US forest chief calls for pause of prescribed fires - By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
Federal officials are warning that expanding drought conditions coupled with hot and dry weather, extreme wind and unstable atmospheric conditions have led to explosive fire behavior in the southwestern U.S., where large fires continued their march across New Mexico on Friday.
Crews also battled blazes in Texas and Colorado, where forecasters issued red flag warnings due to elevated fire danger.
U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore cited the extreme conditions Friday in announcing a pause on prescribed fire operations on all national forest lands while his agency conducts a 90-day review of protocols, decision-making tools and practices ahead of planned operations this fall.
"Our primary goal in engaging prescribed fires and wildfires is to ensure the safety of the communities involved. Our employees who are engaging in prescribed fire operations are part of these communities across the nation," Moore said in a statement. "The communities we serve, and our employees deserve the very best tools and science supporting them as we continue to navigate toward reducing the risk of severe wildfires in the future."
The U.S. Forest Service has been facing much criticism for the prescribed fire in New Mexico that escaped its containment lines in April and joined with another blaze to form what is now the largest fire burning in the U.S.
Moore said that in 99.84% of cases, prescribed fires go as planned and they remain a valuable tool for reducing the threat of extreme fires by removing dead and down trees and other fuel from overgrown forests.
Wildfires have broken out this spring earlier than usual across multiple states in the western U.S., where climate change and an enduring drought are fanning the frequency and intensity of forest and grassland fires. The nation is far outpacing the 10-year average for the number of square miles burned so far this year.
Nationally, more than 5,700 wildland firefighters were battling 16 uncontained large fires that had charred over a half-million acres of dry forest and grassland, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
The largest fire currently burning in the U.S. has blackened more than 474 square miles and state officials have said they expect the number of homes and other structures that have burned to rise to more than 1,000 as more assessments are done.
In Texas, the Texas A&M Forestry Service said the fire that has burned more than two dozen structures and forced the temporary evacuation of the historic town of Buffalo Gap was about 25% contained Friday after charring more than 15 square miles of juniper and mesquite brush.
2 New Mexico tribes closer to recreational cannabis sales - By Cedar Attanasio Associated Press / Report For America
Two New Mexico tribes have signed an agreement with state officials recognizing the tribe's authority to collect taxes on sales of cannabis products.
The move announced by state officials Thursday after it was signed last week further formalizes potential involvement in the cannabis industry by the Pojoaque and Picuris pueblos, both in northern New Mexico.
Recreational marijuana sales began across the state on April 1, grossing around $2 million on the first day.
The agreement means that cannabis products can now be sold in the pueblos and taxed by the tribes much like cigarettes and gasoline are sold and taxed now, according to state Taxation and Revenue Department spokesman Charlie Moore.
The state's 12% tax on the product won't be levied on products sold by the tribes.
"New Mexico has a strong history of collaborating with tribes to efficiently administer taxes while recognizing tribal sovereignty and the limitations of state authority on tribal lands," said Taxation and Revenue Secretary Stephanie Schardin Clarke.
Cannabis is still illegal at the federal level, and tribes are warily preparing to enter the industry in a legal gray zone. In Picuris Pueblo, federal law enforcement officials destroyed marijuana plants licensed for medical use in 2018.
Mountain West to eliminate 2-division format in football - Associated Press
The Mountain West Conference will eliminate its two-division format in football for the 2023 season.
The conference announced Friday that the two teams with the highest winning percentage will compete in the league championship game. The decision came two days after the NCAA threw out requirements dictating how conferences can determine their champions and the Pac-12 scrapped its two-division format.
The two-division format will remain in place for the 2022 season.
A scheduling model and tiebreaking procedures are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
Other conferences are expected to follow, most notably the 14-team Atlantic Coast Conference. The ACC is looking to implement a new scheduling model as soon as 2023.
To have a conference title game, NCAA rules previously required leagues to split into divisions if they could not play a full round-robin schedule. But those rules were scrapped by the NCAA Division I Council. The 10-member Big 12 wound up deciding to resume its title game even without divisions in part to raise the profile of the winner for playoff consideration.
Gusty winds fan wildfires in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado - By Susan Montoya Bryan And Scott Sonner Associated Press
More than 5,000 firefighters battled multiple wildland blazes in dry, windy weather across the Southwest on Thursday, including a fire that has destroyed dozens of structures in west Texas and another that's picking up steam again in New Mexico.
Evacuation orders remained in place for residents near the wildfires in Texas, Colorado and New Mexico. High winds prevented officials from sending aircraft to drop retardant or water in many places.
Dangerous fire weather fueled by gusty winds, high temperatures and extremely low humidity was predicted to continue through Friday — especially in New Mexico, where the largest U.S. wildfire has burned for more than a month and the governor expects the number of structures destroyed will exceed 1,000.
Fire officials said ground crews worked hard to keep the most active flames in check at the fire in a region between Santa Fe and Taos.
"Today, we saw a real good, old-fashioned firefight out there," U.S. Forest Service fire behavior analyst Stewart Turner said Thursday night. "Tomorrow is going to be a big day — bigger than we saw today."
Winds gusting up to 50 mph were expected Friday before easing into the weekend when cooler temperatures also should provide some relief, Turner said.
More than 2,100 fire personnel were fighting that blaze, which has burned more than 473 square miles of timber and brush in a region east of Santa Fe and south of Taos.
Only about one-third of the fire's perimeter is estimated contained. But fire operations chief Carl Schwope said crews quickly snuffed out out new fires sparked by embers blowing ahead of the main blaze in steep, rugged terrain.
"Aircraft got shut down early because of high winds, so they are there on their own," Schwope said. "Across this entire fire area, things are looking really favorable — a lot better than we had expected it to look at his time yesterday."
He added: "It doesn't mean we didn't have fire growth today and we are definitely going to see more fire movement tomorrow. But as of now, things are looking really good."
In Texas, the Texas A&M Forestry Service said the fire that has burned dozens of homes was still only 5% contained Thursday afternoon after charring more than 15 square miles of juniper and mesquite brush 18 miles southwest of Abilene.
That fire had prompted the evacuation of the historic town of Buffalo Gap on Wednesday. Forestry Service spokesman Stuart Morris said the town had reopened Thursday and that no injuries had been reported, but 27 structures had been destroyed.
Morris said in an email Thursday night that a post-fire assessment team was working to document what kind of structures were destroyed and that it was not yet clear how many were residences.
All of West Texas was under a red flag wildfire danger warning Thursday, with an underlying drought and critically to extremely dry vegetation combining with 100-degree temperatures Fahrenheit and gusty winds.
However, the Forestry Service said a new weather pattern by the weekend is expected to usher in cooler temperatures and moisture that could limit potential for wildfire activity on Saturday and Sunday.
Wildfires have broken out this spring earlier than usual across multiple states in the western U.S., where climate change and an enduring drought are fanning the frequency and intensity of forest and grassland fires.
FEMA and city government offer supplies and support to an estimated 1,500 evacuees in Albuquerque - Gino Gutierrez, Source New Mexico
Once a hub for COVID relief and a drive-through for small business owners collecting assistance checks, the John Marshall Health and Social Center has been converted into an Albuquerque hub providing resources for fire evacuees from Northern New Mexico.
Mayor Tim Keller said there are approximately 1,500 evacuees in New Mexico’s most populous city. They range in age from 1-month-old to 90-years-old or more.
While a majority of those who evacuated to Albuquerque have friends or relatives in the city, Keller said there are still gaps in the support structure. That’s where this community hub comes in. “This is a one-stop shop to make evacuees’ lives less stressful,” he said.
The center is providing evacuees with basics like food, laundry detergent and water. In the supply room, people step up to a table where their name is taken down and they are asked what they need. Volunteers with the Albuquerque Community Safety Department collect the items and bag them together.
City representatives are also checking in with individuals at hotels daily to see what supplies they need. While there are plenty of supplies on site, Erica Gutierrez, a supervisor, said the city is still accepting donations, especially of personal and femanine hygiene products. Everyone who can should donate, she said.
Donation items needed
- Body Wash
- Baby Wash
- Conditioner
- Diapers
- Depends
- Feminine hygiene products
- Laundry detergent
- Shampoo
- Snacks
- Socks
Drop them off John Marshall Health and Social Services Center (1500 Walter Street SE) Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Evacuees can also take advantage of mental health counseling services available to them both on-site at the community hub or in their hotel room. The counselors are members of the ACS behavioral health responders and also volunteers who are available in-person or by phone Monday through Friday, Gutierrez said.
“They can also go door-to-door at the hotels, so if there is a crisis, a mental health issue, or they just want to talk to someone, they will be provided that help,” she said.
Information on these mental health services is available to all evacuees who visit the center.
The city is housing roughly 300 evacuees in converted hotels. But Keller also expressed concern over capacity constraints when it comes to lodging, especially come fall.
“If we get to the Balloon Fiesta, then we have a different problem,” Keller said.
The city is working with six hotels in terms of lodging and more contracts within the works, according to Roger Ebner, director of the Office of Emergency Management.
Space is still available for people with RVs to park for free at Balloon Fiesta Park. Those individuals are also being supplied with food and water by the city.
In addition to city services, there is a federal presence at this hub. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is on site providing assistance to those filling out disaster relief applications available for individuals from Colfax, Lincoln, Mora, San Miguel, and Valencia Counties.
FEMA staff came from across the country after a call was sent out, and it was on a first-come, first-serve basis, reps explained. Those who signed up were flown to Albuquerque almost immediately.
How long will FEMA be here in New Mexico? As long as they are needed, said Carmen Rodríguez. “We’re going to be here until the government of New Mexico doesn’t need us,” she said. “There is no date of leaving. FEMA is here, and we’re here to help.”
COVID cases now rising across NM in part because fewer people wear masks indoors, LANL scientists say - Austin Fisher, Source New Mexico
Most people in New Mexico are now living in areas with climbing rates of new cases of COVID-19, according to the latest modeling by scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
In the first week of May, nearly 1.5 million New Mexicans were living in counties where there were between 10 and 99 cases per capita every week, along with an accelerating seven-day average growth rate, according to LANL’s COVID modeling report published May 3.
Meanwhile, surges in COVID cases are being reported in Florida and much of the northeastern United States. Overall, the U.S. is recording over 90,000 new cases per day and saw a 20% jump in hospitalizations in the first two weeks of May.
LANL’s model for New Mexico expects most of the cases in the coming weeks to happen in the central part of the state, in and around the Albuquerque metropolitan area, averaging more than 100 cases per 100,000 people each week.
Other parts of the state are expected to flatten out at between 10 and 99 cases per capita per week.
The LANL report says the reason community spread is so high is because of “reduced indoor masking.” New Mexico dropped its indoor mask mandate in February.
High-quality, well-fitted N95s help stop the transmission of COVID, the report states.
Higher cases rates may be caused by an omicron variant evading vaccines more often than the other two strains of omicron spreading through the U.S. Data in New Mexico mirrors those trends, the researchers write.
“Waning immunity is also likely significant to the current rise in daily incidence,” according to the report.
Protection from severe disease and death with a booster shot has declined from around 90% or 95% before omicron down to about 80%, and we don’t have enough data to know whether vaccines are still holding up against some of its variants, according to physician Eric Topol.
“But it’s overly optimistic to think we’ll be done when omicron variants run their course,” Topol writes. “As difficult (as) it is to mentally confront, we must plan on something worse than omicron in the months ahead.”
Light Up Navajo initiative helps Navajo with ‘life-changing’ access to the electrical grid - Shondiin Silversmith, Az Mirror and Source New Mexico
Melisha Beyal grew up on the Navajo Nation and always wanted to put a home on her family’s homesite in Klagetoh. It’s where her family is from and where she grew up — but it’s also in an area that doesn’t have access to electricity or running water.
In fact, her mother moved away from the homesite when she was able to move into community housing down the road that was equipped with running water and electricity.
Beyal, 38, has lived with her mother her entire life and now has two children, with a third on the way. She knew it was time to try and get her own home.
In 2021, Beyal set out to achieve that dream. Her family’s homesite is along Apache County Road 421, just off U.S. Highway 191, and she got her homesite lease for an area on her family’s land and leveled the dirt so a home could be built.
By February of this year, she was able to place a trailer down, and it was time for her to work on getting her lights turned on. That’s when she heard about the Light Up Navajo initiative, which launched its third year last month.
Light Up Navajo III (LUN III) is a mutual aid project that extends service to Navajo homes without electricity, and local Navajo utility crews work alongside other utility companies.
She was encouraged to apply for the program through the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA). Beyal said the Dilkon NTUA office informed her that LUN III wouldn’t start until the summer, which she thought was too long to wait.
But during the first week of May, an NTUA and Salt River Project crew showed up at her homesite, ready to get her new home connected to the grid.
“It’s pretty exciting,” she said. “This is my first home.”
The NTUA and SRP crews showed up at Beyal’s home around noon on May 2. They installed a pole near her house, connected the wiring, added the transformer, and finally clicked in the electricity monitor for the house. It took the crew roughly three hours to get Beyal connected to electricity.
“It’s been kind of stressful, but seeing it all happen now, it’s a relief and I’m happy,” Beyal said. “That’s something I’ve wanted for my kids because I didn’t have it when I was growing up.”
SRP is one of 14 utility companies from 10 states to participate in LUN III. SRP was able to connect 56 families to the grid during a four-week visit to the Navajo Nation, which started in April. SRP returned back to the Valley on May 8.
“People don’t realize that there’s still people without running water and electricity,” SRP lineman Mark Henle said, and after working with LUN, he sees that a lot of people take it for granted.
“These people fully appreciate everything since it’s the first time they’ve had it,” Henle said. “All the city folks, they never realized what it’s like to not have this luxury.”
“We do take it for granted,” SRP crew foreman Marc Seinicki added. “We’re spoiled.”
During SRP’s participation, line crews constructed about 12 miles of distribution lines, set 193 poles, strung 13 miles of overhead wire and worked 4,500 hours.
For Seinicki, it was his second time working for the Light Up Navajo program. He said the biggest reward is knowing that a family’s life will be changed with access to electricity in their home.
“It’s hard work but you know what we take pride in is when we’re done (and) seeing that light switch come on,” Seinicki said.
Seinicki stood at the bottom of the stairs to Beyal’s trailer as she flipped the porch light on for the first time, confirming that she got power. Beyal thanked the crew and Seinicki gave her thumbs up.
Beyal said she looks forward to moving into her home, and her kids are also excited. She said they even started shopping for furniture for their rooms. Finally getting her own home set up on their homesite is a big deal for the whole family.
“This is really awesome for me to achieve this,” she said, adding that the next step is to start working on getting access to running water.
NTUA journeyman Javier Jim said that they’ve been working with crews from across the U.S., and some of the biggest challenges the crews have faced are terrain and weather. Areas have been remote and off-road, but spring also brings high winds to northeastern Arizona.
Jim said it is a lot of work, but seeing the crews come out to help the Navajo Nation has been great because it shows that people do care.
Through LUN III, NTUA Public Affairs Officer Deenise Becenti said they’ve not only been able to help families that have been waiting for electricity for decades, but also younger families who have returned back to the Navajo Nation and are now living on their family lands.
“It is a life-changing moment,” Becenti said. “It’s going to improve the standard of life for so many families out here.”
Becenti said since the initiative started in April, they’ve heard all kinds of stories from families that have been connected.
One story that stood out to her was of a Navajo woman from Kayenta. She lived in a beautiful home in the community, and her mother always wanted to move back to the family homesite, but she passed away before it could happen.
So the Navajo woman took it upon herself to make it happen. She left her home in Kayenta and moved to the homesite, even though it didn’t have electricity or running water.
“When she was connected, she said, ‘I never thought this would ever happen, because I grew up here without electricity,’” Becenti said.
Another was of another Navajo woman who relied on a solar panel and generator to fully operate her asthma machine.
Becenti said there are a lot of things that people don’t think about when it comes to having reliable electricity.
“It’s been a heartwarming experience for everyone,” she added.
LUN III started in April, and the initiative has a goal of connecting at least 300 homes, but because of weather conditions and the limited amount of crews available, Becenti said they’ll most likely get about 200 connected at the end of the program.
New rules about guns on movie sets fail in California - By Adam Beam Associated Press
New rules about how and when actors can use guns while filming failed to pass the California Legislature on Thursday just months after a gun actor Alec Baldwin was holding went off and killed a cinematographer on a movie set in New Mexico.
Democrats in the state Legislature had filed two bills in response to the tragedy, which killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza.
With competing proposals, Democratic state Sen. Anthony Portantino, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the author of one of the proposals, said he "strongly urged" entertainment industry groups to "work collaboratively to bring forward a consensus approach.
But no one did. Thursday, Portantino decided to hold both bills in committee, meaning they are unlikely to pass the Legislature this year.
"It's a powerful and ruthless industry. First the industry killed Halyna. Then they killed the bill that would've made people like her safe," said state Sen. Dave Cortese, a Democrat who authored the other proposal. "Despite setbacks, I'm committed to real reforms that will protect our workers."
Cortese's bill would have banned the use of guns and blank ammunition containing gunpowder or other explosive charges from film sets, with some exceptions. It also would have required producers to hire a set safety coordinator to perform a risk assessment prior to the first day of filming and to enforce safety rules throughout the production.
Portantino's bill would have allowed guns with blank ammunition on set, but only under the supervision of an armorer who has completed a gun safety course created by the Office of the State Fire Marshal. It would have allowed live ammunition only in certain circumstances.
Portantino said he was "extremely disappointed" entertainment industry groups failed to reach a consensus on the legislation.
"Should there be an agreement forthcoming, I'd be willing and eager to entertain it before the end of the legislative session," he said.
Portantino's bill was supported by the Motion Picture Association while Cortese's bill had the support of the California International Alliance of Theatrical and State Employees Council. Neither returned messages from the Associated Press on Thursday.
The Alliance of Special Effects and Pyrotechnic Operators opposed Cortese's bill, writing in a letter to lawmakers that it "would not have prevented this tragedy that occurred in another state" but said it would "negatively impact motion picture productions here in California."
The fatal shooting happened during filming of the Western movie "Rust" on a film set in New Mexico last October. Baldwin, who was an actor and producer for the film, was pointing a gun at Hutchins, the cinematographer, while preparing for a scene inside a small church when it went off. Baldwin said he did not pull the trigger and that Hutchins had told him to point the gun at her, according to an interview with ABC News in December.
New Mexico safety regulators fined the film production company $137,000 for firearms safety failures. Hutchins' family has sued Baldwin and the film's other producers, one of multiple lawsuits filed in connection with the shooting.
The bills were two of hundreds of proposals that failed to pass on Thursday ahead of a Friday deadline for bills to pass the appropriations committees in the state Senate and Assembly.
Other bills that failed included a proposal to terminate oil and gas drilling in state waters, a plan to borrow $7.4 billion for various drinking water and wildfire prevention projects, and a program that would have awarded grants to convert public golf courses into affordable housing.
Here's how abortion clinics are preparing for Roe to fall - By Emily Wagster Pettus And Rachel La Corte Associated Press
Leaders of a Tennessee abortion clinic calculated driving distances and studied passenger rail routes as they scanned the map for another place to offer services if the U.S. Supreme Court lets states restrict or eliminate abortion rights.
They chose Carbondale in Illinois — a state that has easy abortion access but is surrounded by more restrictive states in the Midwest and South. It will be the southernmost clinic in Illinois when it opens in August.
"I think at this point, we all know the stark reality that we're facing in Tennessee. We are going to lose abortion access this year," said Jennifer Pepper, chief executive officer of CHOICES: Memphis Center for Reproductive Health.
With the Supreme Court poised to let states tightly limit or ban abortion, reproductive rights advocates are planning to open new clinics or expand existing ones in states where lawmakers are not clamping down on access.
Some Democrat-led states in the West and Northeast also are proposing public money for an expected influx of people traveling from other places to terminate pregnancies.
When it opened in 1974, a year after the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion nationwide, CHOICES became the first abortion provider in Memphis, a commercial hub for rural Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and southern Missouri.
Carbondale is a three-hour drive north of Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee's two largest cities. It's also on a New Orleans-to-Chicago Amtrak route through areas where abortion access could disappear, including Mississippi, western Tennessee and western Kentucky.
"Its location and geography were the original reason that drew us to Carbondale, but the incredible heart of the Carbondale community is what led us to know we had found a second home for CHOICES," Pepper said in announcing the plan last week.
The Supreme Court is expected to rule in the coming months in a case directly challenging Roe. Justices heard arguments in December over a 2018 Mississippi law to ban most abortions after 15 weeks. The court has allowed states to regulate but not ban abortion before the point of viability, around 24 weeks.
A draft opinion leaked May 2 showed a majority of justices were ready to overturn Roe v. Wade. If the final ruling is similar, states would have wide latitude to restrict abortion. The Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights, says 26 states are certain or likely to ban abortion if the Roe is weakened or overturned.
Diane Derzis owns Mississippi's only abortion clinic, Jackson Women's Health Organization. She told The Associated Press that the clinic, also known as the Pink House, will close if Roe is overturned because Mississippi has a "trigger" law to automatically prohibit abortion.
Mississippi is one of the poorest states in the nation, and women would face even steeper hurdles to have access to abortion — arranging time off work, finding ways to pay for travel and lodging and, in many cases, arranging for child care while they are gone.
"Mississippi is a prime example of what's going to happen to the women of this country," Derzis said. "Those who have the means will be able to fly to New York. The poor women and women of color will be desperately trying to find the closest clinic."
Derzis said an abortion clinic she owns in Columbus, Georgia, also would quickly close if Roe disappears, and she thinks a clinic she owns in Richmond, Virginia, might remain open for about another year.
Derzis said she plans to open an abortion clinic soon in Las Cruces, New Mexico, about an hour's drive north of El Paso, Texas. Since Texas enacted a law last year banning most abortions at about six weeks, women have traveled to New Mexico, Oklahoma, Louisiana and other states to end pregnancies. Earlier this month, a Texas-style abortion ban that prohibits abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy took effect in Oklahoma.
"You can't stop a woman who's pregnant and doesn't want to have a baby," Derzis said.
An association of abortion providers, the National Abortion Federation, gives health and travel information as well as money to pregnant women who have to travel to obtain an abortion. The federation's chief program officer, Melissa Fowler, said many lives will be disrupted.
"The reality for many people in the country is going to be days of travel, days off of work," Fowler said. "Even if we fully fund someone's travel, some people's lives just don't allow them to make the trip."
Jennifer Allen, CEO of Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, which covers Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky and Washington, said even in states like Washington, where there's strong support for abortion rights, "it's going to take a whole lot more to be ready for the future."
Washington has more than 30 abortion clinics, though just five are east of the Cascade Mountains, in the more conservative part of the state. Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee signed a measure this year authorizing physician assistants, advanced registered nurse practitioners and other providers acting within their scope of practice to perform abortions. Abortion-rights supporters said that will help meet the demand from out-of-state patients.
Allen said it's impossible to predict how many out-of-state residents will seek care in Washington, but the increase could be in the thousands. She said reproductive rights advocates are working to anticipate the needs.
"We are building this plane while we're flying it," Allen said.
In response to the leaked Supreme Court draft, Inslee promised Washington would provide sanctuary for those seeking abortions. His office said discussions are underway on a range of possibilities. But the Legislature is not likely to reconvene before its regular session begins in January.
Last week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed $57 million in abortion funding on top of $68 million proposed in January. The Democrat said the new proposals include $40 million to pay for abortions for women not covered by Medicaid or private insurance, $15 million for a public education campaign, $1 million for a website listing abortion services and $1 million for research into unmet needs for reproductive health care services.
Newsom has already signed a law to make abortions cheaper for people with private insurance. The Legislature is considering other bills to increase abortion access, including proposals to let more nurse practitioners perform them.
New York will make $35 million available for abortion services and security, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced last week. She said some of that money could be spent on abortions for out-of-state residents traveling to New York.
In March, Oregon lawmakers approved $15 million to pay for abortions and support services such as travel and lodging for in-state or out-of-state patients who travel long distances, and to expand abortion availability. Details are still being discussed, including the possibility of mobile clinics or hiring more workers for existing clinics.
"We do know that, likely, Oregon will be a place that people will be forced to travel to get care," said An Do, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon.
The Guttmacher Institute reported Oregon could see a 234% increase in women coming from other states, many from Idaho, if the court overturns Roe v. Wade.
Overwhelming Democratic majorities in the Illinois General Assembly have been preparing for a Roe rollback for years, particularly because the state would be an island amid neighbors with restrictions.
In 2017, Illinois approved public funding for abortion and repealed a 1975 "trigger" law. The state's Reproductive Health Act of 2019 established the fundamental right for people to make their own decisions about contraception and abortion. As of June 1, minors will no longer be required to notify a parent or guardian before getting an abortion, an action that abortion-rights proponents considered the last roadblock to unfettered access in Illinois.
"We have been preparing for the day Roe falls and we are ready," said Yamelsie Rodriguez, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri.
Fowler, with the National Abortion Federation, said even though providers in states without restrictive abortion laws "are doing all they can to preserve and expand access, the current system just does not have the capacity to handle the number of patients who will be without care."
"We need to be just as creative and robust in our solutions as our opponents have been in designing these terrible restrictions," she said.
New Mexico court upholds $165M damage awards in FedEx crash - Associated Press
The New Mexico Supreme Court on Thursday upheld $165 million of jury awards against FedEx in a wrongful-death lawsuit stemming from a deadly crash involving a Texas family and a contract driver for the delivery company.
The 2011 crash on Interstate 10 west of Las Cruces killed Marialy Venegas Morga and her 4-year-old daughter and critically injured the El Paso woman's 19-month-old son when the family's small pickup was rear-ended.
According to testimony, the big rig didn't brake before the crash.
Truck driver Elizabeth Quintana also died.
A jury in Santa Fe awarded $93 million in compensatory damages to the estates of those family members killed and $72 million to other family members.
FedEx's appeal argued that the awards were excessive and that a state District Court judge should have granted the company's request for a new trial.
The Supreme Court declined to order a new trial in the case, concluding that "substantial evidence supported the verdict and that the jury's award was not the result of passion or prejudice."