White Sands footprints rewrite human history
Footprints found at White Sands National Park are rewriting human history in the Americas. Researchers have dated the footprints to around 21,000 to 23,000 years ago. That challenges a common narrative that people from Asia crossed the Bering Strait into North America only 13,000 years ago.
A study published Wednesday suggests that people living at White Sands over 20,000 years ago lived through extreme climate change. By sampling rocks and ancient pollen, researchers deduced that a large lake at White Sands rapidly shrunk. The decrease in water meant different flora and fauna lived in the area, too.
But, the researchers said that humans continued to inhabit the area for thousands of years, enduring the drastic changes.
Governor candidates agree on education improvements
Both candidates for governor say the state's court-ordered plan to better educate all public school students falls short. Democrat Deb Haaland and Republican Greg Hull both told New Mexico In Depth that more feedback from Tribes is needed for improvement.
New Mexico AG and legislator introduce measures to protect trafficking survivors
New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez and state Rep. Meredith Dixon announced two proposals on Thursday that they say will increase protections for human trafficking survivors.
One bill would eliminate the statute of limitations on sex trafficking crimes and close a loophole in the sex offender registry. Jeffrey Epstein never registered as a sex offender in New Mexico after buying property in the state. And that was after he had pleaded guilty to procuring a minor for prostitution in Florida. But New Mexico currently has a lower age limit for victims than Florida. This bill would raise the age of protection to 18.
Dixon's other measure is a constitutional amendment that would provide greater privacy protections to survivors of sex trafficking.
