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Grad student union holds digital rally to kick off Week of Union Action

Megan Gleason | April 21

On Monday, the United Graduate Workers of UNM held a digital rally to kick off “Rally for Recognition: A Week of Union Action” to pressure the University of New Mexico to recognize graduate students’ rights to unionize. The union aims “to resolve long-standing issues over compensation, benefits, and job security and to improve education and research conditions.” The organization is currently in hearings with the New Mexico Public Employees Labor Relations Board to win recognition as a union. According to the union website, UNM administration argues that grad students cannot be considered employees and thus are not protected under the Public Employee Bargaining Act.

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ABQ protesters gather in wake of nationwide police killings

Maddie Pukite | April 21

On Saturday night, close to 80 people gathered at the spot where Claude Trevino was fatally shot by the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) in February to protest against police brutality. This protest was called in light of the recent fatal shootings of Daunte Wright and Adam Toledo by police. Both of these killings sparked mass protesting in both Brooklyn Center, Minnesota and Chicago, Illinois. The event was hosted by Millions for Prisoners, Albuquerque Save the Kids from incarceration and ABQ Mutual Aid. The first speaker, a community member who went by Arianna, began the night by calling for a moment of silence to honor the victims of police brutality.

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Following cannabis legalization, inmates await expungement

Hannah John | April 20

Within recent years, adult use of recreational marijuana has been legalized in 16 states, and the use of medical marijuana has been legalized in 19 states. Despite the sweeping shift of the drug’s legal status, some states have not expunged the records of people who have been convicted of marijuana charges. Racial disparity plays a big role in arrests for marijuana. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, Black people in New Mexico are four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than white people. Within Bernalillo County alone, a Black person was almost twice as likely to be arrested for marijuana possession in 2018. This is compared to the nationwide average where Black people are 3.6 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than white people, the highest disparity from 2010 - 2018. According to Bernadine Hernandez, an assistant professor at the University of New Mexico and a member of both the Prison Divest New Mexico Coalition and the Fronteristxs Collective, private prisons thrive within New Mexico. Inmates, including people with marijuana charges, are most likely to be held at a private prison.

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Medical Cannabis Research Fund leads cannabis studies at UNM

Maddie Pukite | April 20

The team of researchers with the Medical Cannabis Research Fund (MCRF) at the University of New Mexico have continued their grassroots effort despite federal pushback, lack of funding and the coronavirus pandemic. The team is made up of a variety of professors from different departments and backgrounds at UNM. Jacob Vigil, a professor of psychology, is the group’s director and started it alongside Sarah Stith, an assistant professor of economics and an investigator for the MCRF. Research has proven difficult due to the federal restrictions, making it harder to publish findings, Vigil and Stith said. Additionally, physical research has currently been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the team is still doing online research and remote assessments.

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Derek Chauvin convicted of murder, manslaughter

Liam Debonis | April 20

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.

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Vigil for Daunte Wright held at UNM

Maddie Pukite | April 13

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.

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Governor legalizes recreational marijuana statewide

Gabriel Biadora and Maddie Pukite | April 12

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.

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NM Notify helps track COVID exposures

Jesus Mata | April 12

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.

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

John Scott | April 12

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.”

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Gov. Lujan Grisham signs off on NM paid sick leave bill

Maddie Pukite | April 9

On Thursday, April 8, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed HB 20, the Healthy Workplaces Act, making paid sick leave a reality in New Mexico. The bill will allow employees to accrue one hour of paid time off for every 30 hours worked, which can be used for their own illness, whether mental or physical, or to care for a family member who is sick. In addition, employees have the ability to accrue paid time off for future use. The bill defines “family” as, “an individual whose close association with the employee or the employee's spouse or domestic partner is the equivalent of a family relationship.”

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CFC offers tax help for UNM students in need

Daniel Ward | April 7

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.

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Westside shelter continues vaccination efforts for the unhoused

Gino Gutierrez | April 1

As the COVID-19 vaccine rollout continues in Albuquerque, the unhoused and those experiencing homelessness are now eligible to receive the vaccine. Homelessness has been steadily increasing in Albuquerque for years — from 2013 to 2019, the number of unhoused persons in the city jumped from 144 to 567, according to an article from NM Political Report. As the number of people experiencing homelessness in Albuquerque continues to grow, medical personnel are tasked with ensuring they receive their COVID vaccinations too.

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Yes we cannabis!

Gabriel Biadora and Maddie Pukite | April 1

SANTA FE — On March 31, the New Mexico State Legislature legalized recreational cannabis after a contentious vote of 23-19 in the Senate, after decades of failed attempts. House Bill 2 (HB 2) passed on the Senate floor around 8 p.m. during a special session prompted by the Governor after legalization efforts failed during the Regular Session. The bill advanced after Legislators killed its competing bill, Senate Bill 3 (SB 3), in committee. New Mexico will soon be the 18th state to legalize recreational cannabis, following New York which passed a legalization bill earlier this week. The bill is now at Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s desk, where it is expected to be signed into law.

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UNM to hold in-person graduation ceremony for spring class of 2021

Gino Gutierrez | March 31

On Wednesday afternoon, University of New Mexico President Garnett Stokes announced via her Twitter account that the University will be holding an in-person spring 2021 commencement ceremony at University Stadium on May 15 at 9 a.m. The announcement comes as the city of Albuquerque has seen its lowest average COVID-19 case numbers since September 2020. “I want to say that I am thrilled to give you the exciting news that we are going to be offering an in-person commencement for our spring 2021 graduates,” Stokes said in a video on Twitter.

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Daily Lobo strives to win College Media Madness competition

Maddie Pukite | March 29

The Daily Lobo is currently participating in the inaugural year of the fundraising competition College Media Madness, hosted by the Daily Orange, the independent student newspaper from Syracuse University. “In an effort to try to capture like the competitive spirit of March Madness, we thought, ‘Well, what if we made it some sort of challenge with other student newsrooms?’” Haley Robertson, the fundraising coordinator from the Daily Orange, said. The money raised for the Lobo will be put into the University of New Mexico Foundation Jim Fisher Fund, named after Jim Fisher, a former business manager for the Daily Lobo until 2016 and advocate for student publications. All money will go towards the support of all endeavors at the Daily Lobo.

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Dozens gather downtown to protest Atlanta spa shootings, anti-Asian sentiments

Liberty Stalnaker | March 28

In the early evening hours of March 28, around 40 protestors, organizers and speakers gathered in downtown Albuquerque near the Bernalillo County Courthouse. Standing beneath the “View From Gold Mountain”, a large sculpture commemorating a landmark case in Chinese-Americans’ civil rights history, they came together to decry the recent string of murders in the Atlanta area. On March 16, six women of Asian descent were killed in multiple shooting sprees, carried out by a single white male at Atlanta spas and massage parlors. Though the suspect told police he was motivated by an addiction to sex, the shootings have nonetheless sparked widespread denouncement as anti-Asian and misogynistic hate crimes.

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NM renters suffer in pandemic housing market

Daniel Ward | March 23

The price of rent in New Mexico has been steadily increasing for decades due to high demand and fewer and fewer vacancies. Now, low income residents are struggling to keep up with more expensive rental rates and the ongoing pandemic is only making matters worse. As of January 2021, the average cost of rent in Albuquerque was $982 for approximately 812 sq. ft., according to the rental market trends from RentCafe. That’s a 7% increase from the previous year, but prices can rise even higher with the addition of extra bedrooms or a desirable neighborhood.

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Haaland takes reins at Interior Department

Rebecca Hobart | March 23

WASHINGTON — On Monday, March 15, Debra Anne Haaland, an enrolled member of the Laguna Pueblo and a former senior congresswoman from New Mexico, was confirmed as Secretary of the Interior, making her the first Native American to serve in the Cabinet of a United States president. In her new role, Haaland will oversee 480 million acres of public lands and many federal agencies, including the Bureaus of Land Management and Reclamation as well as the National Park Service, according to the Department of the Interior. Monday’s full Senate vote to confirm Haaland was near party-line, 51-40, with GOP support from Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina and Susan Collins, R-Maine, backing the progressive, historic nominee.

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Cannabis legalization hits another pothole in NM Legislature

Gabriel Biadora | March 22

New Mexico will have to wait for its turn in the proverbial smoke session after the Cannabis Regulation Act (House Bill 12) failed to be heard on the Senate floor before the 2021 legislative session ended at noon on March 20. In response to yet another failure to join the growing number of states allowing recreational marijuana use, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is set to call a special session for “roughly March 31” to specifically address legalization efforts, according to an official press release sent out two hours after the session ended.

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Lottery Scholarship funding measure headed to gov’s desk

Maddie Pukite | March 21

House Bill 2, the New Mexico state appropriations bill, has been approved by both chambers of the Legislature and is headed to the governor’s desk for her approval. The proposed budget legislation would allocate $59.6 million dollars toward the Lottery Scholarship for state high school graduates who choose to pursue New Mexico higher education. The Lottery Scholarship is a “merit-based” New Mexico scholarship program that helps pay for New Mexico high school graduates’ tuition at a state college or university. A majority of the scholarship’s funding comes from lottery ticket sales. If approved, the scholarship would cover 90% of tuition for those who are eligible to receive it, a marked increase compared to last year’s funding, which only covered 60%.