Community works to change views on pit bulls
By Mikayla Nowell and Kaylee Trainum / NM News Port / A large head, stocky chest and cropped ears can be the difference between a life with a loving family or months or years in an animal shelter. Such is the plight of the pit bull. According to the ASPCA, 3.3 million dogs are surrendered […]
Creator of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women database seeks justice
By Amy Byres / NM News Port / When Annita Lucchesi arrived in Albuquerque, New Mexico, it would be under duress — having left her abusers. “I didn’t have any belongings. I didn’t have a car. I didn’t have a job. I was basically living like a refugee and I needed to start my life […]
Dire streets: Roadways and broken promises on the Navajo Nation
By Amy Linn and Alysa Landry / Searchlight NM / SANOSTEE, N.M. — Sharon Begay knows this road by heart. The 43-year-old mother of two has spent a lifetime memorizing the jagged surface and thuggish boulders that define Indian Service Route 5010. Locals just call it “the road” and gauge distances with landmarks: windmills, S-curves, […]
ABQ and UNM partner to help park dwellers
By Ally Rael and Madison Sparrato / NM News Port / When most people wake up for the day, their first stop is the bathroom where the usual necessities are at arm’s reach: toilet paper, towels and a toothbrush. For people experiencing homelessness in Albuquerque, waking up and using a bathroom is a luxury they […]
Round table to discuss missing and murdered indigenous women
By Amy Byres / NM News Port / New Mexico’s high number of missing and murdered indigenous women will be a topic of focus at an upcoming meeting featuring Annita Lucchesi, the executive director of Sovereign Bodies Institute. This event will be held April 4 at the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI) in the Science […]
Concerning sexual assault, abuse and homophobia in the LGBTQ community
Editor’s note: this story includes a description of sexual assault and may be upsetting for some readers. By Amy Byres / NM News Port / One in two people in the queer community are at high risk of being sexually assaulted according to the Journal of Sex Research. Private First Class Juan Dominguez of the […]
Are other states sending their homeless to ABQ?
By Celia Raney / NM News Port / At least some of the people experiencing homelessness in Albuquerque came by bus from cities in nearby states. It’s unclear to what extent those bus tickets were meant to help reconnect people with family or to simply get them out of town, but the practice is adding […]
Accepting himself after sexual assault
By Amy Byres / NM News Port / Trigger Warning; This article features explicit details about sexual assault, trauma and other sensitive topics. Terrel Velsor was only five years old when he was sexually assaulted by an 18-year old man. “Maybe by talking about what I had been through… it can inspire others to […]
Mercy after dark
By Celia Raney / NM News Port / No one pays more attention to the streets on a Saturday night than Bishop. He’s looking for people sleeping on sidewalks, standing on corners, trying to stay warm on bus-stop benches. “This city is broken, this city is in trouble,” he said. He’s talking about the growing […]
Partners and Crime
A family changed by gun violence offers case study in New Mexico’s domestic violence problem. By Barbara Ferry / Searchlight NM / July 17 is the best of days in the Gaytan household, because it marks the birthday of 12-year-old Ian, who lives with his grandparents in a doublewide mobile home on a dirt road […]