A New England Patriots player who was born and raised in New Mexico was among those who skipped out on a White House meeting with President Donald Trump this week.

Alan Branch, a defensive tackle for the Patriots since 2014, played high school football at Cibola High School in Albuquerque before going to college in Michigan. He discussed why he chose to not attend the White House visit on CNN Wednesday night from his home in Arizona.

He cited sexist remarks made by Trump where he was caught on tape before an Access Hollywood taping. The Washington Post first reported on the tape. 

Branch said it wasn’t about politics.

“For me it was a personal matter. What President Trump said...

Anti-abortion advocates from across the country held a press conference in Albuquerque Wednesday morning denouncing New Mexico’s flagship university for its fetal tissue donation practices. Among those who spoke at the event were Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, New Mexico Rep. Steve Pearce, a Republican and Washington D.C. attorney Catherine Glenn Foster. Blackburn, who chaired the controversial congressional Select Panel on Infant Rights, said she came to “join my colleague in the House [of Representatives] and those in New Mexico that have worked on the issue of life.”

The Select Panel released a report in January faulting the University of New Mexico for lacking protocols...

Oil and gas companies reported fewer toxic spills in New Mexico last year than in 2015. According to the Center for Western Priorities’ 2016 Spill Tracker, companies reported 1,310 spills in 2016. Most of those occurred in Lea and Eddy counties, the site of most drilling activity in the state.

The nonpartisan group’s Spill Tracker is based on publicly-available records from New Mexico’s Oil Conservation Division, which is within the state’s Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department.

According to the Spill Tracker, five companies were responsible for nearly 40 percent of all spills of crude oil, natural gas and produced water.

Those companies are COG Operating (a...

77 votes separate Kumar and Chavez

The two incumbents running for Gallup City Council seats March 14 reclaimed their seats, according to unofficial election results from Gallup City Hall. The certification related to the election took place this week and included City Clerk Al Abeita, deputy City Clerk Alicia Palacios, Municipal Judge Grant Foutz and City Attorney George Kozeliski.

Linda Garcia and Yogash Kumar won council seats in District 1 and District 3, respectively. There are 6,459 eligible voters in Gallup. There were 799 votes cast in the election. The election turnout number was 12.37 percent.

“Everything went very well,” Gallup Deputy City Clerk Alicia Palacios said...