By Julia Goldberg | Editor-in-Chief
Good morning, everyone. Happy Friday! It’s been an eventful week. Actually, it’s been an eventful 24 hours. Shortly before 5 p.m. yesterday, a New Mexico judge issued a ruling in the state’s pending case against social media giant Meta, ordering the company to pay $567 million for an abatement fund to address the harms it has done to the state’s youth. We’ll have more reporting on that ruling today. We’re also keeping an eye on the eight wildfires that have sparked in the last few days. You’ll find even more to read below, with more on the way at sourcenm.com. Thanks for being here.
Smoke rises on May 19, 2026, near Ruidoso over the Seven Cabins Fire, which was a fire sparked after a medical transport plane crashed and killed all four occupants aboard. Recent reports have suggested that military GPS jamming may have contributed to the crash. (Photo courtesy Lincoln National Forest)
New Mexico congressional delegation members demand info on military GPS jamming before fatal crash
Members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation are demanding answers from federal transportation and defense agencies following recent reports that White Sands Missile Range officials may have contributed to a fatal plane crash in May by jamming the pilot’s global positioning system.
The New Mexico Health Care Authority on Aug. 4, 2026, announced it would provide $50 million in state funds to 41 rural healthcare providers grappling with federal cuts and other challenges in providing care in underserved communities. (Photo via Getty Images)
New Mexico Health Care Authority releases $50M to rural health care providers
The New Mexico Health Care Authority this week announced it had identified recipients of $50 million the Legislature approved in a special session late last year aimed at staving off rural healthcare impacts from the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” Serving People In Need, a behavioral healthcare provider serving primarily unhoused people in Luna, Grant and Hidalgo counties, received $2.1 million, according to Director Christina Castillo. “It’s huge,” she told Source’s Patrick Lohmann.
U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) led a group of 34 fellow Democratic senators in an Aug. 4, 2026, letter in opposition to President Donald Trump’s decision to shrink the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah. Pictured above: The Citadel, an Ancient Puebloan structure in Bears Ears National Monument (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
NM US Sens. Luján and Heinrich lead Senate Democrats denouncing Utah national monument reductions
New Mexico’s two Democratic United States senators, along with U.S. Sen Dick Durban (D-Ill.) led a group of 34 senators in a letter this week that expresses “strong opposition” to President Donald Trump’s recent decision to greatly reduce the footprints of two national monuments in Utah.
Members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation announced Aug. 6, 2026, that they were introducing a bill to ban uranium extraction in the Chama Watershed, including the area pictured above near Canjilon that a Canadian company is seeking to mine. (Photo by Patrick Lohmann/Source NM)
New Mexico delegation introduces bill to ban uranium mining in Chama Watershed
Members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation on Thursday announced they’d introduced a bill that would prohibit uranium mining throughout the Chama Basin Watershed, after a Canadian company earlier this year sought federal permits to conduct exploratory drilling, Source’s Patrick Lohmann reports.
ICYMI
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We're reading (and gifting) a story about public lands that are “magical destinations” (including in New Mexico).
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