Latest news with #NewMexicans'
USA Today
4 days ago
- Health
- USA Today
80 years later, victims of ‘first atom bomb' will soon be eligible for reparations
More Americans are now eligible for compensation for health problems linked to radiation exposure from the atomic weapons program. A bright, blinding light flashed above New Mexico's Jornada del Muerto desert at 5:30 a.m. on July 16, 1945. The thunderous roar that followed jolted 14-year-old Jess Gililland awake on the porch of his family's ranch 27 miles away. Gililland didn't know it yet, but the U.S. Army had just detonated the world's first-ever nuclear weapon. In the hours and days after the blast, radioactive dust would begin to coat roofs, clotheslines, crops, animals and the ground near Gililland's family home. As the years passed, almost all his family members and neighbors became sick, often with rare forms of cancer. The federal government never warned them about the bomb test, never evacuated them after the blast, or advised them about the potential health consequences of nuclear fallout. Those who lived downwind of the atom bomb say they've never received much recognition – until now. Eight decades after the Manhattan Project's Trinity Test, generations of New Mexicans' who've suffered health problems from the nuclear fallout will soon be eligible to receive compensation. A measure in the recently enacted Republican tax bill expands the pool of Americans eligible for a program that compensates people who have health problems linked to radiation exposure from the atomic weapons program, including uranium miners and downwinders. The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, first passed in 1990, previously only applied to people in certain parts of Nevada, Utah and Arizona, but didn't include those who were potentially impacted by the Trinity Test in New Mexico, or living on Navajo lands in Arizona, among other areas. For people in New Mexico's Tularosa Basin, the money will make a world of difference, Gililland's 71-year-old daughter, Edna Kay Hinkle, said. 'The people around here, a lot of them are really poor. They couldn't afford gas to go to Las Cruces or Albuquerque (to get treatment),' said Hinkle, who has also battled multiple types of cancer. 'There's people that it means millions, multi-millions, to them.' The Trinity Test's secret fallout Scientists chose to conduct the Trinity Test at the Alamogordo Bombing Range for the area's relative seclusion and predictable winds, which they believed would limit the spread of radiation over populated areas, according to the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of History and Heritage. Army officers pinpointed where thousands of people lived within the 40-mile radius of the test site and prepared emergency evacuation plans. But they never used them. After the test, the military described the giant blast people saw as an accident involving ammunition and pyrotechnics. The federal government didn't reveal the real cause, even to those in the area who had watched the mushroom cloud, until a month later, when the nation dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. By then, those living near the test site had already ingested the radiated material. In a 2015 letter, a man named Henry Herrera, who was 11 years old at the time of Trinity, recounted watching a cloud of black ash fall across his town, including on the clothing his mother had hung outside to dry in the hours after the explosion. 'This filth landed all over our town (and) covered our village with radiation,' wrote Herrera, who passed away in 2022 at age 87. 'Our water was contaminated because all we had was rainwater from the cistern and ditch water. … Everything we consumed was filled with radiation.' The government publicly downplayed the potential consequences of the nuclear bomb test for people living in the Tularosa Basin, despite internal concerns. Five days after Trinity, physicist Stafford Warren wrote a letter to Army Gen. Leslie Groves explaining that high levels of radiation were found 'near a lot of houses.' Warren suggested future tests be conducted 150 miles away from any populated area. Hundreds of thousands of people lived within the 150-mile radius of Trinity. Years later, a health care provider named Kathryn Behnke wrote to Warren from Roswell, New Mexico, explaining that there were 'about 35 infant deaths' in the city in the month after the atomic test. Warren's medical assistant denied that there might be a connection to the testing in his response back to Behnke. But unpublished data from the New Mexico Health Department showed that infant deaths increased by 38% in 1945, compared with 1946, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Radioactive fallout from the test had landed in high densities across New Mexico and Nevada. Fallout from the more than 100 other nuclear tests the government conducted in the years after reached 46 of the 48 contiguous states, along with Mexico and Canada, according to a 2023 study published by researchers at Princeton University and the University of Colorado Boulder. Thousands eligible for compensation The exact number of people eligible for nuclear-weapons-related radiation compensation across the nation remains unknown. But Tina Cordova, who cofounded the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, said she estimates upward of 10,000 people have had health impacts related to the Trinity Test. The village of Tularosa alone could generate 'thousands of claims out of a town that has consistently had a population of around 3,000,' Cordova said, noting that generations of people who've moved away still have lingering health problems. Thousands more across other states could be eligible, too. Between 1951 and 1958, the United States conducted 188 nuclear tests out West. At the military's Nevada Test Site, 65 miles north of Las Vegas, dozens of nuclear tests were conducted underground each year between 1963 and 1992, according to the Department of Defense. During roughly the same time frame, nearly 30 million tons of uranium ore were extracted from Navajo Nation lands to build nuclear weapons. An estimated 4,000 Navajo labored in more than 1,000 mines, Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said. Others lived in close proximity. Today, hundreds of abandoned uranium mines remain on the tribe's land and may still be polluting water sources and exposing residents to harmful radiation, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Nygren called the expansion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act a 'victory' for the Navajo. Much like Trinity downwinders, those living on tribe lands were for decades not eligible for compensation. The original act only included people in specific counties across Arizona, Nevada, and Utah who were present when the atomic testing took place and who developed specific types of cancer. The expansion passed in the Republican tax bill extends benefits to include all downwinders in Utah, New Mexico and Idaho, and more living in Nevada, Arizona, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alaska. Uranium miners in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, South Dakota, Washington, Utah, Idaho, North Dakota, Oregon and Texas will also be covered. Bernice Gutierrez, a downwinder who was born in Carrizozo, New Mexico, eight days before the Trinity Test, believes money from the program could be an 'economic boom' for communities that have long suffered from radiation-related health impacts. But she and other downwinders have said there is still more work to be done. The RECA reauthorization leaves out people in some parts of Nevada, Arizona, Montana, Colorado, Guam, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington state. The extension is also set to expire in two years, leaving concern that some won't be able to apply in time, Gutierrez said. 'Can you imagine 80 years worth of illness and death in New Mexico?' And we have a two-year time frame in which to gather all these applications?' said Gutierrez, who has more than 40 family members who've experienced what they believe to be radiation-related sicknesses. 'It just doesn't end for us' Downwinders are only eligible for compensation if they lived in one of the affected areas when tests were being conducted between 1945 and 1962. Otherwise, if an eligible person has already passed away, their families may be able to file a claim to receive up to $25,000. The National Cancer Institute in 2020 said it found no evidence transgenerational health effects occurred as a result of the test. The study also said there remain 'great uncertainty in the estimates of radiation doses and number of cancer cases possibly attributable to the test.' But Cordova and other downwinders believe the radiation from the blast mutated their ancestors' DNA, making their children and grandchildren more susceptible to cancers and other diseases. Five generations of Cordova's family have had cancer, dating back to 1955. Her 24-year-old niece was the latest to be diagnosed this year. 'It just doesn't end for us.' Cordova said. 'I always say we bury somebody, and someone else is diagnosed. And that is true and has been true in my family forever.' One of her cousins was diagnosed with a rare brain tumor several decades ago, and traveled around the country to find treatment. He died in October of compounding health problems. Two months later, Cordova said her brother was diagnosed with cancer. 'This is a legacy that we will carry forever. Our bodies bear the remnants of the Trinity bomb.'
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NM group condemns federal raid on Lovington dairy farm
Homeland Security Investigations announced it had arrested 11 people at a Lovington, N.M., dairy farm on June 4. The agency released this image of the arrests. (Photo courtesy HSI) The federal immigration raid at a dairy farm in Eastern New Mexico last week tore families apart, damaged trust and 'undermined our shared values of compassion and justice,' according to Somos Un Pueblo Unido, a statewide immigrant advocacy organization. According to a social media post from Homeland Security Investigations in El Paso, the agency executed a search warrant at the Outlook Dairy Farms in Lovington on June 4, arresting 11 people accused of misuse of visas, permits or other documents. The owner of the dairy farm told the Albuquerque Journal that the people arrested provided him false paperwork and that, following an audit before the raid, he'd been required to fire 24 other workers at the farm. ICE offers Albuquerque immigrant reprieve — for now In a statement Monday morning, María Romano, coordinator of the Lea County office of Somos Un Pueblo Unido, said that the raid undermines New Mexico's economy, which relies heavily on immigrant workers who are 'powering industries from dairy farms to oil and gas.' 'The individuals targeted in this raid are our neighbors, coworkers and friends, many of whom have lived here peacefully for years, contributing to our economy and enriching our culture,' Romano said. 'These enforcement actions do not make us safer.' The organization called on local and state leaders to demand transparency from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and to protect New Mexicans' rights regardless of immigration status. 'This recent raid reminds us that our communities must be aware of their rights. We must continue to empower ourselves to defend our dignity and demand justice for all New Mexicans.' The group shared a website it created explaining people's rights, regardless of immigration status, with information for victims of wage theft, along with dealing with ICE, Border Patrol and police at border checkpoints and elsewhere.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Report: NM 2024 election well-run, but overwhelmed by same-day registration
Voters fill out their ballots at the Doña Ana Community College East Mesa Campus in Las Cruces on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024. (Photo by Leah Romero / Source NM) Observe New Mexico Elections on Thursday released a report on its findings from the state's 2024 election that mostly gave high marks after observing operations at a majority of voting sites during early voting and on election day. Specifically, the nonprofit election transparency group dispatched 50 watchers to 91 sites in 24 counties during early voting, and had 160 election site watchers in 29 of New Mexico's 33 counties on election day. 'This important, nonpartisan information-gathering effort — led by and for New Mexicans — found that elections went well, votes were counted, and problems were limited,' ONME co-leader Carmen Lopez said in a statement. 'We are pleased to see that the findings reflect sufficient staffing levels, poll timeliness, proper functioning of tabulators and voter privacy. All of these things in conjunction made it possible to ensure every vote was counted and New Mexicans' voices were heard this election cycle. The findings of our report — showing both successes and room for improvement — will allow us to make the voting process and poll worker training even stronger and more transparent in the years to come.' Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver told Source New Mexico she had not seen the report yet, but had heard about its findings. 'That's what we always shoot for,' she said when Source conveyed the report's overall positive findings. 'So, that's good.' The report did identify a handful of issues, such as same-day registration overwhelming the system, as Source reported last year. The ONME report recommends 'the state ensures robust stress-testing of the bandwidth available to accommodate processing of same-day voter registrations and works closely with county clerks to increase the levels of staffing necessary to process same-day registrations in a timely manner.' Toulouse Oliver said the state suffered server problems during the morning of the Nov. 5, 2025 general election, followed by a large volume of people participating in same-day registration. According to data provided at the time, 52,705 people used same-day voter registration in last year's general election — and approximately half of them did so on election day. County clerks had already fallen behind due to the server issues, Toulouse Oliver said, and the volume of people registering to vote overwhelmed them. 'I'm not criticizing the clerks at all,' she added. 'This is not their fault, but they did not have enough staff to process the amount of registrations that came in through the day and with the backup and everything it did get bogged down.' For the next election, she said, the state will need to ensure the servers are robust enough and clerks will need to have adequate staffing, in so far as the budget allows. That being said, she does not anticipate a repeat of the same-day registration overwhelm from last year's Election Day. 'I really feel like 2024 was an anomaly when it comes to same day registration,' she said, compared with years past. Moreover, starting this summer, the state will have automatic voter registration through the Motor Vehicle Division. 'So I really feel like between just that election being an anomaly and AVR, and now that we know we need more resources on [same day registration], moving forward, just in case, I think it's going to be much better.' The ONME report also identified confusion by some presiding judges at polling places over the use of provisional ballots, which also were used in higher numbers last year, as well as seven locations that lacked sufficient provisional ballots. Toulouse Oliver said she had not heard previously of any locations running out of provisional ballots. She said given the challenges clerks were facing with same-day registration, her office was repeatedly advising the use of provisional ballots. 'That's what they are there for,' she noted. Legislation that would have provided additional training on issues like provisional ballots did not pass the Legislature, Toulouse Oliver said, but nonetheless, her office plans to keep reinforcing 'the provisional process as the option for… if SDR is not working.' ONME also recommended the state and county clerks, during early voting and on election day, use trained translators who are familiar with elections terminology after 'watchers were unable to validate that written and oral translation services into Native languages were provided in all areas of the state covered as minority language jurisdictions under Section 203 of the federal Voting Rights Act.' Toulouse Oliver told Source NM she thinks 'we do a really good job of that in our Native communities, because that's who we hire is people who can speak and interpret.' She said her interpretation of Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act is that clerks need to have people available, but not necessarily physically present, to provide other translation services as needed. 'And I have been under the assumption that every county that falls under that section is doing that, and apparently that's not the case. Apparently we need to do a better job of that,' she said. Toulouse Oliver said while her office already works with academic institutions, including the University of New Mexico, for analyses of elections, she's happy to receive the additional outside observations. 'They make some really good points,' she said. 'And…from our perspective of trying to make the argument to the Legislature,'we need this or we need that,' it's not just coming from me. It's coming from other sources.'
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Documents: New Mexico spent $3.6 million on anti-littering campaign
With New Mexicans' penchant for littering on roadways and other public places, breaking the bad habit is no easy feat. Whether it's a cigarette butt or a fast food wrapper, litter is an ongoing — and ugly — problem across the state. But the administration of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham says it is seeing "encouraging engagement metrics" as a result of what has grown into a $3.6 million anti-littering campaign featuring Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston, whose portrayal of chemistry teacher-turned-drug-kingpin Walter White earned him accolades and a loyal fan base in New Mexico, where the award-winning TV series was set. MLG and Cranston (copy) Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Bryan Cranston discuss a new anti-littering campaign starring the Breaking Bad actor at the governor's mansion in October. Dubbed "Breaking Bad Habits," the campaign is part of a larger effort by the governor to clean up what is arguably one of the most scenic states in the Southwest. Lujan Grisham, who picks up trash from public places even when no one is looking, has made beautifying New Mexico one of her priorities in her second and final term in office. "New Mexico is beautiful, and on our watch, we're going to make sure that it stays that way," Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, said when she unveiled the campaign during a screening at Santa Fe's Jean Cocteau Cinema in October. More than $2.4 million in media buys, from bus wraps and billboards to commercials on TV and various social media platforms, accounts for the bulk of the highly visible campaign. The campaign started with a total budget of $3 million, but an additional $640,000 was spent on more media buys. Invoices and other documents obtained under a public records request show a $20,000 contract "furnishing the services of Bryan Cranston." During a meet-and-greet with Cranston at the governor's mansion, also in October, Cranston said he volunteered to appear in the campaign but explained "must be paid through [his] union' whenever he's on camera. At the time, Cranston said he had donated the money to two "New Mexico-centric charities." The documents show Somos Unidos Foundation, a soccer and health-focused charity affiliated with the New Mexico United soccer team, and Albuquerque's Roadrunner Food Bank each received $10,000 in Cranston's honor. Breaking Bad Habits 3 (copy) A screenshot from "Breaking Bad Habits," a state anti-littering ad campaign featuring Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston in his old Walter White character. Jodi McGinnis Porter, a spokesperson for the governor, said the anti-littering message is resonating. "The Breaking Bad Habits campaign shows encouraging engagement metrics with over 100 cleanup events submitted to [the campaign's] online calendar in 2025," she said in a statement. "April alone saw 17 events resulting in 8,002 bags of trash collected by 429 volunteers across 1,212 volunteer hours, demonstrating positive momentum through widespread participation in cleanup efforts statewide." Cody Johnson, a spokesperson for the New Mexico Tourism Department, agreed the state has seen encouraging engagement with the campaign related directly to litter cleanup efforts. He expects to see more cleanup activity in warmer months. "A big part of this campaign is to inspire New Mexicans to feel a stronger sense of pride of place and change behavior so people would stop littering," Johnson wrote in an email. "This campaign launched in October so while it may take some time to see how that behavior changes for the better, we're hopeful that New Mexicans will be reminded of their role in helping us eliminate litter and we will see that change through action." Johnson echoed seeing "encouraging engagement" so far. "Cleanup events have been hosted in communities such as Deming, Pecos, Rio Rancho, Carlsbad, Silver City, Española, Las Vegas, Santa Fe, Hobbs, Albuquerque, Roswell, Cerillos, Clovis, Raton, Taos, Bernalillo, Farmington, Questa and more," he wrote. "People are certainly taking notice of the campaign," Johnson added. "Just social media boosted posts of cleanup events have generated nearly 600,000 impressions and over 6,000 click-throughs to the Breaking Bad Habits website."
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
New Mexico agency seeks input on services for aging population
The New Mexico Aging and Long-Term Services Department wants to hear from seniors and their caregivers. The department is accepting comments through May 15 on a draft of the State Plan on Aging for Oct. 1, 2025, through Sept. 30, 2029, a proposal aligned with the federal government's fiscal year that bills itself as a "comprehensive roadmap to improve older New Mexicans' health and well-being." The plan comes at an important moment for aging in New Mexico, which by 2030 is projected to have the fourth highest percentage of people over 65 in the nation. By 2040, nearly a quarter of the state's population will be over 65, according to 2024 projections by the University of New Mexico's Department of Geospatial and Population Studies. The state is seeing a serious dearth of caregivers for older adults — both paid professionals who can handle tasks like medication management, and volunteer caregivers, who are often family members. The demographic shift will mean a lot more work for senior services providers — and the next three years will be a key time to prepare for and respond to the needs of a growing number of elderly residents, said Denise King, Aging Network operations division director at the Aging and Long-Term Services Department. "We want input from not only older adults but direct service providers that are contracted to provide many of these services," King said Monday in an interview. "We want their input on this plan so that we can be prepared — because our population is growing as we see across the country." One of the main priorities in the draft version of the department's State Plan on Aging: administering core programs to enable older New Mexicans to age in place — something most seniors want to do — through home- and community-based services. Many of these core programs, which the draft plan describes as the foundation of the Aging and Long-Term Services Department's work, help make aging in place a possibility, providing meals, transportation, in-home services, caregiver support, health promotion and disease prevention care that seniors need to live independently in their community. These programs are also funded largely through the federal Older Americans Act, legislation originally passed in 1965 to deliver social and nutrition services to people over 60. Though federal funding cuts under the Trump administration appear poised to jeopardize other services to seniors — including nutrition assistance programs like Meals on Wheels and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — lawmakers haven't taken aim at the Older Americans Act's core services yet, King said. "We know that the climate right now is concerning, and we also know that it seems to be changing every week. … We have yet to see anything that impacts largely the Older Americans Act services," she said. For now, then, those services can continue with business as usual — and are set to improve with the implementation of the statewide plan. The draft version of the plan includes a long list of changes to improve home- and community-based care, such as expanding local referral services, expanding food pantries and food distribution options, and developing opportunities for tribal providers to fund and administer core senior services. The plan also proposes training and support to caregivers and the workforce through its Office of Alzheimer's and Dementia Care — a change that could be particularly relevant to the many New Mexicans struggling to find quality and affordable memory care. Accomplishing that goal would require new partnerships with Alzheimer's and dementia support organizations, implementation of new training programs for family caregivers and establishment of a statewide data collection system, specific enough to identify county-level data on Alzheimer's diagnosis, mortality and stage at diagnosis. Finally, the plan recommends enhancements to mitigate abuse, neglect and exploitation of older adults, including creating a "Mobile Behavioral Health and Nurse Response Team" to assist seniors who cannot care for themselves. The change, which comes less than a year after four long-term care facilities failed surprise visits, would include an increase in funding for Adult Protective Services to monitor in-home care, like meal delivery, personal care and chore services, plus a 10% expansion in caseworker staffing, the plan states. "It's really looking at working with our stakeholders and our community members to really address the different needs," King said. "... Really, this is a broad plan to address those kinds of needs."
