Author: The Associated Press

MONTANA US moves to protect wolverines as climate change threatens extinction BILLINGS – The North American wolverine will receive long-delayed threatened species protections under a Biden administration proposal released on Nov. 29 in response to scientists’ warnings that climate change will likely melt away the rare species’ snowy mountain refuges and push them toward extinction.…

NEVADA Google’s new geothermal electricity project hailed as milestone An advanced geothermal project has begun pumping carbon-free electricity onto the Nevada grid to power Google data centers there, Google announced on Nov. 28. Getting electrons onto the grid for the first time is a milestone many new energy companies never reach, said Tim Latimer, CEO…

NEW MEXICO Wildlife managers will continue to track wandering Mexican gray wolf ALBUQUERQUE – It’s been a long journey for one lone Mexican gray wolf – from the forests of southeastern Arizona, across the dusty high desert of central New Mexico to the edge of what is known as the Yellowstone of the Southwest. Having…

OKLAHOMA High court keeps anti-abortion laws on hold while challenge is pending OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Supreme Court reiterated its position on Nov. 14 in a 5-4 opinion that the state constitution guarantees a woman’s right to an abortion when necessary to preserve her life, although the procedure remains illegal in virtually all other…

NEW MEXICO Lawsuit alleges unsafe conditions at migrant detention facility SANTA FE – A new class-action lawsuit alleges that U.S. immigration authorities disregarded signs of unsanitary and unsafe conditions at a detention center in New Mexico to ensure the facility would continue to receive public funding and remain open. The lawsuit announced on Nov. 8…

NEW MEXICO Biologists keep close eye on wandering Mexican wolf ALBUQUERQUE – Northern New Mexico or bust – that seems to be the case for at least one Mexican gray wolf that is intent on wandering beyond the boundaries set for managing the rarest subspecies of gray wolf in North America. Federal and state wildlife…

NEW MEXICO ‘Oppenheimer’ fuels likely record visits to atomic site WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE – Visitors lined up on Oct. 21 to tour the southern New Mexico site, where the world’s first atomic bomb was detonated, in what officials believe could be a record turnout amid ongoing fanfare surrounding Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster film, “Oppenheimer.” Thousands…

WYOMING State seeks updated historic designation for Capitol CHEYENNE – When Gov. John Allen Campbell signed an act granting women’s suffrage in 1869, Wyoming became the first state in the country to give women the right to vote. The room where the act was signed, known as the Historic Supreme Court Room, resides within the…

NEW MEXICO Evidence points to footprints as oldest sign of humans in Americas New research confirms that fossil human footprints in New Mexico are likely the oldest direct evidence of human presence in the Americas, a finding that upends what many archaeologists thought they knew about when our ancestors arrived in the New World. The…

SOUTH DAKOTA Rare bison roundup rustles up hundreds to maintain health of the species South Dakota cowboys and cowgirls rounded up a herd of more than 1,500 bison on Sept. 29 as part of an annual effort to maintain the health of the species, which has rebounded from near-extinction. Visitors from across the world cheered…