Arizona

Border shipping container walls are crumbling

PHOENIX — Former Republican Arizona Governor Doug Ducey’s shipping container border barrier was largely dismantled in time for the new Democratic administration, costing tens of millions of dollars to install and remove in just a few months .

The removal of the giant red, gold, and blue iron box created a major visual change in the landscape-affected area of ​​southern Arizona. Because the new governor came to power and cost $95 million, plus he spent $76 million in state funds to remove the vessel. put them there.

Ducey said openings along the border near the western community of Yuma and containers placed in the prairie valleys of Cochise County in eastern Arizona will allow the Biden administration to begin permanent construction to secure the border. It said it was intended as a temporary measure until

Governor Katie Hobbs, who took office on January 2, was among the Democrats who called it a political stunt.

An agreement between Ducey’s administration and federal agencies named in the lawsuit filed by Ducey called for the containers to be offloaded by Jan. All deadlines for litigation have been postponed by 30 days to give Kris Mayes time. Check the status.

In Yuma, all 130 containers covering about 3,800 feet had been removed by January 3, but about a third of the nearly 3,000 containers were located in remote Cochise County, sparking protests. Before the protests were called off, there were concerns that they could harm local wildlife and natural water systems. Work in early December. Environmentalists said work in the Coronado National Forest endangers endangered and endangered species such as the Western-billed Cuckoo and the Spotted Owl.

new mexico

Lawmakers call for automatic base salary hike

SANTA FE — Democratic lawmakers want New Mexico’s statewide minimum wage to be linked to an inflation index for automatic annual pay raises.

A bill by Rep. Miguel Garcia of Albuquerque and Rep. Christine Chandler of Los Alamos, released Jan. 4, would automatically adjust the state minimum wage based on the Consumer Price Index released by the U.S. Department of Labor. bottom. The proposal could be debated by Congress when he convened in a 60-day session on January 17.

A statewide gradual increase in the minimum wage was adopted by lawmakers in 2019, raising it to $12 an hour on January 1.

Chandler’s bill would initially raise the minimum wage to $16 an hour in 2024, with an automatic annual increase thereafter to offset inflation.

The gap continues to widen between the 20 states with a federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour and the 30 states that require more.

After decades of rethinking, U.S. inflation will return with a bang in 2022, reaching heights not seen since the early 1980s.

Average wages are not keeping up with prices, and low-income households that spend excessively on housing, fuel and food are being hit hardest. At the same time, businesses large and small are struggling to contain rising costs.

Participated in Los Alamos University and migratory bird mortality studies

SANTA FE — Two years after witnessing migratory birds literally fall from the sky in New Mexico, New Mexico State University and Los Alamos National Laboratory announced plans to establish a research program on bird extinction.

The two organizations will work with the U.S. Geological Survey and other agencies to recruit and train students to study “disaster ecology,” the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper reported Dec. 31. .

A $250,000 grant from the United States Department of Agriculture, combined with other funding sources, will cover the cost of 24 students (both graduate and undergraduate) to participate in the four-year program.

Students will explore how changing climates are impacting migratory birds, leading to extinctions like the fall of 2020.

Sightings of flocks of dead birds were reported by residents of the northern Taos region and the Valles Caldera National Reserve, from southern New Mexico, including the White Sands Missile Range, to the cottonwood forests along the Rio Grande River.

Analysis by biologists suggests that starvation and unpredictable weather were behind the extinction. A freak storm may have confused them and flew into an object or building.

They ruled out disease and addiction.

Nebraska

Outgoing senators are aware of Trump’s criticism, forming a legacy

OMAHA — Outgoing Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse knows he may be more remembered for his criticism of former President Donald Trump than for the policies he endorsed during his eight-year tenure.

Sasse spoke to the Omaha World-Herald about his political legacy as he prepares to leave the Senate on Jan. 8 to become president of the University of Florida.

Sasse is a prominent Trump pundit who voted alongside other Republicans to vote on the former president’s conviction in the impeachment trial after the 2021 Capitol riots. These criticisms were made despite Sasse’s 85% chance of voting for Trump and helping him confirm his three U.S. Supreme Court nominees. It has been sharply criticized by political parties.

Sass has admitted that his complicated relationship with Trump shapes his legacy.

Sasse said he was particularly proud of his work with the Senate Intelligence Committee, including the creation of a committee on cybersecurity.He said 120 of the group’s 190 recommendations were passed into law. rice field.

Having studied American history at Harvard, Yale, and Oxford, Mr. Sasse’s job at the University of Florida will allow him to return to academia at a much larger institution. Before his election to the Senate, Sasse headed the small private Midland College in his hometown of Fremont, Nebraska.

Sasse said he couldn’t pass up the chance to lead one of the country’s largest public universities, even though he had turned down offers from other universities in recent years.

Newly elected Governor Jim Pillen is set to nominate Sasse’s successor, with former Governor Pete Ricketts being the frontrunner for the job, and with term limits preventing Republicans from running again, Pillen will be elected this month. replaced.

south dakota

Public Universities Extend In-State Tuition to Wisconsin, Illinois

Sioux Falls — Six public universities in South Dakota will offer in-state tuition to Wisconsin and Illinois students by next fall.

The South Dakota Advantage Plan has so far offered in-state tuition to undergraduate and graduate students from residents of Colorado, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wyoming, Argus Rieder reported Dec. 29. The board voted to add Wisconsin, and Illinois was added to the list in early December.

South Dakota university officials say the move should increase enrollment and increase the number of graduates remaining in South Dakota. In a December 9 news release, the regent said about 30% of non-resident students remained in the state after graduation.

In-state and state students on the South Dakota Advantage Plan pay approximately $253.85 per credit hour at Black Hills State University, Dakota State University, and Northern State University. You pay $259.10 per credit hour, and $260.55 per credit hour for South Dakota Mining undergraduate programs.

Minnesota is not included in the South Dakota Advantage Plan. This is because, in 1978, officials managing public universities in both states stated that Minnesota residents attending public universities in South Dakota could pay higher tuition rates than residents of the schools they attended or the average university rate. Because we agreed that we had to pay. her nine schools in Minnesota.