A major business in New Mexico's burgeoning market for marijuana wants the state to refund millions of dollars in taxes that were levied in recent years on sales of medical marijuana but not against most prescription medications.

4 People Win $250K Apiece In New Mexico Vaccine Sweepstakes – Associated Press

State health officials announced Tuesday that four people have each won $250,000 prizes as part of the New Mexico vaccine sweepstakes.

They were the first four winners of Vax 2 the Max Sweepstakes.

New Mexico Ranks 49th In Child Wellbeing, An Improvement - By Cedar Attanasio, Report For America / Associated Press

New Mexico ranked 49th in a report released Monday measuring child wellbeing based on data gathered before the pandemic.

That's an improvement over last year when the state ranked 50th among U.S. states.

One hundred and fifty-eight years ago, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, putting an end to slavery in the United States. News traveled slowly in those days—no social media to spread the word. But this executive order took an especially long time to get to all corners of the country: two-and-a-half years, in fact. On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, where the last enslaved people were told of their freedoms. From that moment on, African Americans have celebrated June 19 as the end of slavery in their communities, towns and cities. What do they celebrate? Freedom for one. There is also a theme of remembering our ancestors who survived almost unfathomable hardships so that we can be here, today.

Dozens of people braved the 100-degree weather last Sunday in Roosevelt Park to remember the Chicano-led rebellion against police brutality and racism that was sparked there on June 13, 1971.  The rebellion is a key, but often overlooked moment in New Mexico’s Chicano history.  Fifty years later and in the context of the 2020 Black Lives Matter uprising, the rebellion serves as a reminder of the long record of police violence, resistance, and collaboration by Black and people of color in the state. Chicano community elders Richard Moore and Joaquin Lujan, formerly part of the Chicano rights organization the Black Berets, recounted how the rebellion started.  Lujan explained that besides police repression, the rebellion was triggered by widespread racism against the Chicano community.

  New Mexico Governor Says Opening Day Will Be July 1 - By Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Friday that all remaining pandemic-related public health restrictions on commercial and day-to-day activity in the state will be lifted July 1, clearing the way for restaurants and other venues to operate without any capacity limits and for cities to plan in-person Fourth of July celebrations and other summer festivals.

  New Mexico Governor Lifts Mask Mandate For Vaccinated Youth - By Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press

New Mexico was under pressure Thursday to get thousands of people vaccinated to meet a deadline set by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

The Democratic governor wanted to reopen the state by July 1, as long as 60% of residents 16 and older were fully vaccinated at least two weeks ahead of that date.

New Mexico Weighs Rules For Community Solar Program - By Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press

New Mexico utility regulators have nearly a year to create a set of rules for governing community solar projects in the state. But utilities say they are already being flooded with applications and requests for interconnection from prospective developers.

Let’s Talk New Mexico 6/17 8am: Last September, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention instituted a moratorium on residential evictions to keep people without secure incomes from losing their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. New Mexico followed suit with a similar state-wide protection order. For ten months the moratoriums have protected thousands of New Mexico renters, but at the same time back rents have continued to accrue and landlords have gone without the income they count on. With the national order protecting tenants scheduled to expire on June 30th and no clear endpoint for the state’s moratorium, there is potential for a massive number of evictions if nothing is done. Join us this week as we discuss the national and state residential eviction moratoriums, as well as programs set up to help tenants get caught up on payments.