USDA extends program due to COVID pandemic

SANTA FE — New Mexico school children will eat for free through December under a decision announced Aug. 31 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Schools may continue serving free meals to all children through the end of the year or until funding runs out, the federal agency said in a news release. This reverses an earlier decision to end the free summer feeding program when schools resumed in the fall.

“This is a huge relief for many New Mexico families who might not qualify for free meals, but are still facing hard times because of this pandemic,” Public Education Secretary Ryan Stewart said. “Now feeding their children is one...

ALBUQUERQUE — American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, American Federation of Teachers New Mexico President Stephanie Ly and Executive Vice President Kathy Chavez released the following statement Sept. 9:

On Aug. 19, AFT President Randi Weingarten and AFT New Mexico President Stephanie Ly alerted Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham that many Pre-K-12 school re-openings around the state have not met the standard set by her administration for safety and consistency. As a union of educators, public employees, and healthcare workers, we outlined the following conditions necessary for a safe return to in-person instruction:

1. Low infection rates and adequate testing in any...

A group of local leaders touted New Mexico’s work towards addressing climate change during a recent webinar on public health and climate change. But speakers such as Speaker of the House Brian Egolf, a Santa Fe Democrat, and New Mexico Department of Health (DOH) Sec. Kathyleen Kunkel tip-toed around the state’s recent record oil production and its contribution to climate change.

Fossil fuel combustion is the chief driver of carbon dioxide emissions that are causing climate change. While many states have begun transitioning to renewable energy sources to replace coal, oil and natural gas, New Mexico is the only state to adopt a 100 percent clean energy mandate while also producing...

Whistleblower’s grievance reveals LANL tritium release over legal limit

SANTA FE —The New Mexico Environmental Law Center and Nuclear Watch New Mexico notified the Environmental Protection Agency Aug. 28 that its rubber stamping of plans by the Department of Energy and the Los Alamos National Laboratory to vent up to 114,000 curies of radioactive gaseous tritium is unacceptable.

The two organizations stated:

“We believe that EPA and DOE, as federal agencies mandated to serve and protect the public, need to entirely reconsider their decision to allow this tritium venting project to move forward. The venting project has been poorly thought out; it would put an inestimable number...