No direction but up

Gallup Mayor Louis Bonaguidi has waded through a trial by fire, starting his first 18 months in office with a pandemic lockdown of the city. COVID-19 is his main concern these days as he considers Gallup’s future.

“It’s changed everything in our world, period,” he told the Sun, Dec. 27. “We have so many priorities, but our priorities are on hold.”

Bonaguidi mentioned that he was responding to issues on multiple fronts including infrastructure, which he said is in dire trouble. He said the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project is at a standstill. It was to be completed in 2024, but now the Bureau of Reclamation is saying it could be 2029 before it’s...

Week ending Friday, December 24, 2021


Arctic Beavers

Beavers are slowly migrating farther north into the Arctic due to the warming climate, producing what a new U.S. government report says is a “significant impact” on the landscape.  NOAA’s Arctic Report Card 2021 says western Alaska has seen a doubling of its beaver population to more than 12,000 during the past 20 years, compared to none between 1949 and 1955. Their dams are increasing surface water and adding to the rate of permafrost melt, which in turn releases the greenhouse gases methane and carbon dioxide. The ponds are also said to be helping new fish and invertebrate species move in.

Earthquakes

A temblor along the...

The New Mexico Minimum Wage increased to $11.50 an hour on Jan. 1. This increase is in accordance with an amendment to the New Mexico Minimum Wage Act signed into law by Governor Lujan Grisham on April 1, 2019.


Beginning Jan. 1, 2022, the wage rate is as follows:

 

State minimum wage: $11.50 per hour

State tipped minimum wage: $2.80 per hour


The 2022 Minimum Wage Act Summary poster is required by businesses to display in a place where employees can easily see it.


Minimum wage is the lowest wage that an employer is legally required to pay to workers. NMDWS enforces the state and federal minimum wage. Please be advised that the City of Albuquerque, Bernalillo County, the...

Currently evaluating potential timeline for implementation

 

SANTA FE - The New Mexico Department of Health announced Dec. 29 that it plans to adopt new federal guidance surrounding isolation and quarantine for COVID-19. The state is currently updating its contact tracing protocols and other key processes and will announce a more specific implementation timeline in the near future.




On Dec. 27, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reduced its recommended COVID guidelines for isolation (following a positive COVID test) and quarantine (following exposure) from ten days to five days. Isolation and quarantine are critical tools for preventing the spread of COVID, especially by...