Author - The Durango Herald

New Mexico moves to expand background checks on gun sales

SANTA FE – Legislators sent a bill to expand background checks on private gun sales in New Mexico to the governor’s desk Monday for certain approval after a bruising series of debates and ob...

DATE: Mar 5, 2019 | CATEGORY: Regional News

New Mexico trapping-ban bill signals shift in attitudes toward animals

TIERRA AMARILLA, N.M. – New Mexico could become the latest state in the American West to place major restrictions on wildlife trapping as frontier ethics and suburban attitudes toward animal...

DATE: Feb 28, 2019 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Gun control bill advances past protests in New Mexico

SANTA FE –Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham pushed back Tuesday against “rogue” county sheriffs who object to a state legislative proposal to expand background checks on firearms sales....

DATE: Feb 26, 2019 | CATEGORY: Regional News

New Mexico weighs new authority for oilfield regulators

SANTA FE – Oilfield regulators would recover the authority to directly levy civil fines against well operators who fail to properly maintain equipment or spill waste under legislation backed...

DATE: Feb 21, 2019 | CATEGORY: Regional News

House spending plan would raise New Mexico teacher salaries 6 percent

SANTA FE, N.M. – Pay would increase by at least 6 percent for teachers and 4 percent for state workers under an annual state spending plan moving through the Legislature. Democrat...

DATE: Feb 19, 2019 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Gun-seizure bill and minimum wage increase advance in New Mexico

SANTA FE – New Mexico’s Democrat-led House of Representatives passed a bill that would make it easier to take guns away from people who may be suicidal or a risk to others, in an emotionally...

DATE: Feb 14, 2019 | CATEGORY: Regional News

New Mexico bills to restrict, tax e-cigarettes advance

SANTA FE – Measures advanced Monday in the New Mexico Legislature that would impose taxes on e-cigarettes and prohibit vaping of nicotine products in locations where traditional cigarettes a...

DATE: Feb 4, 2019 | CATEGORY: Regional News

New Mexico considers lighter punishment for drug possession

SANTA FE – The New Mexico Legislature will consider reducing drug possession offenses from felonies to misdemeanors to decrease incarceration costs and more effectively treat addiction, unde...

DATE: Jan 29, 2019 | CATEGORY: Regional News

New Mexico governor joins alliance against climate change

SANTA FE – New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Tuesday committed her fledgling Democratic administration to aggressive targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions amid a boom in oil ...

DATE: Jan 29, 2019 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Multicultural education reforms advance in Legislature

SANTA FE (AP) – Lawmakers in this heavily Native American and Hispanic state pushed initiatives Monday to improve academic achievement among minority students and revitalizing local linguist...

DATE: Jan 28, 2019 | CATEGORY: Regional News

New Mexico considers legalizing medically assisted suicide

SANTA FE – State lawmakers are considering whether to legalize medically assisted suicide for terminally ill patients. A proposal from Democratic Rep. Deborah Armstrong of Albuque...

DATE: Jan 22, 2019 | CATEGORY: Regional News

New Mexico Legislature proposes teacher pay increases

SANTA FE – Leading New Mexico lawmakers on Monday proposed a 5.5 percent increase in spending on teacher pay with minimum salary raises of as much as 13 percent as they grapple with a court ...

DATE: Jan 14, 2019 | CATEGORY: Regional News