By Julia Goldberg | Editor-in-Chief
Good morning, folks. Monday has arrived. The Santa Fe National Forest released an update yesterday evening on the Frijoles fire, which has grown to 9,338 acres and remains at 12% containment. SFNF also issued a new temporary closure order for the Pecos Wilderness area within the Española Ranger District in response to the fire. The air quality for communities in northern New Mexico may vary today. Keep an eye on that here. You’ll find the latest news below, with more to come at sourcenm.com as the week begins. Thanks for being here.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in May helped lobby Democratic National Committee members to move up the state’s presidential primary. (Screenshot)
Democrats put New Mexico 4th in 2028 presidential nominating cycle
The Democratic National Committee on Saturday approved by voice vote its lineup of six early primaries for the 2028 election cycle, placing New Mexico in fourth place on Feb. 15, 2028, following South Carolina, Nevada and New Hampshire. “We’re about to see New Mexico have a say in who the next president will be unlike ever before,” Democratic Party of New Mexico Chair Sara Attleson said in a statement.
Members of New Mexico’s Behavioral Health Reform and Investment Act Executive Committee met in Santa Fe on Friday to approve five of the state’s 13 regional behavioral health plans. (Photo by Joshua Bowling/Source NM)
New Mexico behavioral health committee approves $40M in funding for rural behavioral health plans
The state committee tasked with rebuilding New Mexico’s behavioral health infrastructure on Friday approved more than $40 million in plans to restore services across several rural areas, Source’s Joshua Bowling reports.
New Mexico Sen. Angel Charley (D-Acoma) has called for a statewide moratorium on uranium mining, given the amount of community pushback renewed mining has received all over the state. (Source NM file photo)
New Mexico senator calls for uranium moratorium amid recent spike in extraction interest
Source’s Patrick Lohmann reports that State Sen. Angel Charley (D-Acoma) has called for a moratorium on uranium mining. Charley said the state needs to hold off on new permits until emerging extraction technology is better understood, and the state develops a regulatory framework that “reflects the needs of our communities, the needs of our economic base, and not the needs of industry.”
A depiction of the Los Alamos National Laboratory chromium plume as of 2021. (Photo courtesy New Mexico Environment Department)
New Mexico officials say they’re still at an ‘impasse’ with feds over spreading chromium plume
According to New Mexico Environment Department officials, Los Alamos National Laboratory has not complied with the state’s February demands aimed at quickly and safely stopping the spread of a massive underground chromium plume that recently reached the boundaries of a nearby Pueblo.
ICYMI
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We're watching a new short film about Charles Ross’ New Mexico land art project, Star Axis.
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