in the news

A bill cosponsored by New Mexico’s United States senators aims to help the Federal Emergency Management Agency better help victims of wildfires. Such blazes are growing in number and intensity across the West.  U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) said Wednesday on the Senate floor that FEMA has gotten “pretty...

Today is National Public Lands Day, a great time to visit one of New Mexico’s incredible national parks, monuments, forests, and wilderness areas—most have waived their entrance fees to mark the occasion.  The outdoors has always been at the center of my life. When other kids were playing baseball, I was catching snapping...

I’m a notorious cheapskate. I run my pickup tires so bald that I dread early season snowstorms. I eat leftovers at my desk rather than meet buddies for a burger, not because I’m anti-social, but because that Tupperware container full of elk stew represents a free meal. I apply much the same philosophy to public policy. I am a fiscal...

A $38 million infusion of federal funds was granted to New Mexico to build a network of electrical vehicle charges along the state’s interstate highways over the next five years. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration announced it approved of the State’s plans to build the chargers Sept. 14 after it...

I’m a notorious cheapskate. I run my pickup tires so bald that I dread early season snowstorms. I eat leftovers at my desk rather than meet buddies for a burger, not because I’m anti-social, but because that Tupperware container full of elk stew represents a free meal. I apply much the same philosophy to public policy. I am a fiscal...

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich announced Friday that New Mexico’s electric vehicle infrastructure plan has been approved by the Biden administration, and the state is expected to receive $38 million over five years to support the expansion of its electric vehicle charging network. The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program,...

US Senator Martin Heinrich paid a visit to the Randall Davey Audubon Center and Sanctuary in Santa Fe on Friday to tout the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act. Heinrich toured the sanctuary and heard about the Audubon Center’s efforts to protect the Pinyon Jay, a bird that has seen significant population decline due to drought, climate...

NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – An important bird, crucial to New Mexico’s Pinon Pine is at risk for extinction. Now, lawmakers in Washington, including Senator Martin Heinrich, are fighting to keep them and so many other endangered species from dying off. Senator Martin Heinrich, a hunter himself, knows how important our public lands and...

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich visited a place in Santa Fe on Friday that offered the best hope for spotting a pinyon jay, a bird that has grown more elusive as its numbers have fallen. But alas, seeing the blue-hued bird known for plucking nuts from piñon cones and reseeding the trees wasn’t in the cards for Heinrich during his visit to the...

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (KFOX14) — The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was passed in late June and it allowed for more extensive background checks and is expected to help prosecute firearm traffickers more severely. We spoke with U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich from New Mexico who helped write this new bill to include a law that would help stop gun...

In 1872, seven years after the end of the Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant was president, John Wesley Powell was completing his second expedition down the Colorado River, and Congress was dispatching another party to map areas of the Southwest. Most Western territories were years away — or, in New Mexico’s case, decades away — from...

After President Joe Biden’s signature piece of environmental legislation appeared to stall in the U.S. Senate, New Mexico leaders and activists called on the President to use his executive powers to declare a “climate emergency” and take steps to address pollution throughout the country. The Build Back Better Act passed the...

President Joe Biden yesterday announced the nomination of Matthew L. Garcia, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s chief of staff, to the US District Court for the District of New Mexico. Garcia has held the position for the last two years after serving as its general counsel. He was previously in private practice. New Mexico US Sen. Martin Heinrich...

Federal nuclear waste regulators issued a report that continued their support of a proposed project to store spent nuclear fuel at a remote location in the desert of southeast New Mexico, despite continued opposition from state and federal elected officials from that state. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued its final environmental...

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission yesterday issued its final environmental impact statement for Holtec International’s proposal to build an interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in Lea County. The facility would be located approximately halfway between Carlsbad and Hobbs and the license would authorize the initial phase of the...

A major piece of environmental legislation could pass the Senate and reach President Biden's desk before Labor Day, and it starts with the letter “R.” No, it's not Biden's long-stalled reconciliation package, which is still the subject of intense negotiations between Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and Senate Majority Leader Charles E....

LAS VEGAS — The Las Vegas Veteran Affairs clinic is no longer in danger of being shut down, New Mexico’s U.S. Senators announced June 27. The Department of Veterans Affairs in March recommended the closure of 174 VA clinics across all 50 states, including four in New Mexico, including Las Vegas. If the recommendation had been followed,...

There’s an old saying in Washington, D.C.: It’s not so much where you stand, but where you sit. In the case of a special commission tasked with closing VA clinics, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators simply refused to seat any members. Killing the Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission effectively killed recommendations by the U.S....

MARQUEZ WILDLIFE AREA – Theresa Pasqual is eager to get reacquainted with the land east of Mount Taylor where her ancestors hunted and held traditional ceremonies. The Acoma Pueblo Historic Preservation director said she feels that a state project that has opened 54,000 acres of land to the public will allow more people to connect to a...

Federal lawmakers say they’ve killed a plan by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to shutter four VA clinics in New Mexico. The Gallup, Las Vegas, Raton and Española clinics would have been closed under recommendations released in March. A 2018 law passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump requires VA plans to go to...