New Mexico governor: Full vaccination means boosters too - By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
Going a step beyond federal guidance, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Wednesday that she believes being fully vaccinated means three shots and she pushed for all adults in her state who are eligible to get their boosters.
She made the comments during a virtual pandemic briefing, citing the increasing number of COVID-19 infections among residents who received their vaccinations more than six months ago.
Some cities and states already allow all adults to get boosters of Pfizer's vaccine, but it is not yet official U.S. policy. In the last week, California, New Mexico, Arkansas, West Virginia and Colorado expanded the shots to all adults. New York City made a similar move.
State health officials have been concerned about waning immunity and the role it has played in the recent increase in cases. The latest state data shows nearly 29% of infections confirmed over the last four weeks were among the vaccinated. Still, unvaccinated people make up higher percentages of those who are hospitalized or die from the virus.
The Democratic governor, who is running for reelection, blamed the unvaccinated for the ongoing pandemic but later acknowledged that the vaccinated can also contract and spread the virus. She said those who do often have only mild symptoms and don't end up in the hospital.
"We know vaccinations are the most effective tool to both blunting the spread of the virus and to protecting ourself and our families," she said. "So we are analyzing what we can do to create those incentives — and potentially mandates — for making sure that people are fully vaccinated, which means three vaccines."
Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. David Scrase said discussions are underway about changing the definition of what it means to be fully vaccinated and that he expects a new public health order to be rolled out in the coming weeks.
That will mean some policy changes for hospitals and state agencies since Lujan Grisham already has mandated vaccinations for health care workers, educators, other school personnel and all state workers.
Some employers, such as Los Alamos National Laboratory, also imposed mandates in recent months for workers to be "fully vaccinated."
Officials said it's still too early to say whether COVID-19 vaccinations will be required for school children. They're expecting more data on children to be available by the summer that could help in the decision making process.
Scrase said many health care workers already were in line when boosters were announced so he's confident that the rate of uptake among that group will be high. He also noted that those workers who got vaccinated at the last minute to keep their jobs would have at least another six months to consider getting boosters — or two months if they received the Johnson & Johnson shot.
Nearly 74% of New Mexico adults are considered fully vaccinated under the current definition. Data released during the briefing showed more than 292,000 booster doses have been administered in the state since Aug. 1. Officials said that puts New Mexico's administration of boosters ahead of the national average.
The U.S. recommends boosters for people who initially received their second Pfizer or Moderna shots at least six months ago if they're 65 or older or are at high risk of COVID-19 because of health problems or their job or living conditions. Boosters are also recommended for people who received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine at least two months ago.
Officials said Lujan Grisham made the decision this week to make boosters accessible to all adults because the state is considered "high risk" given the rates of spread being reported statewide. In two counties — De Baca and San Juan — more than 22% of tests during the past two weeks were positive.
State officials also vowed not to let up with testing, saying it's a valuable tool that helps with tracking the virus.
Court grants Legislature powers on pandemic relief spending - By Morgan Lee Associated Press
New Mexico's Supreme Court on Wednesday delivered a major rebuke to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, ruling that the Legislature deserves a leading role in how the state government spends more than $1 billion in federal pandemic aid.
The high court sided unanimously with a bipartisan team of lawmakers who said that it was wrong for Lujan-Grisham to make decisions about how to spend the aid — without input from the Legislature.
Democratic state Sen. Jacob Candelaria of Albuquerque teamed up with Republican Senate minority leader Gregory Baca of Belen to initiate the constitutional clash over executive and legislative powers.
Candelaria told justices that the stakes were too high amid the coronavirus pandemic and economic turmoil to allow just one person — the governor — to determine how New Mexico spends about $1.6 billion in federal aid. He asked the court to err on the side of accountability by ensuring legislative oversight.
"These funds can be appropriated in either a transparent, public and legislative appropriations process ... or they can be appropriated in a closed-door process in which only the governor may determine unilaterally how to appropriate these funds without the need for, or the inconvenience, of public debate, committee hearings or bargaining majorities in the House and Senate," Candelaria said.
Chief Justice Michael Vigil delivered a shortly worded order that froze pandemic relief funds until legislative appropriations are made. The governor retains veto power on spending legislation.
Justices plan later to provide a written opinion, which could influence the decision-making process for future federal aid.
Lujan Grisham, a Democrat running for reelection in 2022, has used the relief funds to replenish the state unemployment insurance trust, underwrite millions of dollars in sweepstakes prizes for people who got vaccinated, prop up agriculture wages amid a shortage of chile pickers and provide incentives for the unemployed to return to work. Decisions still are pending on a little over $1 billion in federal relief for New Mexico.
In written court briefings, Lujan Grisham said a state Supreme Court decision nearly 50 years ago upheld the governor's discretion over federal funding at universities and should hold true broadly regarding federal pandemic relief funds.
Two hours of discussions at the court Wednesday touched on principles of grade-school civics about the three branches of state government and esoteric public accounting terminology.
In her questioning, Justice Shannon Bacon highlighted that the state was given broad discretion over how to spend the federal pandemic relief funds, unlike any federal grant tailored toward a specific agency or program.
"This money from the feds didn't say, 'Dear Governor Lujan Grisham, here is your money.' It says here is the state's money, and I think that's an important distinction," she said.
An additional four long-serving Democratic senators joined in the effort to rein in the governor's spending powers.
Critics of the governor have said she was overstepped her constitutional authority, blocking the Legislature's representation of diverse views on how to spend the pandemic relief money.
The Legislature convenes for a special session in December on political redistricting and again in January to draft a state budget.
At a news conference Wednesday, the governor expressed disappointment in the court's decision.
New Mexico lawmakers pressed to make water a priority - By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
With a legal battle over management of the Rio Grande before the U.S. Supreme Court and more hot and dry weather in the forecast, New Mexico's top water official said Wednesday that lawmakers have to provide enough funding to protect one of New Mexico's most precious commodities.
State Engineer John D'Antonio told members of a key legislative panel that the Office of the State Engineer is lacking resources and is short dozens of staff.
He said the shortfall equates to 140,000 lost staff hours per year at a time when the agency is processing nearly 90,000 water right transactions and is involved in negotiations that range from settlements with Indigenous nations to water-sharing contracts with other western states.
Complicating matters is the changing climate and the potential for more evaporation and more wildfires, he said.
"The impacts really threaten the communities, the irrigators, the businesses that depend on New Mexico's water," D'Antonio told members of the Legislative Finance Committee.
D'Antonio recently cited the lack of resources as a reason for his decision to step down from the post next month. He previously served as the state engineer during former Gov. Bill Richardson's administration and was appointed to the office in 2019 by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
New Mexico has been grappling with drought for the past 20 years, with rivers seeing record low flows this year. That includes the Rio Grande. In the pending Supreme Court case, Texas argues that groundwater pumping in southern New Mexico is reducing the river's flow and cutting into how much water makes it across the border. New Mexico argues that it has been shorted on its share of the river.
D'Antonio said Wednesday that the administration directed his office to submit a flat budget for the next fiscal year, hoping that federal recovery funds could fill some of the gaps. He told lawmakers that New Mexico's water problems are not going away and that long-term funding solutions are needed rather that one-time cash infusions if the state hopes to protect its interests.
"We've got to level that playing field for us to be effective. Water is a technical issue. It's a legal issue," he said, explaining that permanent funding would help to absolve the agency from some of the political pressures that happen with changes in the governor's office.
Officials with the Office of the State Engineer also pointed to new duties resulting from New Mexico's move to legalize recreational marijuana and encourage the expansion of the cannabis industry. Along with that comes the need for water managers to evaluate applications for water rights and ensure the state's limited sources are protected.
Rolf Schmidt-Petersen, director of the Interstate Stream Commission, also briefed the committee on the severity of the ongoing drought. He said New Mexico likely experiences more drought and variability than any other state in the West.
"It's important to recognize that up front. We're not just very dry; we're drier than everybody else and even the state of Nevada," he said. "We have less surface water than the state of Nevada."
Schmidt-Petersen said the 50-year plan that the stream commission and D'Antonio's office has been working on aims to develop recommendations that will help with decision making in the future as supplies shrink.
He pointed to a graphic that showed a bullseye over the northwestern part of the state where temperatures are expected to see the largest increases. He said this will have cascading effects.
"You have the same amount of precipitation but you have more water being evaporated or transpired into the air. You have impacts across your entire landscape," he said.
When asked whether this dry year would be considered one of New Mexico's wetter years five decades from now, D'Antonio said he hoped that wouldn't be the case but noted that trends are pointing to warmer temperatures and more variable precipitation.
Existing New Mexico laws that allow for active management of water rights on a real-time basis will be key along with boosting infrastructure for water storage, D'Antonio said.
New Mexico governor appoints water, infrastructure advisers - By Cedar Attanasio Associated Press / Report For America
New Mexico's governor named three new advisers Wednesday who will help guide policy on water, broadband and other infrastructure projects.
Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham called the announcements a "celebration" of the $1 trillion federal infrastructure bill signed by President Joe Biden on Monday.
"New Mexico has one of the worst reviews in terms of the potential for failing dams in the country," Lujan Grisham said. "The money coming from the federal government that's been made available in a number of ways means that we can fix all of those dams, 200 of them."
Former Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez will serve as the state's new infrastructure adviser to prioritize an estimated $3.7 billion in federal funding for roads, bridges and other projects in New Mexico.
The governor also acknowledged a New Mexico Supreme Court ruling issued Wednesday that will require her to work more closely with the Legislature to allocate federal pandemic relief. The decision could have implications for federal infrastructure spending.
Lujan Grisham also named a new top water official to replace State Engineer John D'Antonio, who will be stepping down next month. In submitting his resignation, D'Antonio cited a persistent lack of funding for his agency and unfunded mandates.
Mike Hamman, who is currently the chief engineer and CEO of the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, will take over the state role beginning in January. Hamman also has served as an area manager for the U.S Bureau of Reclamation, which oversees water projects across the West.
"I'm up for the task the governor has laid at my feet," said Hamman, who will spearhead the state's response to deepening drought and an ongoing legal battle with Texas over management of the Rio Grande.
The governor also named former Illinois Office of Broadband Director Matt Schmit as an adviser to the newly created state broadband office.
Lujan Grisham said he will move to the state soon to advise the office, which has been charged with centralizing New Mexico's sprawling efforts to increase high-speed internet coverage.
Tribes welcome infusion of money in infrastructure bill - By Felicia Fonseca Associated Press
Tribes welcomed an infusion of money in the massive infrastructure bill to expand broadband coverage, fix roads and address water and sanitation needs, but they say real change will come only with sustained investment.
President Joe Biden signed the $1.2 trillion deal earlier this week that includes about $11 billion in benefits for Indian Country, according to the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. About one-third of that, $3.5 billion, will go to the Indian Health Service, the federal agency tasked with providing healthcare for more than 2 million Native American and Alaska Natives.
The funding is enough to address more than 1,560 projects on the agency's list of water and sanitation deficiencies in 12 regions, estimated to cost nearly $2.6 billion. Projects in Alaska and the Southwest region that covers the Navajo Nation — where many tribal members live without running water and indoor plumbing — collectively have the largest price tags.
"In these and several other tribal communities, sanitation and clean water systems would never be built because the annual appropriations were insufficient to cover all the deficiencies," the National Indian Health Board said Wednesday.
Indian Health Service spokeswoman Jennifer Buschick said the agency will consult with tribes soon to determine how to allocate the funding.
Another $2.5 billion will go to fulfill tribal water rights settlements that already have been approved. The Interior Department hasn't specified which agreements that quantify tribes' rights to water are included. But the leaders of the Navajo Nation, which extends into parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, and the White Mountain Apache Tribe in eastern Arizona said they expect to benefit from the funding.
Heather Tanana, who is Navajo and an assistant law professor at the University of Utah, is part of a group that released a roadmap Tuesday on how the federal government can move forward with the funding effectively. It includes coordination among federal agencies, working with tribes and through an existing tribal task force.
Officials with the Biden administration repeatedly referred to a "whole of government" approach this week during the White House Tribal Nations Summit in announcing agreements among federal agencies on tribal treaty rights and sacred sites.
Tanana, the research lead for the Tribal Clean Water initiative, said goals and accountability also must be part of the equation, along with building capacity for tribes to operate water and sanitation systems on their own. The group of tribal members, water experts and nonprofits pushes for access to clean water for tribes in the Colorado River basin and beyond.
"Whole of government shouldn't just be a catchy phrase," Tanana said. "It's critical to getting the money that Congress just appropriated on to the ground and into actual projects."
Building and improving upon water and sanitation systems will have a cascading effect in tribal communities and urban areas where most Native Americans live, improve health disparities and foster economic development, the National Indian Health Board said. The group also said the momentum should continue with Congress fully funding health care facilities serving Indigenous people as part of the federal government's obligation to federally recognized tribes.
Colorado U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, who had co-sponsored a separate bill to improve water and wastewater systems in Indian Country, said: "This is the first step of many to reduce this shameful disparity and help ensure that tribal communities have access to safe, clean water."
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said the infrastructure funding is not inconsequential but is long overdue.
"It's been decades that we've been talking about eliminating the honey bucket and getting clean drinking water into communities, and sanitation systems," she said, referring to lined buckets used to collect human waste in many isolated Alaska Native villages that lack indoor plumbing.
"A flush toilet is not too much to ask in this day and age," Murkowski said.
Tribal leaders told the Biden administration during the virtual summit that they appreciated the money in the infrastructure bill but pointed out some potential hurdles, including for tribes that don't have the resources to compete for grants or match the funding.
"Why can't tribes just receive the funding?" said Janet Davis, chairwoman of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe in Nevada. "Why do we have to write grants to be able to use it, so we can use it for our communities to be safe?"
Navajo President Jonathan Nez suggested federal policies and regulations be eased or updated so projects won't be stalled. He cited needing environmental clearances from two different federal agencies when a U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs road or bridge is constructed on the reservation.
"A failure to clear out some of the burdens that prevent infrastructure investment will mean all our efforts to help pass the infrastructure bill may not lead to the progress we want for our people," Nez said. "What's the point of giving us money if regulations make it almost impossible to spend it?"
White Mountain Apache Chairwoman Gwendena Lee-Gatewood said lasting differences will come only with sustained investments to make up for decades of underfunding and neglect.
"We hope this administration will continue to focus on the critical needs and keep its foot on the gas in future budget years," she said during the two-day summit that wrapped up Tuesday.
Biden administration officials said they would work to address the tribes' concerns.
Navajo Nation reports 96 more COVID-19 cases, 1 more death -Associated Press
The Navajo Nation on Wednesday reported 96 more confirmed cases of COVID-19 and one coronavirus-related death.
The latest numbers pushed the tribe's total to 38,490 cases since the pandemic started and 1,515 known deaths.
"Our numbers of new cases are very concerning, but case numbers are much higher in border towns and cities located off the Navajo Nation," tribal President Jonathan Nez said in a statement.
Nez has urged residents of the vast reservation to be careful when traveling to neighboring cities and states where safety measures aren't always as strict.
The tribe has maintained a mask mandate through most of the pandemic.
The reservation covers 27,000 square miles (70,000 square kilometers) and extends into parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
Lawsuit: Baldwin had no reason to fire in 'Rust' shooting - By Andrew Dalton Ap Entertainment Writer
A lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges that Alec Baldwin recklessly fired a gun when it wasn't called for in the script when he shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza on the New Mexico set of the film "Rust."
"There was nothing in the script about the gun being discharged by DEFENDANT BALDWIN or by any other person," the lawsuit from script supervisor Mamie Mitchell says.
The lawsuit is the second to stem from the shooting, with many more expected.
Like last week’s from head of lighting Serge Svetnoy, it was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and names many defendants including Baldwin, who was both star and a producer; David Halls, the assistant director who handed Baldwin the gun; and Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who was in charge of weapons on the set.
Mitchell's lawsuit focuses mainly on Baldwin's actions. It said she was standing next to Hutchins and within 4 feet (1.22 meters) of the actor, and was stunned when he fired the gun inside the tiny church on Bonanza Creek Ranch on Oct. 21.
According to discussions before the scene was filmed, it called for three tight shots of Baldwin: One on his eyes, one on a blood stain on his shoulder, and one on his torso as he pulled the gun from a holster, the lawsuit says.
There was no call for Baldwin to point the gun toward Hutchins and Souza, nor to fire it, the lawsuit says.
And it alleges Baldwin violated protocol by not checking the gun more carefully.
"Mr. Baldwin chose to play Russian roulette when he fired a gun without checking it, and without having the armorer do so in his presence," Mitchell's attorney Gloria Allred said at a news conference.
A veteran script supervisor who has worked on nearly 100 productions, Mitchell was on a set for the first time since the pandemic began. She was the first to call 911 after the shooting, the lawsuit says.
She suffered "serious physical trauma and shock and injury to her nervous system," the lawsuit says, without giving details.
Mitchell is seeking both compensation and punitive damages in amounts to be determined later.
Lawyers and other representatives for the defendants had no immediate comment.
Baldwin said on video Oct. 30 that the shooting was a "one-in-a-trillion event" saying, "We were a very, very well-oiled crew shooting a film together and then this horrible event happened."
Mitchell's lawsuit alleges that the armorer on the production, Gutierrez Reed, had minimal experience, and she was hired as one of several cost-cutting measures that proved dangerous.
It says she violated protocol by allowing guns and ammunition to be unattended during a lunch break.
Gutierrez Reed told authorities she does not know how a live round ended up in the gun. Her lawyer Jason Bowles said in a statement last week that "we are convinced this was sabotage and Hannah is being framed. We believe that the scene was tampered with as well before the police arrived."
Santa Fe-area District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said last week that investigators have encountered no proof of sabotage.
Migrant camps grow in Mexico amid uncertainty on US policy - By Elliot Spagat Associated Press
As darkness fell, about 250 police officers and city workers swept into a squalid camp for migrants hoping to apply for asylum in the United States. Migrants had to register for credentials or leave. Within hours, those who stayed were surrounded by enough chain-link fence to extend twice the height of the Statue of Liberty.
The Oct. 28 operation may have been the beginning of the end for a camp that once held about 2,000 people and blocks a major border crossing to the United States. There may be more camps to come.
First lady Jill Biden sharply criticized a similar camp in Matamoros, bordering Brownsville, Texas, on a 2019 visit, saying, "It's not who we are as Americans." The Biden administration touted its work closing that camp in March, but others sprang up around the same time in nearby Reynosa and in Tijuana.
The camps, full of young children, are a product of policies that force migrants to wait in Mexico for hearings in U.S. immigration court or prohibit them from seeking asylum under pandemic-related public health powers. Uncertainty about U.S. asylum policies has also contributed to growing migrant populations in Mexican border cities, creating conditions for more camps.
Migrants are often out of public view in border cities, but the Tijuana camp is highly visible and disruptive. Tents covered with blue tarps and black plastic bags block entry to a border crossing where an average of about 12,000 people entered the U.S. daily before the pandemic. It is one of three pedestrian crossings to San Diego.
The U.S. fully reopened land borders with Mexico and Canada to vaccinated travelers Nov. 8.
Montserrat Caballero, Tijuana's first female mayor, said officials did "almost nothing" to control the camp before she took office Oct. 1. When she asked Mexico's state and federal governments to join her in erecting a fence and introducing a registry, they declined.
"The authorities at every level were scared — scared of making a mistake, scared of doing something wrong and affecting their political careers," she said in an interview. "No one wants to deal with these issues."
Caballero said she acted to protect migrants. She knows of no homicides or kidnappings at the camp, but The Associated Press found that assaults, drug use and threats have been common.
"I could not close my eyes to the flashing red light I saw," she said. "Closing your eyes only allows it grow."
The only entry-exit is guarded around the clock by Tijuana police. Migrants with credentials are free to come and go.
"There is no asylum process (in the United States) until further notice," Enrique Lucero, the city's director of migrant services, told people who asked about U.S. policy on a morning walk-through last week.
Since March 2020, the U.S. has used Title 42, named for a public health law, to expel adults and families without an opportunity for asylum; unaccompanied children are exempt. But the Biden administration has exercised that authority on only about one of every four who come in families, largely due to resource constraints and Mexico's reluctance to take back Central American families.
It's unclear why the U.S. releases many families to seek asylum and returns others to Mexico, prompting those who are turned back to stick around until they succeed.
Mayra Funes, a 28-year-old Honduran, said she didn't get a chance to make her case to agents when she was expelled crossing the border illegally near McAllen, Texas, in March with her 7-year-old daughter. She doesn't know if she will try again after six months in the Tijuana camp.
"There is no hope of knowing how they are going to open the process," she said.
Lucero, a soft-spoken graduate of George Washington University who worked at the Mexican consulate in Chicago, says his job is persuading migrants to move to a shelter, including large facilities recently opened by Mexico's federal and state governments. Many are turned off by curfews and other shelter rules and worry being farther from the border will cut them off from news on U.S. policy changes.
Natalina Nazario, 37, needed no convincing, stopping Lucero and jumping at the city's offer to pay bus fare to Acapulco, about 1,900 miles (3,040 kilometers) away, for her and her 17- and 11-year-old sons. She fears violence in the Mexican beach city but, after a month at the camp, doesn't want her children missing more school.
Few others noticed Lucero's presence. Olga Galicia, a 23-year-old from Guatemala, sat on a curb scrubbing clothes in a plastic bin of soapy water. She had been at the camp about six months and said she will stay with her 3- and 1-year-old sons until she gets more information on how to seek asylum in the United States.
Tijuana won't forcibly remove any migrants, said Caballero, who expects holdouts to leave during seasonal rains. Thousands of migrants who came in a 2018 caravan were soaked sleeping outside in frigid November downpours.
The city estimates the camp held 1,700 people two weeks before the Oct. 28 operation, which Caballero publicly warned was coming but didn't say when.
The first count, on Oct. 29, showed 769 migrants, more than 40% children. Half were Mexican — many from strife-torn states of Guerrero and Michoacan — and one-third were Honduran, with El Salvadorans and Guatemalans accounting for nearly all the rest.
The steep decline just before registration likely reflects that many living there were Tijuana's homeless, not migrants, Caballero said.
The camp occupies a large, once-barren plaza. A warren of walkways includes rows that are wide enough in some parts for two people to stroll in opposite directions. People lounge inside tents or outside in folding chairs.
There are 12 portable bathrooms, 10 showers and a shared water tap for washing clothes. Charities donate food to migrants who prepare hot chocolate, fried eggs, hot dogs and spaghetti for everyone. The federal utility recently stopped the camp from stealing electricity, leaving it dark at night and forcing the makeshift kitchen to rely on canned food.
The future is less certain for a migrant camp in Reynosa, across the border from McAllen, Texas. It has about 2,000 people in a plaza near the city's main border crossing, said Felicia Rangel-Samponaro, director of The Sidewalk School, which educates children there.
The Biden administration, under a court order, plans to soon reinstate a Trump-era policy to make asylum-seekers wait in Mexico for hearings in the U.S. It hinges on approval from Mexican officials, who have told U.S. authorities they need more shelter beds and worry about violence in the state of Tamaulipas, which includes Reynosa.
The "Remain in Mexico" policy is expected to resume in "the coming weeks" after U.S. and Mexican authorities resolve "one set of outstanding issues," Blas Nuñez-Nieto, acting assistant U.S. Homeland Security secretary for border and immigration policy, said in a court filing Monday. He did not elaborate.
Caballero said U.S. authorities haven't pressured Mexico to reopen the busy pedestrian crossing between Tijuana and San Diego. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement it is working closely with Mexico "to determine how to resume normal travel safely and sustainably."
The mayor plans to ask Mexico's National Guard to help prevent camps from popping up again in Tijuana.
"The reality is that camps are going to be established if we are unprepared," she said.