University of New Mexico alum and former Lobo basketball student manager Ryan Berryman has been named as the new Vice President and Director of Athletics. Berryman has been serving as the interim athletics director since Jan. 1, after former Athletics Director Fernando Lovo left to fill the same role at the University of Colorado Boulder after only one year at UNM.
The University of New Mexico baseball team completed a sweep against the University of St. Thomas, advancing to 12-0 on the season. The Lobos are one of three undefeated teams left in college baseball. Game one of the series saw the Lobos slug their way to an 11-6 win. They found themselves down 2 runs in the second inning, but the St. Thomas defense cracked the door open with 3 errors and the Lobos kicked that door down with a 6-run explosion. They rode that 6-run second to the series-opening victory as they tacked on more and never looked back. “We need to keep stacking up days like this and go out there like Coach Brown told us and keep competing,” Lobo Damian Garcia said.
On Feb. 19, the New Mexico Legislature adjourned their 30-day session, the last to be overseen by the outgoing Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. According to a press release from the Office of the Governor, the three cornerstone priorities of the governor were medical malpractice reform, mental health commitment and universal child care. Here are some of the most impactful bills that could affect New Mexicans.
Even as the decades-long drought in the Southwest continues, New Mexico is experiencing an unusually dry winter that could result in increased wildfires. Most wildfires in New Mexico occur in mid-elevation mixed conifer forests, where fire suppression and human activity has increased fuel loads that would historically burn every five to 25 years. The Director of the University of New Mexico’s Center for Fire Resilient Ecosystems and Society, Professor of Biology Matthew Hurteau, said some of the causes of severe wildfires are related to human intervention in natural fire cycles.
Jaune Quick-to-See Smith was a Native American visual artist known for her striking colors and strong shapes. On Feb. 12, Smith posthumously celebrated 46 years featured at the University of New Mexico’s artistic printmaking workshop, the Tamarind Institute. Originally opening its doors in 1960 in California, Tamarind moved to Albuquerque in 1970, with Smith starting her residence in 1980. Tamarind Institute Director Diana Gaston said Smith has made approximately 40 editions. “Our former director saw her work and invited her to come work with us, and that was about 40 years ago, so we’ve had this really long arc of time with her,” Gaston said.
Kiska the polar bear has been a charismatic character at the Albuquerque BioPark since 1997, wowing visitors with his white coat, huge paws and playful demeanor. Zoo-goers celebrated their bear for International Polar Bear Day. On Saturday, Feb. 28, the Albuquerque BioPark Zoo celebrated their bear for International Polar Bear Day. The BioPark hosted discovery stations packed with biofacts, hands-on activities to help guests explore polar bears’ natural history, how they stay warm and what locals can do to help polar bears and their cubs in the wild.
Since its opening as University Arena in 1966, The Pit has hosted the Lobo men’s and women’s teams. Through a partnership with Nusenda Credit Union, the arena will now bear the name The Pit - Powered by Nusenda. The 10-year deal, which was announced on Thursday, Feb. 26, will net UNM Athletics an average of $1.74 million per year and marks an advancement in the relationship between the partners.
In front of a sold out home crowd on Saturday, Feb. 28, the Lobo men’s basketball team faced off against San Diego State University Aztecs in a game that went down to the wire, ending in a 81-76 win for the Lobos. The University of New Mexico was led by forward Tomislav Buljan, who had his way with the Aztecs all day. Buljan had a double-double, dropping a team-leading 24 points while grabbing 18 rebounds. Coming off a loss to another Mountain West foe, the University of Nevada, Reno Wolfpack, Lobo Head Coach Eric Olen said every game near the end of the season is important.
In 2003, a New Mexican woman died of untreated hepatitis C, after an eight year struggle with the disease. Despite the fact that hepatitis C is treatable, the woman could not make the eight-hour drive from her rural home to Albuquerque for specialized care, and died of her condition. In an effort to prevent tragedies like that one from occurring again, Project ECHO was born. For the last 23 years, Project ECHO has connected health care experts to communities in need of care, Project ECHO Director of Communications, Deborah Trevino said.
I was in middle-school the first time I heard the boys in my class arguing about who was the G.O.A.T — greatest of all time. Then, I was a kid who stubbornly, intentionally went out of my way to not care about sports, so overhearing the conversation I said, “Why are you guys fighting about farm animals?” They laughed at me. They weren’t talking about that kind of goat. Years later on Feb. 13, Sony Animation and director Tyree Dillihay released “GOAT,” with basketball player Stephen Curry attached as a producer and voice actor. The story follows Will Harris, a young anthropomorphic goat who dreams of playing for his home team, the Vineland Thorns.
While confetti fell, students celebrated 137 years of the University of New Mexico with cupcakes, free merchandise and a class photo to commemorate the University’s birthday on Friday, Feb. 27. This year, Lobo Day was Route 66 themed with a free T-shirt for students picturing Lobo Louie and Lucy riding through the desert in a lowrider headed for the Sandia Mountains, framed in an interstate route sign. Colorful posters and stickers of the same graphic on the Lobo Day T-shirts were available to take while students waited to take the group photo.
The University of New Mexico men’s and women’s basketball teams will soon be on their way to the Mountain West Conference Tournament in Las Vegas this year. Lobo fans who are looking for options to make the trip have access to the Lobos in Las Vegas bus tour presented by Amazing Tours. The trip will take place March 11-14 and includes round-trip transportation with a three-night stay at Excalibur Hotel and Casino.
Wolfpack Head Coach Steve Alford continued to bring more heartbreak to Lobos fans as his University of Nevada, Reno team put a massive hole in the University of New Mexico men's basketball team's bubble and their hopes of making the NCAA Tournament with a win over the Lobos, 67-60. During the Tuesday, Feb. 24 game, Lobo guard Jake Hall led the Lobos with 17 points and broke the Mountain West Freshman record for most points scored in conference play, with 291; the previous record was 278, set by Brandon McCoy of UNLV in 2017-18.
The University of New Mexico baseball team kept the good times rolling as it swept the University of Northern Colorado Bears and moved to 8-0, the team's best start since the 1973 season. On Friday, Feb. 20, it appeared that the Lobos simply picked up where they left off the previous week against the Fordham Rams. The Lobos dominated game one of the series against the Bears with a 16-5 victory that was called after 7 innings, as per the NCAA’s run rule. That was a productive day all around for the Lobo batters who had 11 walks to just 3 strikeouts to complement the 7 extra-base hits that included 4 home runs in that ball game.
For nearly six hours in the University of New Mexico Student Union Building, over 100 people took turns speaking to the New Mexico Public Regulatory Commission during a public comment session, with none being in favor of private equity firm Blackstone’s acquisition of the state’s electricity provider, Public Service Company of New Mexico. Several speakers at public comment on Tuesday, Feb. 17, spoke about Blackstone’s major investments in AI data centers, Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman’s ties to pedophile sex offender Jeffery Epstein and criticized the operation of private equity firms as a whole. Blackstone Infrastructure and TXNM Energy Inc, which owns PNM, announced the $11.5 billion deal last May, and would result in Blackstone taking ownership of TXNM, according to Source NM.
On Feb. 5, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the Immigrant Safety Act into law after passing both the Senate and the House, largely along party lines. With the passing of the bill, New Mexico joins eight other states that have recently passed legislation limiting state involvement in federal immigration proceedings, according to ACLU New Mexico. The new law will go into effect in May, and prohibits public bodies, such as state or county entities, from entering into or continuing agreements with federal immigration officials in detaining individuals for civil immigration violations and prohibits the use of public land for immigration detention centers, like those existing in Torrance, Cibola and Otero Counties. Also prohibited is the deputizing of local law enforcement as immigration officers.
The New Mexico Goatheads are keeping it close to home in their search for a major league hockey affiliate, as they announced on Saturday, Feb. 21, that they are partnering with the Colorado Avalanche to light a path for their future players to ascend the hockey ranks. Goatheads General Manager Jared Johnson told the large crowd at The BLOCK, an outdoor food hall in Rio Rancho, that the Avalanche had been the ones to reach out to the Goatheads about a potential partnership. “We had lunch right here across the street at Turtle Mountain (Brewing Company) that day, and for that first in-person chat, I knew we shared the same vision: grow the game in New Mexico and build something that lasts,” Johnson said.
For the first time since 2014, a comprehensive study was conducted on Albuquerque’s creative economy, finding 17,680 workers directly employed by 2,457 creative businesses generating $1.1 billion in economic output in 2024. The sector makes up 4.4% of all local employment, the study found. Administered by the University of New Mexico’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research, in partnership with the City of Albuquerque’s Department of Arts and Culture, the study defines the creative economy as the economic growth generated by producing and consuming art and other intellectual property with the value of these goods and services determined by the creators’ level of skill, expertise and talent.
Solutions by The State News
