U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) announced Wednesday that his Halt All Lethal Trafficking of (HALT) Fentanyl Act has been signed into law. The bill permanently classifies fentanyl-related substances (FRS) as Schedule I drugs under the Controlled Substances Act. Heinrich, the bill’s lead Democratic sponsor, introduced the HALT Fentanyl Act in January with U.S. Senators Bill […]
Author Archives: Kevin Hendricks
Kevin Hendricks is a local news editor with nm.news. He is a two-decade veteran of local news as a sportswriter and assistant editor with the ABQ Journal and Rio Rancho Observer.
Posted inCongress & Federal Gov., New Mexico
Good Trouble Lives On: New Mexico communities to join national civil rights protests
Communities across New Mexico will participate in nationwide “Good Trouble Lives On” protests Thursday, joining what organizers call a moral reckoning on the fifth anniversary of civil rights leader John Lewis’s death. The statewide participation continues New Mexico’s active engagement in 2025 protest movements, with events planned in at least 11 communities including Santa Fe, […]
Posted inLocal Gov.
Internet service restored after 24-hour outage leaves 15,000 Albuquerque customers offline
A gas line repair that went wrong left about 15,000 Xfinity customers in southeast Albuquerque without internet for nearly 24 hours, highlighting ongoing infrastructure damage problems as multiple fiber companies install new networks across the city. About 15,000 internet customers in southeast Albuquerque regained service Tuesday evening after a 24-hour outage that disrupted homes and […]
Posted inNew Mexico, Politics & Elections
Haaland warns of rural healthcare crisis, opposes federal healthcare legislation
Deb Haaland, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for New Mexico governor, held a press conference outside a hospital in Española on Tuesday to criticize federal healthcare legislation she says will devastate rural communities across the state. Speaking in front of the hospital, Haaland warned that the “Big Billionaire Bill” would strip Medicaid coverage from […]
Posted inPolitics & Elections
Mayoral campaign finance reports update: Sanchez, Chavez give themselves over $100K to challenge Keller
With the field of seven set for the 2025 Albuquerque mayoral race, campaign finance reports from the most recent reporting period were released Monday. Incumbent Mayor Tim Keller is the only candidate to qualify for Albuquerque’s public financing system, giving him access to $755,946 in taxpayer funds while his challengers must rely on private donations […]
Posted inCongress & Federal Gov., New Mexico
Heinrich secures $12.5 million for New Mexico in Senate Appropriations bill
The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved legislation that would deliver more than $12.5 million in federal funding to New Mexico, including $7.73 million in direct project funding secured by Sen. Martin Heinrich. The Democratic senator announced the passage of the Fiscal Year 2026 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration appropriations bill following bipartisan committee […]
Posted inNew Mexico, NM State Gov.
N.M. State Land Office sets new records with first oil and gas lease auction at 25% royalty rate
The New Mexico State Land Office has announced a historic achievement, auctioning oil and gas leases at a new 25% royalty rate for the first time, a change championed by Commissioner of Public Lands Stephanie Garcia Richard. The new state law, which took effect on June 20, allows the State Land Office to offer its […]
Posted inGeneral Interest
Comcast outage impacts nearly 15,000 in southeast Albuquerque
Roughly 15,000 people in southeast Albuquerque were without the internet after an outage Monday night continued through Tuesday afternoon. Comcast said its network was damaged by a third party, which caused a service outage early Monday night that affected about 15,000 customers. “Comcast is aware of an outage caused by damage to one of our […]
Posted inCongress & Federal Gov., New Mexico
Luján secures $6.9 Million in federal funding for New Mexico communities
U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) announced that the Senate Appropriations Committee has passed legislation that would deliver over $6.9 million in federal investments to New Mexico communities, marking a significant win for the state’s rural development and public safety initiatives. The funding, secured through the Fiscal Year 2026 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug […]
Posted inBernalillo County
MDC ends physical mail for inmates, switches to digital system
The Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center will stop accepting physical print materials for inmates as part of a new digital mail delivery system aimed at reducing contraband, officials announced. The system replaces hand-delivered mail with scanned digital copies accessible via tablets, with scanning performed off-site by third-party service ViaPath Technologies. MDC staff will then review […]