Even in blue New Mexico, state representative Angelica Rubio is seen as idealistic — but her strong stances have also helped cross political divides
Molly Montgomery
Molly Montgomery grew up in Santa Fe and studied moral philosophy at Yale College. She covered Rio Arriba County and agricultural issues at the Rio Grande Sun in Española, where she received a New Mexico Press Association award for best environmental/agricultural reporting. She’s especially interested in New Mexican land politics and the state’s legal system.
Posted inFeatured
Fact-checking miracles: inside the multiyear effort to canonize Sister Blandina Segale
The Vatican may grant sainthood to a nun who knew Billy the Kid, tended the sick, taught children and advocated for immigrants. Making that happen requires a unique blend of faith and boots-on-the-ground dedication.
Posted inFeatured
“They poisoned the world”
A new book by New Mexico-born author Mariah Blake explains how a previously unknown Manhattan Project program ushered in the age of toxic “forever chemicals”
Posted inEnvironment
Beaver Fever
As conservationists know, these clever dam-building rodents are a boon to recovering wetlands. But they can also contribute to flooding that causes catastrophic damage to acequias, which are crucial to traditional farmers in villages like Chimayó, New Mexico
Posted inFeatured
The boots on Buck Jackson Road
New Mexico is the second-largest oil producer in the U.S., behind Texas. Drawing immense wealth from the Permian Basin, the state relies on a workforce — often Latino men — who are subjected to harrowing conditions that lead to death, injury, disease and terrible tolls on mental health and family life.
Posted inEnvironment
The battle against federal ownership of New Mexico’s public lands
Meet Howard Hutchinson, a private property rights activist who is quietly organizing county-level rejection of a landmark law: the Antiquities Act of 1906
Posted inEnvironment
A long tradition of anti-federal wrath
Howard Hutchinson’s group, the Coalition, has roots in decades-old movements which hold that state governments and private entities would be the best stewards of America’s public lands
Posted inFeatured
Wipeout: New Mexicans talk about what mass firings mean for the future of public lands
Searchlight connected with three abruptly terminated federal employees, who offer deep insights on the meaning of the purge that just happened.
Posted inImmigration
“Some of them fell to their knees”
A Navajo citizen describes being questioned by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)