By Julia Goldberg | Editor-in-Chief
Morning, folks. It's Thursday, which means the weekend is right around the corner — particularly since tomorrow is Juneteenth and a holiday for the government and others. We will, however, be in your inboxes tomorrow morning with plenty of news to send you into the weekend. For today, we have stories on disaster spending, wolves, youth well-being and other topics below, with plenty more to read at sourcenm.com.
A Legislative Finance Committee report released this week says the New Mexico Legislature should take additional steps to rein in executive spending on disasters. Pictured above: The South Fork burn scar just above the Rio Ruidoso. (Photo by Danielle Prokop/Source NM)
New report scrutinizes NM disaster spending, which continues for years without legislative approval
The New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee released a new report this week on an issue that has caused tension between majority Democratic lawmakers and the Democratic governor in recent years: Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s increasing use of emergency orders. Source's Patrick Lohmann reports on the LFC findings and recommendations to lawmakers.
The New Mexico state Aging and Long-Term Services Department on Tuesday reported that its Adult Protective Services division has received 18,000 reports of elder abuse so far this year. (Photo courtesy NM Aging Services)
New Mexico state aging department reports 18,000 elder abuse reports this year so far
The New Mexico Aging and Long-Term Services Department on Tuesday reported that its Adult Protective Services division has received 18,000 reports of elder abuse thus far in 2026. June marks Elder Abuse Awareness Month, and Corey Roybal, director of ALTSD’s Adult Protective Services, said in a statement elder abuse prevention begins through “awareness and connection.”
Wearing a new radio collar, a Mexican wolf is released back into its home range in Arizona after being captured at the 2022 annual wolf count. (Photo courtesy Mexican Wolf Interagency Field Team/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
The debate about Mexican wolves is loud, but their economic impact is surprisingly small
For years, ranchers have butted heads with conservationists and the federal government, claiming that the endangered Mexican gray wolf seriously threatens their local economies and public safety. KUNM's Bryce Dix digs into the federal data, which tells a different story.
Legislative Finance Committee program evaluators Josh Chaffin, left, and Sarah Dinces, right, present before the New Mexico Legislature’s interim Health and Human Services Committee about the state’s 32,000 disengaged young people earlier this week in Albuquerque. (Photo by Joshua Bowling/Source NM)
New Mexico lawmakers eye ‘really robust’ Children’s Cabinet under next governor
Source senior reporter Joshua Bowling unpacks a recent interim Legislative Health and Human Services Committee meeting at which lawmakers discussed how to address concerning data on New Mexico’s youth population.
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