Feds’ draft environmental review calls for expanded plutonium pit production at Los Alamos - Justin Horwath, Albuquerque Journal
The Trump administration envisions making at least 80 plutonium pits a year at Los Alamos National Laboratory, according to an environmental statement published by the National Nuclear Security Administration.
The agency released the draft review as the administration looks to modernize and expand the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal. The administration requested a budget increase to the NNSA — and budget cuts to efforts to clean up nuclear waste — to maintain and expand its set of nuclear capabilities that “allow the President flexibility to protect the homeland and deter adversaries.”
It also follows a Feb. 11 memo written by David E. Beck, the NNSA’s deputy administrator for defense programs, which advocated for the accelerated development of long-range, nuclear-armed cruise missiles, sea-launched cruise missiles and the B61-13 thermonuclear gravity bomb, among other weapons.
The NNSA, a semi-autonomous agency in the U.S. Department of Energy, is required by law to produce at least 80 of the pits — radioactive triggers for nuclear weapons — per year.
In 2021, Nuclear Watch New Mexico and environmental groups sued NNSA, alleging the federal agency needs to prepare what is called a programmatic environmental impact statement for plutonium pit production at LANL as well as at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The parties settled last year.
NNSA published the notice of intent in May and accepted public comments throughout the year. The statement evaluates the potential impacts of continuous pit production over the next 50 years, through 2075. The draft environmental statement is subject to public review and a 90-day public comment period.
NNSA says it will consider all comments before it issues a record of decision on the matter.
But some LANL critics say the process holds little weight because the decision over whether and where to expand pit production is in NNSA’s hands.
“It is mostly a way to talk to each other,” Greg Mello, co-founder of the LANL watchdog Los Alamos Study Group, said about public comment hearings. “NNSA is not really listening. The only oversight that there could be would be in the courts and this has become difficult to arrange.”
Toni Chiri, spokesperson for the NNSA’s Los Alamos field office, did not respond to a request for comment.
The programmatic environmental impact statement contemplates three scenarios.
One is a no-action alternative under which NNSA would continue to produce 30 plutonium pits annually at Los Alamos National Laboratory with a “surge capability” to produce up to 80 pits. Under a multi-site alternative, NNSA would produce up to 80 pits per year at LANL and up to 205 pits in South Carolina. Under a single-site alternative, LANL would produce 80 plutonium pits yearly.
NNSA selected a “preferred alternative” — producing pits at facilities in Los Alamos and South Carolina — that it “believes would fulfill its statutory missions and responsibilities, considering economic, environmental, technical and other factors.”
Consequences of that alternative include transportation of waste and nuclear materials along highways and the generation of more nuclear and hazardous waste, according to the draft review.
Members of the public can submit comments on the report through July 16. A hearing is scheduled for May 14 at the Santa Fe Farmers Market Institute, 1607 Paseo de Peralta, starting at 5 p.m.
Tribal gas stations offer a reprieve from high prices during Iran war - By Mead Gruver Associated Press
Junelle Lewis was on the hunt for a reprieve from Seattle-area gas prices driven high by the Iran war when an app on her phone gave her the answer: the Tulalip Reservation north of the city, almost half an hour from her home.
She didn't hesitate.
"I purposely drove here just for the gas," Lewis said while filling up her Chevrolet Suburban at the Tulalip Market this week for $4.84 a gallon (3.8 liters) — about 75 cents less than prices near home. "Gas is ridiculous. But I have found, honestly, over the years, this gas station specifically is cheaper than a lot around here. Probably the cheapest."
Lewis isn't the only driver who has discovered that some of cheapest fuel can be found on Native American reservations.
Especially in California, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma and Washington state — places with dozens of tribally owned stations, including some in busy travel corridors — tribes exempt from state fuel taxes can sell for much less than competing stations nearby.
Gas prices push the drive to find bargains
Apps such as Gas Buddy make finding the cheapest gas easier than ever.
Nationwide, gasoline prices have risen by well over $1 since the Iran war began Feb. 28, reaching an average of $4.15 a gallon, according to AAA.
Prices have been higher, topping $5 during the summer of 2022, but economists believe they will continue heading up and contribute to inflation in the weeks of ahead as geopolitical tension persists.
Deals are to be found, though, at many of the almost 500 tribally owned convenience stores with gas stations across the U.S.
Fifty-five are in California. At the Chukchansi Crossing Fuel Station & Travel Center between Fresno and Yosemite National Park, the $5.09 gas was 60 cents less than nearby stations.
New Mexico resident Jamie Cross usually finds savings on the Mescalero Apache Reservation, where gas was as low as $3.79 this week.
"I hope we don't go any higher," Cross said Thursday.
In eastern New York state, on Cattauragus Indian Territory between Buffalo and Erie, Pennsylvania, the cheapest gas was about $3.65 at more than half a dozen stations — 50 cents less than in towns nearby.
Tribal lands find a fuel tax escape
So how do tribes do it? Two words: Tax exemptions.
Generally tribes must pay the federal fuel tax of 18.4 cents per gallon for gasoline and 24.3 cents per gallon for diesel, and pass that cost along to drivers. State fuel taxes are a different matter.
For well over a century, U.S. courts have found that states don't have authority to collect taxes from Native Americans on their land, said Dan Lewerenz, a University of North Dakota assistant law professor who specializes in Native American law.
"The Supreme Court consistently held to this view and it's one of the most enduring principles in federal Indian law," Lewerenz said.
Federally recognized Native American tribes are in 35 states with state gasoline taxes ranging from 9 cents per gallon in Alaska to 71 cents in California.
From there, things get complicated based on where the fuel is taxed — at fuel terminals, say, or when distributors buy or sell fuel — and depending on various agreements between states and tribes.
Court rulings come into play. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that off-reservation distributors in Kansas may charge state tax on sales to tribes for on-reservation fuel sales. But in 2019, the Supreme Court held that an 1855 treaty between the U.S. and the Yakama Nation that ensured the free travel of tribal members on roads with their goods prohibited state fuel taxes on tribal lands in Washington state.
"This is a little bit different than the principle that Indians aren't taxed within Indian Country because this particular treaty reserved certain off-reservation rights for the Indians as well," Lewerenz said.
Gas is just one way stores make money
Convenience store gas sales are not as profitable as bringing people inside from the pumps.
Selling snacks adds profit. But tribal businesses are increasingly offering groceries in what otherwise would be "food deserts" far from grocery stores.
"Sometimes these gas stations and convenience stores are the nearest, best place to purchase affordable food or household supplies," said Matthew Klas, with the Minneapolis-based consultant Klas Robinson Q.E.D.
Klas does market research and consults for tribal businesses and tracks the 245 tribes nationwide that, as of 2025, operated 496 convenience stores with gas stations.
Oklahoma, California, Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Michigan and New York have the most. Some tribes, including the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma and Oneida Indian Nation in New York, have their own store chains.
Drive-through smoke shops, car washes and truck stop amenities also bring in revenue. Then there are the casinos: 205 tribally owned gas stations are located at or near casinos.
Some tribal casinos are resorts with gas stations. Some tribal gas stations are casinos of a sort called "gasinos," which only have a small number of gambling machines.
Tribally owned businesses are a major revenue generator for Native American reservations. On the Seattle area's Tulalip Reservation, rising gas sales were being reinvested in the community, helping to cover the cost of roads, police, health care, education, housing and other needs, Tulalip Tribes Federal Corporation CEO Tanya Burns said in a statement.
"Like any government, we provide critical services to our people," Burns said.
It's not just about savings
"It's terrible," Todd Hall of Paden, Oklahoma, said of diesel prices as he spent about $90 to fill up his tow truck at the Citizen Potawatomi Nation gas station about 30 miles (48 kilometers) west of Oklahoma City.
But, he added: "They're cheaper here than anywhere else."
Hall paid $4.57 per gallon for diesel, and said the price is over $5 at many locations in the area.
Mark Foster said he saves about $5 a week buying fuel at the tribally owned gas station. But he's a faithful customer because the tribe is a good community partner, he said.
"I like the way the tribe operates," he said. "And the price is good too."
At the Tulalip Market north of Seattle, Jared Blankenship was griping not about prices but that he was having to pay for gas at all.
"Yeah, well, my electric car just got totaled," Blankenship said. "So this sucks. This is new. It's either Costco or looking wherever's cheap, like the rez. So here we are."
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Lindsey Wasson in Seattle; Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City; Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Savannah Peters in Edgewood, New Mexico, contributed.
Bernalillo County inmate dies at halfway house - Gregory R.C. Hasman, Albuquerque Journal
A Metropolitan Detention Center inmate was found dead inside a halfway house on Saturday.
On Saturday afternoon, MDC received a call from the facility informing them that resident Andrew Witt, 45, had died. Medical first responders arrived and unsuccessfully attempted lifesaving measures, MDC spokesperson Candace Hopkins said in a Saturday night news release.
“An exact time of death is not currently known, but officials at the scene estimated Mr. Witt likely died between 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.,” she said. “The death will be investigated by local law enforcement. Consistent with standard protocol, the incident is also under investigation by the MDC Office of Professional Standards.”
Witt is the fifth MDC inmate to die in 2026, she said in a phone interview.
The cause of death will be determined by the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator, Hopkins said.
In September, Witt pleaded guilty to violating a restraining order following a domestic violence incident in June, according to court records. He was sentenced to MDC’s community custody program (CCP) and was on track to finish in the summer, she said.
“Inmates can be placed on CCP while they are awaiting the resolution of their court case,” Hopkins said. “Judges also have the option to place an inmate on CCP to serve out their sentence, rather than being physically incarcerated at MDC. MDC corrections officers oversee CCP inmates to ensure they are adhering to their release or sentence guidelines.”
NM U.S. Sen. Luján co-leads letter asking for investigation of immigrant detainee location system - Source New Mexico staff
U.S. Sens. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-M.A.) recently co-led a letter signed by more than 30 members of Congress — including fellow Democratic New Mexico U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich — asking the Department of Homeland Security Investigator General to investigate problems with the online locator system used to track immigrant detainees’ locations.
“Without a functional locator system,” the letter said. “DHS is effectively creating ‘disappearances’ on U.S. soil.”
Prior to the Trump administration, the lawmakers contend, Immigration and Customs Enforcement would update its Online Detainee Locator System within eight hours of detainees’ arrival at its facilities, and the Customs and Border Protection would do so within 48 hours. Detainees’ families and lawyers now say it can take up to several weeks for detainees’ information to appear in the system, and sometimes they will not show up at all. The letter notes that congressional offices have experienced similar problems using the system to locate constituents, and says some detainees have been deported prior to being entered into the system. The letter also remarks upon instances of inaccurate information in the online system.
The lawmakers’ letter attributes the problems with the ODLS to the increased scale of detention, increased use of transfers and to what it calls “systematic failures at new facilities.”
DHS did not provide an immediate response to a request for comment.
These issues have led to detainees’ lawyers being unable to file necessary motions on their clients’ behalf, the lawmakers say in the letter, and to “terror” for families who do not know where their relatives have been taken.
The letter requests responses to a variety of questions about the current operation and oversight of the OLDS system.
State Rep. Mark Murphy ends reelection campaign, increasing number of departing incumbents - Dan Boyd, Albuquerque Journal
A first-term Republican state lawmaker abruptly ended his reelection campaign last week, leaving another GOP candidate in pole position to win the seat in November.
Rep. Mark Murphy, a Roswell oilman, filed his withdrawal from the race with Chaves County Clerk Cindy Fuller on Tuesday — the last day to do so under state election law. He had previously filed last month to seek reelection to a new two-year term.
Murphy was appointed to the House District 59 seat in January 2025 to complete the term of former Rep. Jared Hembree, who had resigned due to health issues.
The withdrawal of Murphy from the race leaves Stephen Dodson of Roswell as the lone candidate in the race for the GOP-leaning House seat, though independent or minor party candidates could still file to run this summer. Dodson, a small business owner and former foster parent, also filed to run last month.
On a national level, some elected officials have faced questions in recent months for withdrawing just before a deadline to do so, a move that critics say leaves less time for possible opponents to jump into the race and paves the way for a candidate’s preferred successor to win.
U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., withdrew his Senate reelection paperwork last month just minutes before the deadline, following a similar move last fall by U.S. Rep. Chuy García, an Illinois Democrat.
With his recent withdrawal, Murphy becomes one of six incumbent House members not seeking reelection this year. The others are Reps. Susan Herrera, D-Embudo, Martin Zamora, R-Clovis, Matthew McQueen, D-Galisteo, Jimmy Mason, R-Artesia, and Joanne Ferrary, D-Las Cruces.
Rather than seeking reelection, Zamora is running against incumbent U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, D-N.M., while McQueen is one of three Democratic candidates seeking the party’s nomination in the state land commissioner race. The other departing House members are not seeking elected office.
In addition, Rep. Rebecca Dow, R-Truth or Consequences, was knocked off the ballot this week by a state judge for failing to comply with proper procedures for submitting nominating petitions. She has said she plans to appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court.
As for Murphy, he considered running for governor last year but ultimately decided against seeking the GOP nomination for the state’s top executive office.
Murphy, who did not respond to questions seeking comment, is currently a member of the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee and the House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee.
He has made significant campaign contributions in recent years to a Republican-leaning political committee and GOP candidates. But Murphy also made waves in 2012 by financially backing former Senate President Pro Tem Tim Jennings, a Roswell Democrat, instead of his Republican opponent.