NMDOT presents zipper merge

In an effort to cut the number of collisions as construction work resumes on five projects along I-40 in McKinley and Cibola counties, District 6 of the New Mexico Department of Transportation has introduced the “zipper merge.”

NMDOT says most New Mexico motorists start to merge in construction zones as soon as they see warning signs and learn which lane ahead is closed. This is called an “early merge” and it can lead to dangerous lane switching, inconsistent driving speeds that cause crashes, long back-ups that block interchanges, angry drivers and road rage.

Research shows, however, that these dangers decrease and traffic moves more smoothly...

Over the next three weeks voters in Central New Mexico, Congressional District One, will have the opportunity to select a new congressional representative. The new representative will take the place of Deb Haaland who almost immediately after being elected to a second term in November, was appointed the first Native American to serve as Secretary of the Interior.

Congressional District One includes all of Torrance County, a good portion of Bernalillo County, as well as a portion of Sandoval County and a sliver of Valencia and Santa Fe counties.

Aubrey Dunn has been a Republican, a Democrat, a Libertarian and is now running as an Independent. Dunn is a long-time rancher with a...

PART TWO: The longstanding link between water and health

Nothing comes without water. The tribal housing authority won’t build homes if there’s no water to plumb them. Schools, health clinics, administrative offices, restaurants, and businesses cannot be constructed or continue to operate without it.

“A homeland for the Navajo people is not merely a piece of land between our four sacred mountains, but is a place where our culture, our language, and our way of life and our people can live and grow,” former Navajo Nation president Joe Shirley, Jr. testified to Congress in 2007. “Without water, viable economic and social communities wither and die.”

The first U.S. Public...

Week ending Friday, May 7, 2021

Manatee Deaths

An average of seven manatee deaths have been reported each day in Florida so far this year as the U.S. government and local marine mammal experts try to find what’s behind the spike in fatalities. About 675 manatee carcasses were found from January 1 to mid-April, compared to 637 in all of last year. Nearly half of the sea cow fatalities occurred around the Indian River Lagoon. Recent algae blooms and pollution have killed off the area’s seagrass beds, which the manatees feed on. Development and habitat loss are also adding stress to the animals, as is chronic exposure to pesticides such as glyphosate, a key ingredient in Roundup. Red...