Searchlight New Mexico

04/25/2025

Publicly, Western New Mexico University has simply said it’s “working through technical issues,” but employees’ computers are displaying threatening messages signed by a notorious group, Qilin, that claims to have access to employee Social Security numbers, driver’s licenses and more.

For nearly two weeks, Western New Mexico University’s website and digital systems have been held hostage by what officials in internal emails have called

04/24/2025

New at Searchlight New Mexico: How did The MASTERS Program, a prominent charter school in Santa Fe, breeze through its renewal process with state officials amid allegations—including a lawsuit—citing serious problems with its performance and leadership?

A prominent charter high school in Santa Fe easily earned five-year renewal from the state of New Mexico — despite red flags about its current administration

04/22/2025

In the wake of reporting by Searchlight New Mexico and other news organizations, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced today that the state is opening an investigation into the recent death of a teenage boy in New Mexico’s foster care system.

Sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning, 16-year-old Jaydun Garcia took his own life at a makeshift home for youth who lack foster placements.

04/16/2025

Friends described Jaydun Garcia as someone who was always there for other foster kids who needed help. His death last weekend at a CYFD group home sent shockwaves through the child welfare community — and comes after years of failures by the state foster care system to provide stable homes and mental health care to children in its custody.

Sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning, 16-year-old Jaydun Garcia took his own life at a makeshift home for youth who lack foster placements.

04/15/2025

A long-awaited archive detailing decades of clergy s*x abuse in New Mexico has partially launched online through The University of New Mexico - UNM. Read through the detailed depositions of accused priests in their own words here:

Home > University Libraries > CSWR > Institutional Abuse Records > Archdiocese of Santa Fe Institutional Abuse Collection > Archdiocese of Santa Fe Abuse Records > Depositions

04/10/2025

Meet Howard Hutchinson, an activist from SW New Mexico who’s organizing radical opposition to federal management of public lands. It's been quite a journey. As a young man, Hutchinson was a socialist and a supporter of Earth First!

A resolution opposing federal management of lands has been popping up in counties all over the country. Hutchinson distributed it. His work is part of a far-right push, given new energy in the Trump administration, for sell-offs of treasured places, including national monuments.

Meet Howard Hutchinson, a private property rights activist who is quietly organizing county-level rejection of a landmark law: the Antiquities Act of 1906

04/02/2025

Searchlight New Mexico wants to thank our colleagues at the Santa Fe Reporter for co-publishing our story on how the gruesome crime scene photos from the “In Cold Blood” murders are relevant to current debate over photos from the deaths of Gene and Betsy Hackman.

Why Gene Hackman estate worries over release of death-scene images are warranted

03/20/2025

LAS CRUCES: Join Searchlight investigative reporter Joshua Bowling at 3 p.m. today for a discussion on proposed changes to New Mexico’s public records law — and why it matters to you.

The event is free and open to the public at NMSU’s Branson Library. Details below:

03/18/2025

Meet Searchlight New Mexico's new Executive Director: Rick Herrman, a veteran businessman with a wide range of experience in finance, philanthropy and fundraising.

Read all about Herrman and what he brings to Searchlight here:

Rick Herrman, the new Searchlight Executive Director, outside the Searchlight office in Santa Fe. Nadav Soroker/Searchlight New Mexico.

03/14/2025

TONIGHT: Catch Searchlight New Mexico reporter Joshua Bowling on New Mexico in Focus at 7 p.m. on Channel 5.1 or below on YouTube. Bowling will discuss his recent reporting on how the Archdiocese of Santa Fe has limited the size of its public list of "credibly accused" priests and clergy workers.

New Mexico in Focus is NMPBS’ s prime time, hourlong news show exploring the issues, people and events shaping New Mexico and the Southwest. New Mexico in Focus centers the most important — and oftentimes overlooked — news stories, considering their nuances and examining them with a critical e...

03/13/2025

Near the town of Grants, Homestake Mining Company milled uranium—millions of tons between 1958 and 1990—to produce “yellowcake” used in nuclear weapons and reactors. Leftover slurry was piped into two unlined earthen pits—the largest the size of 50 football fields.

Over time, the uranium tailings decayed into radon gas; meanwhile, radioactive contaminants seeped into four of the region’s aquifers. Residents compiled a list of neighbors who died of cancer — they called it the Death Map. Searchlight reporter Alicia Inez Guzmán speaks with residents who’ve lost their homes and experience adverse health effects.

Near the western New Mexico town of Grants, the toxic legacy of Cold War uranium mining and milling has shattered lives, destroyed homes and created a contamination threat to the last clean source of groundwater for an entire region

03/03/2025

What the criminal conviction of a Las Cruces officer tells us about the broader state of police violence across New Mexico — and the nation.

Before Brad Lunsford was charged with manslaughter for the 2022 shooting of Presley Eze, Searchlight New Mexico analyzed hundreds of police shootings across the state. We showed that officers are almost always found to be “acting in the line of duty” after killing someone.

02/25/2025

They work to influence legislation. They're circulating a report that misrepresents data about the state's heath care crisis. They keep their funding secret. Who is New Mexico Safety Over Profit?

They work to influence legislation. They keep their funding secret. Who is New Mexico Safety Over Profit?

02/24/2025

Come work with us! We're hiring an Executive Director who will help us carry out our mission and lead us to long-term sustainability by building back-office operations, expanding funding sources and growing our audience. We’re looking for a leader with experience selling the importance of great reporting to potential donors inside and outside the traditional journalism funding world

Details below:

Our current job openings for those interested in working on ambitious investigative work throughout the Southwest.

02/13/2025

The Archdiocese of Santa Fe maintains a public “credibly accused list” with the names of priests and clergy workers who have s*xually abused children. Searchlight New Mexico found the archdiocese has refused to investigate dozens of priests for potential inclusion on the list.

Critics say that the Archdiocese of Santa Fe’s roster of “credibly accused” priests should be longer — by 59 names — but the church currently has no intention of adding them.

01/31/2025

Across Arizona and New Mexico since Trump’s inauguration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been questioning and detaining U.S. citizens who are enrolled tribal members. One woman in Scottsdale, Arizona, described to Searchlight New Mexico the fear she felt after she was racially profiled during a workplace raid. “I’ve never prayed so hard in my life,” she said. “I didn’t know what to do. I’m a minority here, and I’m far from home. There were vans. There were already people in them. Some of them looked like they’d been crying.”

A Navajo citizen describes being questioned by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

01/28/2025

Indigenous communities in Arizona and New Mexico are trying to figure out how to respond to reports of ICE agents interrogating and detaining tribal citizens. “We’re from this continent,” Diné citizen Daniel Tullie told Searchlight, referring to Indigenous peoples throughout the Americas. “But we’re treated like we’re not from here.”

Reports of tribal citizens being questioned by agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have created widespread panic in the Southwest

01/17/2025

Don't miss Searchlight Investigative Reporter Joshua Bowling's interview with New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez about his lawsuit against former Western New Mexico University leaders on this week's "New Mexico in Focus." Watch here on YouTube, or tune in at 7 p.m. on channel 5.1.

1.17.2025 – Searchlight New Mexico’s Joshua Bowling sits down with state Attorney General Raúl Torrez to talk about the lawsuit over a $1.9 million buyout fo...