SANTA FE — New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, Environment Secretary James Kenney, and Natural Resources Trustee Maggie Hart Stebbins announce an agreement in principle to settle New Mexico’s claims against the federal government in the litigation over the 2015 Gold King Mine disaster.

On Feb. 16, the parties agreed to put the litigation on hold for 90 days so that the terms of the agreement can be finalized in a formal settlement agreement. Final settlement terms will be focused on investing funds into communities in northwest New Mexico to bolster the agriculture and outdoor recreation economies and mitigate the stigma caused by the...

Week ending Friday, February 4, 2022

 

New Ocean Normal

A study of the past 150 years of ocean observations reveals that the rising temperatures of the world’s seas, including extreme oceanic heat waves, “passed the point of no return” in 2014. The Monterey Bay Aquarium-sponsored study was published in the Journal PLOS Climate and warns that the increasing warmth is devastating the ecosystem. It documents how extreme sea-surface temperatures occurred just 2% of the time a century ago, but have been happening at least 50% of the time since 2014. Some hot spots experienced extreme temperatures 90% of the time, ravaging wildlife populations.

Earthquakes

People from Dallas to...

Technology is a double-edged sword. Lately, Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services management and patients have been learning that lesson the hard way.

Amid escalating tensions between some members of the community and hospital management, phone outages at the College Clinic were the last straw. Patients vented on Facebook about problems reaching their care providers and making appointments.

Eventually, they organized and took to the streets in protest, braving the wind and snow Feb. 2, and coming out again on Feb. 9, under sunnier skies.

“When the protesters came out it was on the heels of a couple of weeks of frustration with the phones,” RMCHCS Interim CEO Don...

New Mexico is currently trying to throw its hat in the ring to become one of the four potential locations of hydrogen hubs across the nation.

According to a Jan. 25 news release, Gov. Michelle Lujan-Grisham announced the introduction of House Bill 4, the Hydrogen Hub Development Act, which will expand the clean energy economy in New Mexico while lowering greenhouse gas emissions through incentivizing low-carbon hydrogen production and export.

During the Feb. 8 city council meeting, Gallup’s city manager Maryann Ustick explained why it would be a good idea for the city to support the bill.

“This would certainly help us with good-paying jobs and diversifying our economy, and [I]...