Two and a half years after the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire, the federal office providing compensation for the wildfire has issued final payment offers to about one-third of the 272 claimants who said they lost entire homes in the fire. buff.ly/4eY1aWf #nmfire

Hot air hot take: Gallup’s balloon rally is better than Albuquerque’s

New Mexico state agencies are asking for $445 million in damages from the 2022 wildfires, noting damages from lost tourism revenue, to additional water well testing and more. buff.ly/3OKLv1J

I'm looking at YOU.

Over months, Kenny Jacoby and I spoke to dozens of young men hoping for a 2nd chance at college athletics by playing and paying thousands for a post-grad football team. Many say they regret the time and money they gave to these teams🧵 w/ some findings: usatoday.com/story/news/inv…

Libit legal news 🧵: In Jan. 2019, I filed a public records lawsuit against Lobo Club, the University of New Mexico’s athletic booster organization. Almost six years later, the case is finally set for its scheduling conference this morning. nmfishbowl.com/2019/01/11/yep…

Four-term state Rep. Harry Garcia, D-Grants, appeared headed for the exits after losing his June primary race. But he’s angling to stay in the House by changing his voter registration and applying for a different vacant seat: abqjournal.com/election/artic… via Albuquerque Journal #nmpol

Much is still uncertain about how FEMA could begin to compensate the vast emotional toll from New Mexico’s biggest wildfire, following a judge’s ruling. But a legal aid lawyer is urging fire victims to try to describe their grief and anguish. sourcenm.com/2024/12/20/aft…

“I mean, my staff is spent. I think New Mexicans are spent,” New Mexico DHSEM Dep. Secretary Ali Rye said. “They’re tired and they’re constantly in this response or recovery mode.” This is the reality for many EM offices nationwide, strained by limited resources. sourcenm.com/2024/12/30/my-…

In his final act as president of the United States, Joe Biden commuted the life sentence of Leonard Peltier, a Native American activist who has spent nearly 50 years in prison. navajotimes.com/reznews/biden-…

Scoop: Trump’s FEMA executive order, expected to be signed today, will create a task force to review and recommend changes to the agency. The task force will be made up of the secretaries of homeland security and defense in addition to outside experts: semafor.com/article/01/24/…

Over a year ago, Lauren Lifke • @laurenlifke.bsky.social and I first reported for Daily Lobo that UNMPD did not use body cameras because of a loophole in a state statute. Yesterday, a bill to close that loophole passed its first committee in the New Mexico Legislature. dailylobo.com/article/2025/0…

Biannual reminder: Student journalism is journalism!

Ahead of RFK Jr’s planned NM visit, Gallup charter school announces ‘special guest’ via Patrick Lohmann sourcenm.com/2025/04/08/ahe…

For decades the El Paso sector of the border had the lowest number of reported deaths. Then El Paso joined Texas' Operation Lone Star. Uriel J. García Patrick Lohmann Yuriko Schumacher explain how this region of the border became the deadliest for migrants. texastribune.org/2025/06/16/tex…

Historically, Border Patrol’s El Paso sector has had among the fewest migrant deaths across the southern border. By 2024, two years after the city joined Texas’ border mission, the El Paso sector had become the deadliest place for migrants to cross the U.S.-Mexico border. 🧵

The Tribune and Source New Mexico || bsky @sourcenm.com found that migrant remains discovered in Border Patrol’s El Paso sector, which includes all of New Mexico’s border with Mexico and 84 miles of Texas border, have increased every year since El Paso joined Operation Lone Star, even as they have declined

Historically, Border Patrol’s El Paso sector — which includes New Mexico’s border with Mexico and El Paso and Hudspeth counties in west Texas — has had among the fewest migrant deaths across the southern border.