(Deming) – Here’s the area crime  report: 
Michael Hatcher, 37,  was arrested for D-U-I – 3rd offense, having an open container, no  interlock as required, accident involving property damage, failing to  immediately notify authorities of an accident and negligent use of a firearm…
Ruben Enciso, age 27, was arrested on four Luna County warrants – three for 
failure to appear and one for failure to pay fines… Andres Munoz, age 29, was 
arrested on a District Court warrant for a probation violation… and Christina 
Barron, age 22, was arrested on two Magistrate warrants for failure to pay 
fines.  Also… a pickup parked off West  Ash was scratched and its cab
was set on fire causing $1,500 dollars’ worth  of damage… a window valued at $300 dollars was broken on a business off East  Pine… and $100 dollars in damage occurred at a gas pump at a station off East  Cedar when a customer drove off with the gas pump nozzle still in the car’s gas  tank.

Western New Mexico University presents a "WNMU in your community" event.   Tomorrow (Friday July 27th) from 7pm until 10pm at Pit Park, N. Country Club Rd in Deming.  Deming area families and organizations are welcome to  attend this fun summer event hosted by WNMU. Booths, Games and prizes for  families, free food, live entertainment by Jessica Juarez and meet WMNU  President Joseph Shepard.  Come and enjoy a fun family night . 

(Deming) – The Deming City Council will meet in special session Wednesday morning.  Included on the agenda is a resolution approving the city’s final budget for  2012-2013, as well as the final budget adjustments for the 2011-2012 budget
year.
The councilors also will consider a joint powers agreement between the city, the county and the state Public Safety Department… a resolution for participation in the state Department of Environment Capital Appropriation Project… and a bid for airport improvements. The meeting is set to begin at 9 a-m Wednesday in the council chambers of the John Strand Municipal Building on South Gold.  The meeting is open to the public.  A closed session to discuss potential litigation will follow the open meeting.
 
 
 

(Deming) – The Deming Police  Department has been given an “F” when it comes to preventing racial profiling, but Chief Michael Carillo says the grade is unfair.     

Deming is listed among   the 78% of law enforcement agencies in the state that reportedly have not complied with regulations established by state  law to prevent racial profiling, according to a report released  Thursday.

The report, published by the  NAACP of New Mexico and  immigrant advocacy group Somos Un Pueblo Unido, revealed  that the majority of New Mexico’s departments are not complying with the basic  requirements established by the law approved in 2009.
 
Those requirements make police  departments update their rules, publish them and have them available to the  public.
Also, departments must keep forms  available so people can file complaints if they feel they’ve been the victims of  racial
discrimination.

But Carillo said not  only has the Deming Police Department had a policy against racial profiling for  some time… but that policy was recently updated with the department’s efforts to  become accredited by the New Mexico Municipal League.     
Carillo said he submitted information and forms on the departments’ process for dealing with complaints about officers in April to the two groups… and told the representative that the Deming department was in the process of revising its policy against racial profiling and he would submit that once completed.

Carillo submitted the  completed revised policy by fax on June 6th… and said the grade of  “F” is unfair.

(Deming) - The trial for a Deming family  accused of selling weapons to Mexican cartels is underway in Las  Cruces.
 
The Las Cruces Sun-News reports testimony began Wednesday  in the trial of New Deal Shooting Sports owner Rick Reese, his wife, Terri, and  their sons Ryin and Remington.
 
The four are accused of selling 34 weapons and ammunition to undercover agents and a Mexican cartel member-turned-government informant from 2010 to July of 2011.
 
Authorities contend the Reese's fudged firearms purchasing forms during the transactions and laundered the  proceeds.
 
Defense attorneys have argued that the  four followed the law, reporting sales of multiple firearms to federal authorities.
 
The Reese's have pleaded "not guilty" in the case… and their defense attorneys have argued publicly that political fallout from
Operation Fast and Furious prompted the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to accuse the Reese family of allegedly selling guns to individuals posing as straw purchasers.
 
The trial in U-S District Court is expected to last from two to three weeks.

(Deming) - Luna County ranks in the top 10 hungriest counties in the United States.     

Nancy Barnes-Smith with Roadrunner Food Bank in southern New Mexico said Feeding America, the nation's largest hunger-relief organization, reported Luna County has the 10th-highest hunger rate among Hispanics across all U-S
counties.  

The national food insecurity study also ranked Luna as the county with the highest percentage of hunger in New Mexico at 27-point-one percent… followed by McKinley at 23-point-four percent and San Juan at 19-point-nine percent.
 
McKinley County has the 6th-highest hunger rate in the nation among American Indians.
 
 Statistics used by Feeding America for their second annual "Map the Meal Gap" national study reportedly were collected
by the U-S Department of Agriculture, the U-S Census Bureau, the U-S Bureau of Labor Statistics and The Nielsen Company.
 
 Luna County is served from Roadrunner Food Bank's Las Cruces branch which opened in January of 2011.  There are two distribution sites: Helping Hand in the Deming Industrial Park and the Andrew Sanchez Youth Center in Columbus.
 
Barnes-Smith said both sites are doing the best they can… but she said the need is greater than they can meet.
 
 She said Roadrunner Food Bank is working to enlist community support and establish more food distribution locations.  Those locations can be set up to serve on an emergency basis or for regular distribution… and can include sponsoring a Mobile Food Pantry
providing up to 50 pounds of food a month to families in need.
 
Barnes-Smith can be reached at her Las Cruces office at  575-680-1900.         .

(Deming) – Misdemeanor charges have been filed on two local dispatchers for allegedly releasing Crime Stoppers information to non-law enforcement
personnel.  
     27-year-old Julie Avila and 30-year-old Michelle Flores have been charged under a confidentiality statute that applies to unlawfully and intentionally releasing confidential information gained through a program relating to criminal
activity.
     The state statute appears to be specifically aimed at maintaining the integrity of anonymous crime prevention and intervention programs such as Crime
Stoppers.
      A statement of probable cause  filed in Luna County Magistrate Court says Avila and Flores released  confidential information obtained through the local Crime Stoppers tip line to  non-law enforcement personnel.
      The Crime Stoppers line – 546-7800 – is billed as being anonymous with calls never recorded or traced.  It is set up to allow persons to report crimes without
repercussions, and sometimes with a financial reward incentive.
     The two dispatchers reportedly have been let go of their jobs at Central Dispatch.

Duck Race Grand Marshals Interviewed
Contact:  Dave Johnson 575 694-4873           
    
(Deming)--This year's Grand Marshals for the 33rd Annual Comcast Tournament
of Duck Parade are local businesswomen -- and sisters -- Tamara Hurt and
Candie Sweetser.
  Hurt  opened her certified public accounting office in downtown Deming in
1989 and has been a duck race sponsor every year since.  Hurt also was the
tabulator quacker for the races in 1991 and 1992.   Hurt said the thing she enjoys most about the duck races is watching children
as they hold a duck for the first time.  "It is delightful to see the kids' eyes light up as they are shown the proper way to hold a duck and then carry the duck to the starting line.  It's so cute when they talk to their duck and coach their new feathered friend on the best racing strategy."
  Candie Sweetser has managed Luna County Broadcasting, and radio stations KDEM-FM and KOTS-AM, since 1990.  The stations also have a long history of  sponsoring the duck races, and even used to broadcast interesting facts  about the races which she
called "Mallard Minutes."  You can still hear hourly duck race schedule updates throughout the weekend on both KDEM and
KOTS.
  Sweetser believes the races are good for Deming  because they are just plain fun.  "Where else can you see waddling  ducks, people waddling like ducks, racing outhouses, tossed tortillas and  more -- all in one weekend?"    The Comcast Tournament of Ducks
Parade will be Saturday, August 25th beginning at 10 am.  Entry Forms  for the parade are availalble on line at demingduckrace.com, or at  Southwestern NM On-Line at 202 S. Diamond.
   The Great American  Duck Race, which this year celebrates New Mexico's 100 years, is sponsored  in part by Luna Energy Facility, and has been designated as an Official  Centennial Event.

Another Arrested in Prescription Fraud
 
(Deming) -- A  second person has been arrested in a local prescription fraud
investigation. 31-year-old Brooke Jacobson was arrested Wednesday for forgery in the issuing or transferring of a prescription and fraudulently obtaining a controlled substance. Deming Police Chief Michael Carillo said Jacobson's arrest resulted from the follow-up investigation into medical assistant Jafet "Jay" Vallejo's arrest two weeks ago. Vallejo also was arrested on charges of forgery and fraudulently obtaining a controlled substance after being accused of taking a forged prescription for 100 tablets of Adderall -- a brand-name psychostimulant medication considered to have high abuse potential -- to the Wal-Mart pharmacy. The pharmacist flagged the prescription after Vallejo asked if the dosage could be raised.  The pharmacist confirmed with Dr. George Williams -- for whom Vallejo worked at the time -- that the prescription was forged and notified the Deming Police Department. Jacobson's forged prescription also was for Adderall.