to decertify a class action lawsuit for gender pay equity

By |

The City of Albuquerque filed a motion last week to try to prevent a class action lawsuit that alleges gender pay discrimination. About 600 women joined four original plaintiffs in 2020 to create a class action lawsuit to seek redress for alleged gender pay discrimination. The original four plaintiffs filed their suit in 2018. Related: ABQ faces class action suit over disparity in pay for women

The plaintiffs’ attorney, Alexandra Freedman Smith, said the pay inequity is so significant, that in some cases, the plaintiffs are alleging there is as much as a $7 an hour difference between what men are paid and what women are paid for the same job. Freedman Smith said some of the women are owed around $100,000 because of the pay differential.

Bernalillo County

Northwest NM continues to outpace the rest of the state for COVID-19 cases

By |

With more than twice as many reported cases of COVID-19 in McKinley County than the more populated Bernalillo County, the state Department of Health announced 107 new test positive cases across the state of COVID-19 Tuesday. There are six new deaths related to the respiratory disease. The numbers released Tuesday brings the state to 4,138 cases of the disease and 162 total deaths related to the virus. There are 964 COVID-19 cases designated as recovered by the state’s DOH. There are 48 patients on ventilators and 178 who have been hospitalized, according to DOH.

COVID-19

Eight new positive COVID-19 cases, including first in southern and western New Mexico. Total is 43

By |

With the state’s announcement of 43 people total who have tested positive for COVID-19, the virus has now been detected in southern and western New Mexico for the first time. The state announced eight new positive tests on Friday. Update (3/21): State DOH reports 14 new COVID-19 cases; total of 57

A male in his 20s tested positive in Doña Ana County and a male in his 30s tested positive in McKinley County, the first in those counties

 The other new cases include:

A female in Bernalillo County in her teensTwo males in Bernalillo County in their 40sA female in Sandoval County in her teensA male in Sandoval County in his 80sA female in Taos County in her 70s. Including the above newly reported cases, New Mexico has now had a total of 43 positive tests for COVID-19:

Bernalillo County: 23Doña Ana County: 1McKinley County: 1Sandoval County: 6San Miguel County: 1Santa Fe County: 7​​Socorro County: 2Taos County: 2

The state has processed 3,814 tests for COVID-19 as of Friday. #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; }
/* Add your own Mailchimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block.

Bernalillo County

Seven new COVID-19 cases, total in NM now 35

By |

The state announced Thursday seven more people have tested positive for COVID-19, rising the overall number to 35. Update (3/20): Eight new positive COVID-19 cases, including first in southern and western New Mexico. Total is 43

The new cases are four people in Bernalillo, one person in San Miguel and two people in Santa Fe counties. This is the first time COVID-19, a type of coronavirus, has been detected in San Miguel County. So far, the breakdown of cases by county, including the seven new ones announced Thursday are:

Bernalillo County: 20​Sandoval County: 4​San Miguel County: 1​Santa Fe County: 7​​​Socorro County: 2​Taos County: 1

The state says they have processed 2,797 tests.

Bernalillo County

Two new cases of COVID-19 brings state to 23 positive tests

By |

Two new positive tests of COVID-19 have been found in New Mexico, increasing the number of overall cases to 23. The state Department of Health announced a man in his 50s in Taos County and a man in his 40s in Santa Fe County tested positive for COVID-19, a disease caused by a coronavirus. Update (3/18): Five new cases of COVID-19, one case without a known link

This is the first positive test of COVID-19 in Taos County so far. Previous test positive cases have been in Bernalillo, Sandoval, Socorro and Santa Fe counties. Including the two cases from Tuesday morning, the positive tests are in:

Bernalillo County: 14​Sandoval County: 2​​Santa Fe County: 4​​​Socorro County: 2​Taos County: 1

The state says 1,272 people have been tested so far. 

The Department of Health is actively investigating the new cases, including contact-tracing and swabbing symptomatic individuals who have had contact with the positive cases, according to the news release.

Environment

East Mountain water application spurs protests from residents, silence from State Engineer

By |

The tony neighborhoods tucked into the juniper-dotted grasslands on the east side of the Sandia Mountains represent yet another battleground in New Mexico’s water wars, one in which the state’s top water official has abandoned one side for the other. Last week, testimony ended in a trial over whether a private company can pump more water—114 million gallons more each year—from the Sandia Basin. Nancy Benson and her husband live in San Pedro Creek Estates, where they built their retirement home in 2000 after living in Albuquerque. She is shocked the state would consider granting the application after rejecting it previously. “This area is fully appropriated, there is nothing extra,” she said.

Sanctuary Cities

DOJ threatens (again) to withhold funds from Bernalillo County over immigration info sharing

By |

The U.S. Department of Justice is again threatening to withhold some crimefighting funds from Bernalillo County over what the Trump administration has called “sanctuary” policies. The DOJ contacted Bernalillo County and 22 other jurisdictions, including New York City and the states of California, Illinois and Oregon, saying they violated the law that promotes sharing immigration enforcement information with the federal government. DOJ says the statute requires cooperation as a condition for receiving grants through the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program. Wednesday, DOJ threatened to subpoena officials who do not comply with their documents request. The threat is the latest in the fight between the federal government and local jurisdictions they deem as “sanctuary.” There is no formal definition of a so-called “sanctuary” city or county, though the Trump administration generally uses it to refer to local jurisdictions that do not fully comply with federal requests to aid enforcement of immigration law.

Environment

Running Dry: Groundwater levels are dropping across the West, including in the East Mountains

By |

Garrett Petrie and Teri Farley moved to New Mexico about ten years ago. They found a house on five acres in the East Mountains because they liked being “off the grid.” Moving from Tucson, they were both well-aware of the water issues in the region. “We asked a lot of questions,” Petrie said. “We kept hearing things like, the wells really vary out here and you can get a good one, you can get a bad one.”

They thought they had a good well when they bought the house.