Governor expands public safety emergency order in northern New Mexico - Dan Boyd, Albuquerque Journal
At the request of local and tribal leaders, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has gradually expanded an emergency order focused on reducing violent crime and drug trafficking in northern New Mexico.
The governor's senior public safety adviser Benjamin Baker said Monday the multi-jurisdictional effort — it now involves six separate tribal governments and two counties — has led to a 40% decrease in outstanding felony warrants in Rio Arriba County in a roughly 90-day period.
He attributed that to better collaboration among law enforcement agencies, along with a more visible presence in certain drug trafficking corridors.
"Our preliminary assessments after the first 90 days of this unprecedented collaboration show incredible promise for a safer community and region," Baker said in a statement.
As part of the emergency order, roughly 50 New Mexico National Guard members have been deployed in Española, Santa Clara Pueblo and Ohkay Owingeh to assist local law enforcement officers. The guard members do not carry firearms and have not been tasked with making arrests.
National Guard troops have not been assigned to work in Santa Fe County and on the Jicarilla Apache Nation, which were both added to the governor's initial emergency order. But law enforcement officials in those jurisdictions have been taking part in weekly briefings and planning efforts, according to the Governor's Office.
Española City Councilor Sam LeDoux said Monday the National Guard deployment has freed up the city's police department do more criminal investigations.
He also said the initiative has reduced panhandling in Española, and also made local residents feel safer.
"I know that a lot of people are more comfortable at night," LeDoux told the Journal.
However, he also acknowledged concern about whether the city and other nearby jurisdictions will be able to sustain the momentum once the National Guard deployment ends. The Governor's Office did not immediately say Monday how long the order might remain in place.
"Part of the issue with the Española Police Department is it's not the size it needs to be and hasn't been for a long time," said LeDoux, who said the city currently only has about 27 active police officers.
The governor has now issued five executive orders focused on crime and public safety in northern New Mexico since her initial order declaring a state of emergency in Rio Arriba County in August 2025.
Each of those orders authorizes up to $750,000 in state funds for the multi-jurisdictional effort, which can be used to help pay for overtime costs, drug-testing technology and other expenses. The most recent order was issued this month.
While the initial order did not include Santa Fe County, the county was added after Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza sent a letter to the governor requesting assistance dealing with a "sharp rise" in violent crime and drug-related crimes, particularly related to fentanyl.
Española, which has about 10,000 residents, straddles Rio Arriba and Santa Fe counties.
Despite a recent decrease, New Mexico's violent crime rate was still nearly twice as high as the national average in 2024, according to a recent legislative report.
In addition, while nearly half of all reported crimes that year occurred in the Albuquerque metro area, Gallup, Taos and Belen all had higher per capita crime rates than New Mexico's largest city.
The report also found that better data sharing could improve the efficiency of the state's criminal justice system, which has struggled with chronically low clearance rates for felony cases.
Before issuing the public safety emergency order for Rio Arriba County and its surrounding areas, Lujan Grisham issued a similar order for Albuquerque.
But a six-month deployment of the New Mexico National Guard — at a cost of roughly $7 million — to Albuquerque ended with the governor's administration criticizing city leaders for not showing more initiative to maximize the assistance the city received.
While the Albuquerque Police Department said the deployment — dubbed Operation Zia Shield — led to decreases in property crimes and robberies in the Central Avenue corridor, APD Chief Harold Medina acknowledged the corridor's appearance had not significantly changed.
Ruidoso Downs moves entire horse racing schedule to Albuquerque due to flood concern - Sean Reider, Albuquerque Journal
Ruidoso Downs Racetrack will not host horse racing this summer after a government-contracted report found the track is not a sustainable public venue "now or for many years to come” due to flood concerns, the business announced in a release Monday.
A report from JE Fuller, a civil engineering firm based in Arizona and New Mexico, revealed that moderate rainfall could overwhelm existing and planned drainage improvements, creating dangerous conditions at the popular quarter horse track.
The flooding is a result of wildfires degrading forests in the surrounding mountains, leaving less natural defense against rainfall that accumulates quickly and rushes into streambeds.
Upon learning of the findings from the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management-commissioned report and following up with government agencies last week, track leadership made the “challenging and emotional” decision to move its 49-day race schedule, usually starting in late spring, to the Downs at Albuquerque, citing the safety of track patrons, workers and horses.
“It has now become clear that, even with proposed flood mitigation work done on-site and off-site upstream, Ruidoso Downs Race Track cannot be adequately protected from future flooding,” the release stated. “ … Continued operations at the current site of Ruidoso Downs Racetrack is not feasible.”
The Downs at Albuquerque previously hosted Ruidoso Downs’ signature Labor Day race, the All-American Futurity, in 2024 and 2025. Known as the richest quarter horse race in the world, the $3 million futurity was relocated both years after flash floods engulfed the track and destroyed key race equipment following the South Fork and Salt Fires in 2024.
The track won't shut down completely. The 2026 New Mexico Bred Sale and the 2026 Super Select Sale will still be held at the Ruidoso Downs sales pavilion. The track’s casino will also remain open.
Despite challenges to reopening horse racing, Ruidoso Downs staff and local officials are eyeing a return next summer.
“The Village of Ruidoso, Ruidoso Downs Race Track management, Lincoln County, state officials and community stakeholders are unified in our commitment to bringing championship quarter horse racing back to Ruidoso for the 2027 season,” Ruidoso Mayor Lynn Crawford stated in a news release Monday. “We are already coordinating recovery efforts, identifying funding sources, and developing an aggressive timeline to ensure that every necessary repair is completed well ahead of Memorial Day 2027.”
A message to Crawford’s office from the Journal was not returned. Ruidoso Downs general manager Rick Baugh also did not respond to the Journal’s request for comment.
The JE Fuller report, dated Aug. 5, 2025, details modeling of three proposed offsite basins and other drainage upgrades at Ruidoso Downs. The basins were “not expected to provide meaningful and lasting” flood protection, while the other proposed additions would not eliminate flood risk to the track or surrounding areas.
The planned improvements, the report stated, would likely have limited long-term value due to “very high” construction costs and anticipated maintenance needs.
“(The basins’) effectiveness depends on a highly specific combination of rainfall intensity, duration and post-fire ground conditions,” the report said. “Even if those conditions are met, the basins do not provide meaningful mitigation during larger storm events, as their storage capacity is quickly exceeded.”
When asked about a potential return for horse racing at Ruidoso Downs next summer, New Mexico Racing Commission Executive Director Ismael “Izzy” Trejo said “the crystal ball is never clear” when trying to predict weather conditions — particularly New Mexico’s monsoon season.
“It’s good to have the goals,” he said. “And we hope that they can be maintained. But obviously, we’re not short of the reality of this happening every year from here on out.”
Trejo added he was pleased Albuquerque Downs is able to host Ruidoso Downs’ race schedule in light of the southern track’s “somewhat devastating" decision to not host this summer.
“Not racing in Ruidoso and not having any racetrack step in to run some of these races, it would have been a complete devastation for the horse racing industry here,” he said. “On the one hand, we’re disappointed that we couldn’t get it up and going in Ruidoso, but we understand that’s reality.
“ … On the flip side, the commission’s very focused on keeping this industry going. Not running in New Mexico at all for the duration of the summer would have been even more devastating than just not running at Ruidoso, so we’re glad that the Downs at Albuquerque has the ability to handle and support the industry in the way that they’re going to this summer.”
Don Cooks, Albuquerque Downs’ president of racing, did not respond to a request for comment from the Journal.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham blocks CYFD from housing New Mexico kids in offices - Santa Fe New Mexican
The New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department will no longer be allowed to keep children overnight in its county offices.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed an executive order Monday.
The order will take effect March 1st. It addresses a long-standing problem for New Mexico’s child welfare agency, in which children in state custody without immediate adequate placements are temporarily housed in office buildings.
The New Mexican reports CYFD already had stopped the practice as of Friday, according to a news release.
Acting Cabinet Secretary Valerie Sandoval said in a statement the agency has “expanded provider partnerships and established transitional programs” to address the issue.
The governor’s order explicitly requires CYFD to place children in safe, licensed settings designed to care for children. It also directs the agency to expand its collaboration with housing providers.
Navajo Nation member detained by ICE despite proof of citizenship - Nakalya McClelland, Albuquerque Journal
A member of the Navajo Nation was reportedly detained in Phoenix by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer last week while heading to work.
“The reported detention of Peter Yazzie by ICE agents in the Phoenix area is deeply troubling and raises serious concerns about the treatment of Native Americans and U.S. citizens during federal enforcement operations,” Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said in a news release posted to Facebook on Saturday.
Yazzie, according to the news release, told ICE agents he was a U.S. citizen and showed the agents multiple official documents to prove his identity — including his birth certificate and Certificate of Indian Blood.
A Certificate of Indian Blood is an official U.S. document from the Bureau of Indian Affairs that proves a person's Native American lineage and what federally recognized tribe they are part of.
“Despite this, he was aggressively detained and removed from the scene,” Nygren said. “This should never happen — especially to a Native American on his way to work.”
The Navajo Nation did not respond to calls for comment. An ICE spokesperson did not respond to calls for comment.
On Monday, the New Mexico State Senate Democratic Caucus sent a letter to New Mexico's federal delegation calling for immediate congressional oversight of ICE "in response to mounting deaths in custody, fatal enforcement incidents, and systematic constitutional violations," according to a Monday news release.
The letter also mentioned concerns of wrongful detentions of Indigenous citizens, "including Navajo Nation and Oglala Sioux tribal members who were stopped or held despite presenting valid tribal identification and proof of citizenship," the letter states.
"Immigrants are central to New Mexico's economy, culture, communities and families," the letter states. "When these communities are harmed, all of New Mexico suffers — and our nation fails its promise of justice and due process."
Nygren said in the release that Navajo Nation Washington Office staff reached out to Yazzie, the Department of Homeland Security and the Arizona congressional delegation to discuss the incident.
Nygren said that the Office of Vital records is underfunded due to a 638 contract — which allows Native American tribes to contract with the federal government to run their own federal programs and services. The office cannot issue tribal IDs, which are official photo identification cards issued by a federally recognized Native American tribe to its enrolled members.
He added that he would host tribal ID drives in Albuquerque, Denver and Phoenix to ensure everyone has any documentation they may need, “especially for those living off the Navajo Nation.”
“Our Diné people should not have to live in fear of being stopped, questioned or detained simply because of who they are or how they look,” Nygren said. “Native Americans are not immigrants in our own homelands. We are citizens of the United States and citizens of our sovereign tribal nations, and our rights must be respected.”
NM Democrats propose expansion of services covered under health insurance - KUNM News
Two New Mexico lawmakers have authored a bill that would expand health insurance coverage to include services provided by licensed naprapaths, chiropractors, and acupuncturists.
State Democratic Senators Linda Trujillo and Peter Wirth have announced the introduction of the “Inclusion in Healthcare Act.”
A news release from the state senators said the legislation would ensure that insurance plans cannot deny access or coverage to qualified manual medicine practitioners.
The release says the bill would expand treatment options for common conditions such as joint pain and back pain, which are the second and third most common reasons patients seek medical care.
The bill’s authors said any of the licensed practitioners who would benefit from this legislation already practiced in rural and underserved areas of New Mexico, where access to traditional medical providers is most limited.
Rio Arriba County Health & Human Services Department launches Overdose Quick Response Program - KUNM News
Rio Arriba County has announced the implementation of a new overdose response program.
The initiative is designed to provide rapid support to people who have overdosed on a drug.
A release from the county says limited accommodation at inpatient facilities in Española and elsewhere in Rio Arriba County makes it difficult for those with substance use concerns to pursue sobriety or recovery.
In an effort to address these gaps, the Rio Arriba County Health and Human Services Department has partnered with the County Fire and Emergency Services Department, the Sheriff’s Office, and area volunteer fire departments, along with Pecos Valley Counseling to provide care coordination and delivery for those who have experienced an overdose.
The release says services are also available to anyone seeking inpatient treatment and recovery.
County officials say the Rio Arriba County Quick Response Program team has conducted extensive research on successful models throughout New Mexico and across the U.S., and have based this initiative on successful efforts compatible with the particular needs of Rio Arriba County.