New Mexico hospitals seek relief amid wave of patients - By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
Two of New Mexico's largest hospitals on Thursday announced that they would be focusing on patients who need care the most, meaning non-medically necessary procedures will likely have to be delayed.
While most patients are not dealing with coronavirus infections, officials at Presbyterian Healthcare Services and University of New Mexico Health say the ability to grow the capacity that was built over the last year due to the pandemic is now limited by space and the availability of health care workers.
The two hospitals announced they were activating crisis standards of care, noting that it's not really a shift in policy but rather a continuation of how they have been managing the crush of patients since last winter.
"It's really important to recognize we are not deallocating care. That is not part of this. We are not triaging and denying care," said Dr. Jason Mitchell, Presbyterian's chief medical officer. "At this point we are trying to make sure that every patient has care in a bed across our state and even in surrounding states."
He explained that the decision will not be to take a patient off a ventilator for example, but rather finding other hospitals within New Mexico or in neighboring states that can take patients or directing patients with less severe issues to urgent care clinics or other providers.
Even before the pandemic, New Mexico had ranked near the bottom when compared to other states for hospital capacity. That capacity has been expanded over the past year by finding new space for hospital beds and bringing in additional staff. At University of New Mexico Health, more than 500 additional nurses were brought in, allowing the provider to open up an additional 100 hospital beds.
"We're operating at about 140% of our normal operating capacity and we've had moments where we've approached 150%. This really is unsustainable," said Dr. Michael Richards, senior vice president for clinical affairs for the UNM Health System.
New Mexico in October cleared the way for hospitals to ration care if necessary, with a public health order. Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. David Scrase said at the time that hospitals have been juggling patients with fewer resources since the pandemic began, and the order he signed sets up an "equitable procedure" for making tough decisions.
In northwestern New Mexico, hospitals have been rationing care amid a surge in coronavirus cases that has left only a handful of intensive care beds available.
At the 198-bed San Juan Regional Medical Center in Farmington on Thursday, staff were caring for 95 coronavirus patients, including 14 sustained by breathing machines.
Federal and state authorities dispatched more than 60 temporary medical workers and assistants to the facility last week to shore up an exhausted staff as it strives to save COVID-19 patients.
In Albuquerque, coronavirus patients make up about one-fifth of patients at Presbyterian and UNM Health.
Officials said Thursday that the more preexisting conditions a patient has, the more likely that person could be hospitalized due to a coronavirus infection. Still, they acknowledged that they have seen younger healthier people end up in the hospital and in some cases die.
Mitchell and Richards both stressed the importance of basic habits such as hand-washing, mask-wearing and social distancing as the spread of COVID-19 remains high in New Mexico.
State data shows about 73% of adults are fully vaccinated, and officials are urging people to get their booster shots as immunity wanes. More than 28% of cases confirmed over the last four weeks and nearly one-quarter of hospitalizations were among those who were vaccinated.
The data also shows that unvaccinated people make up 95% of deaths recorded over the last month.
'Rust' tragedy, labor climate frame Hollywood contract vote - By Lynn Elber Ap Television Writer
In weighing his vote on a proposed union contract with Hollywood producers, veteran stagehand Matthew "Doc" Brashear looked closely at the agreement and beyond, to the now-closed New Mexico film set where a cinematographer died.
For crew member Brandy Tannahill, the fatal "Rust" shooting of Halyna Hutchins and the resurgence of labor actions, such as the strikes at John Deere and Kellogg, are bolstering her decision.
When voting starts Friday on a tentative three-year agreement reached by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and a trade group representing producers, Brashear and Tannahill say they will vote no.
With forces from the pandemic to the economy also framing union members' views, bread-and-butter issues of wages and pensions remain important. But long-entrenched concerns about danger on the job have taken on increased urgency.
"I think the elected (union) leaders gave their all," Brashear said of the proposed deal that averted the union's first-ever national strike. While it's generally "a win of a contract," it falls short on a majority of safety-related issues, he said.
"Most of what we are fighting for is to just be able to spend time with our family and, if we work a 16-hour day, to make it home safe to our families," said Brashear, a lighting programmer in Southern California.
While some point to the "Rust" shooting that injured director Joel Souza and killed cinematographer Hutchins as an outlier -- Alec Baldwin, the film's star-producer who fired the gun, called it a "one-in-a-trillion event" — Tannahill said it's emblematic of the industry's critical flaws.
"There has been an understandable emotional response to what occurred," she said. "But the underlying issue that screams to me, as someone in this business, is that the production got to the point where it was because of the producers cutting corners."
The burdens that union members point to include long workdays that may lack breaks or lunch, and the debilitating fatigue that causes both on and off the job. A 1997 tragedy remains vivid: Brent Hershman, 35, an assistant cameraman on the film "Pleasantville," died in a crash while driving home after a 19-hour workday.
"Those are the things that make the news," said Tannahill, but she knows four people who dozed off at the wheel and either narrowly avoided or survived an accident. She's been working since 2011 as a grip, with duties including setting up lighting.
According to the union, core safety and economic issues are addressed in the proposed agreements covering workers on film and TV productions.
"This is a Hollywood ending," IATSE International President Matthew Loeb said in announcing a deal last month. "We went toe-to-toe with some of the most powerful entertainment and tech companies in the world" to achieve a contract that "meets our members' needs."
The bargaining committees of all 36 local unions have unanimously recommended ratification. Electronic voting concludes Sunday and the result is expected Monday. The union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers didn't make officials available for interviews.
IATSE represents about 150,000 behind-the-scenes workers, including stagehands, cinematographers, costumers and others employed in all forms of entertainment, from movies and TV to theater, concerts, trade shows and broadcasting.
Two proposed contracts are at stake for 60,000 union members. One primarily covers film and TV production on the West Coast and applies to about two-thirds of those members; the other is for production hubs including New Mexico and Georgia.
The agreements include across-the board wage increases and increased compensation paid by streaming services, Loeb said in a statement, a reference to Amazon, Netflix and others originally dubbed "new media" and cut financial slack.
Loeb also said that "quality of life issues were at the top of our priority list," with the proposed contracts establishing a defined weekend rest period and imposing "stiff" penalties if meals and breaks aren't provided.
It's not enough, some workers contend.
"This is a version of the same deal that we're offered every three years," said veteran stagehand Jason Fitzgerald. "If we do not take a stand now to try to change the culture of the industry, we will continue to be treated more like disposable parts of a machine and less like human beings."
The 98% strike-vote approval is credited by the union with building urgency for studios to reach a deal. The union had threatened to strike on Oct. 18 if the sides failed to reach an agreement, which was reached Oct. 16.
That activist spirit stoked by the strike authorization campaign remains unabated for some, even as the union encourages a "yes" vote.
"People are being more critical of contract language, especially younger workers who are really engaged in social media and using the internet for fact-finding," said Tannahill. Last weekend, a town hall she organized for union members to discuss the contract drew more than 500 in person or online, she estimated.
Producer Tom Nunan, whose credits include the Oscar-winning "Crash," said there's more heightened debate this year than in the past. But he expects ratification, citing precedent and workers' eagerness for rules addressing safety.
"This is going to get approved by the membership. They've never balked in the face of leadership recommending (approval) and I don't see that this will be the exception," said Nunan, a lecturer at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Theater, Film and Television. "The progress that the team made on behalf of IATSE is spectacular by any measure."
New Mexico governor to request $59M for veterans' home -Associated Press
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has vowed to request $59 million in capital funding during the upcoming legislative session to finance major improvements at the troubled New Mexico State Veterans' Home.
She announced the plan in a ceremony Thursday at the New Mexico Veterans Memorial in Albuquerque, where she said veterans deserve respect and support, including in their later years.
Pending legislative approval, Lujan Grisham said work on what she called state-of-the-art improvements at the Veterans' Home could begin as soon as next summer.
A recent report by legislative analysts turned up numerous concerns about the facility in the city of Truth or Consequences. Among other things, it cited a lack of oversight as a likely factor in high COVID-19 infection and death rates among residents at the home.
Aside from cramped conditions and maintenance issues, the governor's office also noted Thursday that the main building — originally constructed in 1936 — has inadequate ventilation and restrooms that do not comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The new facilities will include six small, homelike settings that will provide safer and more comfortable living spaces for residents. State officials said the model has been shown to result in a better quality of life for residents, their families and staff.
After her stop in Albuquerque, Lujan Grisham traveled to the Veterans Home to commemorate Veterans Day with residents there.
Navajo Nation: No COVID-related deaths 26th time in 42 days -Associated Press
The Navajo Nation on Thursday reported 103 more COVID-19 cases, but no additional deaths for the 26th time in the past 42 days.
The latest numbers pushed the tribe's totals to 37,876 confirmed COVID-19 cases from the virus since the pandemic began more than a year ago.
The known death toll remains at 1,507.
Based on cases from Oct. 22-Nov. 4, the Navajo Department of Health on Monday issued an advisory for 56 communities due to an uncontrolled spread of COVID-19.
"Please minimize in-person gatherings, wear masks in public, get fully vaccinated, and if you are fully vaccinated, please get a booster shot before the holidays," tribal President Jonathan Nez said in a statement Thursday. "We are in this together and we will get through this pandemic together."
All Navajo Nation executive branch employees had to be fully vaccinated against the virus by the end of September or submit to regular testing.
The tribe's reservation is the country's largest at 27,000 square miles (70,000 square kilometers) and covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
New fast-track docket for migrants faces familiar challenges - By Claudia Torrens, Philip Marcelo and Elliot Spagat Associated Press
The average time for U.S. immigration cases to be resolved is nearly four years. But that's not the mandate in Francisco Prieto's courtroom.
The New York judge must attempt to rule within 300 days on dozens of cases he hears daily from families that just entered the country. The migrants are being sent to the front of the line with the idea that others will be less likely to migrate knowing a backlog of more than 1.4 million cases will no longer buy them a few years in the United States even if they lose.
Nearly six months ago, the Biden administration established a "dedicated docket" for families, many seeking asylum, in Prieto's city and 10 others, including Boston, San Francisco, Miami and El Paso, Texas. It is a modest step aimed at bringing order to the southern border, where authorities this year have faced unusually high numbers of migrant arrivals, including nearly 15,000, mostly Haitians, who camped under a bridge in the small border town of Del Rio, Texas, in September.
Roughly 35 of the country's more than 530 immigration judges are assigned to the new docket, according to the most recent data provided by the Executive Office for Immigration Review, which oversees federal immigration courts. Many juggle the duties on top of their normal caseloads.
While it's still early, the effort has made progress: As of mid-September, it was handling nearly 16,000 cases, and more than 100 had received at least an initial decision, according to the agency. It declined to provide more details.
Still, the numbers barely make a dent: Tens of thousands of migrants are released into the country each month, with orders to report to immigration authorities later.
The expedited docket also faces some of the same challenges and complaints as similar efforts under Biden's two predecessors.
Critics say it rushes the complex work of building asylum cases, making it nearly impossible for migrants to have a fair shot, especially if they can't secure an attorney in time. Judges follow the same procedures applied in other immigration cases but on a shorter timeline.
During the Obama and Trump administrations, most families that went through similar fast-track dockets lacked legal representation and were ultimately ordered removed from the country, according to the Migration Policy Institute, a D.C. think tank.
Prieto, the New York judge, is among those handling the most cases under the new docket, with more than 1,600 assigned to him by the end of August, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC, at Syracuse University.
One day last month, the Trump appointee urged families to find a low- or no-cost attorney on a government referral list. Some said no one answers the phone when they call, or they are told they can't be helped. Prieto told them to persist before he set new court dates.
Many families had immediate concerns: trouble with their ankle monitors or with rules confining them to their homes one day a week. Joselyn Margarita Aguilar, who appeared with her young daughter, can't leave her house on Fridays.
"I found a job and I lost it because I was told I can't miss Fridays at work," the Honduran woman told the judge. "I need more time (to find an attorney) because I don't have a job and I can't pay."
An unusually large number of cases got postponed because the court didn't receive hearing notices from the Homeland Security Department. Prieto told families to wait for another notice.
Creole interpreters were connected by phone for Haitian migrants. One family's hearing was delayed due to technical difficulties. Their child ran around the courtroom while they waited, crying loudly when his fingers got caught in a swinging door.
Another woman from Ecuador who arrived with her husband and two children, one in a stroller, asked for a work permit. Prieto told her to discuss it with an attorney.
More than half of cases are in New York and Boston, a common destination for Ecuadorians, Brazilians and Haitians.
The Justice Department, which oversees immigration courts, has said it chose the 11 cities involved not just because they're where most recent arrivals are settling, but because they have established legal service providers and available judges.
In Boston, which was added to the program relatively recently, one judge had the most cases on the new docket of any in the country, at least through August. Mario Sturla had 3,178 cases assigned to him, on top of the nearly 4,000 others he was handling, according to TRAC.
One October afternoon, almost all of the roughly 20 cases before the Obama appointee were Brazilians, mostly parents with young children. The judge was courteous as families spoke through interpreters and juggled restless, sometimes crying children.
Few had lawyers. A 24-year-old woman from Cuenca, Ecuador, who asked to be identified by first name only for safety reasons, didn't know what to expect. The judge told her to return with an attorney in March.
"I was nervous, fearful, worried about what was going to happen," said Angie, who fled with a 4-year-old daughter and year-old son, citing threats of being forced into prostitution. "I'm better now. The judge seemed nice. He was very calm. But we'll see."
She and her kids crossed the border in San Diego in August and have settled temporarily with an uncle in Worcester, Massachusetts.
"The truth is, I am very afraid that they will return us to our country, and I do not know what will happen to us there," she said.
The fast-track docket is part of Biden's "humane" asylum system, which has included few other detailed plans, save for a proposal to use asylum officers at the border to decide cases instead of judges.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, in an emailed statement this week, maintained the dedicated docket provides fair hearings for families seeking asylum.
He noted the Justice Department is working to provide families "legal orientation services" and referrals to pro bono lawyers — an improvement over prior "rocket docket" efforts.
"The goal of this process is to ensure that individuals who merit protection do not have to wait for years to get it, and that those who are ineligible for protection are quickly returned to their countries," Mayorkas said.
Theresa Cardinal Brown, a managing director at the Bipartisan Policy Center, said she's skeptical unless the effort gets more resources.
"You're still asking immigration judges who have a regular docket to also do this," said Brown, who recommends new positions to fund border courts that would aim to decide cases in six months. "You haven't expanded capacity at all."
Neptali Chiluisa, 47, crossed the border in June in Arizona and was detained for a week with his 14-year-old son, leaving behind his wife and three other children in Ecuador. The son returned in August because Chiluisa had to work and couldn't find a nearby school with space.
Chiluisa, who rents a room for $800 in a Bronx apartment he shares with other Ecuadorian families, was a boiler specialist for the army and found a similar job at New York construction sites. He acknowledges coming for economic reasons and wonders if he has any options for temporary legal status.
"The U.S. needs workers, so policies should be less harsh with us," he said. "We come to work."
A judge told him last month to return to court in November.
COVID-19 hot spots offer sign of what could be ahead for US - By Carla K. Johnson Ap Medical Writer
The contagious delta variant is driving up COVID-19 hospitalizations in the Mountain West and fueling disruptive outbreaks in the North.
It's a worrisome sign of what could be ahead this winter in the U.S. Meanwhile, trends are improving in Florida, Texas and other Southern states that bore the worst of the summer surge.
But it's clear that delta isn't done with the United States. COVID-19 is moving north and west for the winter as people head indoors, close their windows and breathe stagnant air.
A Vermont college recently suspended social gatherings after a spike in cases tied to Halloween parties.
Hospitals in New Mexico and Colorado are overwhelmed.
The contagious delta variant is driving up COVID-19 hospitalizations in the Mountain West and fueling disruptive outbreaks in the North, a worrisome sign of what could be ahead this winter in the U.S.
While trends are improving in Florida, Texas and other Southern states that bore the worst of the summer surge, it's clear that delta isn't done with the United States. COVID-19 is moving north and west for the winter as people head indoors, close their windows and breathe stagnant air.
"We're going to see a lot of outbreaks in unvaccinated people that will result in serious illness, and it will be tragic," said Dr. Donald Milton of the University of Maryland School of Public Health.
In recent days, a Vermont college suspended social gatherings after a spike in cases tied to Halloween parties. Boston officials shut down an elementary school to control an outbreak. Hospitals in New Mexico and Colorado are overwhelmed.
In Michigan, the three-county metro Detroit area is again becoming a hot spot for transmissions, with one hospital system reporting nearly 400 COVID-19 patients. Mask-wearing in Michigan has declined to about 25% of people, according to a combination of surveys tracked by an influential modeling group at the University of Washington.
"Concern over COVID in general is pretty much gone, which is unfortunate," said Dr. Jennifer Morse, medical director at health departments in 20 central and northern Michigan counties. "I feel strange going into a store masked. I'm a minority. It's very different. It's just a really unusual atmosphere right now."
New Mexico is running out of intensive care beds despite the state's above-average vaccination rate. Waning immunity may be playing a role. People who were vaccinated early and have not yet received booster shots may be driving up infection numbers, even if they still have some protection from the most dire consequences of the virus.
"Delta and waning immunity — the combination of these two have set us back," said Ali Mokdad, a professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington. "This virus is going to stick with us for a long, long time."
The delta variant dominates infections across the U.S., accounting for more than 99% of the samples analyzed.
No state has achieved a high enough vaccination rate, even when combined with infection-induced immunity, to avoid the type of outbreaks happening now, Mokdad said.
In a deviation from national recommendations, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed an executive order Thursday that allows any resident 18 or older access to a COVID-19 booster shot, another step to prevent hospitals and health care workers from being overwhelmed by the state's surge in delta infections.
Progress on vaccination continues, yet nearly 60 million Americans age 12 and older remain unvaccinated. That's an improvement since July, when 100 million were unvaccinated, said White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients.
First shots are averaging about 300,000 per day, and the effort to vaccinate children ages 5 to 11 is off to a strong start, Zients said at a briefing Wednesday.
Virginia Tech's Linsey Marr, a leading researcher on the airborne spread of the coronavirus, predicted the northward spread of the virus in a Twitter post Sept. 15. The virus spreads in the air and can build up in enclosed rooms with poor ventilation. Colder weather means more people are indoors breathing the same air, Marr said.
Imagine that everyone you spend time with is a smoker and you want to breathe as little of their smoke as possible, she said.
"The closer you are to a smoker the more exposure you have to that smoke," Marr said. "And if you're in a poorly ventilated room, the smoke builds up over time."
Marr said she and her vaccinated family will use rapid tests before gathering for Christmas to check for infection.
"It's hard to know what's coming next with this virus," Marr said. "We thought we knew, but delta really surprised us. We thought the vaccine would help end this, but things are still dragging on. It's hard to know what's going to happen next."
New Mexico delegates push US official on Chaco protections - By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
Members of New Mexico's congressional delegation are putting more pressure on U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to take administrative action to prohibit oil and gas development outside the boundaries of Chaco Culture National Historical Park.
The lawmakers in a letter sent this week wrote that while there have been numerous short-term protections granted for the area over the years, an administrative withdrawal of federal mineral rights would provide long-term certainty pending legislation that calls for permanent protections.
Haaland is from Laguna Pueblo in central New Mexico and is the first Native American to be appointed to a cabinet position. Her office tells The Associated Press that a decision about the Chaco area has yet to be made.
In October, top officials with the largest Native American tribe in the United States renewed a request for congressional leaders to hold a field hearing before deciding on federal legislation that would limit oil and gas development around Chaco Park.
Leaders of the Navajo Nation Council have said that individual Navajo allottees stand to lose an important source of income if a 10-mile (16-kilometer) buffer is created around the park as proposed. They're calling for a smaller area of federal land holdings to be made off limits to development as a compromise to protect Navajo interests.
Other tribes, environmental groups and archaeologists have been pushing to stop drilling across an expansive area of northwestern New Mexico, saying sites beyond Chaco's boundaries need protection and that the federal government's leasing program needs an overhaul.
Haaland was among the sponsors of legislation calling for greater protections during her tenure in the U.S. House. She has referred to the area as a sacred place.
U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan and Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández called Chaco an important cultural and historical area.
"Chaco Canyon is home to ancient dwellings, artifacts and sacred sites," the New Mexico Democrats wrote. "However, drilling and extraction have threatened the sacred ancestral homelands within the greater Chaco region, putting this treasured landscape at risk of desecration."
A World Heritage site, Chaco Park is thought to be the center of what was once a hub of Indigenous civilization. Within the park, walls of stacked stone jut up from the bottom of the canyon, some aligned with the seasonal movements of the sun and moon.
Program to kill Grand Canyon bison nets 4 animals, criticism - By Felicia Fonseca Associated Press
Day three and the shooters were waiting under the cover of pine trees for the rain to let up. Thirty minutes later, a single branch snapped, revealing a small herd of bison in the distance.
Before a young cow was identified as the target, the massive animals disappeared into a thicket at the Grand Canyon's North Rim.
"No shots and no bison," said Charles Gorecki, one of about a dozen volunteers selected to participate in a highly anticipated and highly criticized lethal removal program at the Grand Canyon.
Gorecki and the rest of his crew came up empty-handed after a week that required shooting proficiency tests, safety training and walking at least 30 miles (48 kilometers) in elevations that can leave flat-landers short-winded. Three other groups fared better, shooting and field dressing a total of four bison.
Up to 500 bison are roaming the far northern reaches of Grand Canyon National Park, trampling archaeological and other resources and spoiling the water, park officials say. Hunting pressure on the adjacent national forest has pushed most of the animals into the park.
Critics say rather than killing the bison, the animals should be relocated to other areas or given to Native American tribes under an existing effort.
Lethal removal was one of the tools outlined in a 2017 plan approved after an environmental review, but the guidelines weren't established until more recently with the pilot program this fall.
More than 45,000 people applied in a lottery for 12 spots to help cull the herd and make bison less comfortable at the park. One person backed out and another failed the shooting proficiency test, leaving 10 volunteers from around the U.S. working to kill up to 10 bison.
"We were following bison and trying to find bison and disturbing bison by the mere fact of trying to remove them," said Grand Canyon wildlife biologist Greg Holm, who was among most of the crews. "So they had some activity this fall that I don't think they've ever experienced in the park."
As big as they are, they skillfully evaded most of the shooters.
"It was still a learning experience for all of us involved," said Gorecki, a military veteran who works at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. "We got an appreciation that they are very quiet and cunning. These animals, if they catch wind of us from hundreds of yards (away) in thick forest, you'll never ever see them. These are not big, fluffy forest cows."
Each volunteer selected up to three people who were on standby to help cut up the bison and pack the meat out. The groups that shot a bison divided the meat and donated parts of the animals to the Navajo and Zuni tribes in Arizona and New Mexico, Holm said.
A crew led by the National Park Service killed one bison in a trial run in August. The meat was given to the Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians, Holm said.
Officials at the Grand Canyon haven't put a price tag yet on the program, but Holm said some of the cost is for overtime pay for park employees. They'll meet soon to determine whether to do it again, he said.
Various groups pushed the park service to call off what they argued is a hunt and suggested relocating the bison to southern Colorado instead. Hunting is prohibited within national parks, but the agency has authority to kill animals that harm resources using park staff or volunteers.
Olympic National Park in Washington state turned to volunteers to reduce the number of mountain goats, and Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota used volunteers for help with elk.
Bison were introduced to northern Arizona in the early 1900s as part of a crossbreeding experiment. The state manages the animals that can be hunted nearby in the Kaibab National Forest.
The main tool in reducing the population at the Grand Canyon has been to corral them near the North Rim entrance and ship them to Native American tribes through the Intertribal Buffalo Council. The park has relocated 124 over the past three years — enough to start seeing the reproductive rate slow, Holm said. The goal population is around 200.
"Ideally, the more females we can ship out, the better," he said. "But we also do the dance around not wanting to shift away a bunch of females because they have the knowledge to teach the younger generation."
The Modoc Nation in Oklahoma received 16 of the bison last year.
"It's great for us, it's great for our heritage, and they're beautiful animals," said Charlie Cheek, assistant to tribal Chief Bill Follis. "We enjoy working with them, and they're good for our tribe."
The Santee Sioux Nation in Nebraska received 23 bison from the Grand Canyon this year. The Cherokee Nation got 13 that boosted the herd at a tribal ranch in Kenwood, Oklahoma, to more than 200, said Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. Bison have been an essential source of food, clothing, shelter and tools for tribes and used in ceremonies, he said.
"These newly acquired bison will help revive some ancient cultural traditions, as well as provide expanded economic opportunities for future generations of Cherokee," he said Wednesday.
No. 3 Alabama hosts one-win New Mexico State team - By John Zenor Ap Sports Writer
Alabama coach Nick Saban struck a mostly positive tone with his team after battling down to the wire against a heavy underdog.
That likely won't be the case if the third-ranked Crimson Tide (8-1, No. 2 CFP) has similar issues running the ball and putting away even bigger underdog New Mexico State (1-8) on Saturday. It's a respite from Southeastern Conference games after that 20-14 win over 29.5-point underdog LSU.
While Saban praised how well his team competed, there was no sidestepping the reality that it wasn't a dominant performance for a team with designs on repeating as national champions.
"There's obviously a lot of things that we need to fix," Saban said. "It didn't look like an Alabama team out there in some phases of our team."
Enter the Aggies, who are 51.5-point underdogs according to FanDuel Sportsbook. It looks like a break for 'Bama before facing fellow SEC West teams Arkansas and No. 16 Auburn.
Of course, that's not how Saban wants his team looking at it.
"I hope it doesn't affect the team," he said. "I think that your opponent should be faceless in terms of what you want to try to accomplish and what you want to try to do in terms of individually improving and getting better and individually and collectively as a team getting better.
"I think we certainly need to do that. "
New Mexico State coach Doug Martin is used to leading teams against Power Five opponents. But a team that didn't play last fall because of the pandemic has plenty of players who haven't had that experience. The Aggies have 43 newcomers.
"As I told our players, all these guys growing up, if you're any type of competitor, you dreamed of playing for a team like Alabama or playing against a team like Alabama," Martin said.
Playing against the Tide presents "an opportunity to prove that they belong as an FBS player," he said.
BAMA'S BLOCKING
Alabama should be able to get its running game going after netting just 6 rushing yards against LSU, matching the fewest in the program's modern era. It didn't help that center Darrian Dalcourt missed much of the game with an anke injury, forcing Chris Owens to move inside and Dameion Georgia to take over at right tackle.
"I think the narrative is that the one-on-one battles is what hurt us," Alabama guard Emil Ekiyor Jr. said. "I don't think that's really necessarily a problem. I think LSU had a really good game plan. And I think it limited us from getting up to the linebackers and getting to the second level as much because there were so many one-on-ones on the line."
ELI'S PERSPECTIVE
New Mexico State center Eli Johnson spent four seasons at Mississippi and grew up in the Oxford area, so he's well acquainted with the SEC. Johnson even played for the Rebels in Bryant-Denny Stadium in 2019, when he started every game.
"Alabama is different, man," Johnson said. "I mean, football in the state of Alabama is the main event with both Alabama and Auburn.
"People live and die with the Crimson Tide."
MARTIN'S SEC EXPERIENCE
Martin was a Kentucky quarterback from 1981-84 — choosing the Wildcats, in part, because they were the only SEC team that offered him a scholarship and he wanted to play in that league.
RESERVE DB EXITS
Backup defensive back Marcus Banks posted on social media this week of his plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal. Banks had played in eight games and started against Mercer due to injuries.
"We're making progress at that position and I'm not discouraged at all by the players that we have," Saban said.