STATE SENATOR-CAR CRASH-DWI
State Sen. Richard Martinez is arrested on suspicion of DWI
(Information from: The Santa Fe New Mexican, http://www.santafenewmexican.com)
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Espanola police say New Mexico state Sen. Richard Martinez is facing charges of aggravated DWI and reckless driving after a car crash.
They say the 66-year-old Martinez was arrested Friday night on suspicion of drunken driving following a collision at an intersection on Espanola's north side.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports Martinez was alone in his SUV at the time of the crash.
He was taken to a hospital for an evaluation before officers booked him into the Espanola jail.
It was unclear Sunday if Martinez has a lawyer who can speak on his behalf.
Martinez is a former Rio Arriba County magistrate who has held the Democratic Senate District 5 seat for nearly two decades representing parts of Los Alamos, Rio Arriba, Sandoval and Santa Fe counties.
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NEW MEXICO ATHLETICS
University of New Mexico saying goodbye to 4 sports programs
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — An era is ending at the University of New Mexico as it officially stops four sports programs, including men's soccer.
Head soccer coach Jeremy Fishbein says unsuccessful efforts over the past year to save the program have left those associated with it physically and mentally exhausted.
Men's soccer has been one of UNM's most successful teams, winning its share of conference titles and making regular appearances in the national collegiate tournament.
All four programs are set to end Monday after the UNM Board of Regents voted last year to cut soccer along with beach volleyball and the men's and women's ski teams to shore up a budget deficit within the athletic department.
Officials also said they needed to address compliance issues with federal mandates regarding equal opportunity for female athletes.

TAXATION SECRETARY-EMBEZZLEMENT
Prosecutor's appeal delays trial against ex-tax secretary
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's attorney general is appealing the dismissal of several criminal charges against ex-taxation secretary Demesia Padilla.
The Albuquerque Journal reported Saturday that Attorney General Hector Balderas has asked a district court to reinstate five criminal charges that were dismissed.
The maneuver pushes back the start of a trail that had been scheduled for jury selection in July, on accusations that Padilla engaged in an official act for personal financial gain.
Padilla maintains her innocence on all charges. The case stems from accusations by the attorney general that Padilla embezzled money from a former private client of her accounting business and also used her position for favorable tax treatment.
She oversaw the state's Taxation and Revenue Department starting in 2011 for nearly six years under former Republican Gov. Susana Martinez.

PROGRESSIVE SHIFT-NEW MEXICO
New laws taking effect July 1 reflect progressive shift
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The effects of a progressive shift in New Mexico politics are being felt as new laws take effect that restrict gun access, raise taxes, decriminalize low-level drug possession and provide a major boost in spending on everything from teacher salaries to road construction.
Starting Monday, taxes on vehicle sales rise by 33%. Background checks will be required for nearly all firearms purchases, and smaller public bathrooms will become gender-neutral.
The state also is raising its salaries and channeling more money toward public education initiatives to help at-risk students in response to a court order mandating greater school resources.
A windfall from the oil sector will help with increased government spending as the industry is expected to provide the state with a $1 billion surplus for a second consecutive year.

MISSING NAVAJO WOMAN
Search for missing Navajo woman nears one-month mark
FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) — A missing Navajo woman's relatives are nearing the one-month mark in their search for the grandmother and military veteran who police say was last seen at her home in New Mexico.
Police say 59-year-old Cecelia Finona disappeared from her home in Farmington after the evening of May 30. Her daughter said Friday the family has logged searches in Farmington and the nearby Navajo Nation.
Finona's boyfriend, Jerry Jay, has been accused of using her ATM card in New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada after her disappearance. He is being held in Nevada on a count of unlawful withdrawal from a financial institution.
Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe says he believes Jay could provide crucial information for officers.
A defense attorney did not respond to a request for comment.

MEXICO-US-MIGRANT BORDER DEATHS
Migrant: Young family ignored advice against border swim
MATAMOROS, Mexico (AP) — The young family from El Salvador appeared in the Mexican border city of Matamoros over the weekend with fear already on their faces.
Another migrant says the family asked about trying to swim across to the U.S., but she tried to discourage them over the danger. Xiomara Mejia says that "I noticed they were really nervous, scared. They had panic on their faces."
Mejia said Wednesday the family left, saying they would be back.  "I didn't think they were going to decide to cross the river."
But they did try the swim, and the father and young daughter were swept away and drowned. Their bodies were found face down in the Rio Grande, a heartbreaking scene captured in a news photo showing the girl tucked inside her father's shirt.

IMMIGRATION-CHILD DETENTION-THE LATEST
The Latest: Government contests request on migrant camps
EL PASO, Texas (AP) — U.S. authorities are contesting a request by immigrant advocates for an emergency order allowing doctors to inspect detention facilities as well as sanctions against the government over conditions involving children.
The government said in a filing on Thursday that the requests by plaintiffs would "impose extensive obligations."
The request for the emergency order was filed late Wednesday by attorneys in a long-standing agreement known as the Flores settlement that governs how immigrant children can be detained.
The attorneys want immediate inspections at facilities in the El Paso and McAllen areas of Texas.
Attorneys say hundreds of children were severely neglected, many going days without a bath or brushing their teeth. One attorney spotted a 4-year-old girl with hair so matted that she thought it might need to be cut off.

CONGRESS-IMMIGRATION-THE LATEST
The Latest: House clears Senate version of border aid bill
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Democratic-controlled House is sending President Donald Trump a bipartisan $4.6 billion Senate-drafted measure to care for migrant refugees detained at the southern border.
The bill passed on a bipartisan vote that capped a Washington skirmish in which die-hard House liberals came out on the losing end in a battle with the White House, the GOP-held Senate, and Democratic moderates.
The measure would ease a cash crunch at federal agencies that care for migrants who have flocked over the border in huge numbers seeking asylum.
Final action came after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi abandoned a plan to require more stringent care requirements for detained migrant families and children, many of whom have been held in harsh, overcrowded conditions.
The White House and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, however, held fast against Pelosi's plan, claiming it was unworkable.

IMMIGRATION-MEXICO VIOLENCE
Migrants face violence as US makes them wait in Mexico
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AP) — Migrants who are being forced to wait in Mexico while they try to win asylum in the U.S. complain they are being subjected to violence in the country's dangerous border cities.
One Cuban migrant, 22-year-old Roberto Escalona Moreno, says he witnessed a double murder on the street in Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas.
Juarez had four times as many homicides last year as New York, though it has only one-sixth the population. Other cities along the border are likewise drug- and gang-infested.
All told, more than 30,000 migrants who are pressing for asylum in the U.S. are believed to be waiting it out on the Mexican side.

HORSES QUARANTINE
New Mexico horses test positive for virus; under quarantine
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Federal authorities say two horses in New Mexico have tested positive for Vesicular Stomatitis Virus.
U.S. Department of Agriculture officials say the Sandoval County property were the horses were located has been placed under quarantine.
New Mexico is the second state to report VSV this year.
Authorities say two Texas counties — Kinney and Tom Green — each have a quarantine premise.
The virus can affect horses, cattle, sheep, goats, swine, alpacas, llamas and deer species.

PRIVATE PRISON-NEW MEXICO
Private company plans to end contract for New Mexico prison
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A private prison company says it will no longer manage a corrections facility in a remote corner of New Mexico starting in the fall, citing troubles recruiting and retaining workers in the area.
A GEO Group spokesman said Thursday that the decision comes after the company managed the Northeast New Mexico Detention Facility for 10 years.
A spokeswoman for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham says her administration is negotiating to take over management of the facility in Clayton, a town of about 3,000 people where Census Data from the 2017 American Community Survey show the annual per capita income is about $21,000.
The governor's office says the state will host a hiring event for prison employees in Clayton on July 17 and July 18.

NAVAJO-CANCER CENTER
Navajo cancer center will cut tribal members' travel time
TUBA CITY, Ariz. (AP) — The Navajo Nation has opened a cancer treatment center on the reservation that it says will significantly cut down on travel time for patients.
The Tuba City Regional Health Care Corp. in northeastern Arizona recently welcomed its first patient. It is funding the new center with hospital profits, grants and donations.
Cancer treatment is considered specialty care under the federal Indian Health Service, which partially funds the hospital. Patients previously had to get a referral to be seen elsewhere, often an hour or more from home.
Hospital chief executive Lynette Bonar says the treatment center is the first of its kind on any Native American reservation, though some facilities offer screenings and other services.
It will serve Navajos, Hopis and San Juan Southern Paiutes in its service area.

NUCLEAR WASTE STORAGE-THE LATEST
The Latest: US senators look to end nuclear waste stalemate
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The chairwoman of a powerful U.S. Senate committee says the federal government's failure to find a permanent solution to the nation's growing stockpile of spent fuel from nuclear power plants is costing taxpayers more than $2 million a day.
Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska led a hearing in which experts testified Thursday on legislation aimed at ending the decades-old stalemate over what to do with the waste.
While the legislation is similar to past proposals, Murkowski says it's meant to get the conversation going again.
Industry officials say the path forward needs to include both interim storage options and plans for permanent disposal.
Environmentalists say a process is needed for ensuring consent from communities where the waste would be taken and that would have to be intertwined with shared regulatory responsibility among the federal government and states.

MEXICO-US-MIGRANT BORDER DEATHS
Migrant: Young family ignored advice against border swim
MATAMOROS, Mexico (AP) — The young family from El Salvador appeared in the Mexican border city of Matamoros over the weekend with fear already on their faces.
Another migrant says the family asked about trying to swim across to the U.S., but she tried to discourage them over the danger. Xiomara Mejia says that "I noticed they were really nervous, scared. They had panic on their faces."
Mejia said Wednesday the family left, saying they would be back.  "I didn't think they were going to decide to cross the river."
But they did try the swim, and the father and young daughter were swept away and drowned. Their bodies were found face down in the Rio Grande, a heartbreaking scene captured in a news photo showing the girl tucked inside her father's shirt.

NAVAJO-CANCER CENTER
Navajo cancer center will cut tribal members' travel time
TUBA CITY, Ariz. (AP) — The Navajo Nation has opened a cancer treatment center on the reservation that it says will significantly cut down on travel time for patients.
The Tuba City Regional Health Care Corp. in northeastern Arizona recently welcomed its first patient. It is funding the new center with hospital profits, grants and donations.
Cancer treatment is considered specialty care under the federal Indian Health Service, which partially funds the hospital. Patients previously had to get a referral to be seen elsewhere, often an hour or more from home.
Hospital chief executive Lynette Bonar says the treatment center is the first of its kind on any Native American reservation, though some facilities offer screenings and other services.
It will serve Navajos, Hopis and San Juan Southern Paiutes in its service area.

CONGRESS-IMMIGRATION
Border aid bill faces standoff in Congress over protections
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is at a standoff over a $4.6 billion aid package for the southern border, House Democrats saying a Senate measure doesn't go far enough to care for thousands of migrant families and children.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi is considering a fresh vote Thursday. Democrats want to add medical and hygiene standards and more protections for the children.
It's a risky stalemate over a border crisis that has captured global attention amid unsettling reports of conditions at federal facilities. The funding is urgently for the humanitarian emergency on the U.S.-Mexico border and money runs out in a matter of days.
The GOP-held Senate on Wednesday passed the bipartisan $4.6 billion measure on a sweeping 84-8 vote.

IMMIGRATION-CHILD DETENTION-SPACE
US had open beds as migrant kids languished at Texas station
HOUSTON (AP) — As more than 200 children languished in troubling conditions in a remote Border Patrol station, the government's system of child detention facilities had at least 500 beds available.
Records obtained by The Associated Press show that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services had beds available in facilities across the U.S., which when tallied up numbered 512 last week.
Under federal law, the department is responsible for sheltering migrant children until they are placed with family sponsors.
The Border Patrol is supposed to hold children for no longer than 72 hours in most instances.
Health and Human Services says the total number of beds in its system doesn't reflect the challenges of placing kids in specific facilities, especially toddlers and very young children.

SPORTS BETTING-NEW MEXICO
Mescalero Apache to offer sports betting at casino
(Information from: Albuquerque Journal, http://www.abqjournal.com)
MESCALERO, N.M. (AP) — Another New Mexico tribe is preparing to offer sports betting at its casino.
The Albuquerque Journal reports Mescalero Apache Tribe announced this week it is partnering with William Hill to offer a book at Inn of the Mountain Gods that will before football season.
William Hill's partnership with the Mescalero Apache Tribe is the first tribal agreement for William Hill outside of Nevada.
Inn of the Mountain Gods becomes the fourth tribal casino to offer sports betting in New Mexico.
Santa Ana Star, on Santa Ana Pueblo, was the first to have its sports book open, in October. The sports book at Pueblo of Pojoaque's Buffalo Thunder opened in March. Isleta's sports book is set to open on August 12.
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NUCLEAR WASTE STORAGE
US Senate panel takes up thorny issue of nuclear waste
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A congressional panel is scheduled to hear from experts as it weighs legislation aimed at tackling the decades-old problem of how to handle spent nuclear fuel and other high-level waste that has been piling up around the United States.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Thursday will be discussing temporary and permanent options for dealing with the waste.
Scientists, environmentalists and officials with the Nuclear Energy Institute are expected to testify.
Development of a proposed long-term storage site at Nevada's Yucca Mountain was halted during the Obama administration, although the Trump administration has moved to restart the licensing process despite stiff resistance in Nevada.
Private companies also have applied for licenses to open temporary storage facilities in New Mexico and West Texas. Those proposals also face political opposition.

NAVAJO GIRL KILLED-CASE
Man wants life prison term reversed in Navajo girl's murder
(Information from: KRQE-TV, http://www.krqe.com)
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A man who pleaded guilty to kidnapping, raping and murdering an 11-year-old girl in New Mexico in 2016 now wants his life prison sentence reversed.
Tom Begaye was sentenced in 2017 after pleading guilty to murder and aggravated sexual abuse in Ashlynne Mike's death near Shiprock on the Navajo Nation.
Albuquerque TV station KRQE reports Begaye says in a 10-page handwritten motion that his rights were violated when authorities questioned him.
Begaye says he's developmentally disabled, didn't understand his legal rights and didn't get competent counsel from his attorney.
Begaye says he was drunk the day of the killing and because of that, the killing wasn't premeditated and he shouldn't have been charged with first-degree murder.
He's seeking an evidentiary court hearing and a lesser charge in the case.
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CHILD ABUSE-KILLING PETS
Bond set for mom charged in child and animal abuse case
AZTEC, N.M. (AP) — A judge has ruled that a New Mexico couple can be released on bond as they await trial in an abuse case marked by allegations of child beatings and slain pets.
Martha and Timothy Crouch made initial court appearances Wednesday, two days after their arrests in Aztec.
The mother is charged with child abuse and extreme cruelty to animals on accusations she struck and bruised a teenage daughter, shot the girl's dog as a way to punish her, and boiled puppies.
Her husband is charged with obstructing the child abuse investigation, a misdemeanor.
He was released on a $1,000 unsecured bond. A cash bond for his wife was set at $50,000.
The local public defenders' office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the couple's behalf.

DEMING – Here’s today’s local crime report:
     Joseph Carlos, age 31, charged with violation of a protection order… Steve Muro, age 36, arrested on an Eddie County Magistrate warrant for failure to appear… Adriana Chavez, age 27, arrested on three Municipal warrants, two for failure to appear and one for failure to pay fines… Erik Sanchez, age 35, arrested on a Magistrate warrant for failure to appear…  Alejandro Jaramillo, age 22, arrested on a Municipal warrant for failure to appear… Victoria Renteria, age 43, arrested on a Federal Marshals warrant.
     Finally, a black cell phone with a value of $130 was reported stolen from a vehicle on South Myrtle street.