Page 35 - Quick Reads News Today

March 17, 2021 The special election to fill the now-vacant 1st Congressional District will take place on June 1. Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver announced the date and said she would formally issue the special election proclamation on Thursday. The seat, which is centered in the Albuquerque area, is now vacant because Deb Haaland resigned earlier this week to become U.S. Secretary of the Interior under President Joe Biden. “Deb Haaland’s historic confirmation as the nation’s fir...

By Robert Nott, Santa Fe New Mexican | March 15, 2021 Still feeling fatigued and cranky after this past weekend’s change to daylight saving time? Get used to it. A bill that would have led to the possibility of New Mexico staying on a single time year-round is dead. Members of the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee voted 7-3 to table Senate Bill 102, which would make Mountain Daylight Time the state’s permanent year-round time if enabling federal legislation is passed. Thoug...

The New Mexico Senate approved on Monday a bill that would more narrowly define medical cannabis reciprocity by a 28-10 vote.  Sponsored by Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, SB 340 would specify that reciprocal cannabis patients in New Mexico cannot be a local resident and that reciprocal patients must reside in the state where […]

Male rats transfer different hereditary information to their offspring depending on their age.

I know it may be hard to convince you, but let me try: Don’t kill the next spider you see in your home. Why? Because spiders are an important part of nature and our indoor ecosystem – as well as being fellow organisms in their own right. People like to think of their dwellings as safely insulated from the outside world, but many types of spiders can be found inside. Some are accidentally trapped, while others are short-term visitors. Some species even enjoy the great indoors, where they hap...

U.S. Army In case you didn’t see the past two days: The COVID-19 recap will be moving to a weekly format next week.  Thursday was the one-year anniversary of the first case of COVID-19 in New Mexico and the anniversary of the first public health emergency. While the tone of a press conference with cabinet-level officials (see links below for coverage) was largely optimistica year into the pandemic, Human Services Department Secretary Dr. David Scrase mentioned his “hardest day,” December...

The U.S. economy and millions of people struggling because of the pandemic are about to get a US$1.9 trillion jolt of stimulating relief. On March 10, the House of Representatives approved a version of President Joe Biden’s coronavirus package that barely squeezed through the Senate. Both votes were almost entirely along party lines. Biden signed the bill into law on March 11. The legislation includes $1,400 relief checks for most Americans, an extension of the $300 supplement for the unemp...

March 12, 2021 A bill to protect people in school or the workplace from discrimination based on their hair or hairstyles passed 37 to 0 in the Senate Thursday. SB 80 would amend the New Mexico Human Rights Act to prevent discrimination based on cultural or religious headdresses and protective hairstyles and would prevent school districts and charter schools from disciplining children based on their hair, hairstyle or cultural or religious headdresses. Sponsored by state Sen. Harold Pope Jr., D-...

By Robert Nott, Santa Fe New Mexican | March 12, 2021 New Mexico State Senate. With just over a week to go before this year’s legislative session ends, the prospect of lawmakers coming through with an independent redistricting plan is looking more likely. But some involved in the process still have concerns about Senate Bill 15, which the Senate unanimously approved Wednesday. The measure would create a seven-member citizens’ committee to gather public input and then come up with three p...

A community's wastewater can predict coronavirus cases that haven't yet been diagnosed. The quicker that information is known, the better.