SHOOTING-RACIAL SLURS
Witness: Fatal shooting stemmed from request to borrow water
(Information from: KOB-TV, http://www.kob.com)
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico man is facing charges in connection with a fatal shooting that a witness said stemmed from a request to borrow water.
KOB-TV reports Richard Maliszewski appeared in an Albuquerque court Tuesday on a murder charge for the shooting death of Christopher Yazzie.
According to a criminal complaint, the 70-year-old Maliszewski told authorities a neighbor has threatened him with a bat so he shot him in the head.
But Yazzie's fiancée told investigators she and Yazzie had no running water in their home and she went next door to ask Maliszewski for some. The fiancé says Maliszewski started yelling racial slurs at her.
She says Maliszewski shot an unarmed Yazzie who went over to confront him.
It was not known if Maliszewski had an attorney.
___
TRANSPORTATION FUNDS
New Mexico gets funding for 37 road, trail projects
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — More than two dozen communities across New Mexico will share more than $32 million in federal funding for numerous transportation and recreational trail projects.
State transportation officials say the 37 projects will account for more than $41 million in investments over the next four years when leveraged with local dollars and in-kind services.
The projects range from flashing speed signs at all schools in Los Alamos County to reconstruction of the Upper Catwalk Trail in the Gila National Forest.
More than $5 million will be used to design and construct a multi-use trail connecting schools, homes and the community center at Jemez Pueblo along New Mexico Highway 4.
STATE EMPLOYMENT-NEW MEXICO
Low take-home pay may hinder state hiring efforts
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A new study shows average take-home pay for New Mexico state employees is the lowest in a seven-state region and may be hindering efforts to expand the ranks of qualified state workers.
Announced on Wednesday, the briefing by the Legislature's nonpartisan budget office shows New Mexico state workers take home less than 55% of total compensation including retirement benefits.
That trails states including Texas, Colorado and Arizona. Higher employee insurance costs are an important factor.
The State Personnel Office is trying to increase staffing at many agencies as New Mexico shifts from austerity measures to hiring amid a budget surplus.
The report cites recent difficulties in retaining new employees and asks whether young workers might prefer more take home pay to a benefits-rich compensation package.
PRISON REFORM-NEW MEXICO
New Mexico signs settlement on living conditions for inmates
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The governor of New Mexico says a preliminary agreement has been reached on living conditions for prison inmates that would resolve long-running litigation shaped by the aftermath of deadly 1980 riots at the state penitentiary.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Wednesday the preliminary settlement agreement in federal court aimed at ensuring that inmates are afforded constitutional protections to humane treatment.
The agreement would end the so-called Duran consent decree that established requirement for conditions within the state corrections system.
The Corrections Department has agreed to transfer hundreds of inmates among facilities to ensure adequate individual living space and to take new steps toward increasing staffing at prisons.
Lujan Grisham says the agreement gives the state flexibility in developing new policies on living conditions and relieves future litigation costs.
DEATH AND DISAPPEARANCE-TRIBES
US attorney: Feds push for progress on tribal safety
SANTA ANA PUEBLO, N.M. (AP) — The chairman of a Justice Department committee on tribal public safety policy says federal officials have undertaken a range of initiatives in the past year to review handling of cases of missing and murdered Native Americans.
Yet high victimization rates remain.
Trent Shores, who is the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma and chairs the committee on Native American issues, says he is frustrated by persistent statistics of violence in tribal communities.
He adds that he and other federal prosecutors have made a significant push to address them amid a movement among Native Americans, especially women, to bring awareness to missing persons and homicide cases.
Shores and other U.S. attorneys began meeting Wednesday in New Mexico to review law enforcement issues facing tribes.
BUDGET SURPLUS-NEW MEXICO-THE LATEST
The Latest: NM Republicans warn against government expansion
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Republican legislators are warning against the permanent expansion of state government as New Mexico anticipates a continued windfall in revenues linked largely to oil and natural gas production.
House Republican minority leader James Townsend of Artesia said Wednesday in a statement that new money should be used to invest in highway improvements or high-speed internet infrastructure and not "big government" policies. He also wants reforms that would reduce tax rates on sales and services while eliminating exemptions.
GOP Rep. Jason Harper of Rio Rancho says the state is spending a lot on film-industry incentives and should investment more broadly in economic development.
State economists say general fund revenues for the coming fiscal year will exceed current annual spending by more than $900 million. They also are say state finances are at increasing risk if the oil sector falters.
A panel of legislators met in the mountain resort of Red River to study ways to shield state finances finances from boom-and-bust cycles in the oil sector.
Witness: Fatal shooting stemmed from request to borrow water
(Information from: KOB-TV, http://www.kob.com)
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico man is facing charges in connection with a fatal shooting that a witness said stemmed from a request to borrow water.
KOB-TV reports Richard Maliszewski appeared in an Albuquerque court Tuesday on a murder charge for the shooting death of Christopher Yazzie.
According to a criminal complaint, the 70-year-old Maliszewski told authorities a neighbor has threatened him with a bat so he shot him in the head.
But Yazzie's fiancée told investigators she and Yazzie had no running water in their home and she went next door to ask Maliszewski for some. The fiancé says Maliszewski started yelling racial slurs at her.
She says Maliszewski shot an unarmed Yazzie who went over to confront him.
It was not known if Maliszewski had an attorney.
___
TRANSPORTATION FUNDS
New Mexico gets funding for 37 road, trail projects
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — More than two dozen communities across New Mexico will share more than $32 million in federal funding for numerous transportation and recreational trail projects.
State transportation officials say the 37 projects will account for more than $41 million in investments over the next four years when leveraged with local dollars and in-kind services.
The projects range from flashing speed signs at all schools in Los Alamos County to reconstruction of the Upper Catwalk Trail in the Gila National Forest.
More than $5 million will be used to design and construct a multi-use trail connecting schools, homes and the community center at Jemez Pueblo along New Mexico Highway 4.
STATE EMPLOYMENT-NEW MEXICO
Low take-home pay may hinder state hiring efforts
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A new study shows average take-home pay for New Mexico state employees is the lowest in a seven-state region and may be hindering efforts to expand the ranks of qualified state workers.
Announced on Wednesday, the briefing by the Legislature's nonpartisan budget office shows New Mexico state workers take home less than 55% of total compensation including retirement benefits.
That trails states including Texas, Colorado and Arizona. Higher employee insurance costs are an important factor.
The State Personnel Office is trying to increase staffing at many agencies as New Mexico shifts from austerity measures to hiring amid a budget surplus.
The report cites recent difficulties in retaining new employees and asks whether young workers might prefer more take home pay to a benefits-rich compensation package.
PRISON REFORM-NEW MEXICO
New Mexico signs settlement on living conditions for inmates
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The governor of New Mexico says a preliminary agreement has been reached on living conditions for prison inmates that would resolve long-running litigation shaped by the aftermath of deadly 1980 riots at the state penitentiary.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Wednesday the preliminary settlement agreement in federal court aimed at ensuring that inmates are afforded constitutional protections to humane treatment.
The agreement would end the so-called Duran consent decree that established requirement for conditions within the state corrections system.
The Corrections Department has agreed to transfer hundreds of inmates among facilities to ensure adequate individual living space and to take new steps toward increasing staffing at prisons.
Lujan Grisham says the agreement gives the state flexibility in developing new policies on living conditions and relieves future litigation costs.
DEATH AND DISAPPEARANCE-TRIBES
US attorney: Feds push for progress on tribal safety
SANTA ANA PUEBLO, N.M. (AP) — The chairman of a Justice Department committee on tribal public safety policy says federal officials have undertaken a range of initiatives in the past year to review handling of cases of missing and murdered Native Americans.
Yet high victimization rates remain.
Trent Shores, who is the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma and chairs the committee on Native American issues, says he is frustrated by persistent statistics of violence in tribal communities.
He adds that he and other federal prosecutors have made a significant push to address them amid a movement among Native Americans, especially women, to bring awareness to missing persons and homicide cases.
Shores and other U.S. attorneys began meeting Wednesday in New Mexico to review law enforcement issues facing tribes.
BUDGET SURPLUS-NEW MEXICO-THE LATEST
The Latest: NM Republicans warn against government expansion
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Republican legislators are warning against the permanent expansion of state government as New Mexico anticipates a continued windfall in revenues linked largely to oil and natural gas production.
House Republican minority leader James Townsend of Artesia said Wednesday in a statement that new money should be used to invest in highway improvements or high-speed internet infrastructure and not "big government" policies. He also wants reforms that would reduce tax rates on sales and services while eliminating exemptions.
GOP Rep. Jason Harper of Rio Rancho says the state is spending a lot on film-industry incentives and should investment more broadly in economic development.
State economists say general fund revenues for the coming fiscal year will exceed current annual spending by more than $900 million. They also are say state finances are at increasing risk if the oil sector falters.
A panel of legislators met in the mountain resort of Red River to study ways to shield state finances finances from boom-and-bust cycles in the oil sector.
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