Frijoles Fire grows by 410 acres, but week of rain could spell relief - John Miller, Albuquerque Journal
The Frijoles Fire is still on the move, but steady showers forecast through Friday could help wildland crews bring home suppression and containment efforts on the 15,956-acre blaze, which was discovered on Aug. 4.
The U.S. Forest Service reported on Monday that the Frijoles Fire had grown by about 410 acres since Friday, or a roughly 3% increase. Flames remain active around the fire’s northeastern perimeter and crept into fuel-dense drainages around Sierra Mosca, an 11,801-foot peak in the Pecos Wilderness.
Travelers and residents west of the fire reported a large smoke column on Friday in images shared widely across social media, but fire managers say the Frijoles Fire doesn’t pose any threats to people or property at this time.
Fire containment has lingered around 79%, and Monday’s update noted that the lightning-caused wildfire could continue growing modestly this month.
For more information on this story, visit the Albuquerque Journal website.
New Mexico and APS students' test scores see slow, modest growth - Natalie Robbins, Albuquerque Journal
New Mexico students’ test scores made modest gains last school year, though some worry it’s not enough to get the Land of Enchantment out of the 50th spot in education nationwide.
According to the newest data from PED released Monday, 43.3% of students statewide scored proficient or above in reading, compared with 43.1% the year prior. In math, 25.5% of students were proficient, compared with 24.6% the year prior.
In science, 33.4% of students scored proficient, a drop of 1.5 percentage points from the year before.
“We’re clear as a state that we’re making progress,” Public Education Secretary Mariana Padilla said. “We’re not yet where we need to be for students, but we know how to do it.”
In five years, reading scores for all students have climbed more than 10%, while math scores have remained relatively unchanged.
For more information on this story, visit the Albuquerque Journal website.
New Mexico continues to see slow job growth after federal employment cuts, new report says -Joshua Bowling, Source New Mexico
New Mexico continues to see slowed employment growth this year as fields that create new jobs are often offset by ongoing job cuts in the federal workforce and elsewhere, according to a new report on state revenue.
New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department Secretary Stephanie Schardin Clarke told lawmakers on the interim Revenue Stabilization and Tax Police Committee Monday that the state has seen slowed job growth this year. From June of 2025 to June of 2026, the number of jobs in New Mexico grew by less than 1%, she said.
Job growth was concentrated in industries such as mining, retail and state and local government. Job losses, however, predominantly occurred in the federal government, which cut 2,100 jobs in New Mexico during that time period, according to Schardin Clarke’s presentation.
Those cuts have led to “a weakened job market in New Mexico,” she said, adding that the state’s unemployment rate is forecast to be “about equal” to the national rate through the end of 2030.
Schardin Clarke’s presentation provided a forecast for the coming years, which predicts that some industries in the state will create thousands of new jobs between now and fiscal year 2030. Those will likely be partially offset by job cuts in other fields, she said.
She said higher-wage industries, including professional and technical services; construction; and healthcare, are expected to add more than 11,000 jobs in that timeframe. Meanwhile lower-wage industries such as retail and food service are expected to lose nearly 5,000, she said.
Schardin Clarke and Legislative Finance Committee Chief Economist Ismael Torres, who addressed state lawmakers immediately after her, echoed concerns raised in an August state revenue forecast: New Mexico is “industry-dependent” and vulnerable to a national economic downturn.
Torres’ presentation highlighted several risks facing the national economy that would acutely impact New Mexico, including a sudden stock selloff for artificial intelligence companies, changes in the Iran war and strife at the Federal Reserve.
As he presented to lawmakers in August, Torres said the state is poised to see $924 million in “new money” next fiscal year, largely thanks to increased oil prices creating a new wave of tax revenue for state coffers. A $1 change in the annual average price of New Mexico oil translates to a more than $56 million impact on state revenues, according to Torres’ presentation.
“We’re seeing the slowdown in the economy that we’ve been expecting,” Torres told lawmakers, before reassuring them that the state’s projected increases in revenue for the next fiscal are “quite healthy.”
States, including New Mexico, sue Trump administration over new green card restrictions - Nada Hassanein, Source New Mexico
States, cities and counties filed a pair of lawsuits Monday challenging new federal rules that will allow immigrants’ use of safety net resources to be taken into account for green cards and other applications to stay in or enter the country.
The new federal policy goes into effect Friday and broadens the discretion of immigration officers reviewing applications for green cards, certain visas or admissions into the U.S., allowing officers to consider enrollment in public benefits, such as housing and food assistance, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, as something called “public charge.”
When officers determine a person could become dependent on government benefits, that “public charge” is a ground for inadmissibility under federal law. Such non-cash benefits were previously restricted from public charge consideration under the Biden administration.
The Trump administration rescinded that 2022 policy, arguing that it is protecting taxpayer dollars and expects immigrants to be self-sufficient.
Both lawsuits were filed against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Many mixed-status households are expected to forgo benefits and disenroll from programs, causing U.S. citizen dependents, includingchildren, to lose care and benefits for which they’re legally entitled to receive, experts and state officials say.
In theirlawsuit, 22 states and the District of Columbia pointed to DHS estimates that say states nationwide may lose roughly $4.05 billion in annual federal transfer payments for Medicaid and CHIP programs alone. Of that nationwide total, the plaintiffs may stand to lose about $2.2 billion in reduced federal payments.
The states include Colorado, Connecticut, California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
Due to disenrollments, states nationwide could lose about $1 billion in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Of that, the plaintiff states could lose $575 million in reduced federal payments.
The states argue that the new rules contain many ambiguities and will cause the states to“ultimately be forced to fill the breach” by funding gaps out of their own budgets, leading to “staggering” costs.
Along with losing federal funding due to disenrollments from state programs, public agencies will face administrative costs, the states argue, and as households forgo enrolling in benefits, such as preventative healthcare and nutritional assistance, including school lunches, public health will suffer, leading to an increase in disease prevalence and driving up the costs of medical care, they argue.
In a separate lawsuit, a coalition of cities and counties — New York City; Chicago; San Francisco; Santa Clara County, California; Seattle and King County, Washington — say the new rule is unlawful in reversing “longstanding limits on public charge determinations.” Roughly 1.3 million people, including 600,000 children, could lose care and coverage in those places, the suit argues.
New York City, which led the cities’ lawsuit, estimates it would see 6,000 fewer annual primary care visits.
“The new public charge rule seeks to push immigrant families away from the programs that have kept people fed and healthy for decades,” New York City Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani said in a news release. “New Yorkers will be afraid to see a doctor or ask for help they are legally entitled to. That fear will not stop at the families that the federal government is targeting. Families who remain fully eligible for benefits will feel a chilling effect and all New Yorkers will pay for it.”
The coalition also argues that children would be forced to withdraw from free or low-cost education programs. It notes that about 19% of Seattle residents and 26% of King County residents rely on such programs.
New Mexico Racing Commission to seek $8.4M from state budget in upcoming legislative session - Joshua Bowling, Source New Mexico
The New Mexico Racing Commission, which regulates horse races at non-tribal casinos across the state, plans to propose an $8.4 million budget during the next legislative session, NMRC Chief Financial Officer Amber Trujillo told a panel of state lawmakers last week.
Trujillo acknowledged that the figure “seems like an alarming number,” when speaking to the interim Economic and Rural Development and Policy Committee in Las Cruces on Sept. 9, but went on to explain some of the factors restricting how the commission’s funding works.
While the commission has the cash on hand to support much of itsannual budget of about $8 million, it’s limited in how it can spend much of the money it generates through its programming, Trujillo explained.
For example, when the state racing commission makes money by charging a racehorse owner a registration fee, that fee goes into one of several commission funds and can only be spent on specific purposes. One such fund has a balance of more than $3 million, but state law dictates that the commission can only spend that money on certain uses, such as jockey insurance. Another fund, with some $700,000, can only be used on drug testing athletes. When the state Legislature appropriates money to the commission, however, it is typically for general use.
“A lot of our funding is restrictive,” Trujillo said, adding that more than half of its money can only be spent on specific uses.
Trujillo spoke alongside New Mexico Racing Commission Vice Chair John Buffington and Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino President Fred Heinrich. Their remarks came as the state has seen a shifting landscape in the sport.
Afterfires andfloods impacted Ruidoso in recent years, the local racetrack relocated several of its lucrative races. The Ruidoso track held its 2026 racing season in Albuquerque, and more recently track officials have proposed holding its 2027 races in Texas.
To illustrate the challenges facing the industry statewide, Buffington pointed to the drastic decline in the number of thoroughbred racehorses born in the state each year. In 2008, he said there were 1,078 thoroughbreds foaled in the state. In 2023, it was just 269, he said.
He said that decline concerns him, because the industry has historically produced hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue annually. Areport from the New Mexico Horse Breeders Association found that it supports about 10,000 jobs statewide each year.
“Besides the role in the culture and history of New Mexico, it’s also an economic machine,” he said.
Many of the “racinos” — racetracks with adjacent non-tribal casinos — have a uniquely challenging business model. Under New Mexico law, non-tribal casinos are only allowed to exist in conjunction with a racetrack and are prohibited from offering many of the attractions found in a tribal casino, including table games like poker or roulette. But the casinos have become what’s subsidizing the horse races.
“Our hands are tied. The casino probably funds 95% of our operation,” Heinrich said. “We are not allowed sports betting. We are not allowed to have live table games. We cannot even have alcohol on the gaming floor…New Mexico is the only state where you can drink a beer, you can play a slot machine, but you can’t do both at the same time.”
One state lawmaker, Republican Senate Leader Bill Sharer of Farmington, told the panelists that he wanted to see the industry thrive, but was concerned by a lack of specific information regarding the causes behind the industry’s decline.
“We’ve got to go backward now. How do we rebuild the industry? How do we get more horses? If we have more horses, we have more race days,” Sharer said. “What I fear is we don’t know why it’s broken, and since we don’t know why it’s broken, we don’t know where to go.”
Public comments open regarding renewed application for uranium mine - KUNM News
Yesterday, the U.S. Forest Service opened a 30-day public comment period on a proposed uranium mine and water treatment facility near Grants, New Mexico. This proposed uranium mining project, which has been proposed before, comes about again -- in part -- because of President Trump's Executive Order last year "to support domestic mineral production." The substantive issues of the proposed project include potential effects to
- Ground and surface water, aquifers, and springs;
- Local air quality, in particular, exposure of the public to radioactive radon gas vented from mine shafts;
- Vegetation, habitats, and wildlife;
- Nearby land use and recreation and scenic resources;
- Cultural and historic resources, including tribal and traditional communities and uses;
- Local and state workforce and economy; and
- The potential health and safety risks associated with development to miners and the wider community.
Treated water from the proposed project -- if the project goes ahead -- would be discharged in the Rio San Jose in the Village of Milan. The responsible officials for evaluating the proposed project include the Forest Supervisor for Cibola National Forest and Bureau of Land Management field manager for the Rio Puerco Field Office. Both offices are located in Albuquerque.
New Mexico Supreme Court finds attorney in contempt of court for use of AI in murder case - Bela Olague KRQE News
The New Mexico Supreme Court recently held a lawyer in contempt of court and fined him for using AI in his briefing for a case.
KRQE News reports that Santa Fe lawyer Stephen Aarons admitted to the court to using ChatGPT to assist in a murder trial last year. Aarons said he didn’t check the transcripts before using them to write his brief, which fabricated witnesses, testimony, quotations, and the names of authorities. He said he thought the generated content would be “bulletproof” in the courtroom.
The supreme court grilled Aarons on his decision, calling it reckless and uninformed. Justices also called him out for not telling his client about his mistake and for being unable to adequately answer how he thinks the court should discipline him. The court also removed Aarons from the case and fined him $5,000.
Aarons said he’s cooperating with the disciplinary board and accepts the consequences handed to him.
