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Justice Stephen Breyer, an influential liberal on the Supreme Court, to retire

Updated January 26, 2022 at 3:48 PM ET U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is retiring after serving more than two decades on the nation's highest court, Supreme Court and Biden administration sources tell NPR. Breyer is expected to make the announcement at the White House on Thursday. Breyer — professorial, practical and moderately liberal — wrote many of the court's legally important but less glamorous decisions and sought, behind the scenes, to build consensus for centrist decisions...

BBC News

New Mexico officials expect to omicron surge will peak soon

By AP • 11 hours ago

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico health officials are expecting the surge in COVID-19 infections to peak within the coming week.

State Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. David Scrase told reporters Wednesday that the omicron variant is running out of people in New Mexico to infect. Still, he told health care administrators earlier in the day that New Mexico is not at a point where public health orders or the mask mandate can be lifted.

State Police Helicopter Hoists Injured Hiker to Safety in Socorro County

By NMSP • 12 hours ago

Socorro County, NM - On January 22, 2022, at around 4:00 p.m., the New Mexico State Police Special Operations Aircraft Section assisted New Mexico Search and Rescue (NM SAR) with the rescue of a stranded and injured hiker in the LaDrones Mountains, near LaDron Peak.

Democratic lawmakers seek incentives for hydrogen production

By AP • 12 hours ago

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico legislators are proposing an array of financial incentives aimed at fostering hydrogen production in New Mexico.

Incentives such as tax credits, tax deductions and publicly sponsored loans are included in the bill published Tuesday. Environmentalists are wary of the environmental impacts of hydrogen production in New Mexico using natural gas as an energy source and feed stock.

New Mexico COVID-19 update: 4,119 new cases, 40 more deaths

By NMDOH • 12 hours ago

SANTA FE – New Mexico state health officials on Wednesday announced 4,119 additional COVID-19 cases and 40 additional deaths related to the virus. The 7-Day positivity rate 29.9%. Per the state Department of Health, the most recent cases are:

● 1164 new cases in Bernalillo County

Silver City Report

By KRWG News and Partners • 15 hours ago

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Silver City Daily Press Editor Nick Seibel has a preview of Grant County Day (virtual) at the New Mexico legislative session, an update on law enforcement in Bayard and Hurley, and a new appointment to the Cobre School Board.

County Commissioners Approve Detention Center Annual Inspection Report

By Madison Staten • 17 hours ago

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The Doña Ana Board of County Commissioners reviewed the county detention center's annual inspection report Tuesday.

The Doña Ana County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the annual county detention center inspection report Tuesday.

Commissioner Diana Murillo stressed upgrades to the center’s shower areas are needed.

“I did go into the cells of where the inmates are located, and the showers need a lot of improvement,” Murillo said. “I know the showers have been in there since the 90s I believe.”

Difficult driving conditions possible for parts of eastern New Mexico

By AP • 19 hours ago

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The National Weather Service on Wednesday warned of slick and hazardous driving conditions across parts of eastern New Mexico due to snowfall and reduced visibility.

A winter storm warning was issued for the northeastern highlands and parts of San Miguel County through 11 a.m. where the weather service said snow accumulations could total between 3 inches and 7 inches.

Lesser amounts of snow were forecast for Santa Fe and portions of central, east-central, north-central, northeastern and southeastern New Mexico.

U.S. Rep. Stansbury Says She Has Tested Positive For COVID-19

By AP • 19 hours ago

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury says she has tested positive for COVID-19 and is quarantining at home due to what she says is a breakthrough case. Stansbury announced in a statement released late Tuesday that she sought medical guidance after experiencing respiratory symptoms.

The first-term Democrat whose district includes most of Albuquerque said she is fully vaccinated and boosted. She urged all New Mexicans to get vaccinated “and to take good care and look out for one another.”

NM Health Officials Announce Over 3,300 New COVID-19 Cases, 25 Additional Deaths Related To Virus

By NMDOH • Jan 25, 2022

SANTA FE – New Mexico state health officials on Tuesday announced 3,354 additional COVID-19 cases. Per the state Department of Health, the most recent cases are:

Bill Eliminating Tax on Social Security Income Loses Momentum

By AP • Jan 25, 2022

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A bill to do away with New Mexico’s tax on Social Security income for middle- and upper-income residents has faltered at an initial public hearing, highlighting reluctance among many Democratic legislators.

The state already exempts low-income beneficiaries from the tax. A state House panel declined Tuesday to endorse legislation that would gradually eliminate the tax by 2026, on a tie 4-4 vote with Democrats in opposition.

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NPR News

Vaccinate and test. That advice isn't much help to parents who have kids under 5.

By Bram Sable-Smith • 8 minutes ago

Just before my son's recent 9-month checkup, my wife and I debated whether to simply postpone it. It's a "well baby visit" but the potential threats to his health felt real. The last time he went to the pediatrician, in November, the air inside the office was stuffy, and the waiting room crowded with children from various schools in and around St. Louis, all waiting to get their COVID shots.

In each week of 2021, David Rush from Idaho set a Guinness World Record

By editor • 51 minutes ago

WHO staffers accused its Western Pacific director of racism and abuse

By The Associated Press • 1 hour ago

Current and former staffers have accused the top director of the World Health Organization in the Western Pacific of racist, unethical and abusive behavior that has undermined the U.N. health agency's efforts to curb the coronavirus pandemic.

The expanded child tax credit briefly slashed child poverty. Here's what else it did

By Cory Turner • 2 hours ago

Blink and you could have missed it.

NIH is 'largely finished' moving its former research chimps to a sanctuary

By Nell Greenfieldboyce • 2 hours ago

For two chimpanzees named Huey and Pancake, both in their mid-30s, this week has been unexpectedly dramatic.

Huey, a male, and Pancake, a female, have been devoted to each other for over two decades. Together, they got loaded onto a truck at a research facility in Texas, where they've lived since they were young. They traveled for hours to a place in Louisiana where the hoots of hundreds of chimpanzees echo over pine trees.

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E-mail Viewpoints to: feedback@nmsu.edu

Repeal The Social Security Tax, But Recover The Lost Funding

By Walt Rubel • Jan 24, 2022

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Commentator Walt Rubel shares his thoughts on calls to repeal the tax on social security benefits in New Mexico.

Commentary: When former Gov. Bill Richardson ended the gross receipts tax on food in 2005, I thought it was a no-brainer. Food and water are the two things we can’t live without, so of course they shouldn’t be taxed.

But the experts at New Mexico Voices for Children; who understand the intricacies of our tax system much better than I do and know that when it comes to setting tax policy, everything's a brainer; disagreed. They predicted correctly that shifting the burden from food to other purchases would hurt the poor more than help them.

Now, they are raising the same red flags over legislation that would also appear to be a no-brainer - ending the state income tax on Social Security benefits.

Lessons Learned from a Rebellious Life

By Peter Goodman • Jan 23, 2022

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Commentator Peter Goodman shares his thoughts on how life experiences have showed him right from wrong.

Commentary: Thursday morning I reached the Amador/Alameda intersection immediately after two cars had crashed. Impact had crushed their fronts and spun them around. The blue car rested on the northbound side of Alameda, facing South, hood crumpled and the engine steaming lightly. The yellowish one was in the southbound lane, facing North. The drivers were just starting to open their doors. The guy in the yellowish car looked dazed, and maybe his door wasn’t opening easily. Neither had visible injuries.

Annual KIDS COUNT Data Book highlights progress, challenges

By Emily Wildau-MPP-KIDS COUNT Coordinator-New Mexico Voices For Children • Jan 23, 2022

Commentary: Throughout our state and nation’s history, we’ve sought to create a government that serves everyone well, no matter their race, ethnicity or gender. In many ways, we have been very successful, and we all benefit from the public structures – roads and highways, education, public safety, and more – we have created. But the COVID-19 pandemic has made glaringly obvious the work we still have before us if we are to give our kids and the state an equitable recovery and future.

The Power of the Past to Dictate Our Future

By Cassie McClure • Jan 23, 2022

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Commentator Cassie McClure shares thoughts in her weekly column "My So-Called Millennial Life."

Commentary: I absorbed books on ghosts as a kid. Anything to do with the supernatural was good. You could leave out the books with the fairies and the unicorns. A trapped soul that slunk around a weather-beaten shack that once was a grand manor house? Now that was my jam.

Reading was an escape from tedium, and plenty of the books came from the library.

When my mom first came to the United States from Germany, that's one of the institutional marvels of the country that helped her learn English, along with "General Hospital," Phil Donahue and Oprah. Every city we lived in held at least one beautifully organized library, many with great architectural details that reminded me of churches in Germany, but with more windows.

What answers do critics have for our national problems?

By Paul O’ Connell-Ph.D. Economist • Jan 19, 2022

Commentary: President Biden's Administration is being attacked by critics for inflation, continuation of the Covid Pandemic and inability of Congress to pass voter-rights legislation. Let’s go through these issues one by one. Inflation was largely caused by high energy costs and supply-chain bottlenecks. Energy costs are set in the world market and heavily influenced by Saudi Arabia and Russia. Supply-chain issues occurred because of the severe downturn and sudden increase in demand (over the past two years) due to the Covid Pandemic.