Free Republic

On Thursday, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez launched a major legal offensive in an attempt to address the online risks faced by minors. The lawsuit targeted Meta Platforms, Inc., its CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and associated entities such as Instagram, LLC and Facebook Holdings, LLC. This bold action seeks to prevent the exploitation of children on social media platforms. “Our investigation into Meta’s social media platforms demonstrates that they are not safe spaces for children but rather prime locations for predators to trade child pornography and solicit minors for sex,” Attorney General Torrez said in a statement. “As a career...

Immigrants who illegally cross the border into Arizona are being handed $5,000 in good-as-cash gift cards, along with cell phones and costly plane tickets, all of which are being paid for by the American taxpayer, according to Arizona Sheriff Mark Lamb.Mr. Lamb, sheriff of Pinal County, Arizona, told The Epoch Times that he had been informed of the lucrative hand-out through his close sources working at the United States border.“I was absolutely in shock when these agents came forward,” said Mr. Lamb. “I had known we handed out free cell phones and plane tickets, but to give out $5,000 Visa...

Two out of New Mexico’s three congressional representatives refused to vote to condemn and denounce “the drastic rise of antisemitism in the United States and around the world,” with Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury (D-NM-01) being the only member of the delegation to vote for the measure. The measure read that the U.S. House “strongly condemns and denounces all instances of antisemitism occurring in the United States and globally; (2) reaffirms and reiterates its strong support for the Jewish community at home and abroad; (3) calls on elected officials and world leaders to condemn and fight all forms of domestic and global...

A group of smartly-dressed Chinese migrants with pristine luggage were photographed being apprehended in California after illegally crossing the southern border. The migrants, reported to be mostly Chinese nationals fleeing authoritarian leader Xi Jinping, were lined up neatly dressed and with proper luggage as they were processed following their illegal crossing, NewsNation reported. They were lined up near the San Diego County town of Jacumba Hot Springs as the county debates approving millions more in emergency funding to help shelter them. While previously many of the migrants causing the US border crisis had come from central and South America, now...

Proterra, which President Joe Biden once said was "making me look good," sold hundreds of electric buses to municipalities across North America. Every transit district Just The News spoke with, except one, has inoperable buses awaiting repairs. Across the country, towns and cities of various sizes envisioned an electrified public transit system that could shuttle residents with vehicles that produced no carbon-filled exhaust. Many of those communities purchased buses from Silicon Valley-based Proterra, which was able to produce 550 buses over its 19-year existence before it went bankrupt in August. The company announced last month it had concluded auctions as...

Colorado-based cooperative Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association will accelerate the closure of a coal-fired unit in the northwestern part of CO, and announced a retirement date for an Arizona coal plant. Tri-State said it wants to acquire at least another 1,250 MW of renewable energy generation over the next several years. The not-for-profit company, which serves rural electricity consumers across four western states, said the ERP filed with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission seeks to take advantage of funding from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s $9.7 billion Empowering Rural America program, part of the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act. The...

Sen. Angus King (I-ME) joined three Senate Democrats on Thursday to introduce a ban on the most popular semiautomatic rifles in America, describing such firearms as “lethal capacity weapons.” The Senate Democrats are Martin Heinrich (NM), Mark Kelly (AZ), and Michael Bennet (CO). The ban is titled the Gas-Operated Semiautomatic Firearm Exclusion (GOSAFE) Act.

In recent times, the issue of guns has garnered widespread attention across the state, driven by growing concerns about the potential for increased violence, particularly through shootings. Recently, in Albuquerque, a 15-year-old fired off a gun at Coronado Mall. Democrats rammed through an extreme anti-gun bill last legislative session, making parents and guardians felons if a minor got access to their firearms and caused great bodily harm or death with them. But underaged offenders aren’t necessarily getting guns from parents who forget to lock their gun safes. Kyle Hartsock, a commander with the Albuquerque Police Department, sheds light on a...

In an unsurprising turn of events, the all-Democrat New Mexico Supreme Court upheld New Mexico’s extremely gerrymandered congressional map, dubbed by many as the “Frankenmap.” The Court dismissed claims by the GOP that it favored Democrats excessively. The lawsuit, filed by New Mexico Republicans, argued that the state legislature’s redrawing of the map amounted to a Democratic gerrymander, violating the state’s constitution. This redistricting occurred before the 2022 midterms, and the alterations aimed to shift the 2nd Congressional District, previously leaning Republican, toward a more Democratic profile. The contested district is currently held by Democrat Rep. Gabe Vasquez*, who secured...

More electric vehicles are heading to car dealerships across New Mexico. The New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board approved a new set of regulations – commonly known as the ‘Clean Car Standards’ – in a 3-2 vote. The regulations were first developed in California and have been adopted by 19 other states including New Mexico. The new rules require car manufacturers to deliver more zero-emission vehicles to car dealerships. Starting in 2026, 43% of all new vehicle deliveries must be electric or hybrid vehicles. Only 15% of new commercial trucks must be electric. The requirements are scheduled to quickly increase each...

The state Environmental Improvement Board split 3-2 and the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Air Quality Control Board voted unanimously Thursday night to adopt the rule. Dubbed the Advanced Clean Cars and Trucks rule, it aligns with California's standards and is part of the larger effort to cut planet-warming greenhouse gases as well as ground-level ozone and particulates that can cause respiratory problems. The rule calls for 43% of new cars and light-duty trucks delivered to New Mexico to be electric models by 2026 and 82% by 2032. At the same time, 15% to 20% of new, heavier-duty commercial trucks delivered to...

One of the strongest earthquakes in West Texas history took place Wednesday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The USGS reported a 5.2-magnitude earthquake took place around 4.24 a.m. 23 miles west-southwest of Mentone in far West Texas. (Editor’s Note: The USGS originally reported the quake was 5.3 magnitude before changing it). The quake was one of dozens to take place Wednesday morning in the region, according to EarthquakeTrack.com ... The strongest of the tremors on Wednesday took place at a depth of 4.34 miles, according to the USGS. EarthquakeTrack.com reported around noon Wednesday that 70 earthquakes had taken...

Foot traffic in New York City’s business districts is still down 33% from what it was before the COVID-19 pandemic — one of the lowest recovery rates in the country, a new survey reveals. The University of Toronto’s analysis measured the number of visitors, including shoppers and tourists, plus residents and workers in the so-called “downtown” or business/tourist districts in major cities in the United States and Canada. Lower Manhattan, including the Wall Street financial district, and Midtown, featuring Times Square, were considered the Big Apple’s “downtown” district for the study. Researchers measured foot traffic through mobile phone presence, comparing...

Our freedom to roam is under assault from a plan to close everything off and make us ask permission before we enjoy it.. There is a plan underway to close the great open spaces of the American West to you, me, our children, and our children’s children. The federal government — which owns most of this land — is determined to move from a “use and let use” system of accessing Western public lands to a permission-based system that will mean reservations, permits, and closures. Just last month, the Bureau of Land Management issued a final decision to close 317...

With everything going on in the world, the border is still a major issue that the Biden Administration refuses to address. There are immigrants, wait no, terrorists, crossing the border daily. Texas Senator Ted Cruz explained the issues at the border. Border Patrol agents are “frustrated” because “they risk their lives catching dangerous people, and they turn around and their political superiors just let them go.” “And the next day, they go back and catch the same people all over again,” he said. Minors are often accompanied by older men, and it is unclear whether they are actually related to...

For Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, the operation was a small victory in the much larger battle against human traffickers.. In the fight against Mexican cartels, Texas law enforcement recently took control of a dangerous island used by human traffickers. The Epoch Times spoke to Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, who identified Fronton Island as possibly “the most violent part” of the Texas–Mexico border. Belonging to Texas, Fronton Island is an island in the Rio Grande River. According to the General Land Office, “Fronton Island has been a hot spot for drug and human trafficking and dangerous cartel activity in...

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) reacted to the Wednesday night firearm-based attacks in Maine by calling for gun control. Grisham has been in the news recently for issuing an order banning concealed carry, even by licensed concealed carry permit holders, in larger New Mexico cities like Albuquerque. Her order banned the open carry of firearms too. She issued her order on September 8, 2023, and a U.S. District Judge blocked it on September 13, 2023. She then reworked the order, limiting the ban on concealed carry to parks and playgrounds and her order was allowed to stand.

Republican U.S. House Natural Resources Committee leaders have escalated an ongoing investigation into Joe Biden’s Interior Secretary Deb Haaland regarding her connections to the left-wing environmental activist group Pueblo Action Alliance (PAA). A letter sent to Secretary Haaland and the top Interior Department ethics official, Heather Gottry, and spearheaded by Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., raises concerns about a potential “lack of impartiality and misuse of her position” in support of PAA and certain family members. Haaland’s daughter has been involved with PAA, while her husband has been engaged in consulting work related to Interior Department actions. The...

Former Bernalillo County Sheriff Manuel Gonzales and Undersheriff Rudy Mora are named — but not charged — in an alleged scheme to illegally acquire machine guns for firearms dealers and gun enthusiasts in Albuquerque and elsewhere. James Christopher Tafoya, the owner of the now-shuttered JCT Firearms in Albuquerque, is charged with conspiracy to violate federal gun laws, unlawful importation of a firearm and making false statements in firearms records in the case. Federal authorities say Gonzales and Mora, who was chief of Laguna Pueblo police at the time, submitted more than 100 letters to Tafoya, asking for the import of...

Democratic New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued an executive order Monday requiring every state government agency to transition to an entirely electric vehicle fleet by 2035. Lujan Grisham – who made the announcement during remarks at the New Mexico Department of Transportation's Symposium on the Future of Transportation – added that her government would pursue a plan to bolster electric vehicle (EV) tax credits in an effort to boost affordability. The executive order to force state agencies to adopt carbon-free vehicle fleets comes as Lujan Grisham continues pushing EV mandates statewide. "The fact of the matter is that consumers...