Thursday night [Nov. 19], a group of Indigenous community leaders gave presentations about the legacy of uranium mining in the state that still threatens the health and environment of their communities, decades after the last mines ceased operations.

From the 1940s through the early 1990s, New Mexico produced roughly 70 percent of the uranium in the United States, which was used in nuclear weaponry during the Cold War. Members of Indigenous communities across the state did most of the dangerous mining of the radioactive material, and those communities are still struggling to hold the federal government accountable for cleaning up the toxic contamination that was left behind.

“We...

While widespread distribution is still months away, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced that New Mexico would be one of four states to participate in a pilot delivery program for the distribution of its COVID-19 vaccine, though this does not mean the state will receive doses of the vaccine before other areas.

Pfizer announced earlier this month that a preliminary analysis found that the vaccine was over 90 percent effective in preventing illness.

New Mexico—along with Rhode Island, Texas and Tennessee—will take part in the pilot program, which will not include any early distribution of the vaccine.

“The four states included in this pilot program will not receive vaccine...

Days are getting shorter and colder, but the mood across the country was heated as people headed to the polls to cast their votes in the 2020 General Election Nov. 3.

After the polls closed at 7 pm, ballots were tallied until all precincts reported their final results in the early hours of Nov. 4.

THE FEDERAL RESULTS

Across the state, 912,565 of 1,351,811 of registered voters, or 67.51%, cast a ballot, according to the New Mexico Secretary of State’s website.

Los Alamos County had the highest percentage of voter turnout in the state, with about 79%. The counties with the most voters casting ballots were Bernalillo with 316,930; Doña Ana with 81,815; Santa Fe with...

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Vice President Myron Lizer signed a proclamation Nov. 1 to recognize the month of November as “Navajo Nation Adoption Awareness Month” to stress that there are hundreds of Navajo children who receive foster care services while waiting to be adopted by a loving family.

The proclamation states that there is a critical need to increase awareness regarding the number of Navajo children and teens in need of a permanent home on the Navajo Nation. Many Navajo youths will “age out” of the foster care system before they can find a forever home.

“Every Navajo child deserves a stable, loving, forever family. As Diné, our...