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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....

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...

Albuquerque — Sometimes, the underdogs win. Monday was one of those days. Thought to be on the chopping block for months after a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs commission called for their closure, veterans health clinics in Española; Raton; Las Vegas, N.M.; and Gallup have been saved. In what U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich called a...

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...

Taking care of two children alone – and during the COVID-19 pandemic, no less – is no small task. That’s why Melissa Martinez, a single mother of a 3-year-old son and a 4-year-old daughter, says more support for early childhood education is important. “It’s very hard to raise children alone. It takes a village, it...

ALBUQUERQUE — Sometimes, the underdogs win — and Monday was one of those days. Thought to be on the chopping block for months after a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs commission called for their closure, veterans health clinics in Española; Raton; Las Vegas, N.M.; and Gallup have been saved. In what Sen. Martin Heinrich called...

Four Veterans Affairs clinics in rural New Mexico are no longer at risk of closing, which would have forced veterans to travel hundreds of miles to seek care. The Department of Veterans Affairs had recommended that VA community-based outpatient clinics in Las Vegas, Raton, Española and Gallup be closed, in part, because of a decline in...

The local Veteran Affairs clinic is no longer in danger of being shut down, New Mexico’s U.S. Senators announced Monday afternoon. The Department of Veterans Affairs in March recommended the closure of 174 VA clinics across all 50 states, including four in New Mexico – in Las Vegas, Española, Gallup and Raton. If the...

An effort led by New Mexico’s senior U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich to unlock federal funding to help recover endangered species in the state and across the country passed the U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday and now awaits a vote on the Senate Floor. After passing both chambers of Congress, the Restoring America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA)...

Compromise can be unpopular, but in a country where political differences are deep and often bitter, it is necessary. That’s why the announcement of a bipartisan agreement on federal legislation to pass gun safety laws is welcome. And yet, at the same time, it is unsatisfactory. On Sunday, the group of 10 Republican and 10 Democratic senators...

Support for states to enforce crisis intervention orders, an enhanced review process for gun buyers under 21 and funding for school safety measures are some of the provisions included in a compromise on gun-control measures reached between Democratic and Republican senators. The proposals were ironed out in negotiations that included Sen. Martin...

New Mexico's senior U.S. Senator, Martin Heinrich, praised a bipartisan agreement on new gun safety legislation during a news conference Monday afternoon, presenting the compromise as a crucial first step toward reducing gun violence in America. Heinrich was among 10 Democrats who reached a deal with 10 Republicans in the Senate on a package he...