The University of New Mexico has once again been selected as one of the outstanding institutions profiled in “The Best 380 Colleges” (Penguin Random House / Princeton Review Books), seventh annual edition. The Princeton Review, the education services company known for its test prep programs and college rankings, ratings and guidebooks, shows UNM 62 in the Quality of Life category; 64 in Academics; and 77 in Admissions.

Inclusion in the book is based on a survey in which 136,000 students at 380 top colleges are asked to rate their schools on dozens of topics and report on their campus experiences.

“Our 62 ranking lists provide students with a way to see the types of colleges that...

SANTA FE–Department Begins Grandfathering Process for Experienced Community Health Workers

The New Mexico Department of Health will begin to certify the first community health workers (CHW) in the state. The Department is focusing certification efforts on experienced CHWs and will be utilizing the grandfathering process. It is estimated that there are between 800 and 900 CHWs in New Mexico. As part of Governor Susana Martinez’s Healthcare Workforce Initiative in 2014, legislation was passed and signed creating the Community Health Workers Act. It established a voluntary certification process for CHWs.

“For more than a year, the New Mexico Department of Health has been setting up...

Two years ago, the Gallup Police Department received sad news that one of their own had been diagnosed with cancer. Lt. Gerald Tholund accepted the diagnosis and carried on.

Now, the cancer has spread and his family has begun to feel the weight of this tragic disease not only in what the future holds, but also the weight of mounting medical bills.

GPD PFC Andy Yearley spearheaded, along with other members of the GPD, a gofundme account to help, and they are now asking for the help of the community.

Tholund spent over a year accepting his diagnosis all while continuing to keep doing his important work at GPD.

“Sometimes he would do his treatments and would come back to work,”...

National Farmers Market Week this week got me thinking about the economic and cultural importance of not just the state’s 75 farmers markets, but of New Mexico agriculture more broadly.

On the economics side, New Mexico agriculture is a $4 billion-a-year sector.  But the true financial impact of agriculture in the state is much bigger.  Four billion is a measure of the value of agricultural commodities at the farm or ranch: things like live cattle, raw milk, and unprocessed wheat.  Turning those commodities into the products that most people no longer make for themselves – such as when milk gets turned into cheese, and when wheat gets turned into flour – adds several billion...