Waiting time for emergency rooms in Albuquerque are up to four hours, the Albuquerque Journal reports today. The story comes out of a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that says the average time emergency rooms patients across the country wait to see a doctor has grown from about 38 minutes to almost an hour over the past decade.

Acknowledging the political reality, Gov. Bill Richardson has scaled down his health care priorities for the special session that starts Aug. 15, the Journal reports. Instead of universal health coverage, Richardson’s focus will be on the state’s children. Among the priorities the Richardson administration will propose are: Requiring all children through the age of 18 to have health care coverage from private or public sources. The bill contains no enforcement mechanism or penalty for parents who don’t secure coverage for their children; and appropriate $58 million to expand existing programs to reach an estimated 50,000 children who qualify for publicly funded coverage but don’t receive it.

Developers are talking about rental properties and neighborhood services near a planned Rail Runner Express train stop, the Santa Fe New Mexican reports.

The Federal Aviation Administration will conduct the last of scheduled public hearings on the potential environmental impact of the spaceport today in Las Cruces, the Las Cruces Sun-News reports. The hearings are scheduled for 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. at the Dona Ana County Government Center, 845 N. Motel Blvd., in Las Cruces.