MARIJUANA-NEW MEXICO
Work group focuses on New Mexico marijuana measure
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — There's no question Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham wants state lawmakers to take up the matter of legalizing marijuana when they meet again in January for a 30-day legislative session.
A work group charged with crafting a bill to do that had its first meeting this week.
The Albuquerque Journal reports the group isn't starting from scratch as it's looking to use legislation from the last session as a template.
That measure, which stalled in the Senate, would have imposed a tax of at least 17% on marijuana sales. The revenue would have toward health, law enforcement and research programs.
The working group plans to hold at least four more public meetings before making a final recommendation to Lujan Grisham by the end of October. Those meetings will include events in Albuquerque and Las Cruces.
APARTMENT FIRE
Apartment complex fire displaces residents; woman in custody
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A fire heavily damaged an Albuquerque apartment complex, displacing residents of 24 units and sending several people to a hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation.
The Fire Department said the building was "a total loss" and that firefighters who responded to the blaze Friday switched to defensive operations to keep the fire from spreading while searching to ensure no victims were inside.
Police Department spokesman Darren DeAguero said a woman was in custody in connection with the fire, but no details on any charges against her were immediately available.
The Fire Department said the fire's cause was under investigation.
Fire Department spokesman Tom Ruiz said an adult and two young children were believed to be in stable condition after treatment for smoke inhalation.
The Red Cross said assisting displaced residents.
SEXUAL MISCONDUCT-EPSTEIN-NEW MEXICO
Billionaire's New Mexico ranch linked to investigation
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico ranch owned by Jeffrey Epstein has become tied to an investigation by the state attorney general's office into the financier.
New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas' office has confirmed that it has interviewed possible victims of Epstein who visited the sprawling Zorro Ranch south of Santa Fe, where Epstein built a home in the 1990s.
Epstein, who pleaded not guilty this week to federal sex trafficking charges in New York, has not faced criminal charges in New Mexico.
But the scandal surrounding him has still sent a jolt through the state as it comes under scrutiny for laws that allowed him to avoid registering as a sex offender following a guilty plea a decade ago in Florida.
Balderas says his office planned to forward findings to federal authorities.
FATAL CRASH-NEW MEXICO-THE LATEST
The Latest: Police say 5 Texans died in fiery NM crash
JAL, New Mexico (AP) — Authorities say all five people killed in a fiery crash in southeastern New Mexico's oil country were from Texas.
New Mexico State Police say the crash happened Thursday morning on a state road east of Jal when the driver of a pickup truck crossed the center line into eastbound traffic and collided head-on with a tractor-trailer rig.
Officer Ray Wilson said Friday it's unclear what caused the driver, identified as 22-year-old Arturo Barboza of Odessa, to cross the center line.
Barboza's passengers 19-year-old Alonso Hernandez and 58-year-old Enrique Leon, both of Odessa, and 25-year-old Justin Brown of Montgomery were also killed.
Police identified the semi driver as 27-year-old Rayshawnda Riley of Arlington.
Both vehicles caught fire after the collision.
Local leaders and some state lawmakers have voiced concerns about safety as traffic has increased on rural roads throughout the region because of the oil boom in the Permian Basin.
This item has been corrected based on new information from police to show that Alonso Hernandez is 19, not 28, and that Riley's first name is spelled Rayshawnda, not Rayshawda.
SANTA FE-FATAL SHOOTING
Santa Fe Police: Married couple died by murder-suicide
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Santa Fe police say the deaths of a married couple found fatally shot in a car between two state government buildings were a murder-suicide.
Police said Friday in a statement that evidence indicated that 34-year-old Jessie Saucedo on Thursday shot himself after shooting 32-year-old Ernestine Saucedo, a state employee and singer who performed Tejano-style music under maiden name of Ernestine Romero.
Records released Friday indicated the couple had a prior history of domestic disputes, and police said they remained legally married but had been living apart for several weeks.
The police statement said police continued to investigate circumstances leading up to the shootings.
Ernestine Saucedo was an executive budget analyst supervisor for the state Public Education Department.
ANTI-CORRUPTION LAW-APPEAL
New Mexico court asked to review state anti-corruption law
(Information from: KRQE-TV, http://www.krqe.com)
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A court has asked the New Mexico Supreme Court to review an anti-corruption law under which the state attorney general had charged four public officials.
KRQE-TV reported Thursday that state Attorney General Hector Balderas has appealed or filed notice to appeal four cases involving wrongdoing by state and county officials in which district courts dismissed charges linked to the state Governmental Conduct Act.
A section of the law prohibits public employees from using their offices for their benefit.
District judges have said the law is too vague or is not intended for criminal charges.
The state Court of Appeals has deferred the matter the higher court, which has not announced if it will accept the case.
___
BORDER WALL-LAWSUIT
Trump asks Supreme Court to unfreeze border wall money
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to let it use Pentagon money to build sections of a border wall with Mexico after two lower courts blocked it from doing so while a lawsuit over the money continues.
The Trump administration filed the request with the Supreme Court on Friday. Last week, a divided three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled against the administration. It kept in place a lower court's freeze preventing the government from tapping Defense Department counterdrug money to build high-priority sections of wall in Arizona, California and New Mexico.
At stake is billions of dollars that would allow President Donald Trump to make progress on a major 2016 campaign promise heading into his race for a second term.
EDUCATION-ONE QUESTION
New Mexico launches STEM challenge for high school students
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico is asking its high school students to take up the gauntlet as part of an academic challenge that aims to answer one question: How will you use science and technology to help with national security?
Los Alamos National Laboratory came up with the question and will be partnering with teachers and businesses as the students use what they learn in the classroom next semester to formulate their answers.
At stake are stipends for teachers, extra state funding and cash awards and academic letters for students who make the cut for the special science teams.
Bill McCamley, head of the state labor department, announced the challenge Friday while in Albuquerque. He says it comes as the state begins working with new science standards that focus more on real-world problem-solving.
Work group focuses on New Mexico marijuana measure
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — There's no question Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham wants state lawmakers to take up the matter of legalizing marijuana when they meet again in January for a 30-day legislative session.
A work group charged with crafting a bill to do that had its first meeting this week.
The Albuquerque Journal reports the group isn't starting from scratch as it's looking to use legislation from the last session as a template.
That measure, which stalled in the Senate, would have imposed a tax of at least 17% on marijuana sales. The revenue would have toward health, law enforcement and research programs.
The working group plans to hold at least four more public meetings before making a final recommendation to Lujan Grisham by the end of October. Those meetings will include events in Albuquerque and Las Cruces.
APARTMENT FIRE
Apartment complex fire displaces residents; woman in custody
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A fire heavily damaged an Albuquerque apartment complex, displacing residents of 24 units and sending several people to a hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation.
The Fire Department said the building was "a total loss" and that firefighters who responded to the blaze Friday switched to defensive operations to keep the fire from spreading while searching to ensure no victims were inside.
Police Department spokesman Darren DeAguero said a woman was in custody in connection with the fire, but no details on any charges against her were immediately available.
The Fire Department said the fire's cause was under investigation.
Fire Department spokesman Tom Ruiz said an adult and two young children were believed to be in stable condition after treatment for smoke inhalation.
The Red Cross said assisting displaced residents.
SEXUAL MISCONDUCT-EPSTEIN-NEW MEXICO
Billionaire's New Mexico ranch linked to investigation
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico ranch owned by Jeffrey Epstein has become tied to an investigation by the state attorney general's office into the financier.
New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas' office has confirmed that it has interviewed possible victims of Epstein who visited the sprawling Zorro Ranch south of Santa Fe, where Epstein built a home in the 1990s.
Epstein, who pleaded not guilty this week to federal sex trafficking charges in New York, has not faced criminal charges in New Mexico.
But the scandal surrounding him has still sent a jolt through the state as it comes under scrutiny for laws that allowed him to avoid registering as a sex offender following a guilty plea a decade ago in Florida.
Balderas says his office planned to forward findings to federal authorities.
FATAL CRASH-NEW MEXICO-THE LATEST
The Latest: Police say 5 Texans died in fiery NM crash
JAL, New Mexico (AP) — Authorities say all five people killed in a fiery crash in southeastern New Mexico's oil country were from Texas.
New Mexico State Police say the crash happened Thursday morning on a state road east of Jal when the driver of a pickup truck crossed the center line into eastbound traffic and collided head-on with a tractor-trailer rig.
Officer Ray Wilson said Friday it's unclear what caused the driver, identified as 22-year-old Arturo Barboza of Odessa, to cross the center line.
Barboza's passengers 19-year-old Alonso Hernandez and 58-year-old Enrique Leon, both of Odessa, and 25-year-old Justin Brown of Montgomery were also killed.
Police identified the semi driver as 27-year-old Rayshawnda Riley of Arlington.
Both vehicles caught fire after the collision.
Local leaders and some state lawmakers have voiced concerns about safety as traffic has increased on rural roads throughout the region because of the oil boom in the Permian Basin.
This item has been corrected based on new information from police to show that Alonso Hernandez is 19, not 28, and that Riley's first name is spelled Rayshawnda, not Rayshawda.
SANTA FE-FATAL SHOOTING
Santa Fe Police: Married couple died by murder-suicide
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Santa Fe police say the deaths of a married couple found fatally shot in a car between two state government buildings were a murder-suicide.
Police said Friday in a statement that evidence indicated that 34-year-old Jessie Saucedo on Thursday shot himself after shooting 32-year-old Ernestine Saucedo, a state employee and singer who performed Tejano-style music under maiden name of Ernestine Romero.
Records released Friday indicated the couple had a prior history of domestic disputes, and police said they remained legally married but had been living apart for several weeks.
The police statement said police continued to investigate circumstances leading up to the shootings.
Ernestine Saucedo was an executive budget analyst supervisor for the state Public Education Department.
ANTI-CORRUPTION LAW-APPEAL
New Mexico court asked to review state anti-corruption law
(Information from: KRQE-TV, http://www.krqe.com)
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A court has asked the New Mexico Supreme Court to review an anti-corruption law under which the state attorney general had charged four public officials.
KRQE-TV reported Thursday that state Attorney General Hector Balderas has appealed or filed notice to appeal four cases involving wrongdoing by state and county officials in which district courts dismissed charges linked to the state Governmental Conduct Act.
A section of the law prohibits public employees from using their offices for their benefit.
District judges have said the law is too vague or is not intended for criminal charges.
The state Court of Appeals has deferred the matter the higher court, which has not announced if it will accept the case.
___
BORDER WALL-LAWSUIT
Trump asks Supreme Court to unfreeze border wall money
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to let it use Pentagon money to build sections of a border wall with Mexico after two lower courts blocked it from doing so while a lawsuit over the money continues.
The Trump administration filed the request with the Supreme Court on Friday. Last week, a divided three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled against the administration. It kept in place a lower court's freeze preventing the government from tapping Defense Department counterdrug money to build high-priority sections of wall in Arizona, California and New Mexico.
At stake is billions of dollars that would allow President Donald Trump to make progress on a major 2016 campaign promise heading into his race for a second term.
EDUCATION-ONE QUESTION
New Mexico launches STEM challenge for high school students
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico is asking its high school students to take up the gauntlet as part of an academic challenge that aims to answer one question: How will you use science and technology to help with national security?
Los Alamos National Laboratory came up with the question and will be partnering with teachers and businesses as the students use what they learn in the classroom next semester to formulate their answers.
At stake are stipends for teachers, extra state funding and cash awards and academic letters for students who make the cut for the special science teams.
Bill McCamley, head of the state labor department, announced the challenge Friday while in Albuquerque. He says it comes as the state begins working with new science standards that focus more on real-world problem-solving.
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