AUSTIN, Texas — Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday banned state agencies, political subdivisions or organizations receiving public funds from creating “vaccine passports” or otherwise requiring proof of a Covid-19 vaccine in order to receive services. This comes as vaccine credentials, often referred to as vaccine passports, are being developed around the world as a way
Continue Reading ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Monday that he will not throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Texas Rangers home opener because of Major League Baseball’s stance on voter integrity laws. Abbott, a Republican, informed the Rangers of his decision in a letter ahead of Monday’s game, according to a news
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Two Republican congresswomen are revoking their endorsements of Texas GOP congressional candidate Sery Kim after she said that she didn’t want potential Chinese immigrants in the United States. “As the first Korean American Republican women to serve in Congress, we want to empower and lift up fellow members of the (Asian American and Pacific Islander)
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DALLAS, Texas — Former Democratic El Paso Congressman Beto O’Rourke said Friday that he doesn’t currently intend to run against incumbent Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott next year, but then later indicated that he might reconsider it in the future. O’Rourke first ignited speculation that he would launch a challenge to the governor’s re-election bid
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LAS CRUCES, New Mexico — This summer, New Mexico will see its biggest overhaul of liquor laws in decades. “There’s a lot of good changes on the horizon,” said Russell Hernandez, the co-owner and CEO of Salud De Mesilla. “You know, I’m hoping that will be really good for our business,” said Chris Schaefer, the
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SANTA FE, New Mexico — New Mexico is joining a wave of states that are legalizing recreational marijuana as its Democrat-dominated Legislature sent a package of cannabis bills to a supportive governor. Lawmakers used a marathon two-day legislative session that ended Wednesday night to push through marijuana legalization for adults over 21 and a companion bill that automatically erases
Continue Reading WESLACO, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, speaking in Weslaco on Thursday, said, “The Biden Administration’s open border policies have created an open season for human traffickers, for drug smugglers, for cartels and gangs.” Abbott held a news conference after visiting the south Texas border to discuss Operation Lone Star, the state’s effort to ramp
Continue Reading AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas State Senate advanced a far-reaching elections bill early Thursday with several provisions placing new restrictions on the voting process, particularly for those living in densely populated counties. The vote on Senate Bill 7 was 18-13 after more than seven hours of debate and several amendments to the legislation. The final
Continue Reading UPDATE: A New Mexico bill to legalize recreational marijuana in the state for adults ages 21 and older was approved by legislators in special session Wednesday night. The measure was being sent to a supportive Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham for her signature as New Mexico was set to become the latest state to legalize marijuana. The
Continue Reading EL PASO, Texas — The increasing number of migrants seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border can be explained by poverty, violence and climate change, according to U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso. “Until we address this strategically with humanity and with compassion, and with thought about our entire hemisphere, we will be having the same
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AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas state Senate on Tuesday approved five bills restricting access to abortion, including a priority measure that could ban abortions before many women know they are pregnant. The measures, which abortion rights advocates call some of the most “extreme” nationwide, are among the earliest bills to be debated by the full
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LAS CRUCES, New Mexico — If New Mexico legalizes recreational marijuana, a Las Cruces addiction specialist hopes that lawmakers will provide increased funding for treatment and education on the substance. “If you’re going to introduce a substance and make it legal, the numbers are going to go up for the possibility of addiction,” said Ryan
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DONNA, Texas — The Biden administration for the first time Tuesday allowed journalists inside its main border detention facility for migrant children, revealing a severely overcrowded tent structure where more than 4,000 migrants, including children and families, were crammed into pods and the youngest kept in a large play pen with mats on the floor
Continue Reading SANTA FE, New Mexico — New Mexico lawmakers are responding to the call of Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to try and forge an agreement on legalizing recreational marijuana in a special legislative session that convened on Tuesday. Legalization has won state House approval for three consecutive years but failed to gain full approval, despite support from
Continue Reading As a congressional candidate last year in Nevada, Dan Rodimer pitched himself as “a small business man, a family man, living in the suburbs.” Now as a candidate for the US House of Representatives in Texas, gone is the suburban family guy in a transformation impossible to overlook. Rodimer is now pitching himself as a
Continue Reading SANTA FE, New Mexico — New Mexico lawmakers are embarking on an unusual legislative session that may focus entirely on the legalization of recreational marijuana. Efforts at legalizing the sale of cannabis to adults 21 and older faltered during the regular annual session that ended March 20, amid divergent views about government oversight of a
Continue Reading Two separate groups of lawmakers are traveling to Texas on Friday to spotlight the surge of unaccompanied children crossing the US-Mexico border in recent weeks. Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn of Texas are leading a delegation of 17 Republican senators on Friday to tour a US Customs and Border Protection facility in Donna, Texas,
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LAS CRUCES, New Mexico — After one year of virus restrictions and rolling closures in New Mexico, dozens of Las Cruces residents gathered downtown to protest the effects on the business community Saturday morning. Their main purpose was to commemorate businesses that have had to close permanently as a result and use them as an
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SANTA FE, New Mexico — New Mexico legislators closed out a 60-day legislative session that charts an economic exit from the Covid-19 pandemic after checking off progressive priorities on policing reforms, abortion rights, medical aid in dying and attacking child poverty by tapping a state trust fund. In the session’s final hours, legislators ramped up state tax
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EL PASO, Texas — Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso on Friday with a group of bipartisan senators. Typically on such a trip, a cabinet secretary and lawmakers would be accompanied by reporters or a member of the White House press pool to feed notes back
Continue Reading AUSTIN, Texas — The Austin-based actor Matthew McConaughey is again making headlines for flirting with a run for Texas governor — and this time he says he is serious about the possibility. Belying the hubbub, though, is something activists have increasingly buzzed about: Little is known about McConaughey’s politics, or at least his partisanship. State voting
Continue Reading SANTA FE, New Mexico — A proposal to legalize recreational marijuana in New Mexico appeared to falter in the final hours of a 60-day legislative session as the state Senate postponed a floor debate and turned to other bills. Legislators had until noon Saturday to send the legalization initiative to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. Advocates for broad
Continue Reading SANTA FE, New Mexico — With fewer than 24 hours left in this year’s legislative session, senators are expected to vote on a bill that will legalize recreational cannabis in New Mexico. At noon on Friday, the New Mexico Senate was set to consider a number of bills, including House Bill 12, otherwise known as
Continue Reading EL PASO, Texas — U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and a bipartisan group of U.S. senators visited the Mexican border in El Paso on Friday amid growing controversy over how the Biden administration is dealing with a surge in migrants, especially unaccompanied children. Mayorkas made his second trip as secretary to El
Continue Reading UPDATE: The New Mexico Senate ended an hours-long session, that stretched until 3 a.m. Friday, without taking a vote on the bill that would legalize cannabis in New Mexico. The senate was discussing other bills Thursday night and did not get to the marijuana bill. The senate adjourned until noon Friday, at which time it
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WASHINGTON, DC — Otero County Commissioner and Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin has pleaded not guilty in federal court to charges stemming from the U.S. Capitol siege on Jan. 6, NBC station WRC-TV in Washington reported Thursday. New Mexico county commissioner Couy Griffin has pleaded NOT GUILTY to charge in connection with US Capitol
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AUSTIN, Texas — Texas and Montana are suing the Biden administration for revoking the Keystone XL pipeline permit. According to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the lawsuit alleges that President Joe Biden doesn’t have the unilateral authority to change the permitting, saying the power resides with Congress. “Since his first day in office, President Biden
Continue Reading DALLAS, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott spoke on Wednesday about the influx of unaccompanied children crossing into the state across the U.S.-Mexico border. Abbott made his remarks at a news conference in Dallas, one of two Texas cities the Biden administration has recently identified to host temporary shelters for thousands of migrant children. The Washington Post reported the locations
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AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas attorney general says a lawsuit he filed against the energy company Griddy will keep about 24,000 Texans from having to pay $29.1 million in unpaid bills related to last month’s winter storms. “My office sued Griddy Energy, under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, to hold them accountable for their
Continue Reading PERMIAN BASIN, Texas — Deep in the heart of Texas, above an oil patch about the size of Kansas, a little team in a small plane is trying to reveal a big problem. They are methane hunters. With an infrared camera and a Picarro Cavity Ring-Down Laser Spectroscope, they fly spirals over pumps and compressor
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