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Sunday, May 19th

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Politics

Feb. 20 is Veterans Day at 2023 legislature

Sunday, 19 February 2023 11:27 Staff Reports

Military Veterans, National Guard/Reserve members, and active service members will be honored at the State Capitol in Santa Fe on Feb. 20 on Military and Veterans Day at the 2023 Legislature.

This annual day during the legislative session is presented by the New Mexico Department of Veterans Services and the New Mexico National Guard to honor active-duty service members and veterans for their sacrifice and service for the country.

The day will feature informational tables staffed by DVS, NMNG, the New Mexico VA Health Care System, VA’s Veterans Benefits Administration Albuquerque office, veterans groups, and community service organizations in the east and west wings of the Rotunda...

Updated "Bennie's Bill" headed to House Floor

Tuesday, 31 January 2023 11:05 Staff Reports

SANTA FE – “Bennie’s Bill,” which would hold adults who recklessly store firearms accountable if a child uses that firearm to commit a crime, passed the House Judiciary Committee today on a party line vote of 7-4. The bill is named after Bennie Hargrove, the Washington Middle School (Albuquerque) student fatally shot by another student who used his father's improperly stored gun in August 2021.

House Bill 9 holds adults accountable for making a firearm accessible to a minor (a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail), and negligently making a firearm accessible to a minor resulting in great bodily harm or death (a fourth degree felony, carrying an 18-month prison...

Magistrate Court judges take oaths of office

Monday, 30 January 2023 13:02 gallupsun

McKinley County Magistrate Court judges formally took their oaths of office on Jan. 30.

Magistrate Judges Brent Detsoi, Cynthia Sanders and Virginia Yazzie officially took their oaths earlier this month at private ceremonies, allowing them to carry out their duties when their terms began.

Sanders has served on the magistrate court bench since 2010, and has been presiding judge since 2011. She started her judicial career in the magistrate court in 1981, working as court clerk and then court manager.

Yazzie was elected to the magistrate court in 2018, and has worked to implement a DWI treatment court. She hopes in the near future the magistrate court will be able to...

Steinhaus retires from PED

Monday, 30 January 2023 12:21 gallupsun

The Office of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced on Jan. 28 Public Education Department Secretary Kurt Steinhaus would be retiring after a lengthy and distinguished career in New Mexico public education.

"I am deeply grateful to Secretary Steinhaus for his lifelong and tireless service in pursuit of improving educational outcomes for every New Mexico student,” Lujan Grisham said in a press release published on Jan. 28. “As a seasoned educator, his relationships with districts around the state have enormously benefited the work of the Department.”

Lujan Grisham went on to list some of the things Steinhuas did for education in New Mexico.

“Under his leadership...

Supporting the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project

Friday, 09 December 2022 02:42 Staff Reports

Rep. Leger Fernández, Senator Luján introduce bill to fund project

WASHINGTON D.C. – The Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project is one step closer to becoming a reality.

Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández, D-N.M., introduced a bill on Nov. 30. The bill amends the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project’s authorization to ensure it has the resources it needs to reach completion and to lower costs for the communities it serves. Senator Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., introduced the legislation in the Senate.

The Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project was first authorized as part of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, which settled the Navajo Nation’s water rights in the San Juan...