ETHICS COMMISSION-NEW MEXICO
State ethics commission considers merits of four complaints
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's newly founded State Ethic Commission plans to meet by online video conference later this week to review the first four complaints it has received. The complaints will be reviewed by the seven-member panel Friday in an executive session without public access to deliberations. The commission treats complaints as confidential until there is a probable-cause finding, including determinations about jurisdiction or dismissals. That doesn't prevent people from going public with accusations or rebuttals. Voters overwhelmingly approved the creation of the commission in 2018 in the wake of a series of high profile corruption scandals. It began fielding complaints this year.

COUNTY OFFICIAL-ASIANS
New Mexico official in video blames 'Asians' for virus
DEMING, N.M. (AP) — A southern New Mexico county official is under fire for posting a social media video casting blame for the novel coronavirus pandemic on "Asians." The Las Cruces Sun-News reports Luna County Safety and Risk Coordinator Tyler Massey posted an expletive-laden video on Snapchat earlier this month, where he complained about people of Asian descent buying "in bulk" at a Walmart. He says their "cousins" started the pandemic and then alleged the Asian customers in the parking lot left him "exposed" to COVID-19. Luna County Attorney Charles Kretek verified that Massey remained a county employee and said county manager Chris Brice "addressed the matter internally."

WILDFIRES-SATELLITE TRACKING
New Mexico to tap satellite tracking during wildfire season
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — This season New Mexico has a new tool that could help crews get an early jump on any wildfires that might break out. The State Forestry Division will be getting real-time alerts via a satellite tracking system designed by the Santa Fe-based startup Descartes Labs. The program can detect temperature increases from new fires using data that's updated every few minutes. Text messages will then be sent to State Forestry with the location and a detailed map. While the agency is faced with unusual circumstances this fire season, officials say they're still prepared with hundreds of firefighters at the ready across New Mexico.

NAVAJO POET-WHITING AWARD
Navajo poet Jake Skeets wins Whiting Award
GALLUP, N.M. (AP) — Navajo poet Jake Skeets has been named one of the winners of this year's Whiting Award. The Gallup Independent reports the Giles Whiting Foundation recently announced Skeets as one of the 10 writers to receive the honor. Last year, he was named the winner of the 2018 Discovery/Boston Review Poetry Contest and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, one of the most honored literary prizes in America. Skeets says he writes from personal experiences and focuses on Native American issues and challenges. Skeets holds a master of fine arts in poetry from the Institute of American Indian Arts and teaches English at Diné College in Tsaile, Arizona.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW MEXICO
New Mexico election regulators want mail-in-only primary
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Local elections officials petitioned the New Mexico Supreme Court for permission to conduct the June 2 primary elections by mail because of the coronavirus. County clerks said in the petition Monday that the pandemic makes it impossible to conduct traditional election-day balloting and that existing procedures for mail-in balloting should be adopted for all voting with limited in-person assistance. They also say it is impractical for the Legislature to quickly meet and establish emergency voting procedures. The Supreme Court had no immediate response. The number of confirmed COVID-19 infections in the state increased to 281 cases on Monday.

NAVAJO-MEDICAID PLAN
Plans for Navajo Medicaid entity stall in leadership dispute
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Plans for a Navajo Nation entity to manage Medicaid on parts of the reservation are up in the air over disagreements among tribal leaders. A tribal corporation has been touting a plan that would incorporate traditional healing, food boxes and customer service in the Navajo language. But it hit another snag last week when tribal President Jonathan Nez vetoed a resolution that he says unconscionably tried to capitalize on the spread of the coronavirus. Nez says the resolution wasn't an emergency as written and the corporation wasn't set up to manage health care. Tribal lawmakers had approved the corporation's efforts to administer Medicaid on the New Mexico portion of the reservation.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-CHACO DRILLING
Groups: More time needed to weigh New Mexico drilling plan
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Archaeologists, historians and environmentalists are joining New Mexico's congressional delegation and a coalition of Native American tribes in asking federal land managers to grant more time for the public to comment on a contested plan that will guide oil and gas development near Chaco Culture National Historical Park. They say the federal government should wait until the coronavirus outbreak subsides to ensure the public has an adequate opportunity to participate. Despite existing protections within its boundaries, the World Heritage site has been at the center of a decades-long fight over drilling in northwestern New Mexico.

HOBBS NEWS-SUN
Hobbs News-Sun to end Saturday edition amid oil price drop
HOBBS, N.M. (AP) — The Hobbs News-Sun is ending its Saturday edition and shrinking the size of the paper amid falling oil prices and the downtown caused by COVID-19. Hobbs News-Sun Publisher Daniel Russell announced Saturday the moves in response to economic pressures the newspaper faces in the heart of New Mexico's oil and gas country. Russell says the newspaper will continue to print editions Tuesday through Friday and Sunday. He also says the width of the paper will go from 25 inches across to 23 inches across to save money on cost.

​DEMING – The Luna Public Health Office in Deming will begin testing for COVID-19 starting Tuesday, March 31st.
     Officials said they will only be doing testing to people with an appointment who have been referred by their primary care provider, or to first responders with official ID who have symptoms, have traveled to high-risk areas, or have been in contact with possibly infected people.
     To make an appointment for a COVID-19 test, call the Luna Public Health Office at 546-2771 and select option 4.
     Primary providers should fax referrals to 546-9427 – Attention: Julie Flores.
     The Luna Public Health Office is located at 215 S. Silver Avenue in Deming.

ELECTION 2020-NEW MEXICO
New Mexico primary challengers face uphill fight amid virus
RIO RANCHO, N.M. (AP) — Restrictions limiting person-to-person contact to stop the spread of COVID-19 is hindering Democratic primary challengers seeking to unseat incumbent state lawmakers in New Mexico. Challengers are barred for weeks from campaigning by knocking on doors and shaking hands at public events. Instead, many are moving to aggressive social media pushes, multiple mailers, and virtual town halls. Most Democratic voters in the state's closed primary system tend to be older, and many live in rural areas where broadband internet access and cell service is limited. But candidate Carrie Hamblen says voters are more connected online than ever before. She's seeking to oust Sen. Mary Kay Papen — one of the most powerful Democratic incumbents in the New Mexico Senate.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW MEXICO
Supplies brought to Navajos who lack running water at home
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Health officials have been telling people for weeks to wash their hands thoroughly to help prevent the spread of coronavirus. That's not always an easy task on the Navajo Nation, where 30% of residents on the vast reservation don't have running water in their homes. The Navajo Department of Health and Navajo Area Indian Health Service says the number of confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 has reached 115 for the Navajo Nation, which covers parts of New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez announce Sunday a curfew from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. for reservation residents that will go into effect Monday. The stay-at-home order that Nez announced last week will remain in effect. New Mexico's coronavirus cases grew to 237 Sunday.

AP-US-VIRUS-OUTBREAK-VIRUS-FREE-COUNTIES
Counties without coronavirus are mostly rural, poor
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — As the coronavirus rages through Europe, and major American cities like New York and Los Angeles, more than a third of counties across the U.S. still have not reported a positive test result for infection across what are predominantly rural areas. A data analysis by The Associated Press shows that 1,297 counties have no confirmed cases of COVID-19 out of 3,142 counties nationwide. Counties with zero positive tests for COVID-19 tend to have older, rural populations with lower incomes where rural health networks might be overwhelmed. The demographics hold major implications as the administration of President Donald Trump develops guidelines to rate counties by risk of virus spread, empowering local officials to revise social distancing orders.

SHERIFF-DRUNK-OBSTRUCTION
Office probes claims sheriff showed up at standoff drunk
RIO RANCHO, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Attorney General's Office is reviewing a case involving a sheriff who police said showed up drunk to a SWAT standoff and tried to order officers away. Attorney General spokesman Matt Baca told The Associated Press late Friday a complaint naming Rio Arriba County Sheriff James Lujan has been referred to the office and the prosecutors are reviewing it. Española Police Chief Richard Jimenez wrote that officers reported Lujan smalled of alcohol and ignored commands to leave the "kill zone" in front of the house of the barricaded subject. Lujan told the Santa Fe New Mexican that the accusations in the criminal complaint are false.

TECH STARTUP-INVESTMENT
New Mexico tech startup lands $5M investment
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico startup has landed $5 million in private equity from investors to accelerate the marketing of super-fast cell-screening and analysis technology. The Albuquerque Journal reports that BennuBio Inc. won the funding from New Mexico and international investments, including money from Co-Win Ventures. BennuBio President and CEO Steven Graves says Co-Win's participation could substantially boost BennuBio's marketing success because that firm has extensive experience in the cytometer industry. Flow-through cytometers are used to analyze millions rapidly, and often billions, of cells for medical diagnostics and drug discovery. But today's cytometers can process only about 10,000 cells per second because tissue samples are pushed through cytometers one at a time.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-STIMULUS-TRIBES
Tribes say persistent efforts pay off in massive stimulus
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Tribes say their persistent efforts to be included in a massive stimulus bill to respond to the new coronavirus have paid off. Tribes have been lobbying Congress to help address shortfalls in an already underfunded health care system that serves Native Americans. They secured $10 billion in the bill that President Donald Trump signed Friday. Most of it is set aside as a relief fund that will be distributed based on need. More than $1 billion will go to the federal agency that provides primary health care for more than 2 million Native Americans. The Navajo Nation in the U.S. Southwest has been hardest hit by the virus with more than 90 confirmed cases.

AP-US-VIRUS-OUTBREAK-WHAT'S-ESSENTIAL
What's essential? In France: pastry, wine. In US: golf, guns
The coronavirus pandemic is defining for the globe what's essential and what things we really can't do without, even though we might not need them for survival. Attempting to slow the spread of the virus, authorities in many places are determining what shops and services can remain open. They're also restricting citizens from leaving their homes. Whether it's Asia, Europe, Africa or the United States, there's general agreement on what's essential: Health care workers, law enforcement, utility workers, food production and communications are generally exempt from lockdowns. But some activities reflect a national identity, or the efforts of lobbyists.

POLLINATOR LICENSE PLATE
New Mexico unveils 'pollinator protection' license plate
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — For the love of bees, New Mexico is now offering motorists a chance to help the pollinators through the purchase of a special license plate. The state Transportation Department says proceeds from the new plates will help fund planting projects along state roads. The pollinator project also will create educational gardens and reduce mowing and spraying of herbicides along roadways as a way to improve habitat for bees and other pollinators. The plate features the artwork of a student from the Albuquerque Sign Language Academy. It costs $25 for the initial purchase and $15 for yearly renewal.

​DEMING – Deming public school students will not return to classrooms or athletic fields during the current academic year due to the coronavirus.
     Public Education Secretary Ryan Stewart made the announcement affecting all New Mexico schools Friday in a news teleconference.
     Stewart said schools will not be required to make up the missed instructional days between March 16th and April 3rd, but for the remaining weeks of the school year to be waived, districts must develop both technology-based and non-technology-based continuous learning plans.
     He said students are likely to be graded for coursework completed at home on a pass-fail basis.
     High school seniors will be able to graduate through a “demonstration of competency” that may include a series of assignments and tests including a college entrance exam.
     A stay-at-home order remains in effect across New Mexico with exceptions for essential tasks and businesses.
     Deming teachers will be communicating with students and families to get assignments to the students.