IRRIGATION SEASON-RIO GRANDE
New Mexico's irrigation season to begin along Rio Grande
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The 2020 irrigation season for farmers along the lower Rio Grande will begin in the coming days when U.S. water managers begin releasing water from one of New Mexico's largest dams. The Bureau of Reclamation cautioned people below Elephant Butte and Caballo reservoirs that water will be flowing again through the dry riverbed. Initial releases from both reservoirs could reach around 2,000 cubic feet per second. The flows will fluctuate throughout the season. Officials say they're watching snowpack measurements and spring streamflow forecasts to prepare for operations. Early forecasts indicate that runoff is close to average on the Rio Grande.

FREE TUITION-NEW MEXICO
Free University of New Mexico tuition for some students
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The University of New Mexico has announced it will offer free tuition for first-time students whose families make $50,000 or less. The Lobo First-Year Promise scholarship program was announced Thursday and is only available to next fall's freshmen class. University officials say the scholarship will cover tuition and fees not covered by other scholarships, grants and financial aid. The university capped the qualifying household income at $50,000. That's about the state median income. University officials estimate up to 1,500 students are eligible for the program. The scholarship will cover tuition and fees not covered by other scholarships, grants and financial aid.

IMMIGRATION-ASYLUM
Court halts Trump asylum policy, then suspends its own order
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel voted unanimously Friday to suspend an order it issued earlier in the day to block a central pillar of the Trump administration's policy requiring asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their cases wind through U.S. courts. The three-judge panel told the government to file written arguments by the end of Monday and for the plaintiffs to respond by the end of Tuesday. The Justice Department said at least 25,000 asylum seekers subject to the policy are currently waiting in Mexico and expressed "massive and irreparable national-security of public-safety concerns."  Government attorneys said immigration lawyers had begun demanding that asylum seekers be allowed in the United States.  

BANDELIER-TRAIL IMPROVEMENTS
Trail improvements planned at Bandelier National Monument
BANDELIER NATIONAL MONUMENT, N.M. (AP) — The National Park Service says the popular loop trail at Bandelier National Monument will be getting a much-needed facelift this summer. Officials say the 1.2-mile paved path at the bottom of Frijoles Canyon is showing the effects of weather, time and tons of foot traffic. The trail provides access to dozens of archaeological sites in the most visited area of the monument. The work is scheduled to begin in May and will last at least a few months. Acting Superintendent Dennis Milligan says visitors should expect rerouting, closures and delays.

AP-US-CHACO-CANYON-DRILLING
US officials cite 'balance' as goal for Chaco oil plan
ALBUQUERQUE, N .M. (AP) — The preservation and protection of Native American cultural sites would be a priority of U.S. land managers under one of the options up for consideration as they work to revamp an outdated guide for management of oil and gas drilling across northwestern New Mexico. But U.S. officials on Friday indicated their preference for an alternative that would "balance community needs and development" while limiting impacts on the cultural way of life of residents. The area is home to Chaco Culture National Historical Park, which has become the focal point of tribes, environmentalists and archaeologists who want to halt development beyond the boundaries of the World Heritage site.

DJIBOUTI-US DEATH
Flags at half staff Monday for New Mexico Guard soldier
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has ordered that U.S. and state flags be flown at half staff Monday in honor of a New Mexico National Guard soldier who died during an overseas deployment. The Defense Department said Spc. Walter Lewark of Mountainair died in a non-combat incident in the Africa nation of Djibouti. Services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at the Moriarty Civic Center in Moriarty for Lewark, with internment planned on a later date at the Santa Fe National Cemetery. Lewark was assigned to a Rio Rancho-based National Guard unit. He also was a Mountainair police officer and a volunteer firefighter. Lewark was a private first class when he died but was promoted posthumously to specialist. 

PLANTING TREES-NEW MEXICO
New Mexico Forestry Division to plant 1,200 trees
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Forestry Division will be planting 1,200 trees across the state in celebration of Arbor Month. Officials say the month of March often has the best conditions for tree planting as snow melt and soil moisture vary from south to north. The work is being organized through the Urban and Community Forestry Program in support of the New Mexico Climate Strategy and the National Association of State Foresters' centennial celebration. State Forester Laura McCarthy says planting trees is an important part of New Mexico's response to climate change since they provide shade and help cool communities.

IT SECRETARY APPOINTMENT
New Mexico technology department gets new secretary
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A longtime information technology administrator for various state agencies is taking over New Mexico's IT department. John Salazar was appointed Friday as secretary of the Department of Information and Technology. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's office says Salazar will begin the job on Monday. Lujan Grisham's office says Salazar has more than 25 years of experience in IT and management. He's a longtime chief information officer who has led technology teams at the Department of Workforce Solutions and the Taxation and Revenue Department, as well as at a private firm in Santa Fe. Lujan Grisham's office says outgoing secretary Vince Martinez is stepping down to pursue other opportunities. 

VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW MEXICO TESTING
Lab in New Mexico could begin testing for new virus
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Health officials in New Mexico say samples from people suspected of having the new virus that started in China will soon be tested by an Albuquerque laboratory. The samples from New Mexico have been sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The state has no confirmed cases of the  virus that originated from China, which also known as COVID-19. The Santa Fe New Mexican reported Wednesday that state Epidemiologist Michael Landen expects the state to soon begin its own testing. That means doctors will be able to send samples to the proposed lab in Albuquerque instead of a federal lab. It is unclear when the lab would open.

RELIGIOUS SECT-CHILD ABUSE
Convicted New Mexico sect leader seeks new trial
GRANT, N.M. (AP) — A leader in a rural New Mexico paramilitary religious sect convicted of kidnapping and sexual abuse is seeking a new trial. The Gallup Independent reports lawyers for Deborah Green, leader of the Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps, filed a motion recently after they say prosecutors did not disclose specific evidence. Green was sentenced in September 2018 to 72 years in prison after being convicted of child abuse and other charges. Authorities raided the Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps' secluded Fence Lake, New Mexico, compound in 2017 following a lengthy investigation.

ALBUQUERQUE BIOPARK TRAINS
Report: Albuquerque Biopark trains see derailments, injuries
ALBUQUERQUE, NM. (AP) — A review of Albuquerque records shows that the city's BioPark zoo train has experienced derailments and injuries. KOB-TV reports a review of five years' worth of maintenance records at Albuquerque City Hall revealed several mentions of derailments. Records show a rear driver side wheel broke off, causing the engine to bottom out and the train to derail in May 2018. Former train conductor James Lakatos says he was thrown from the conductor's chair and was taken to urgent care after reporting back pain. Albuquerque's Cultural Service Department deputy director Hakim Bellamy says injuries on the train are rare.

BLACK GUARD-DISCRIMINATION
Lawsuit: Black officer who was fired faced harassment
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Court documents say a black New Mexico corrections officer faced constant harassment and was eventually fired after he called in sick and was later spotted at a high school basketball game. A lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque earlier this month alleged Eric Bland and another black corrections officer suffered "petty harassment." The harassment allegedly followed the appointment of a new supervisor at the Lea County Detention Center in August 2018. Lea County Manager Mike Gallagher says the county does not, has not and will not engage in racial discrimination.

THREATENED SONGBIRD
US identifies habitat critical for survival of rare songbird
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — US wildlife managers have proposed setting aside a vast area across seven Western states as critical habitat for a rare songbird. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service made public its recommendation Thursday for the western yellow-billed cuckoo. If approved, the designation would affect activities that involve federal funding or permitting along hundreds of miles of rivers and streams from Arizona and New Mexico north to Idaho. A threatened species, the cuckoo travels each spring and fall between its breeding grounds in Mexico and the U.S to its wintering grounds in Central and South America, often using river corridors as routes.

SANTA FE-MURAL
New Mexico homeowner ordered to remove pro-Palestinian mural
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico homeowner has been ordered to remove pro-Palestinian murals from an adobe wall outside his Santa Fe home. The Santa Fe Historic Districts Review Board affirmed Tuesday a decision by the city of Santa Fe that required Guthrie Miller to paint over the mural. The artwork depicts armed Israeli soldiers threatening Palestinian children at gunpoint. Jewish leaders had called the mural anti-Semitic. Miller, a retired Los Alamos National Laboratory employee, has allowed other pro-Palestinian artwork to be displayed on his property in the past. He says a Navajo artist created the artwork. The order comes after the same board voted on a plan to destroy a Chicano mural to make way for the new museum.
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EUTHANIZING DUCK-POLICE
Effort to euthanize family duck draws police attention
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico grandfather's effort to euthanize the family duck drew police attention after residents reported multiple shots fired. The Santa Fe New Mexican reports police initially confiscated a handgun from Lorenzo Pacheco, who had fired four shots at the bird before striking and killing it. Officers had arrived to the scene just before a burial for the bird was about to commence. Kaelyn Pacheco says the duck, a family pet, had become paralyzed and couldn't walk, and it also had an eye infection. Lorenzo Pacheco said police returned his gun to him and determined there was no cause for a charge of negligent use of a firearm.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING CONVICTION
New Mexico jury convicts an Arizona man of human smuggling
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — A federal jury in New Mexico has convicted an Arizona man on a human smuggling charge. Prosecutors say 39-year-old Francisco Armando Martinez of Tucson was found guilty Tuesday on one count of transporting immigrants who were in the country illegally. Martinez faces up to five years in prison when he's sentenced. The evidence at trial showed a group of immigrants from Mexico paid smugglers to help them illegally cross the border into the United States. A guide led them into the United States through the desert on foot. Martinez picked up the immigrants on the side of the road to transport them.

BLACK GUARD-DISCRIMINATION
Lawsuit: Black officer who was fired faced harassment
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Court documents say a black New Mexico corrections officer faced constant harassment and was eventually fired after he called in sick and was later spotted at a high school basketball game. A lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque earlier this month alleged Eric Bland and another black corrections officer suffered "petty harassment." The harassment allegedly followed the appointment of a new supervisor at the Lea County Detention Center in August 2018. Lea County Manager Mike Gallagher says the county does not, has not and will not engage in racial discrimination.

SANTA FE-MURAL
New Mexico homeowner ordered to remove pro-Palestinian mural
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico homeowner has been ordered to remove pro-Palestinian murals from an adobe wall outside his Santa Fe home. The Santa Fe Historic Districts Review Board affirmed Tuesday a decision by the city of Santa Fe that required Guthrie Miller to paint over the mural. The artwork depicts armed Israeli soldiers threatening Palestinian children at gunpoint. Jewish leaders had called the mural anti-Semitic. Miller, a retired Los Alamos National Laboratory employee, has allowed other pro-Palestinian artwork to be displayed on his property in the past. He says a Navajo artist created the artwork. The order comes after the same board voted on a plan to destroy a Chicano mural to make way for the new museum.

GIRL SCOUTS-LATHAM
Ex-New Mexico tourism secretary named to Girl Scouts job
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Former New Mexico Tourism Secretary Rebecca Latham has been named CEO of Girl Scouts of New Mexico Trails. The group said this week that Latham succeeds longtime CEO Peggy Sanchez Mills, who retired in January. Latham, a Brownie Troop Leader, will leave her role as CEO of American Mothers, Inc. at the end of February. With offices in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Aztec and Clovis, Girl Scouts of New Mexico Trails serves around 6,000 girls and adults across Central and Northern New Mexico. The council serves 23 counties.

WILDFIRES-FOREST RESTORATION
US forest chief: 'Tough choices' to fund wildfire prevention
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The head of the U.S. Forest Service says her agency is working with partners to reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfire, but acknowledged that a budget proposal for the next fiscal year reflects "tough choices and trade-offs." Some senators are concerned about zeroing out forest restoration program funding that has helped finance projects covering thousands of acres in over a dozen states. Hotter and drier conditions across the West are making wildfires more intense and destructive as they burn through overgrown forests, with California among the hardest hit. U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico says a bipartisan contingent of lawmakers want as much funding restored as possible in the face of a changing climate.

ALBUQUERQUE SCHOOLS-SUPERINTENDENT
Albuquerque district announces 39 school chief applicants
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The Albuquerque Public Schools board of education said Wednesday that 39 people have applied to be superintendent. Officials will be dwindling down the list in the coming month. The applicants include former educators from Newark, California, and a former superintendent in a Long Island, New York, school district. Albuquerque Public Schools board president David Peercy said the district is looking to hire a leader who will understand the unique needs of a diverse school district in one of the nation's poorest states. District officials said they hope to have a new superintendent by July to replace Raquel Reedy, who is retiring.

TROUBLED NEW MEXICO PRISONS
New Mexico inmate death 'apparent suicide' amid lawsuits
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — An inmate's suspected suicide recently in a New Mexico prison occurred as two new lawsuits accuse the state Corrections Department of negligence in inmate deaths at another penitentiary. The Santa Fe New Mexican reports one federal lawsuit filed this month says the department ordered medical personnel to remove 39-year-old Efrain Perez Martinez from life support in early 2019 over the protests of family members. Another federal lawsuit accuses Corrections Department officials of failing to provide heart medication to an inmate with a known heart condition. He later died. Corrections spokesman Eric Harrison confirmed 29-year-old Justin Guilez was found dead in his cell Wednesday "in what was an apparent suicide."
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CHILD ABUSE-KILLING PETS
Mom charged with boiling pets found competent to stand trial
FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico woman facing charges she beat and tortured her children and forced them to watch her kill their pets has been found competent to stand trial. The Farmington Daily Times reports state District Court Judge Curtis Gurley recently found Martha Crouch competent to stand trial and ordered her case remanded to a magistrate court for further action. The 54-year-old Crouch was arrested in June after a daughter told authorities stories of physical and emotional abuse. She said her mother boiled puppies and poisoned a kitten as punishment. Eric Morrow, Crouch's attorney, described the extreme cruelty to animals charge as outrageous.

DEMING – Here’s the area crime report:

     A criminal summons was issued for Steven Telles, age 52, for battery, trespassing and shoplifting at Walmart… Alejandra Aguirre, age 38, was arrested on a Grant County warrant for embezzlement… Adam Cordova, age 30, was arrested for trespassing at a business and on a Municipal warrant for failure to pay fines… and Garry Kavanaugh, age 36, was arrested on a Magistrate warrant and a Dona Ana County warrant – both for failure to pay fines.
     Also, over $4,700 worth of construction equipment, tools and other items were taken from two vehicles parked at a motel off E. Pine St… and a cow was hit in the vicinity of Pelayo Road and Red Onion Road west of Deming.