Non-Local News Releases

Daily Update, Thursday, June 20, 2024

Community meeting tonight; storms pose flooding and debris flow risk;;

Public Information Line: 575-323-8258;

Media Information Line: 575-323-8053;

Phone Line Hours: 8 am 8 pm;

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.;

ELEPHANT BUTTEThis week, Senator Crystal Brantley (R-Elephant Butte) is set to keynote the annual Lion Leadership Fund event in Denver, Colorado. Also in Denver, she will be addressing the Women's Public Leadership Network (WPLN) event as part of a panel of legislators. 

Senator Crystal Brantley (R-Elephant Butte) issued the following statement regarding her speaking engagements:

The Republican Party of New Mexico commemorates Juneteenth, a holiday that celebrates the end of slavery in the United States after the Civil War.

On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, to proclaim to the remaining enslaved African Americans that the Emancipation Proclamation, signed by Republican President Abraham Lincoln, had secured their freedom. Lincoln, alongside the Republican Party, then succeeded in passing the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery in America, despite harsh opposition from the Democratic Party. Furthermore, Republicans championed the 14th Amendment, granting citizenship to African Americans, and the 15th Amendment, which extended the right to vote to African American men.

Evacuations in place with continued fire growth expected

Daily Update June 19, 2024

Public Information Line: 575-323-8258

Media Information Line: 575-323-8053

Phone Line Hours: 8 8 pm

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Acres: South Fork“ 16,335; Salt“ 7,071 Start Date: June 17, 2024

Location: Ruidoso, NM Personnel: 254

Containment: 0%‚‚‚‚‚‚Fuels: mixed conifer, grass, pine/juniper

Albuquerque, NM â PNM is warning customers throughout New Mexico to be on the lookout for phone scams as the weather heats up. PNM has received reports that scammers are adding a false PNM caller ID or are adding a false 505 prefix to get customer to answer, deceiving them into thinking it is a legitimate call from PNM.

Once customers answer the phone, the scammer says they are with PNM, claims you are behind on your bill and threatens to disconnect your electricity unless you pay immediately with a prepaid card or an electronic banking transfer.

SANTA FE Today, the New Mexico Department of Transportation (DOT) presented its recommendations to legislators on the Transportation Infrastructure Revenue Subcommittee. Among the DOT proposals are a gas tax hike and increased vehicle registration fees.

"It is unfathomable that this administration would even consider asking for higher taxes and fees right now," said Senate Republican Whip, Senator Craig Brandt (R-Rio Rancho). "In a rather short period of time, we have doubled our state's spending, all while benefiting from massive budget surpluses. Meanwhile, New Mexicans are dealing with rabid inflation, high costs of living, and stagnant wages. Under no circumstances will I support these tax hikes or any others that will disproportionately impact our working class families."

Visitors to Dripping Springs Natural Area

BLM Las Cruces District to no longer issue recreation passes nor accept cash at Dripping Springs Natural Area Visitor's Center

Dripping Springs Natural Area A.B. Cox Visitor's Center - Immediately

Why:  To push towards education, interpretation, and engagement with the public, the Las Cruces District Office is removing the cash register and empowering volunteer day hosts to engage with monument visitors.

Learn More at:

BLM Las Cruces District to no longer issue recreation passes nor accept cash at Dripping Springs Natural Area Visitor's Center | Bureau of Land Management

 in Observance of Juneteenth Federal Holiday

LAS CRUCES, N.M. The Bureau of Land Management Las Cruces District will be closed on Wednesday, June 19, 2024, in observance of the Juneteenth Federal Holiday. The office will resume regular business hours on Thursday, June 20.

Juneteenth is a day that commemorates the effective end of slavery in the United States. Historically and culturally, celebrated on June 19th, it marks the day in 1865 that Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger of the Union Army landed in Galveston, Texas, and informed slaves there that the Civil War ended, and slavery was abolished. In 2021, President Biden signed a law establishing June 19th as a federal holiday in acknowledgment of Juneteenth National Independence Day.