The post Women legislators fight for salaries appeared first on Searchlight New Mexico. Women make up nearly 44 percent of New Mexico’s Legislature — one of the largest representations of any state in the country. They make up the majority in the House of Representatives. Now, as the 2024 legislative session gets underway, a small group of those lawmakers is working to modernize a system that, in important ways, hasn’t been updated since its establishment in 1912. Most significantly: New Mexico is the only state whose legislators don’t draw a salary. (New Hampshire, a near tie in this regard ..read more

The post Who gets to adopt Native children? appeared first on Searchlight New Mexico. There once was a girl who lived in Corrales and loved collecting butterflies. She would capture perhaps 20 or 30 of them at a time, take them inside, then set them free to fly around her bedroom. Another thing she noticed about herself: Whenever she happened to be on the verge of a big life change, a coyote would appear. “Not like one running across the road,” Veronica Krupnick, now 27 years old, recalled, “but like I’d be out on a walk with my family, and a coyote would follow along close behind us.”  ..read more

Coalition asks the court to toss out an amendment that triggered the change The post Indigenous groups ask Supreme Court to overturn power shift appeared first on Searchlight New Mexico ..read more

Thousands received benefit overpayments through no fault of their own. Now the state wants them back. The post New Mexicans asked to repay unemployment benefits that the state sent by mistake appeared first on Searchlight New Mexico ..read more

September 19, 2022 Story and photos by Michael Benanav On a sweltering day at the end of July, Mike Amos crouched by his tent, fiddling with a few car batteries powered by solar panels that sat on the bottom rack of a shopping cart. Amos used them to charge his phone, e-cigarettes and an electric skillet while living at Albuquerque’s Coronado Park, where he has stayed for much of the last six... Source ..read more

Credit: Jim Thompson / Albuquerque Journal Out-of-state law firms make big contributions — and get handed big cases April 20, 2022 by Lindsay Fendt Over the past two months, several of the nation’s large law firms have poured money into the campaign coffers of Brian Colón, New Mexico’s state auditor and leading Democratic candidate for attorney general. Since 2018, when he was elected state... Source ..read more

An active gas well, surrounded by a chain-link fence, just off a dirt road in the Glade Run Recreation Area in Farmington, New Mexico, on Oct. 27, 2021. The Bureau of Land Management oversees the 19,000-acre public land, where dozens of gas wells intersect hiking paths and mountain bike trails. Photo by Jimmy Cloutier / Howard Center for Investigative Journalism Gaslit: How NM straddles the divide... Source ..read more

Deanna Archuleta Photo by JA Campbell ExxonMobil lobbyist joins NM Game Commission Deanna Archuleta’s appointment raises alarm among conservationists March 1, 2022 By Lindsay Fendt Deanna Archuleta, a lobbyist for ExxonMobil, has joined the New Mexico Game Commission, taking a seat that until now was reserved for environmentalists. Archuleta was quietly appointed last month by Gov. Source ..read more

An oil processing facility flares excess natural gas south of Carlsbad. Photo by Don J. Usner / Searchlight New Mexico Oil boom feeds NM budget, but environmental agencies left wanting Lawmakers decline to give needed funds for oil and gas regulation February 28, 2022 By Lindsay Fendt A boom in the oil and gas industry helped deliver a record-breaking $8.5 billion budget to New Mexico this year. Source ..read more

Yohanna Gerges at a Starbucks where he likes to go most afternoons. Photo by Nadav Soroker / Searchlight New Mexico State overpaid millions in unemployment benefits — now DWS wants it back Repayments can be forgiven if people file waivers, but process can be daunting February 24, 2022 By Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi Yohanna Gerges, 48, was working as a full-time Lyft and Uber driver in Albuquerque... Source ..read more