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Derek Chauvin convicted of murder, manslaughter

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who knelt on the neck of George Floyd during his fatal arrest last year, was convicted of all charges, including second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter on April 20 and faces up to 40 years in prison, according to the Star Tribune. The trial, one of the highest profile in recent history and Minnesota's first televised criminal case, began in March and stretched weeks into April. Jurors debated for more than 10 hours over the span of two days before reaching a verdict. Following the verdict, Judge Peter A. Cahill said that sentencing would be announced in eight weeks. The prosecution, made up of a rotating team of assistant attorneys general and outside lawyers, sought to emphasize the widely-seen bystander video of Floyd’s death in their case against Chauvin.

April 19, 2021 Comics

April 14, 2021 Comics

PLAYLIST: Cannabisseur's Delight

The recent legalization of recreational cannabis is cause for celebration, and to commemorate the event and the upcoming 4/20 holiday, the Daily Lobo editors assembled their favorite songs with especially chill vibes. Listen to the playlist on Spotify here!

Local 4/20 art show kicks off the holiday weekend with a bong

Situated between a barber shop and a tattoo parlor, the exterior of Rebel Prints off 3rd street in downtown Albuquerque appears unassuming at first glance. But if you walked in on the afternoon of April 16, you would’ve been treated to a wide array of artwork and apparel in a particular shade of green. This wasn’t your average art pop-up; it was the “Roll into Spring Cannabis Inspired Art Show” hosted by Rebel Prints from 4:20 to 7:10 p.m. The description of the event posted on Facebook stated, “Here we go Yo! Let's Roll into Spring with a fresh look on going Green. Live Art! Chill Vibes! Masks Required.” Iconic leaves, reddened eyes and lighters were plentiful among the artwork adorning the walls of the studios crafted by 13 local artists. Screen-printed t-shirts made by Karl Bautista, the owner of Rebel Prints, would satisfy any cannabis enthusiast’s needs. A vendor market out back hosted an additional eight artists selling their goods.

REVIEW: ‘Fearless (Taylor’s Version)’: an ode to Taylor Swift’s (and our) adolescence

Prince once famously said, “If you don’t own your masters, your master owns you.” 23 years after his 1996 Rolling Stones interview, Taylor Swift announced her intent to re-record her entire catalog. On April 9, Taylor Swift released “Fearless (Taylor’s Version),” the newly re-recorded older and wiser sister of her sophomore studio album, “Fearless,” which was released in 2008.   Although “Fearless” was a massive success — raking in her first No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart, selling more than 10 million copies and earning a Grammy Award for Album of the Year — it was owned by Big Machine Records, her former label. 

Vigil for Daunte Wright held at UNM

On Monday night, close to 80 individuals gathered near the UNM bookstore to honor the life of Daunte Wright, who was fatally shot by the Brooklyn Center Police Department (BCPD) in Minneapolis on April 11. Daunte Wright was a 20-year-old Black man who was pulled over at a traffic stop and fatally shot by BCPD officer Kim Potter. Police say Wright was pulled over due to expired registration tags but Wrights’ mother said he told her on the phone it was due to an illegally hung air freshener. The department is now claiming it was accidental, and that Potter mistook her gun for her taser, according to Star Tribune. The officer and the police chief have now resigned.

Governor legalizes recreational marijuana statewide

On April 12, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed legislation legalizing adult recreational cannabis use and authorizing the expungement of some cannabis convictions. “This legislation is a major, major step forward for our state. Legalized adult-use cannabis is going to change the way we think about New Mexico for the better — our workforce, our economy, our future,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement released on Monday.

Antonia Anderson, Jaedyn De La Cerda to play one more year at UNM

On April 1, University of New Mexico women’s basketball seniors Antonia Anderson and Jaedyn De La Cerda made an official announcement that they were returning to UNM to play a second senior season. This was made possible due to the NCAA giving athletes an extra year of eligibility because the pandemic. De La Cerda and Anderson have spent the past four years of their collegiate careers at UNM, and both were selected to the All-Conference team for their performances last season. In a press conference on April 6, De La Cerda and Anderson said they were exploring their options before making the announcement, but ultimately decided that they would return.  

UNM CAMPerinos hosts 9th annual Farmworker Awareness Week

The ninth annual Farmworker Awareness Week (FAW) kicked off virtually on March 28, with each day addressing a new facet of farmworker history and the impacts of the pandemic. UNM CAMPerinos used this week to honor the essential contributions of farmworkers’ and highlight the injustices they face. CAMPerinos serves students with migrant and seasonal farmworker backgrounds and other students at UNM by providing mentorship, community engagement opportunities and support.  Farmworker Awareness Week was hosted on Facebook for the second consecutive year due to the ban on in-person gatherings. The online event consisted of a series of social media posts which featured infographics, student farmworker testimonials and information on historical figures in the farmworker rights movement.

New Mexico COVID-19 Association club spearheads pandemic student volunteer work

As the pandemic rages on, students at the University of New Mexico have banded together to form the New Mexico COVID-19 Association, a volunteer club focused on helping those directly impacted by the pandemic. Cameron Moezzi, the president of the club, said that volunteers mainly assist at vaccination sites and COVID-19 hotels and deliver vaccination supplies. “Every day there’s vaccines being given — thousands being given in New Mexico — and every time that I (volunteer), I notice that we lack help,” Moezzi said.

NM Notify helps track COVID exposures

On March 23, the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) announced the launch of NM Notify, an exposure notification app that alerts individuals when they’ve been in close proximity to someone that’s tested positive for COVID-19. Exposure notification apps are a form of technology-based contact tracing. Google and Apple worked together with public health departments across the country to create apps that will notify people who have been exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID, even if they don’t know them, according to a Google video on the topic. When an individual walks by someone else using the app, both devices will exchange the users’ randomly generated personal identification numbers via Bluetooth. Then, if someone tests positive for COVID and reports it in the app, any device that exchanged numbers in the last two weeks will receive a notification about potential exposure.

ABQ 'White Lives Matter' rally flops, dominated by counter-protesters

On Sunday, hundreds gathered at Civic Plaza in Downtown Albuquerque with plans to counter a “White Lives Matter” protest scheduled to take place at the Albuquerque Convention Center directly across from Civic Plaza. Fight For Our Lives (FFOL), a self described non-violent student activist organization, arranged the event, which lasted about two hours and was attended by close to 120 people. No one directly affiliated with the Proud Boys attended the protest, despite a Facebook messenger screenshot that said the organization would arrive at 11 a.m. “It’s really great to see this show of unity,” Zoey Craft, FFOL cofounder, said. “It’s great to see everyone coming together against this planned action that we know is going to further embolden white supremacists in the future.”

April 12, 2021 Comics

CFC offers tax help for UNM students in need

While tax season may be a time that many college students dread, the Center for Financial Capability (CFC) at the University of New Mexico has a variety of services to help students navigate the filing process. Jacob Silva, the director for the CFC, said the center is a resource devoted to helping students become financially successful and graduate with the least amount of debt possible. Lotty Del Barga, a senior at UNM, was awarded a scholarship that refunds roughly $10,000 a year, but she didn’t realize she had to file that refund as income on her taxes. After Del Barga found out about the free tax services at the CFC, Silva helped her successfully navigate the process of filing an amended tax return.

Lobo basketball adds to its coaching roster

On March 16, 2021, the University of New Mexico announced that it hired Richard Pitino, as the new head coach for the men’s basketball team. In the time since his introductory press conference, Pitino has now begun to fill out his coaching staff for next season. While most assistant coaches’ contracts expire on April 30, Pitino said he’s “trying to take my time, hire the right guys, making sure that they all fit because the bottom line is it’s not going to be about one guy.”

REVIEW: 'Godzilla vs. Kong' delivers ultimate CGI battle royale and little else

This review contains spoilers.  Eager fans of the fourth MonsterVerse installment can finally quench their anticipation now that “Godzilla vs. Kong” is available on HBO Max and theaters as of March 31. Streaming numbers haven’t been released yet, but the performance at the box office has been absolutely astounding. The opening day domestic box office figure of $9.6 million made for “the best opening day total of the coronavirus era,” according to Variety. 

Picture Perfect Photo Lab proves film photography is alive and well

Picture Perfect Photo Lab is a second home for photographers looking to return to the age old practice of developing film.   Originally founded in 1985 as a one-hour photo store, the business now does it all: developing C-41 color negative and B&W film weekly, in addition to scanning and digitally restoring old photos/slides to continually add to a 22-year-old archive. “We've really seen a huge surge in film photography from young people who are in college or high school who are looking for a different experience from their phone or digital photography,” owner Matt Alexander said, who originally started working at the shop in 1996. 

Photojournalist Junfu Han reflects on his path to success and time at UNM

Detroit Free Press Staff Photographer Junfu Han has worked hard to get where he is today, creating a Daily Lobo legacy that will live on. His peers and colleagues consider his dedicated nature an essential example for how he continues to be a role model for others. Han came to the U.S. in August 2008 as an international student after his unfulfilling studies in computer science in China. Here, he delved into the photography program at UNM, not knowing that this choice would later impact the rest of his life. When Han started his education at UNM, he began applying for a multitude of jobs on campus in order to fulfill the conditions of his international visa. This eventually led to his employment as photo editor, multimedia editor and web editor at the Daily Lobo in 2012.

UNM photo department ranks eighth best grad program in country

The photography department at the University of New Mexico remains one of the top photography MFA programs in the country, and continues to stay on the cutting edge of interdisciplinary arts. UNM’s photo department is currently ranked #8 in the U.S. News & World Report’s list of the best graduate schools to study photography. As one of the oldest photo programs in the country, associate photography professor Patrick Manning said UNM has always made photography a priority in the fine arts department. “With our community, it’s always just been part of art,” Manning said.