Food banks see sharp increase in demand amid federal SNAP uncertainty - Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
Leaders of New Mexico’s largest food banks said they’re seeing sharp increases in demand for food donations in distribution lines amid the looming disappearance of federal food assistance funding beginning Saturday.
Approximately 250 people lined up Friday morning at the weekly Roadrunner Food Bank distribution in Albuquerque, about 100 more than usual, organizers told Source New Mexico.
And earlier this week in Santa Fe, The Food Depot ran out of food after serving 135 people at a distribution that typically serves less than 100, Executive Director Jill Dixon told Source in a text message.
Organizers said the uptick in demand reflects the widespread uncertainty about what the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will look like beginning Nov. 1.
Two federal judges issued orders Friday that block the Trump administration from cutting off SNAP benefits. In one case, the judge gave the Trump administration until Monday to respond to her findings.
On Wednesday, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced $30 million in emergency funding to cover SNAP recipients through approximately the first 10 days of the month. She said Friday in a statement the state would proceed with that plan, despite the federal rulings.
“Because I have zero confidence in the Trump administration to release these SNAP funds by tomorrow, or even by early next week, New Mexico will keep its promise to deliver $30 million in state-funded benefits to those who qualify on Saturday,” Lujan Grisham said. “This ensures that New Mexicans will be able to keep food on their tables for the next 10 days, regardless of the federal government shutdown or Trump administration inaction.”
Over the weekend, the state’s roughly 460,000 SNAP recipients will receive a payment equaling 30% of their typical monthly food assistance benefit, Health Care Authority Secretary Kari Armijo told Source New Mexico on Friday in a phone interview. The money will arrive to all SNAP recipients, including those who typically receive their benefits later in the month.
Recipients can expect text messages soon with more details, as well as phone numbers to call in case issues arise, she said.
“At this point we are not anticipating any delays,” she said. “We’re telling New Mexicans that if they don’t have their benefits by Monday, they should give us a call.”
As they stood toward the front of a growing food line around 9 a.m. Friday morning in Albuquerque, Keith Pounds struck up a conversation with Jeana Morgan and her son Jimmy about how they’re going to feed their families in November. They could be overheard planning how to make do with one-third of what they typically rely on in November amid rising grocery prices.
“Something’s better than nothing,” Jimmy Morgan said. “Yeah, it’s something,” his mother said.
But Pounds, who is disabled, said he is supporting his three brothers, who’ve been unable to get food assistance. He worried aloud about how they’ll all eat in November.
“I try and catch every food bank I can, even with my feet and my legs the way they are,” he said. “Life is hard, dude. You can’t afford to eat.”
Even with the state providing benefits in the interim, Joseph Greenwood, a programs manager at Roadrunner Food Bank, told Source that the food bank expects continued high demand through November. He looked over the growing food line Friday and said it reminded him of lines during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He anticipated the food bank would give out an entire truckload of food by noon.
He said the state’s $30 million stop-gap, along with an $8 million investment for statewide food banks the Legislature approved during a special session at the beginning of the month, provide a “shot in the arm” to help feed New Mexicans, but it’s doesn’t come close to satisfying statewide hunger needs.
But Edmundo Maestas, who grew up in the International District, was relieved to learn Friday morning from a reporter that the state would give him about $35 for food over the weekend. Even though it’s one-third of what he normally gets, he thought he wasn’t getting anything through Thanksgiving.
“Maybe I can buy a turkey now,” he said.
Explosion at New Mexico oil refinery sends thick smoke across Artesia - Associated Press Newsroom
Emergency crews responded Friday to an explosion at an oil refinery in New Mexico as thick smoke emerged from the plant and drifted across parts of the city of Artesia before crews were able to extinguish the flames.
Navajo Refinery operator HF Sinclair said that the fire had been extinguished and that three people were transported off-site for medical attention. No other injuries were reported.
Air monitoring on the perimeter of the refinery and in a nearby community showed no risk to public safety, said Corinn Smith, a spokesperson of HF Sinclair. It was unclear whether refinery production was affected.
Artesia Police Commander Pete Quiñones said that police and other first responders scrambled to the site before the fire was contained.
Authorities said the smoke had dissipated by Friday afternoon and roads were reopened. The New Mexico Environment Department said it was sending a team to Artesia to assess conditions and monitor air quality.
The refinery sits adjacent to Artesia's main intersection, which serves as an artery from the Permian Basin in the southeastern corner of the state to the rest of New Mexico. The company's website notes that the facility has a crude oil capacity of 100,000 barrels per day, making it the largest in New Mexico, but it wasn't immediately clear how full the plant was at the time of the incident.
The plant serves markets in the southwestern United States by processing oil acquired from the basin, which is one of the busiest in the world. It operates alongside a refining facility in Lovington, about 65 miles (105 km) away.
HF Sinclair, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, also owns and operates refineries in Kansas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Washington state and Utah.
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Associated Press writers Morgan Lee in Santa Fe and Christopher L. Keller and Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque contributed to this report.
BioPark releases endangered Rio Grande silvery minnows - Cathy Cook, Albuquerque Journal
Fish who have never known the river graduated to the wild on Wednesday, when the Albuquerque BioPark and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released 18,000 captive-spawned endangered Rio Grande silvery minnows.
Patrick Horley, the BioPark’s Aquatic Conservation Facility curator, scooped the minnows from a metal tank resting in a truck bed. Then he gently deposited the net of wriggling minnows into buckets full of muddy river water. BioPark and Fish and Wildlife staff dressed in waders carried the heavy buckets into the Rio Grande before tipping them slowly into the water and allowing the small, silver fish to swim away.
The operation was just one step in the effort to keep the species alive.
“It’s bittersweet,” Horley said. “Because we don’t know what their fate is, and we know what their fate is with us, but it’s also such an important part of what we do.”
The Rio Grande silvery minnow occupies 7% of its native range, living in just three sections of the river: the Albuquerque, Isleta and San Acacia reaches. It was first listed as endangered in 1994. Human intervention has been key to preventing the fish species’ extinction.
For more than 20 years, Fish and Wildlife, and the BioPark have been gathering minnow eggs in the spring, then releasing grown fish into the river in the fall.
In the early years, fish were not spawned in captivity. The eggs were raised to adulthood, then released. But the effort has grown more sophisticated, and now some of the wild eggs are used to breed more fish. The BioPark, along with state and federal officials, works with 13 other partners to conserve the fish.
The thousands of silvery minnows released this past week were all spawned at the BioPark. Most were spawned last year, and some were spawned this year.
The silvery minnow release turned out a crowd. BioPark staff were given a 15-minute warning over their walkie-talkies, in case they wanted to watch the spectacle. A dozen or so walked from the botanic garden to the muddy riverbank by the Central bridge. A cyclist crossing the bridge paused to watch from overhead.
Even though it was her day off, Trinity McCoy showed up to watch the release. She works with reptiles at the BioPark, but worked with the minnows previously. McCoy loves the fish so much she added a silvery minnow to the collection of tattoos on her arm.
“I think it’s a really cool project that benefits the whole river, and they’re really tiny and cute,” McCoy said.
McCoy’s black and white tattoo includes a stripe of color to show the minnow has been tagged. The BioPark tags every silvery minnow it raises with a line of latex paint injected below the skin. Tagging the fish allows other agencies to interpret trends in the fish population and get a sense of how successful the recovery effort is, Horley said.
As more and more buckets of fish were emptied in the river, the audience trickled away. When the final minnows were released, the remaining BioPark staff cheered.
Not all the BioPark’s silvery minnows get released. Typically 20,000 are kept over the winter to provide a brood stock for future years.
Soon, the BioPark, and Fish and Wildlife will collaborate on a second release, likely near the Alameda bridge. The release location is selected by Fish and Wildlife based on water conditions. That release will include roughly 19,000 fish. About half of those fish will be captive-spawned, while the rest will be from eggs gathered in the Rio Grande.
“It’s like graduation,” Horley said. “We’re sending them out to the real world. And we say, good luck. We hope the best for you.”
Governor will continue her plan to backfill SNAP in the wake of judges’ ruling against Trump administration – Associated Press, KUNM News
Two federal judges ruled nearly simultaneously on Friday that President Donald Trump’s administration must continue to fund SNAP, the nation’s biggest food aid program, using contingency funds during the government shutdown.
The rulings came a day before the U.S. Department of Agriculture planned to freeze payments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program because it said it could no longer keep funding it due to the shutdown.
The program serves about 1 in 8 Americans and is a major piece of the nation’s social safety net. Some states, including New Mexico, said they would spend their own funds to keep versions of the program going.
It wasn’t immediately clear how quickly the debit cards that beneficiaries use to buy groceries could be reloaded after the ruling.
That process often takes one to two weeks.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who last week pledged $30 million in state money to keep partial benefits flowing, said she would continue with that plan because she has “zero confidence in the Trump administration to release these SNAP funds” on Saturday, or even by this week.
Head Start programs face closure – Santa Fe New Mexican
Many Head Start providers around New Mexico could close their doors because of the ongoing federal government shutdown.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports grant cycles for a number of providers start Nov. 1 and unless they can find funds to continue operating, they could close. That would impact hundreds of children around the state.
Grant cycles vary for Head Start providers, so not all are facing the same sudden funding cutoff. At least 250 slots and 76 staff across three programs will likely be impacted, according to the New Mexican. But state officials say it’s not clear how much money is at stake.
Even if programs don’t face immediate closure, the ongoing furloughs of federal employees in the shutdown is having an impact since those people would be the ones to help with training and technical assistance.
U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández and two other House Democrats introduced a bill several weeks ago to create the Office of Head Start to protect the program and restore five Head Start regional offices closed earlier this year by the Trump administration.