Warrant: Baldwin didn't know weapon contained live round—Morgan Lee, Walter Berry, Associated Press

An assistant director unwittingly handed Alec Baldwin a loaded weapon and told him it was safe to use in the moments before the actor fatally shot a cinematographer, court records released Friday show.

Ballot confuses financing of proposed Albuquerque stadium - Albuquerque Journal, Associated Press

Voters in Albuquerque might be confused about how a proposed stadium will be funded because the ballot measure includes inconsistent language about the nature of the city's $50 million stadium bond proposal. 

New Mexico awards $157M in grants to child care providers – Cedar Attanasio, Associated Press

New Mexico’s child care department is sending millions to child care centers in an effort to keep them in business, awarding grants to pay for everything from salaries to rent.

Voting options expand in Albuquerque, Santa Fe elections – Associated Press

Nearly 13,000 absentee and early ballots have been cast in local elections that will determine the next mayors of New Mexico's largest city as well as its state capital, with two weeks remaining before Election Day.

Earthquake activity has increased dramatically in southern New Mexico likely due to injection wells in the Permian Basin. These are used to store wastewater that comes is produced during oil and gas drilling. Jerry Redfern covers the industry here for Capital & Main and he broke that story.

New Mexico city to consider vaccine mandate for police, fire—Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press

Police officers and first responders in New Mexico's largest city would be ordered to get vaccinated against COVID-19 under a proposed amendment to the city's emergency public health declaration. 

  New Mexico Governor Defends Power To Spend Pandemic Relief – Associated Press

Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is defending her authority to decide how the state will spend more than $1 billion federal pandemic aid — without the approval of the Legislature.

Next month’s local elections are the first since the state required counties provide a minimum number of secured ballot drop boxes to ensure voters have sufficient access. But according to the Secretary of State’s Office, nearly half won’t have enough and the majority of those don't have permission.

Let’s Talk New Mexico 10/21 8am: It’s still unclear exactly how many cases there are in New Mexico of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Relatives. People from Arizona and Utah are also wondering about what happened to their family members since tribal jurisdictions hit heads with federal, state, tribal and city investigators. Even though public officials express concern, the families of people gone missing or found dead have experienced ineptitude by the criminal legal system and police, who have said that jurisdiction issues can impede their efforts.