Unemployment up slightly but most sectors see job gains in January – KUNM News
New Mexico’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose slightly in January from the same time a year ago, to 4% from 3.6%. But it remained unchanged from December.
The Department of Workforce Solutions reported the January numbers were slightly higher than the national unemployment rate of 3.7%.
Nearly all sectors, public and private, added jobs. Local, state and federal government job numbers rose. In the private sector, most gains were in service-providing industries, including professional and business services, private education, and health services.
However, employment in transportation, warehousing, and utilities was down. Wholesale trade jobs also saw a decline. And employment in information and in financial services was also down.
On a county level, Los Alamos had the lowest unemployment rate at 1.9% and Luna had the highest at 13.5%.
NMSU pays $865,000 to settle discrimination lawsuits – Albuquerque Journal, KUNM News
Two women who said they were discriminated against by New Mexico State University have settled separate lawsuits with the school for a total of $865,000.
The Albuquerque Journal reports former NMSU provost Carol Parker and Azadeh Osanloo, a tenured professor of educational leadership and administration, each filed the suits in late 2022. Both say they faced discrimination because of their gender and then encountered retaliation.
The women alleged violations of the state’s Human Rights Act and the Whistleblower Protection Act.
Parker was provost for three years before being fired on Jan. 31, 2022 and now lives outside New Mexico.
Parker says she found evidence NMSU was engaging in pay disparity on the basis of race and gender. But she said she was told by the former chancellor and former president to implement organizational restructuring and policies unpopular with faculty instead of investigating. She later faced a no-confidence vote resolution by the Faculty Senate.
Osanloo will resign voluntarily from NMSU in May and says in her suit she faced retaliation for making public statements about NMSU’s leadership, and gender and racial discrimination. Her suit argued NMSU engaged in an illegal attempt to deny her a job that went to a less-qualified white male faculty member.
NMSU has admitted no liability or wrongdoing in the settlements.
NM Attorney General opens complaint office for wildfire survivors in Las Vegas - Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced last week that the state Department of Justice is opening a consumer protection office in northern New Mexico to help survivors of the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire.
The office also released a flyer with information for those considering hiring lawyers, or who have already hired lawyers, as they seek compensation from a $3.95 billion fund allocated by Congress to compensate victims of the fire. Several large law firms have signed on more than 1,000 fire victims as clients, including families, businesses, acequias and local governments.
The complaint office at the headquarters of the Las Vegas district attorney will be open for walk-ins on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Claimants can walk in and file complaints and get general information about the claims process.
“The Department of Justice is here to protect consumers and those impacted by the fire that ravaged northern New Mexico,” Torrez said in a news release.
Torrez said his department has received questions from many survivors about their rights when it comes to legal services for their claims.
Congressional sponsors said their intent for the nearly $4 billion compensation program was that fire survivors could navigate the process without an attorney. Law firms say they are necessary to shoulder the paperwork burden and maximize payouts. They also get a 20% cut of claims.
The flyer from the Department of Justice reminds those seeking compensation that they have a right to decide whether they want an attorney, settle their cases, and to be kept informed by lawyers about the status of their claim. It also gives claimants “warning signs” for a law firm that isn’t advocating in their best interests, including coercion, solicitation and going silent.
As of March 6, the Claims Office had paid out $420 million of the nearly $4 billion compensation fund, which is about 11%.
Special Help Wanted: 86% of APS teacher vacancies are for special education teachers - Rodd Clayton, City Desk ABQ
This story was originally published by City Desk ABQ
The Albuquerque Public Schools district needs more than 100 special education teachers to fill vacancies in its 176 individual schools.
According to the district’s job listings on Thursday afternoon, 120 of 139 open teaching positions were in special education.
The district is not unique in that regard. Monica Armenta, executive director for communications at APS, said that the teacher shortage in general is a national issue.
“The shortage of special education teachers is a challenge that’s existed for decades without remedy anywhere in America,” Armenta said.
But an HR director for the district also acknowledged that it is hampered in its recruiting efforts by a lack of incentives and negative press coverage.
“It truly has a high impact on our recruiting and discourages applicants from coming and applying with us,” said Dorothy Chavez, the district’s senior director of employee process and HR systems, in response to emailed questions from City Desk ABQ.
Special education serves academically gifted children and those with disabilities, according to APS budget information.
Authors David Peyton and Kelly Acosta, in their 2022 report for the National Association of State Boards of Education, found that “while supply and demand for fully qualified special education teachers has ebbed and flowed for nearly 30 years, demand has consistently outpaced supply nationally.”
A blog by the School of Education at American University in Washington, D.C. listed low pay, stressful working conditions and insufficient support for special education teachers as factors contributing to the shortage.
APS LOOKING ALL OVER THE COUNTRY
APS is trying to be proactive in addressing its shortage. Chavez said APS is attending recruiting events at colleges and universities across the state, adding University of Colorado in Colorado Springs to its itinerary last year.
Chavez said APS representatives this March and April will visit even more schools, including Dillard University in New Orleans, a historically Black institution. Recruiters are also scheduled to visit historically Black universities in Missouri and Texas. Chavez said APS plans to build new connections with historically Black colleges and universities across the U.S.
Chavez said many universities and colleges are working to address the need in their own ways, including “grow your own” special education teacher programs that provide discounted tuition for those interested in careers. The University of New Mexico, she said, has six students enrolled in an undergraduate degree program in special education.
While recruiting new teachers adds to a district’s roster, retention of those already in the field eliminates the need to fill their positions.
Ellen Bernstein, president of the Albuquerque Teachers Federation, said administrators need to pay attention to the workloads of current special education teachers and provide support that will ease the pressure on them.
She said the union and APS are working together to create an atmosphere that will help fill those positions.
Armenta said APS is also in the process of creating a school psychologist internship program that would provide prospective school psychologists with “the opportunity to develop and integrate knowledge acquired through coursework and practica into relevant professional competencies.”
A practicum is a course designed to allow students to apply their classroom learning under supervision in a real-world setting.
MONEY ALONE WON’T HELP
The APS Board of Education discussed the special education teacher shortage at its Wednesday meeting, with member Josefina Dominguez expressing concern about teacher workloads in the face of rising needs. Her comment came during a budget presentation in which district officials said spending on special education would increase.
Bonnie Anderson, director of budget, data and synergy within special education, said the shortage isn’t merely a budget issue.
“It’s not so much a lack of money as it is a lack of available licensed teachers,” she said. “And we’re working on recruiting all the time.”
A list of current openings for special education teachers at Albuquerque Public Schools is available here.
'Oppenheimer' crowned best picture at an Academy Awards - By Jake Coyle, AP Film Writer
"Oppenheimer," a solemn three-hour biopic that became an unlikely billion-dollar box-office sensation, was crowned best picture at a 96th Academy Awards that doubled as a coronation for Christopher Nolan.
After passing over arguably Hollywood's foremost big-screen auteur for years, the Oscars made up for lost time by heaping seven awards on Nolan's blockbuster biopic, including best actor for Cillian Murphy, best supporting actor for Robert Downey Jr. and best director for Nolan.
In anointing "Oppenheimer," the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences did something it hasn't done for more than a decade: hand its top prize to a widely seen, big-budget studio film. In a film industry where a cape, dinosaur or Tom Cruise has often been a requirement for such box office, "Oppenheimer" brought droves of moviegoers to theaters with a complex, fission-filled drama about J. Robert Oppenheimer and the creation of the atomic bomb.
"For better or worse, we're all living in Oppenheimer's world," said Murphy in his acceptance speech. "I'd like to dedicate this to the peacemakers."
As a film heavy with unease for human capacity for mass destruction, "Oppenheimer" also emerged — even over its partner in cultural phenomenon, "Barbie" – as a fittingly foreboding film for times rife with cataclysm, man-made or not.
Sunday's Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles unfolded against the backdrop of wars in Gaza and Ukraine, and with a potentially momentous U.S. election on the horizon. Awards for the documentary winner, "20 Days in Mariupol," and best international film, "The Zone of Interest," brought geopolitics into the Oscar spotlight.
The most closely watched contest went to Emma Stone, who won best best actress for her performance as Bella Baxter in "Poor Things." In what was seen as the night's most nail-biting category, Stone won over Lily Gladstone of "Killers of the Flower Moon." Gladstone would have become the first Native American to win an Academy Award.
Instead, Oscar voters couldn't resist the full-bodied extremes of Stone's "Poor Things" performance. The win for Stone, her second best actress Oscar following her 2017 win for "La La Land," confirmed the 35-year-old as arguably the preeminent big-screen actress of her generation. The list of women to win best actress two or more times is illustrious, including Katharine Hepburn, Frances McDormand, Ingrid Bergman and Bette Davis.
"Oh, boy, this is really overwhelming," said Stone, who fought back tears and a broken dress during her speech.
Sunday's broadcast had razzle dazzle, including a sprawling song-and-dance rendition of the "Barbie" hit "I'm Just Ken" by Ryan Gosling, with an assist on guitar by Slash and a sea of Kens who swarmed the stage.
But protest and politics intruded on an election-year Academy Awards. Late during the show, host Jimmy Kimmel read a critical social media post from former president Donald Trump.
"Thank you for watching," said Kimmel. "Isn't it past your jail time?"
Nolan has had many movies in the Oscar mix before, including "Inception," "Dunkirk" and "The Dark Knight." But his win Sunday for direction is the first Academy Award for the 53-year-old filmmaker. Addressing the crowd, Nolan noted cinema is just over a hundred years old.
"Imagine being there 100 years into painting or theater," said Nolan, who shared the best-picture award with Emma Thomas, his wife and producer. "We don't know where this incredible journey is going from here. But to know that you think that I'm a meaningful part of it means the world to me."
Downey, nominated twice before (for "Chaplin" and "Tropic Thunder"), also notched his first Oscar, crowning the illustrious second act of his up-and-down career.
"I'd like to thank my terrible childhood and the academy, in that order," said Downey, the son of filmmaker Robert Downey Sr.
"Barbie," last year's biggest box-office hit with more than $1.4 billion in ticket sales, ultimately won just one award: best song (sorry, Ken) for Billie Eilish and Finneas' "What Was I Made For?" It's their second Oscar, two years after winning for their James Bond theme, "No Time to Die."
Protests over Israel's war in Gaza snarled traffic around the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, slowing stars' arrival on the red carpet and turning the Oscar' attention toward the ongoing conflict. Some protesters shouted "Shame!" at those trying to reach the awards.
Jonathan Glazer, the British filmmaker whose chilling Auschwitz drama "The Zone of Interest" won best international film, drew connections between the dehumanization depicted in his film and today.
"Right now, we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people, whether the victims of October the 7th in Israel, or the the ongoing attack on Gaza, all the victims, this dehumanization, how do we resist?"
A year after "Navalny" won the same award, Mstyslav Chernov's "20 Days in Mariupol," a harrowing chronicle of the early days of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, won best documentary. The win, a first for The Associated Press and PBS' "Frontline," came as the war in Ukraine passed the two-year mark with no signs of abating.
Chernov, the Ukrainian filmmaker and AP journalist whose hometown was bombed the day he learned of his Oscar nomination, spoke forcefully about Russia's invasion.
"This is the first Oscar in Ukrainian history, and I'm honored," said Chernov. "Probably I will be the first director on this stage to say I wish I'd never made this film. I wish to be able to exchange this (for) Russia never attacking Ukraine."
In the early going, Yorgos Lanthimos' Frankenstein-riff "Poor Things" ran away with three prizes for its sumptuous craft, including awards for production design, makeup and hairstyling and costume design. "Poor Things" fared second best to "Oppenheimer," with a total of four awards.
Kimmel, hosting the ABC telecast for the fourth time, opened the awards with an monologue that emphasized Hollywood as "a union town" following 2023's actor and writer strikes, drew a standing ovation for bringing out teamsters and behind-the-scenes workers — who are now entering their own labor negotiations.
The night's first award was one of its most predictable: Da'Vine Joy Randolph for best supporting actress, for her performance in Alexander Payne's "The Holdovers." An emotional Randolph was accompanied to the stage by her "Holdovers" co-star Paul Giamatti.
"For so long I've always wanted to be different," said Randolph. "And now I realize I just need to be myself."
Though Randolph's win was widely expected, an upset quickly followed. Hayao Miyazaki's "The Boy and the Heron" won for best animated feature, a surprise over the slightly favored "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse." Miyazaki, the 83-year-old Japanese anime master who came out of retirement to make "The Boy and the Heron," didn't attend the ceremony. He also didn't attend the 2003 Oscars when his "Spirited Away" won the same award.
Best original screenplay went to "Anatomy of a Fall," which, like "Barbie," was penned by a couple: director Justine Triet and Arthur Harari. "This will help me through my midlife crisis, I think," said Triet.
In adapted screenplay, where "Barbie" was nominated — and where some suspected Greta Gerwig would win after being overlooked for director — the Oscar went to Cord Jefferson, who wrote and directed his feature film debut "American Fiction." He pleaded for executives to take risks on young filmmakers like himself.
"Instead of making a $200 million movie, try making 20 $10 million movies," said Jefferson, previously an award-winning TV writer.
The Oscars belonged largely to theatrical-first films. Though it came into the awards with 19 nominations, Netflix was a bit player. Its lone win came for live action short: Wes Anderson's "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar," based on the story by Roald Dahl.
The win for "Oppenheimer" offered Hollywood a chance to celebrate despite swirling storm clouds in the film industry. Nolan's film debuted last year just as actors joined screenwriters in a prolonged strike over streaming economics and artificial intelligence. The actors' strike ended in November, but little of Hollywood's unease subsided. Streaming has proved less lucrative for most studios not named Netflix.
But "Barbenheimer" was the kind of unplanned phenomenon Hollywood needs more of. The two films could also give a lift to the Oscar telecast, which has historically benefitted from having big movies in contention. The Academy Awards' largest audience ever came when James Cameron's "Titanic" swept the 1998 Oscars.
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AP's Ryan Pearson and Krysta Fauria contributed to this report
NM Gas Co., advocacy groups reach agreement in rate case – By Hannah Grover,New Mexico Political Report
New Mexico Gas Co. has reached a potential agreement with various consumer and environmental advocacy groups to gain their support for a rate increase that is pending before the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission.
While an agreement has been reached, it still requires the PRC’s approval.
“We appreciate the spirit of collaboration that all parties brought to the table in reaching the settlement,” Tim Korte, a spokesman for NM Gas Co., said in an emailed statement. “The company is committed to implementing the terms of the settlement as agreed to when it is approved by the PRC.”
The state’s largest gas utility filed the request for a rate increase in September. In that request, the company asked to increase its revenues by nearly $49 million. That increase in revenues would come through higher rates.
Korte said the original request for an additional $48.97 million annually from customers was to pay for upgrades and improvements to gas delivery infrastructure. Many of those investments are required “to keep pace with federal and state reliability and safety regulations,” he said. Additionally, NM Gas Co. is replacing its customer billing and account information system and faces increasing operating expenses.
NM Gas Co. agreed to reduce the amount that it is requesting in additional revenues to $30 million annually. The rate increase would still go into effect in October.
The company also asked for a higher return on equity, which determines how much investors recoup. Nationally, the return on equity typically ranges from 9 percent to 11 percent. New Mexico Gas Co. requested a 10.5 percent return on equity.
Under the agreement reached last week with the intervening parties, the gas company has agreed to just under 9.4 percent return on equity and a reduction in the rate increase.
One of the things that reduces the size of the rate increase is that New Mexico Gas Co. is no longer asking for a regulatory asset for expenses related to fees charged by third-parties to process credit card payments, nor is it asking for a regulatory asset to cover expenses related to its application to build, own and operate a liquified natural gas storage facility in Rio Rancho.
Regulatory assets are essentially a cost that utility regulators allow companies to pay off expenses over a period of time through rates.
According to New Energy Economy, which is one of the advocacy groups that has agreed to the settlement, the regulatory asset for the LNG facility application would have cost ratepayers around $10 million.
NEE Executive Director Mariel Nanasi said the gas company has also agreed to change its notice, which the advocacy group argued was misleading because the usage it showed as an example of what a rate increase might look like was lower than most customers consume during winter months.
In its notice, NM Gas Co. assumed the average customer uses 53 therms of gas. Under that scenario, the original proposal would have resulted in a $6.70 per month increase for average customers, which is about 11.2 percent.
However, Korte explained, customers who are not on budget billing—which allows them to pay the same amount every month based on their annual average usage—would see higher dollar impacts in the winter when usage increases and lower impacts in the summer.
Still looking at a 53 therm per month average use, the new agreement would result in a 7.1 percent increase in customer bills rather than 11.2 percent. The summer impact would be a 6.3 percent increase while the winter bill impact would be 7.3 percent.
Korte said a customer on budget billing using an average of 53 therms per month would see a bill increase of $4.21 monthly.
The agreement outlines what future notices must state, including breaking it down to summer month impacts for customers using 10 therms and winter month impacts for customers using 100 therms as well as those using 150 therms in the winter. The notice must include percentage increase as well as current rate and future rate.
Nanasi said the gas company has also agreed to keep the access fee that all customers must pay at $12.40 rather than raising it to $15.50 per month. An increase in the access fee would have disproportionate impacts to low-income ratepayers, Nanasi said.
The rate increase comes amid a push to decarbonize, including incentives for electrification and for heat pumps.
But, Korte said, NM Gas Co. continues to see “modest customer growth and continuing demand for natural gas across our service territory.”
Nanasi said that if humanity is going to survive, gas should be phased out and only used in extreme circumstances. This is because gas contributes to climate change.
Should that phase out of natural gas occur, she said, “maybe the gas company will exist, or maybe it won’t. Maybe it’ll transform itself into another kind of company.”
Nanasi said she hopes that as the transition occurs, it happens in a way that doesn’t leave low-income communities behind or result in bills so high that customers struggle to pay them.
Korte said NM Gas Co. has an obligation to provide natural gas to customers when they need it.
“We see an ongoing role for natural gas, especially for space heating, as part of our state’s long-term energy strategy, including decarbonization,” he said.
New Mexico man dies of the plague – By Mia Casas, KUNM News
A man from Lincoln County has been reported dead, after hospitalization for the plague.
The New Mexico Department of Health announced today this is the first human case of plague in New Mexico since one in 2021 in Torrance County.
The bacterial disease is most commonly spread by rodents – through fleas. Pets who hunt outside can catch these fleas and bring them home to their humans.
You can be infected by flea bites, or direct contact with an infected rodent, dead or alive.
Symptoms in humans can look like swelling of lymph nodes in the groin, armpit, or neck, accompanied by fever, chills, headache, and weakness.
Furry friends have similar signs. They will develop a fever, stop eating, and show exhaustion. Their lymph nodes can also swell around the jaw.
To prevent the plague, NMDOHrecommends staying away from any sick or dead rodents, keeping pets from hunting, and if they do so, use flea control recommended by your vet. – It also recommends cleaning up areas near homes where rodents might live– like brush piles or abandoned vehicles. Also don’t leave your pets’ food outside where rodents can get into it.
The department is doing an environmental assessment of the surrounding area of the man’s death to account for any risk remaining.
The US is springing forward to daylight saving. For Navajo and Hopi tribes, it's a time of confusion - By Terry Tang, Associated Press
Melissa Blackhair is not eager to spring forward Sunday.
"I'm dreading it. I just don't want to see how much we have to adjust," Blackhair said while sitting in her home office in Tuba City on the Navajo Nation, the only area in Arizona that follows daylight saving time. With her husband working during the week in Phoenix, their clocks will vary.
"Everything in our house is set to daylight saving time. It just kind of is an inconvenience because I am having to remember which car is on daylight and which is on standard time," she said. "My husband will not change our time in our apartment (in Phoenix)."
Those who live on the Arizona portion of the Navajo Nation — the largest Native American reservation in the U.S. — endure mind-bending calculations every March through November.
The Navajo Nation, which also stretches into Utah and New Mexico, will reset clocks for one hour later despite being situated between two territories that remain on standard time: the rest of Arizona and the neighboring Hopi reservation.
It's made for an especially unique situation with the Hopi reservation, which is landlocked within the Navajo Nation and goes by standard time year-round. A stretch of U.S. 160 in Tuba City is the de facto border between the two reservations and two time zones.
Reva Hoover, longtime manager of the Bashas' supermarket along U.S. 160 on the Navajo side, says Sunday will inevitably be chaotic. Despite posting reminders in the locker room, employees who live on both reservations likely will arrive late.
Tourists might not be aware. Guests staying at the Moenkopi Legacy Inn & Suites on the Hopi side across the street who come into the grocery store at what they think is 8:30 p.m. would have only 30 minutes to shop before it closes, Hoover said.
"In reality, it probably would be a lot easier for everybody if we all stayed on the same time. But I take it as being unique," Hoover said. "Where else can you say that? 'Oh they're on a different time across the street.' "
Deannethea Long, the hotel's general manager, agrees it makes for an interesting talking point with guests. The hotel, which is on standard time, does little things like have one wall clock per time zone in the lobby.
"We have in-room notices to know when stores close, understanding your time zones. We explain it at the front desk, too. It can get very confusing," Long said.
Kimberly Humetewa lives on the Hopi side in Moenkopi, but her children attend school and other events on the Navajo side. The time change is hard on them, she said. They have to get up earlier, and she has to stop and calculate the time for almost everything.
Most of the essentials — the post office, the grocery store, Tuba City's only hospital — are on the other side of the highway, where everything will be on daylight saving time.
"Since everything's on this side, everybody changes the time unlike us on the Hopi reservation," Humetewa said. "It's a little tough but sometimes we just manage to deal with it."
The time change permeates Blackhair's work and home life. The graphic artist often advises clients to specify on announcements or invitations which time zone the event is recognizing. She also has to make sure she's not late for medical appointments in Flagstaff, Arizona, which isn't on either tribe's reservation.
One time, she miscalculated when to leave for her son's football game on the Hopi reservation and arrived when it was over. Her mother-in-law's home is a half-mile but one time zone away. So, for the months that Blackhair is on daylight saving, her family doesn't visit her long on school nights.
"Once we start looking at people's clocks, we just kind of think 'OK, it's 7 o'clock but it's really 8 o'clock at our house in the evening,'" Blackhair said, adding that the family doesn't go onto the Hopi side on school nights during daylight saving.
The time warp also has fed into lingering feelings of anti-socialness from when Navajo and Hopi shut down during the coronavirus pandemic. If an organizer of an event doesn't make clear in what time zone it's happening, Blackhair would rather not go.
"Ever since the pandemic, we've kind of stuck to ourselves," Blackhair said. "It's a lot easier to just stay home."
Arizona lawmakers passed legislation in 1968 cementing standard time after the federal government attempted to make daylight saving time the norm nationwide. Arizona tried daylight saving the previous year. Residents living in sweltering summer heat complained about having to wait through an extra hour of sunlight. Arizona and Hawaii do not change clocks.
In contrast, the Navajo Tribal Council — now the Navajo Nation Council — issued a resolution in March of that year proclaiming the reservation would follow the U.S. government's lead. The original resolution notes this would avoid confusion even in areas in other states. Also, another hour of daylight during summer "will be of great benefit to the Navajo people."
Adding another layer to the alternating time zones is a pocket in the southern end of the Hopi reservation that is Navajo Nation. Traveling more than 160 miles (258 kilometers) from northern Arizona through Tuba City, and back-and-forth from Hopi to Navajo, residents and tourists could cross time zones several times.
The configuration of the reservations is due, in part, to what was a decadeslong land dispute between the tribes. At one point, the federal government imposed a construction ban lasting 50 years on land both tribes had claimed as their own.
The proximity of Navajo and Hopi makes it hard for the two tribes to avoid association. Still, there is a constant feeling of David and Goliath between them. While Navajo is the largest Native American reservation in the U.S. — bigger than 10 U.S. states — Hopi is small with villages that are the oldest, continually inhabited among all 574 federally recognized tribes.
Like grocery stores, one tribe can offer basic utilities to members of the other.
Hopi Telecommunications has 1,200 internet and phone customers, including 200 to 300 Navajos. It can be frustrating for Navajo customers on daylight saving to wait longer to report an outage because the provider isn't open yet, said Carroll Onsae, president and general manager.
For the next several months, business meetings always come down to "Hopi time" or "Navajo time." But he is taking it in stride.
"An hour difference is not too much of an inconvenience," Onsae said.
He has Hopi friends, however who work on the Navajo Nation and aren't too keen on the situation. For part of the year, it's almost like they are being forced to practice daylight saving time anyway.
Residents like Blackhair would support the Navajo Nation doing away with daylight saving time. She says she heard rumblings about that possibility a few years ago and was disappointed nothing materialized.
"We really don't feel like it accomplishes anything having to move forward an hour," Blackhair said. "It's like moving from landline phone lines to mobile cellular phones. That advancement had to happen. We're living in an age now moving from daylight saving time just has to happen."
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Tang reports on race and ethnicity issues, including Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, for The Associated Press. She is based in Phoenix and previously covered breaking news in the Southwest.