Hundreds protest at UNM calling for student and staff support amid Trump demands and funding cuts— Daniel Montaño, Mia Casas
Hundreds gathered outside Scholes Hall on the University of New Mexico campus today as part of a walkout, criticizing what protestors called the university giving in to demands from the Trump administration.
As the White House has called for the end of diversity, equity and inclusion policies, threatening funding cuts, UNM recently announced it will review its policies and procedures regarding equal opportunity and discrimination, and released a new draft of its policies regarding affirmative action.
Mark David says that decision was part of why he came out to protest.
“We’re here about freeing Palestine,” he said, “but also were here for the rally against the university possibly changing their policies and ridding themselves of the DEI program that they had here.”
Protestors also called for better protections for students, especially international students, and used the occasion to bring up other longstanding grievances.
Justine Kablack, a graduate student and teacher in the art department, says she thinks the university needs to better value its graduate workers.
“Primarily I’m here today as apart of grad work rights,” she said. “We are bargaining with the university this week, primarily asking for an increase in wages and benefits for grad workers.”
The demonstration was part of a larger national day of action organized by the Coalition for Action in Higher Ed, with protests happening at dozens of campuses nationwide.
Action in Higher Ed, with protests happening at dozens of campuses nationwide.
You can find video coverage of the protest from reporter Mia Casas by searching for KUNM news on Instagram and KUNM Radio on TikTok
PNM cuts off power to Las Vegas due to due to high wind and wildfire risk — Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
The state’s biggest electrical utility said it shut off power to about 2,300 customers in Las Vegas Thursday in a pre-emptive move to prevent wildfires.
PNM says it initiated the “public safety power shutoff” at 11:30 a.m. in the Northern New Mexico town. The outage could last up to 48 hours depending on conditions, officials said.
The area is experiencing extreme fire conditions, thanks to prolonged drought, large buildup of fuel, high temperatures, low humidity and increased winds, according to PNM. A National Weather Service high wind warning says gusts could reach 65 mph.
“The decision to shut off power will be made only as a last resort to protect lives and property from the threat of wildfire,” PNM officials said in a news release earlier Thursday.
All of New Mexico is under either a high wind or Red Flag warning imposed by the National Weather Service, which indicates high wildfire risk. The high wind warning is in effect through most of northwestern New Mexico, including Las Vegas, and the Red Flag warning is in effect everywhere else.
PNM has warned repeatedly this year that it could impose pre-emptive power shutoffs, including in East Mountains of Albuquerque, Las Vegas and elsewhere, though it had not yet done so until Thursday.
The utility has never done a pre-emptive shutoff before, officials said at a recent news conference, but said it is increasingly necessary due to extreme wildfire conditions.
The utility has also been sued for wildfires in recent years, including the McBride Fire in Ruidoso. A law firm accused it of negligence for allowing a tree to be blown onto a powerline it controls, but the utility has denied any liability.
Albuquerque now requires cooling systems in rentals as summer temperatures lurk - Justin Garcia, Albuquerque Journal
As workers installed a swamp cooler at a city apartment complex on Tuesday, Albuquerque officials celebrated a new regulation: landlords must provide cooling systems in rentals, or face the consequences.
“Everyone has a right to either not freeze or not die from heat stroke in their house,” Mayor Tim Keller said. “That’s all this (ordinance) does. But, believe it or not, it took the City Council and Councilor (Tammy) Fieblekorn to change the law in the city to make sure that everyone actually can have that in their house.”
In December, the City Council approved a measure to require landlords to provide some form of cooling, whether evaporative cooling (swamp coolers) or air conditioning. The council has also approved a measure to create a full-time position for a code enforcement officer to receive and review tenant complaints.
Fieblekorn sponsored both measures, which have been signed by the mayor.
However, Tuesday’s news conference focused primarily on the measure meant to protect tenants from heat.
“Urban heat island impacts and climate change have made it where you cannot live in a home in the city of Albuquerque without a cooling system,” Fieblekorn said. “You will be sick, you will have days off work, you will not be a productive member of society, and you’ll be miserable.”
The vote narrowly passed the City Council. Four councilors wanted to reject the measure, which drew opposition from landlords and representatives of landlord advocacy groups.
Fiebelkorn said the final bill, however, was a compromise. She noted that her initial proposal required landlords to install cooling units that could bring a rental unit down to a certain point. So, buildings without efficient insulation would require more powerful cooling units.
“Through the legislative process, to get anything through, we did have to remove that temperature set point, which was unfortunate,” Fieblekorn said. “But I think that, in general, having that movement of cooler air through the building is certainly better than nothing.”
Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows that temperatures in Albuquerque reach 100 degrees more often than in years past. In 2023, Albuquerque saw 17 days at or above 100 degrees, the highest on record. Typically, the city has seen just three.
Heat — and its many adverse health effects — is not felt equally among Albuquerque’s residents. In a 2021 report, the CAPA Heat Watch program mapped the parts of Albuquerque that became the hottest. They found that some parts of the city are up to 17 degrees warmer.
There are no signs that things will cool off anytime soon.
An article published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Nature Communications argues that summer temperatures in Albuquerque will look more like summers in Roswell by 2080, where, on average, from 2020 to 2024, there were 52 days when the temperature reached or exceeded 100 degrees.
But on the cool spring day of the news conference, city officials sought to warn landlords: add cooling for tenants, or face the consequences.
Angelo Metzgar, code compliance manager, said the enforcement process will be like any other enforcement action under the uniform housing code process.
“We will reach out to the tenant, schedule the inspection, go out, verify there’s a violation, and get the notice out to the property owner, giving him a certain amount of time to put the cooling unit in,” Metzger said, adding that the length of time will be decided on a case-by-case basis.
Albuquerque ‘optimistic’ about state housing funds, despite Gov nixing earmark - Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
Even though New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham struck language directing $80 million in new housing money to the state’s biggest city, Albuquerque officials believe the state will still provide adequate funds this upcoming fiscal year to help address the housing crisis.
The governor late last week signed the record $10.8 billion budget lawmakers sent to her during the 60-day session, which included$110 million “to support housing, affordable housing, transitional housing and the expansion of housing services.”
While the governor approved the total allocation — which the state Department of Finance and Administration will oversee — she crossed out language from lawmakers specifying $80 million for programs in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County, along with $10 million they had specified for Las Cruces and Doña Ana County.
Striking the language did not impact the $110 million payment to the state Department of Finance and Administration, which will oversee the housing funds. However, legislative leaders had previously highlighted those earmarks as important because they directed most of the money to the areas where populations and needs are the biggest.
“I think we’re investing far more in a targeted way that’s going to help bring folks off the streets and into homes,” said Rep. Nathan Small (D-Las Cruces) in a Feb. 24 news conference touting the House’s budget proposals.
In a statement to Source New Mexico on Wednesday, the governor’s office defended striking the language, saying that now DFA will have more flexibility.
“The removed language could have been interpreted as restrictive, effectively stating, ‘These are the only permitted uses for these funds,” governor’s spokesperson Jodi McGinnis-Porter said in an email. “By eliminating these constraints, DFA will have enhanced agility to respond to changing circumstances.”
Staci Dragmeister, a spokesperson for the City of Albuquerque, said the city is “optimistic” the change won’t affect the amount of money heading its way for housing.
“The Governor kept the funding in place and there is a clear, critical need for more affordable housing and homeless services in Albuquerque,” she told Source in an email Wednesday. “The City is optimistic the funding will be used to help residents in Albuquerque and is ready to put it to work to build housing and expand services.”
A recent report from Pew Charitable Trusts found that homelessness in Albuquerque increased 108% between 2017 and 2024, which is more than the 87% increase seen across the state and nearly three times the 40% national average increase during that period. Despite adding more than 31,000 jobs in the last three years, city developers have added only 9,000 new housing units during that period.
The line in the budget authorizing the $110 million in housing spending money to DFA specifies that the money is for affordable and transitional housing, and the expansion of housing services providers that “facilitate behavioral health services and substance abuse recovery, homelessness assistance and prevention for persons with behavioral health needs.”
Doña Ana County Clerk announces campaign for NM Secretary of State- Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
Amanda López Askin, a Democrat who has led the Doña Ana County Clerk’s office since 2018, announced her campaign Wednesday for New Mexico’s top election office.
López Askin, is so far the only Secretary of State candidate in the 2026 election. Current Secretary of State Maggie Tolouse Oliver has served two consecutive terms, and cannot run for the seat in the upcoming election. The position is third in succession, behind the governor and lieutenant governor. The Secretary of State administers elections, enforces ethics and keeps official records for state government.
Doña Ana County commissioners appointed López Askin to the office just two months before the 2018 mid-term elections after the previous county clerk resigned; she has since won two elections to keep the seat in 2020 and 2024.
López Askin will not step down from the Doña Ana County Clerk’s office during the campaign, she told Source, saying she will work more and lean on Deputy County Clerk Caroline Zamora.
“I’ll be working double-time evenings and weekends,” she said. “But I will continue to lead the office in Doña Ana County.”
López Askin said she has the “perseverance and dedication” to fight electoral changes at the federal level, such as House Republicans voting for a bill that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote, and the Trump Administration’s recent orders to overhaul election rules,
“It’s never been more important to protect the right to vote,” she said. “I’ve been battle-tested. Since 2018, I have been challenged. I have had to deal with extremists and election deniers and litigation. And in every single instance, I defended what we do, and I defended it well.”
Those challenges included a death threat by former Republican candidate Solomon Peña, before his arrest for organizing four shootings at the homes of four Democratic politicians after he lost an election for a New Mexico House of Representatives seat.
López Askin has a masters in marriage and family therapy, along with a PhD in educational leadership from New Mexico State University.
According to campaign finance records, López Askin has just under $19,000 in the campaign’s coffers, transferred from her previous county clerk campaign.
Despite vetoed funding, AG plans to prop up new child-focused oversight office - Dan Boyd, Albuquerque Journal
A new office tasked with providing outside oversight of New Mexico’s child welfare agency will set up shop this summer with just a fraction of its proposed state funding.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham last week used her line-item veto authority to ax $1 million in start-up funding that lawmakers had appropriated in a state budget bill for the new Office of the Child Advocate.
She also vetoed a separate $650,000 appropriation for the office, but left intact a similar earmark in a different part of the spending bill.
While advocates have expressed concern about the vetoes’ impact, Attorney General Raúl Torrez does not plan to let the governor’s actions snuff out the plan.
A spokeswoman for the Democratic attorney general said Torrez has already authorized the state Department of Justice to make up the budget shortfall for the newly created office, which will be administratively attached to the agency.
“We intend to keep working with our partners in the Legislature to ensure adequate funding for the Office of the Child Advocate as its important work gets underway and will continue to advocate for children’s civil rights with or without the governor’s support,” Torrez’s chief of staff Lauren Rodriguez told the Journal.
She also said the Department of Justice was “profoundly disappointed” by Lujan Grisham’s vetoes and her resistance to outside oversight of the Children, Youth and Families Department.
During the final days of this year’s 60-day legislative session, Lujan Grisham signed into law the creation of the new Office of the Child Advocate, which a bipartisan group of lawmakers had pushed for years to establish.
But the signing of House Bill 5 came after the governor worked with senators to make changes to the legislation. She also released a blistering message upon signing the bill in which she criticized legislators and the first-term attorney general alike.
“Make no mistake about it, this bill was not designed to protect children,” Lujan Grisham said at the time, while accusing lawmakers and Torrez of pushing the legislation as part of a political vendetta.
The governor and CYFD Secretary Teresa Casados have in recent years staunchly opposed outside oversight of the agency, saying such action could damage employee morale and lead to a fractious relationship between the two government entities.
But backers of the legislation have insisted changes were necessary amid CYFD’s struggles to reverse chronic staff shortages and an increase in the state’s rate of repeat child mistreatment.
The new Office of the Child Advocate will hit the state’s books in July and will be tasked with reviewing CYFD’s handling of cases and investigating complaints filed on behalf of children in state custody. A telephone hotline will be set up to help process such complaints, among other steps.
In addition, the office will be led by a director to be appointed by the governor, who will pick from a list of names approved by a selection committee.
A Lujan Grisham spokesman pointed out Tuesday the governor left $650,000 in the budget bill intact so that the new office can be established.
“The Office of the Child Advocate can come back to the Legislature in the next budget cycle and request additional funding based on its needs, but $650,000 is enough to get started,” Lujan Grisham spokesman Michael Coleman said.
He did not elaborate on the governor’s rationale behind the funding vetoes, but said CYFD would continue its work on behalf of New Mexico children and families until the new office is up and running.
Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull becomes first GOP candidate in race for governor - Dan Boyd, Albuquerque Journal
One day after filing a report detailing more than $200,000 in campaign donations, Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull confirmed his plans to run for governor next year.
Hull, who is Rio Rancho’s longest-serving mayor, is the first Republican to officially enter the 2026 gubernatorial race.
Two Democrats, Deb Haaland and Sam Bregman, have already announced campaigns to succeed Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who is barred under the state Constitution from seeking a third consecutive term in office.
A Hull campaign spokesman said Tuesday the mayor will publicly launch his campaign in June, but plans to continue meeting with local leaders, GOP stakeholders and other New Mexicans in the run-up to that event. He has already launched a campaign website.
“Mayor Gregg Hull appreciates the outpouring of support and encouragement he has received to run for governor of New Mexico,” campaign spokesman Corey Stevens told the Journal.
Other Republicans could also join the race in the coming weeks and months, though one potential candidate, 2024 GOP U.S. Senate nominee Nella Domenici, ruled out a run this week.
Hull has served as Rio Rancho mayor since 2014, having twice won reelection to the post.
The city is New Mexico’s third largest, behind only Albuquerque and Las Cruces, and has grown faster than the state as a whole, with its population rising from 87,521 residents in 2010 to 110,660 as of 2023, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
A former businessman and avid chef, Hull has not previously run for statewide office.
His campaign report filed Monday with Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver’s office shows Hull has received more than $206,000 in donations dating back to January.
That amount includes a $500 contribution he made to his own campaign. Other large contributions include $11,000 donations from Roswell auto dealership owner Tom Krumland and his wife, and $10,000 contributions from housing developers Chris Hakes of Albuquerque and David Parmeter of Las Cruces.
New Mexico has not had a Republican governor since Susana Martinez left office at the end of 2018, and state Democrats were quick Tuesday to point out that murder investigations in Rio Rancho went up last year.
The Washington, D.C.-based Democratic Governors Association also issued a statement about Hull’s candidacy.
“As New Mexico braces for what will no doubt become a crowded, messy GOP primary, Republicans can expect an uphill battle as Gregg Hull and anyone else who jumps in this race will have to answer for their party’s extreme attacks on Americans’ livelihood and efforts to strip away their rights,” DGA senior communications adviser Izzi Levy said in a statement.
The 2026 primary election will take place next year in June, with the general election scheduled for Nov. 3, 2026.