in the news

SHIPROCK — Work started this week to rehabilitate the runway at the Shiprock Airstrip. Carl Slater, manager for the Department of Airports Management at the Navajo Division of Transportation, said construction started Monday to renovate the runway, including new pavement and installing a lighting system. The runway is 5,210 feet...

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich and U.S. Representatives Ben Ray Luján, Steve Pearce and Michelle Lujan Grisham on Tuesday urged the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) to reverse tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Canadian newsprint, which threaten local newspapers across New Mexico. In a...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich announced Tuesday that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has agreed to the senators’ request to provide $6.5 million in infrastructure funding to complete a flood management project in Alamogordo, according to a joint press release from Udall and Heinrich’s offices. In the...

The primary elevators at Carlsbad Caverns National Park went back into service last week after a three-year modernization project following a breakdown in 2015. Next, the park planned to rebuild the small secondary, or backup, elevators which were used during the shutdown of the primary system. U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) questioned...

I’m standing in the heart of White Sands National Monument, in southern New Mexico, the largest gypsum dune field in the world. A sea of sand stretches as far as the eye can see—white waves and crests and curls, all uniformly rippled on the surface. The place is so vast that it’s visible from space. If new...

Some of the country’s most sensitive nuclear security functions are performed in outdated, run-down buildings on Kirtland Air Force Base. It’s a problem New Mexico’s elected officials and federal government administrators say they are now addressing with a massive new facility. The National Nuclear Security Administration on...

The All Pueblo Council of Governors issued a statement Tuesday (June 26) in support of preserving the Río Grande del Norte and Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monuments, providing a united front against any attempts by the Trump Administration to reduce protections. In the statement, the 20 Pueblo governors noted the monuments "protect...

Recently, the Joint Economic Committee Democrats released a report that evaluated that state of the economy in rural communities, and proposed policies that could help them. Donna Resendez examines this report, with the help of a JEC press conference featuring Senator Martin Heinrich. There are 46 million rural residents in the United States, which...

Eddy County led the state in fiscal year 2018 Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) funding. According to a news release from U.S. Sen. Tom Udall's Office, Eddy County received $3.598 million. Following closely in fundinger were Otero County, which  received $3.597 and Rio Arriba County which received $3.23 million. Eddy County was awarded...

Rural communities hold a special place in my heart. Not only because so many of the New Mexicans I represent live in rural areas, but also because I was raised in rural America. I know firsthand what it’s like to grow up in a small town, seeing both of my parents work long hours just to make ends meet and to provide a better future for my...

A slew of political leaders, activists and local community members gathered beneath the hot sun Saturday to slam President Trump’s family separation policy – which has seen a wave of criticism across the nation in the past few weeks and led the President to sign an order stopping the practice for the time being. “I want to thank...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Southwest Chief has hit another bump in the track. KOB uncovered documents revealing exactly what Amtrak management has in store for our state’s largest passenger rail link. In a meeting with Amtrak CEO Richard Anderson, U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., along with a bipartisan delegation of lawmakers from...

EL PASO, Texas – The end of the week at the U.S.-Mexico border brought with it more questions, minimal transparency and frustrated politicians. On Friday U.S. Sens. Tom Udall, D-N.M., and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., were in Tornillo, Texas, where the Trump administration erected tents to house teen boys separated from their families. A building...

EL PASO, Texas (KRQE) - U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich visited the border Friday, speaking out against the Trump administration's immigrant detention policies.  "This should've never happened in the first place. These kids should have never been separated from their families. That is the fundamental problem here, and this...

Forty-six million, or 14 percent, of Americans live in rural communities, and 72 percent of land in the United States is considered rural, according to a new report, "Investing in Rural America." The report, drafted by the U.S. Joint Economic Committee, was introduced in a teleconference on Wednesday by U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM), who is...

(CNN) Paternity leave was the first time that Alexis Ohanian's fast-paced lifestyle as a hard-charging businessman and husband to tennis superstar Serena Williams really slowed down and he could take stock of the rapidly changing priorities in his life. "I have a sleeping baby in one arm and my smart phone in the other and would still be like...

There’s no doubt that a college education is still one of the surest ways to gain the skills needed to build a successful career. But if students and their families cannot afford to pay for a college education without taking on massive student loan debt, we are making that important investment in their future much more costly than it needs to...

Broadband investment is critical infrastructure investment. Just like access to water, roads, railways, and electricity in the 21st century, broadband internet access determines which communities grow and thrive. For many rural tribal communities, the lack of access to high-speed broadband internet connections leaves far too many of our children...

SANTA FE – A federal judge has thrown a wrench into the federal government’s plans to house most of the nation’s production of the plutonium cores for nuclear weapons at a facility in South Carolina instead of Los Alamos National Laboratory. A federal judge has at least temporarily halted shutdown of the mixed-oxide fuel...

A Democratic senator is looking to add an amendment to annual defense policy legislation to force President Trump to appoint a cybersecurity coordinator at the White House after the administration’s controversial decision to eliminate the role. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) is offering an amendment to the Senate’s version of the fiscal...