COWBOYS FOR TRUMP-PROBE
State Auditor probes travel expenses of Cowboys for Trump founder
ALAMOGORDO, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's Democratic state auditor is investigating a county's travel reimbursement to one of its commissioners who founded the group Cowboys for Trump.
The Alamogordo Daily News reports the Office of the State Auditor confirmed it's examining whether the reimbursement to Otero County Commission Chairman Couy Griffin violated state law.
Griffin traveled to Washington in part to attend a Sept. 12 conference with representatives from western states. A travel voucher listed a meeting with President Donald Trump as the reason for the expense.
The reimbursement of more than $3,200 included mileage for the trip made while hauling a horse trailer.
Griffin says discussions with the president were centered on county business and not done as a representative of the for-profit group.
Griffin returned the money after consulting with county officials.
WILDFIRES-PICKING PINE CONES
Fire-ravaged forests get help from pine cone collectors
ALONG THE BURNT MESA TRAIL, N.M. (AP) — Conservationists and forestry experts are scouring the American Southwest, hoping to gather as many ponderosa pine cones as possible to give nature a hand in restoring fire-scarred landscapes.
The goal: One million seeds.
It might sound lofty, but those helping with the project are looking to take advantage of a rare bumper crop this fall that has resulted from back-to-back summer and winter seasons of much needed rain and snow.
It takes time to find the patches of trees that will yield the most seeds. One spot is a mesa in northern New Mexico that overlooks vast expanses of rugged terrain that has seen its share of fire over the last two decades.
With drought and the severity of wildfires on the rise, scientists say seed collection and reforestation are becoming more important across the West.
WILD HORSES-CONGRESS
Dems in Congress demand update on Interior wild horse plans
RENO, Nev. (AP) — Congressional Democrats are demanding the Interior Department produce an overdue report on plans to manage wild horses roaming federal lands in the West.
That's after the head of its Bureau of Land Management told reporters it'll take $5 billion and 15 years to get overpopulated herds under control.
Acting Bureau Director William Perry Pendley says he's increasingly optimistic his agency eventually will be able to reduce herd sizes through stepped up roundups and increased use of fertility control drugs on the range.
Those ideas were among options the department outlined in a report in April 2018.
Colorado Rep. Joe Neguse and six other Democrats said in a letter to Interior Secretary Dave Bernhardt an update the department promised by July is three months late and the current approach isn't working.
PLANNED SEX ASSAULT-SENTENCING
Arizona man gets 35-year prison term for planned sex assault
(Information from: KOLD-TV, http://www.kold.com/)
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — A Safford man has been sentenced to 35 years in a federal prison for taking a minor across state lines with intent to assault her.
Prosecutors say 36-year-old Lawrence Halamek was convicted of one count each of transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.
They say Halamek took the 12-year-old girl from a bus stop in Safford to a remote area of New Mexico in December 2016 with intent to sexually assault her.
Authorities found the girl with Halamek when the two were stopped while walking along a highway.
Halemek also was sentenced Oct. 15 to lifetime probation.
Tucson TV station KOLD says the judge noted Halamek had taken advantage of multiple vulnerable victims before.
___
METHANE-NEW MEXICO
New Mexico governor opposes Trump proposal on methane rules
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's administration is going on record against federal proposals to revoke Obama-era regulations on climate-changing methane leaks from many oil facilities.
The state Environment Department said Friday it submitted formal comments Thursday opposing the proposal that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in August would remove unnecessary and duplicative burdens from the oil and gas industry.
Lujan Grisham called the Trump administration's proposal unconscionable and part of an "ongoing assault on the environment."
The governor said New Mexico and other states "will lead the transition to a renewable energy economy and take aggressive steps to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
POLICE SHOOTING-ALBUQUERQUE
Police: Officers fatally shoot man during confrontation
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Albuquerque police say officers fatally shot a man who confronted them during a traffic stop after a carjacking attempt.
Police say the man shot Friday night was a passenger in the vehicle stopped by police and that the driver was in police custody.
According to police, the shooting occurred when the passenger got out of a vehicle stopped several blocks from where the carjacking attempt was reported.
Police said a gun was found next to the man who was shot but that other information on circumstances of the shooting and the carjacking attempt weren't immediately available.
No identities were released.
NEW MEXICO OUTDOOR RECREATION
New Mexico signs on to bolster outdoor recreation industry
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico has joined a dozen other states in committing to advance principles aimed at bolstering outdoor recreation.
The state's new director of outdoor recreation, Axie Navas, signed on during a three-day event in St. George, Utah that drew government officials, land managers, industry representatives and others.
The accords embody principles that focus on conservation and stewardship, education and workforce training, economic development, and public health and wellness. They were developed last year by a bipartisan group of several states to promote and advance best practices for all states to consider.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham says her state has a tremendous opportunity to expand the outdoor recreation economy in a sustainable and meaningful way and that means more jobs and economic opportunity in rural parts of the state.
IMMIGRATION DETAINEES-SELF-HARM
Detainees threaten self-harm in New Mexico detention center
(Information from: Albuquerque Journal, http://www.abqjournal.com)
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Immigrant advocates and lawyers in New Mexico say multiple asylum-seekers from Cuba have tried to kill themselves and staged sit-ins after being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The Albuquerque Journal reported Thursday that 32-year-old Iosnaiqui Acosta-Columbie told the Journal that he has taken dramatic measures like cutting himself after he says he endured beatings by police and escaped the "dictatorship" to seek asylum in the U.S.
Lawyers in touch with detainees say three Cubans have tried to kill themselves this month.
ICE officials have also confirmed two self-harm incidents involving men this month.
Asylum-seekers in a detention center in Otero County have said they are deprived of their liberty for up to nine months and have requested their release.
The Otero County site has more than 1,000 inmates.
State Auditor probes travel expenses of Cowboys for Trump founder
ALAMOGORDO, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's Democratic state auditor is investigating a county's travel reimbursement to one of its commissioners who founded the group Cowboys for Trump.
The Alamogordo Daily News reports the Office of the State Auditor confirmed it's examining whether the reimbursement to Otero County Commission Chairman Couy Griffin violated state law.
Griffin traveled to Washington in part to attend a Sept. 12 conference with representatives from western states. A travel voucher listed a meeting with President Donald Trump as the reason for the expense.
The reimbursement of more than $3,200 included mileage for the trip made while hauling a horse trailer.
Griffin says discussions with the president were centered on county business and not done as a representative of the for-profit group.
Griffin returned the money after consulting with county officials.
WILDFIRES-PICKING PINE CONES
Fire-ravaged forests get help from pine cone collectors
ALONG THE BURNT MESA TRAIL, N.M. (AP) — Conservationists and forestry experts are scouring the American Southwest, hoping to gather as many ponderosa pine cones as possible to give nature a hand in restoring fire-scarred landscapes.
The goal: One million seeds.
It might sound lofty, but those helping with the project are looking to take advantage of a rare bumper crop this fall that has resulted from back-to-back summer and winter seasons of much needed rain and snow.
It takes time to find the patches of trees that will yield the most seeds. One spot is a mesa in northern New Mexico that overlooks vast expanses of rugged terrain that has seen its share of fire over the last two decades.
With drought and the severity of wildfires on the rise, scientists say seed collection and reforestation are becoming more important across the West.
WILD HORSES-CONGRESS
Dems in Congress demand update on Interior wild horse plans
RENO, Nev. (AP) — Congressional Democrats are demanding the Interior Department produce an overdue report on plans to manage wild horses roaming federal lands in the West.
That's after the head of its Bureau of Land Management told reporters it'll take $5 billion and 15 years to get overpopulated herds under control.
Acting Bureau Director William Perry Pendley says he's increasingly optimistic his agency eventually will be able to reduce herd sizes through stepped up roundups and increased use of fertility control drugs on the range.
Those ideas were among options the department outlined in a report in April 2018.
Colorado Rep. Joe Neguse and six other Democrats said in a letter to Interior Secretary Dave Bernhardt an update the department promised by July is three months late and the current approach isn't working.
PLANNED SEX ASSAULT-SENTENCING
Arizona man gets 35-year prison term for planned sex assault
(Information from: KOLD-TV, http://www.kold.com/)
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — A Safford man has been sentenced to 35 years in a federal prison for taking a minor across state lines with intent to assault her.
Prosecutors say 36-year-old Lawrence Halamek was convicted of one count each of transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.
They say Halamek took the 12-year-old girl from a bus stop in Safford to a remote area of New Mexico in December 2016 with intent to sexually assault her.
Authorities found the girl with Halamek when the two were stopped while walking along a highway.
Halemek also was sentenced Oct. 15 to lifetime probation.
Tucson TV station KOLD says the judge noted Halamek had taken advantage of multiple vulnerable victims before.
___
METHANE-NEW MEXICO
New Mexico governor opposes Trump proposal on methane rules
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's administration is going on record against federal proposals to revoke Obama-era regulations on climate-changing methane leaks from many oil facilities.
The state Environment Department said Friday it submitted formal comments Thursday opposing the proposal that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in August would remove unnecessary and duplicative burdens from the oil and gas industry.
Lujan Grisham called the Trump administration's proposal unconscionable and part of an "ongoing assault on the environment."
The governor said New Mexico and other states "will lead the transition to a renewable energy economy and take aggressive steps to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
POLICE SHOOTING-ALBUQUERQUE
Police: Officers fatally shoot man during confrontation
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Albuquerque police say officers fatally shot a man who confronted them during a traffic stop after a carjacking attempt.
Police say the man shot Friday night was a passenger in the vehicle stopped by police and that the driver was in police custody.
According to police, the shooting occurred when the passenger got out of a vehicle stopped several blocks from where the carjacking attempt was reported.
Police said a gun was found next to the man who was shot but that other information on circumstances of the shooting and the carjacking attempt weren't immediately available.
No identities were released.
NEW MEXICO OUTDOOR RECREATION
New Mexico signs on to bolster outdoor recreation industry
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico has joined a dozen other states in committing to advance principles aimed at bolstering outdoor recreation.
The state's new director of outdoor recreation, Axie Navas, signed on during a three-day event in St. George, Utah that drew government officials, land managers, industry representatives and others.
The accords embody principles that focus on conservation and stewardship, education and workforce training, economic development, and public health and wellness. They were developed last year by a bipartisan group of several states to promote and advance best practices for all states to consider.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham says her state has a tremendous opportunity to expand the outdoor recreation economy in a sustainable and meaningful way and that means more jobs and economic opportunity in rural parts of the state.
IMMIGRATION DETAINEES-SELF-HARM
Detainees threaten self-harm in New Mexico detention center
(Information from: Albuquerque Journal, http://www.abqjournal.com)
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Immigrant advocates and lawyers in New Mexico say multiple asylum-seekers from Cuba have tried to kill themselves and staged sit-ins after being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The Albuquerque Journal reported Thursday that 32-year-old Iosnaiqui Acosta-Columbie told the Journal that he has taken dramatic measures like cutting himself after he says he endured beatings by police and escaped the "dictatorship" to seek asylum in the U.S.
Lawyers in touch with detainees say three Cubans have tried to kill themselves this month.
ICE officials have also confirmed two self-harm incidents involving men this month.
Asylum-seekers in a detention center in Otero County have said they are deprived of their liberty for up to nine months and have requested their release.
The Otero County site has more than 1,000 inmates.
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