I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
Unofficial Navajo Nation election results give Navajo Nation Vice President Ben Shelly the presidency, with 52.7 percent of the vote. His challenger, New Mexico state Senator Lynda Lovejoy, swept the primaries with a strong first place showing, but couldn’t muster the votes needed to become the Nation’s first female president.
“It’s disappointing,” Jennifer Talinas, a Lovejoy volunteer who ran for Tribal Council in the primary told The Independent late Tuesday night. “With the primary landslide, for her to lose is shocking.”
Lovejoy’s gender was one of the issues raised in the race, with many traditional Navajos believing a woman shouldn’t hold the Nation’s top post. Talinas, who watched the returns coming in at election headquarters in Window Rock, AZ., said it was an issue, but that it wasn’t insurmountable.
“In the primary her gender wasn’t a factor, but in the general it was,” Talinas said. “It’s something that’s an issue for traditional people but I think the Navajo people are changing or she wouldn’t have gotten this far.”
Shelly said during the campaign that gender wasn’t a factor, that the issue was a question of leadership. He and his running mate, Council Delegate Rex Lee Jim ran on a platform focused on economic development and government stability.
