AZTEC RUINS-HISTORIC INSCRIPTIONS
Team to study historic inscriptions at New Mexico ruins
AZTEC, N.M. (AP) — A Colorado historian is leading a team to survey the historic inscriptions on the ceilings of the 900-year-old ruins in northwestern New Mexico.
The Farmington Daily Times reports Fred Blackburn and his team will study lengthy messages — or graffiti — left at the Aztec Ruins National Monument to shed light on how others saw the engineering marvel.
Blackburn wants to know the stories of those folks and add historical context to their inscriptions in as many cases as possible.
The Aztec Ruins National Monument is made of 400 masonry rooms and is an ancestral pueblo structure that dates back to the 11th to the 13th centuries. White settlers named it after mistakenly believing it was built by Aztecs from central Mexico.

MISSING PLANE-SEARCH
Search continues for small plane missing near Santa Fe
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Authorities continue to search for a small plane that might have crashed in the Pecos Wilderness northeast of Santa Fe.
Authorities have not identified the two people aboard the single-engine, four-seater plane that disappeared after a refueling stop.
They say the pilot and passenger were both from Colorado.
New Mexico State Police say the plane took off from Santa Fe Regional Airport at 5:49 p.m. Thursday and air traffic controllers lost radar contact with the aircraft 12 minutes later.
State Police say the plane's emergency beacon pinged a mile south of Tererro and that's the aircraft's last known location.
The air and ground search began Friday and included State Police, National Guard and Civil Air Patrol aircraft.

IMMIGRATION-FAST-TRACK DEPORTATIONS
Judge blocks extension of fast-track deportations nationwide
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration's move to vastly extend authority of immigration officers to deport people without allowing them to appear before judges.
The policy would allow fast-track deportations to apply to anyone in the country illegally for less than two years. Now, they are largely limited to people arrested almost immediately after crossing the Mexican border.
Ruling late Friday in Washington, U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson says the administration violated procedural requirements to first seek public comment and ignored flaws in how the policy has been used on a smaller scale at the border.
The Justice Department says the judge overstepped her authority and undermined laws enacted by Congress with careful consideration by the administration on how to enforce them.

DRUG TRAFFICKING-POLICE LINK
Chief: No evidence of corruption in Las Vegas police force
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A northern New Mexico police chief says his investigation found no evidence of corruption in his department in the wake of suspicions that word of a federal drug investigation was leaked to an alleged trafficker.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that Las Vegas Police Chief David Bibb said Friday there was "no evidence of any employee of the police department that would suggest corruption of any kind."
The Las Vegas Optic previously reported that a recently unsealed search warrant affidavit indicated that one or more employees of the Las Vegas department may have tried to help the alleged trafficker by providing word of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration investigation.
The affidavit cited information from a wiretap.

LAWMAKER-MEMORIAL SERVICES
Flags at half-staff for New Mexico state senator
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Flags across New Mexico are at half-staff in honor of state Sen. Carlos Cisneros, who died earlier this month of a heart attack.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham ordered flags lowered Friday in recognition of the long-time lawmaker lying in state. The senator's casket, blanketed by a white cloth adorned with the state seal, was in place in the Rotunda for a public viewing.
A funnel service is scheduled Saturday at a church in Santa Fe.
Cisneros had recently announced his bid for re-election to represent a vast district that stretches from the state line with Colorado to the outskirts of Los Alamos, including Taos, Peñasco, Truchas and Pojoaque Pueblo.
Cisneros joined the Senate in 1985 and went on to play a leading role in annual budget negotiations.

OIL ECONOMY-NEW MEXICO
Job growth accelerates in New Mexico
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A vice president and research adviser to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas says job growth in New Mexico is accelerating.
Dallas-branch Federal Reserve Vice President Mine Yucel told a panel of state legislators Friday that job growth for the current year already has eclipsed 2018 growth.
She says the state economy is on track to add 20,000 jobs by year's end and that construction is the fastest growing sector for employment. Statewide, employment has increased 2.6% since 2018.
Yucel also noted a growing dependence by New Mexico state government on revenues from the oil industry.
State lawmakers are investing a windfall in tax revenue into road construction, higher public-sector salaries and incentives for the film industry.

THREATENED OWL-FIREWOOD PERMITS
New Mexico delegation wants firewood ban addressed
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's congressional delegation wants the U.S. Forest Service to quickly address concerns about a threatened owl and to allow firewood gathering and other activities to resume on six Southwest forests.
The agency has suspended timber sales, thinning projects, prescribed burns and the sale of firewood permits on five New Mexico forests and one in Arizona.
The decision stems from a recent court order in which environmentalists accused the federal government of failing to track Mexican spotted owls.
The Forest Service says it can't interpret the order as it sees fit. But the agency says it supports excluding firewood permits from the activities that have been put on hold.
A pending motion would modify the court order to exclude firewood cutting and gathering for personal use.
​
OBIT-JOE WILSON
Joe Wilson, skeptic on Iraq War intelligence, dies at age 69
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The former ambassador who disputed U.S. intelligence on Iraq that was used to justify going to war has died. Joseph Wilson was 69.
Wilson's ex-wife Valerie Plame confirmed in a text message that Wilson died Friday of organ failure in Santa Fe. She called him a "patriot" with "the heart of a lion."
Wilson traveled to Niger to investigate allegations Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein tried to purchase uranium and later alleged that the administration of President George W. Bush twisted prewar intelligence on Iraq to justify war.
Subsequently, Plame's identity as a CIA operative was leaked in a scandal that led to the conviction of vice presidential aide Scooter B. Libby for lying to investigators and justice obstruction.
President Donald Trump pardoned Libby in 2018.
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This version corrects in the first paragraph that Wilson died, not Plame.

In this Sept. 17, 2019 photo, a lengthy inscription by Phila Bliven covers the viga on the left side of this image in a room in the West Ruin at Aztec Ruins National Monument at Aztec, N.M. Her signature is visible at the top right of the viga. A Colorado historian is leading a team to survey the historic inscriptions on the ceilings of the 900-year-old ruins in northwestern New Mexico. (Mike Easterling/The Daily Times via AP)

AZTEC RUINS-HISTORIC INSCRIPTIONS
Team to study historic inscriptions at New Mexico ruins
AZTEC, N.M. (AP) — A Colorado historian is leading a team to survey the historic inscriptions on the ceilings of the 900-year-old ruins in northwestern New Mexico.
The Farmington Daily Times reports Fred Blackburn and his team will study lengthy messages — or graffiti — left at the Aztec Ruins National Monument to shed light on how others saw the engineering marvel.
Blackburn wants to know the stories of those folks and add historical context to their inscriptions in as many cases as possible.
The Aztec Ruins National Monument is made of 400 masonry rooms and is an ancestral pueblo structure that dates back to the 11th to the 13th centuries. White settlers named it after mistakenly believing it was built by Aztecs from central Mexico.

MISSING PLANE-SEARCH
Search continues for small plane missing near Santa Fe
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Authorities continue to search for a small plane that might have crashed in the Pecos Wilderness northeast of Santa Fe.
Authorities have not identified the two people aboard the single-engine, four-seater plane that disappeared after a refueling stop.
They say the pilot and passenger were both from Colorado.
New Mexico State Police say the plane took off from Santa Fe Regional Airport at 5:49 p.m. Thursday and air traffic controllers lost radar contact with the aircraft 12 minutes later.
State Police say the plane's emergency beacon pinged a mile south of Tererro and that's the aircraft's last known location.
The air and ground search began Friday and included State Police, National Guard and Civil Air Patrol aircraft.

IMMIGRATION-FAST-TRACK DEPORTATIONS
Judge blocks extension of fast-track deportations nationwide
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration's move to vastly extend authority of immigration officers to deport people without allowing them to appear before judges.
The policy would allow fast-track deportations to apply to anyone in the country illegally for less than two years. Now, they are largely limited to people arrested almost immediately after crossing the Mexican border.
Ruling late Friday in Washington, U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson says the administration violated procedural requirements to first seek public comment and ignored flaws in how the policy has been used on a smaller scale at the border.
The Justice Department says the judge overstepped her authority and undermined laws enacted by Congress with careful consideration by the administration on how to enforce them.

DRUG TRAFFICKING-POLICE LINK
Chief: No evidence of corruption in Las Vegas police force
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A northern New Mexico police chief says his investigation found no evidence of corruption in his department in the wake of suspicions that word of a federal drug investigation was leaked to an alleged trafficker.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that Las Vegas Police Chief David Bibb said Friday there was "no evidence of any employee of the police department that would suggest corruption of any kind."
The Las Vegas Optic previously reported that a recently unsealed search warrant affidavit indicated that one or more employees of the Las Vegas department may have tried to help the alleged trafficker by providing word of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration investigation.
The affidavit cited information from a wiretap.

LAWMAKER-MEMORIAL SERVICES
Flags at half-staff for New Mexico state senator
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Flags across New Mexico are at half-staff in honor of state Sen. Carlos Cisneros, who died earlier this month of a heart attack.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham ordered flags lowered Friday in recognition of the long-time lawmaker lying in state. The senator's casket, blanketed by a white cloth adorned with the state seal, was in place in the Rotunda for a public viewing.
A funnel service is scheduled Saturday at a church in Santa Fe.
Cisneros had recently announced his bid for re-election to represent a vast district that stretches from the state line with Colorado to the outskirts of Los Alamos, including Taos, Peñasco, Truchas and Pojoaque Pueblo.
Cisneros joined the Senate in 1985 and went on to play a leading role in annual budget negotiations.

OIL ECONOMY-NEW MEXICO
Job growth accelerates in New Mexico
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A vice president and research adviser to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas says job growth in New Mexico is accelerating.
Dallas-branch Federal Reserve Vice President Mine Yucel told a panel of state legislators Friday that job growth for the current year already has eclipsed 2018 growth.
She says the state economy is on track to add 20,000 jobs by year's end and that construction is the fastest growing sector for employment. Statewide, employment has increased 2.6% since 2018.
Yucel also noted a growing dependence by New Mexico state government on revenues from the oil industry.
State lawmakers are investing a windfall in tax revenue into road construction, higher public-sector salaries and incentives for the film industry.
This version corrects that construction is the fastest growing sector for jobs.

THREATENED OWL-FIREWOOD PERMITS
New Mexico delegation wants firewood ban addressed
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's congressional delegation wants the U.S. Forest Service to quickly address concerns about a threatened owl and to allow firewood gathering and other activities to resume on six Southwest forests.
The agency has suspended timber sales, thinning projects, prescribed burns and the sale of firewood permits on five New Mexico forests and one in Arizona.
The decision stems from a recent court order in which environmentalists accused the federal government of failing to track Mexican spotted owls.
The Forest Service says it can't interpret the order as it sees fit. But the agency says it supports excluding firewood permits from the activities that have been put on hold.
A pending motion would modify the court order to exclude firewood cutting and gathering for personal use.

OBIT-JOE WILSON
Joe Wilson, skeptic on Iraq War intelligence, dies at age 69
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The former ambassador who disputed U.S. intelligence on Iraq that was used to justify going to war has died. Joseph Wilson was 69.
Wilson's ex-wife Valerie Plame confirmed in a text message that Wilson died Friday of organ failure in Santa Fe. She called him a "patriot" with "the heart of a lion."
Wilson traveled to Niger to investigate allegations Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein tried to purchase uranium and later alleged that the administration of President George W. Bush twisted prewar intelligence on Iraq to justify war.
Subsequently, Plame's identity as a CIA operative was leaked in a scandal that led to the conviction of vice presidential aide Scooter B. Libby for lying to investigators and justice obstruction.
President Donald Trump pardoned Libby in 2018.

Chief: No evidence of corruption in Las Vegas police force
LEAKED DRUG INFORMATION
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A northern New Mexico police chief says his investigation found no evidence of corruption in his department in the wake of suspicions that word of a federal drug investigation was leaked to an alleged trafficker.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that Las Vegas Police Chief David Bibb said Friday there was "no evidence of any employee of the police department that would suggest corruption of any kind."
The Las Vegas Optic previously reported that a recently unsealed search warrant affidavit indicated that one or more employees of the Las Vegas department may have tried to help the alleged trafficker by providing word of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration investigation.
The affidavit cited information from a wiretap.

LAWMAKER-MEMORIAL SERVICES
Flags at half-staff for New Mexico state senator
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Flags across New Mexico are at half-staff in honor of state Sen. Carlos Cisneros, who died earlier this month of a heart attack.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham ordered flags lowered Friday in recognition of the long-time lawmaker lying in state. The senator's casket, blanketed by a white cloth adorned with the state seal, was in place in the Rotunda for a public viewing.
A funnel service is scheduled Saturday at a church in Santa Fe.
Cisneros had recently announced his bid for re-election to represent a vast district that stretches from the state line with Colorado to the outskirts of Los Alamos, including Taos, Peñasco, Truchas and Pojoaque Pueblo.
Cisneros joined the Senate in 1985 and went on to play a leading role in annual budget negotiations.

OIL ECONOMY-NEW MEXICO
Job growth accelerates in New Mexico
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A vice president and research adviser to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas says job growth in New Mexico is accelerating.
Dallas-branch Federal Reserve Vice President Mine Yucel told a panel of state legislators Friday that job growth for the current year already has eclipsed 2018 growth.
She says the state economy is on track to add 20,000 jobs by year's end and that construction is the fastest growing sector for employment. Statewide, employment has increased 2.6% since 2018.
Yucel also noted a growing dependence by New Mexico state government on revenues from the oil industry.
State lawmakers are investing a windfall in tax revenue into road construction, higher public-sector salaries and incentives for the film industry.
___
THREATENED OWL-FIREWOOD PERMITS
New Mexico delegation wants firewood ban addressed
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's congressional delegation wants the U.S. Forest Service to quickly address concerns about a threatened owl and to allow firewood gathering and other activities to resume on six Southwest forests.
The agency has suspended timber sales, thinning projects, prescribed burns and the sale of firewood permits on five New Mexico forests and one in Arizona.
The decision stems from a recent court order in which environmentalists accused the federal government of failing to track Mexican spotted owls.
The Forest Service says it can't interpret the order as it sees fit. But the agency says it supports excluding firewood permits from the activities that have been put on hold.
A pending motion would modify the court order to exclude firewood cutting and gathering for personal use.

OBIT-JOE WILSON
Joe Wilson, skeptic on Iraq War intelligence, dies at age 69
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The former ambassador who disputed U.S. intelligence on Iraq that was used to justify going to war has died. Joseph Wilson was 69.
Wilson's ex-wife Valerie Plame confirmed in a text message that Wilson died Friday of organ failure in Santa Fe. She called him a "patriot" with "the heart of a lion."
Wilson traveled to Niger to investigate allegations Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein tried to purchase uranium and later alleged that the administration of President George W. Bush twisted prewar intelligence on Iraq to justify war.
Subsequently, Plame's identity as a CIA operative was leaked in a scandal that led to the conviction of vice presidential aide Scooter B. Libby for lying to investigators and justice obstruction.
President Donald Trump pardoned Libby in 2018.
__
CUTTHROAT TROUT RULING
Judge vacates part of protection decision on trout species
DENVER (AP) — A judge has asked U.S. biologists to explain part of a determination that a trout native to Colorado and New Mexico doesn't merit an endangered species listing.
But U.S. District Court Senior Judge Marcia S. Krieger found that a 2014 decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service not to list the Rio Grande cutthroat trout was otherwise sound.
The Center for Biological Diversity sued the agency after it changed course from a 2008 finding that the trout merited protection.
In a ruling issued Thursday, Krieger vacated part of the 2014 decision. She ordered the agency to explain why it considers isolated trout populations of less than 2,500 to be stable.
The Rio Grande cutthroat was the first North American trout to be recorded by Spanish explorers centuries ago.

IMMIGRATION-CHILD DETENTION-THE LATEST
The Latest: Judge to block rules for detained migrant kids
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A U.S. judge says she will block Trump administration rules for the detention of immigrant children, calling them inconsistent with a longstanding agreement that lays out conditions for their custody.
The decision came Friday after a hearing where attorneys for detained immigrant children said the rules would let the U.S. government keep kids locked up indefinitely and in facilities that aren't licensed by the state.
The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Dolly Gee in Los Angeles said the Flores settlement reached in 1997 remains in place and she will issue an injunction blocking the new rules from taking effect.
The longstanding settlement governs the detention conditions for immigrant children caught on the Mexico border.

PREGNANT MIGRANTS-LAWSUITS
ACLU argues pregnant women wrongly returned to Mexico
WASHINGTON (AP) — Civil rights groups are seeking an investigation by Homeland Security's watchdog into the practice of sending pregnant women back over the U.S.-Mexico border to wait out their asylum claims.
The complaint filed Friday with the Homeland Security's inspector general details more than a dozen women who have been returned to Mexico. Some were more than eight months pregnant at the time.
More than 45,000 migrants have been returned to Mexico since January. Lawsuits have been filed challenging the practice, and there have been reports of migrants threatened, kidnapped and robbed by cartels.
The complaint argues that vulnerable populations, like pregnant women, should be excluded. It argues women need special medical care they are not receiving.
The complaint was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and Texas Civil Rights Project.

NEW MEXICO-ATHLETICS SPENDING
Trial set for former New Mexico athletic director
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Former University of New Mexico athletic director Paul Krebs will stand trial on embezzlement and other charges next year.
A state district judge on Thursday scheduled Kreb's trial for October 2020. Attorneys say the proceedings could last three weeks.
An indictment filed in August charges Krebs with embezzlement for using $24,500 in public money to pay for three people not affiliated with the university to go on a lavish golf trip. He's also charged with lesser embezzlement counts, larceny and tampering.
Prosecutors allege Krebs bypassed university oversight, deleted records and tried to cover up the spending by reimbursing the university for part of the 2015 trip.
Krebs' attorney Paul Kennedy said he's confident his client will be vindicated by a jury.
Krebs served as athletic director from 2006 to 2017.

SAFETY VIOLATIONS-SANTA FE
Santa Fe cited for 7 safety violations after worker's death
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Environment Department has cited Santa Fe for seven safety violations after a city employee died in an accident five months ago.
The department has proposed civil penalties of nearly $184,000 for the violations.
The April 1 accident occurred at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center as a maintenance worker was replacing interior lighting fixtures.
The man working from a scissor lift came in contact with a 277-volt circuit.
The Environment Department cited the city for failure to properly train employees in electrical safe work practices, failure to institute safe procedures and failure to properly de-energize, lock out and verify de-energization of the circuits.
Santa Fe is required to correct the violations or notify the department's Occupational Health and Safety Bureau if it intends to contest the citations.

THREATENED OWL-FIREWOOD PERMITS-THE LATEST
The Latest: Group seeks to limit scope of tree-cutting ban
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — An environmental group is seeking to limit the scope of a court order that bans tree cutting across national forests in New Mexico and one in Arizona.
U.S. District Judge Raner Collins earlier this month sidelined timber management projects on the forests until federal agencies can get a better handle on the population of the threatened Mexican spotted owl.
The U.S. Forest Service said Thursday it has suspended permits for firewood cutting that many residents in rural areas rely on to heat their homes.
WildEarth Guardians has asked the court to modify the tree-cutting ban to exclude firewood permits for personal use.
The Forest Service said it would agree.
It's unclear when the judge will rule on the motion.
In the meantime, residents are looking for other firewood options.

RAPE CASES-MULTIPLE ARRESTS
More than dozen charged in New Mexico rape kit backlog cases
(Information from: Albuquerque Journal, http://www.abqjournal.com)
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico authorities have charged over a dozen people after prosecutors began clearing thousands of backlogged rape cases.
The Albuquerque Journal reported Wednesday that 16 Albuquerque rape cases have been filed stretching from 2010 to 2017.
Authorities say one man started his sentence, another is awaiting sentencing, two are on the loose and a dozen are headed to trial.
Authorities say the current cases include charges of criminal sexual penetration, criminal sexual penetration of a minor, aggravated assault and kidnapping.
Authorities say a 2016 report drew attention to about 5,400 rape kits that had been collected but never processed, about 4,000 were from Albuquerque.
Court officials say thousands of cases were closed because of expired statute of limitations, lack of sufficient evidence, no DNA or someone has passed away.
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ARMED SCHOOL SECURITY
New Mexico college board votes to allow armed security
(Information from: Roswell Daily Record, http://www.roswell-record.com)
ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico community college board has voted to approve a request to allow armed security on the school campus.
The Roswell Daily Record reported Wednesday that Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell community college board voted 5-0 Wednesday to allow some officers to carry firearms.
Campus security head Brad McFadin says the request gives officers another option and tool to enhance security.
Authorities say officers who did not want to carry firearms could receive training on how to use non-lethal devices such as batons, tasers or pepper spray.
Campus authorities say they have encountered people with dangerous weapons on the campus despite state law prohibiting firearms at New Mexico universities.
Board officials say the transition could cost more than $270,000 initially with estimated $7,000 recurring costs a year.
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IMMIGRATION-HUNGER STRIKE
Asylum seeker released from US custody after hunger strike
EL PASO, Texas (AP) — One of two Indian nationals who refused to eat for more than 70 days while seeking asylum in the U.S. has been released after a year in immigration detention.
Ajay Kumar left a detention processing center near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in El Paso on Thursday accompanied by human rights advocates.
Kumar and fellow Indian national Gurjant Singh say they fled India facing political persecution. Both stopped eating July 8. Kumar's lawyer said in August that her client had been force-fed.
Lawyers for the men say their clients agreed to start eating again after ICE agreed to their release.
An ICE spokeswoman declined to comment.
Attorney Jessica Miles represents Singh and says she expects him to be released Friday.
Kumar was denied asylum. He will live with a human rights advocate in New Mexico while appealing the ruling.

DRUG TRAFFICKING-POLICE LINK
DEA: New Mexico police employee may have tipped trafficker
(Information from: Las Vegas Optic, http://www.lasvegasoptic.com)
LAS VEGAS, N.M. (AP) — Federal officials say one or more employees for a northern New Mexico police department may have tried to help a suspected drug trafficker.
The Las Vegas Optic reports a search warrant affidavit filed in U.S. District Court shows the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration believes someone within the Las Vegas Police Department alerted suspected trafficker Robert Corbin Padilla about an investigation against him.
The recently-unsealed search warrant affidavit details DEA agents' months-long investigation of Padilla. The warrant alleges Padilla was responsible for 70% of the cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine coming into Las Vegas, New Mexico.
Padilla was arrested and faces multiple federal charges.
Las Vegas Police David Bibb says it would be a criminal offense if any employee provided confidential information to an investigation's target.
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AP-US-VAPING-ILLNESSES-MARIJUANA-INDUSTRY
High-flying marijuana vapes take hit from health scare
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Vaping products are taking a hit as health experts scramble to determine what's causing a mysterious lung disease.
More than 500 people have gotten ill, and nine have died after smoking vapes.
Vaping products have been one of the fastest-growing segments of the United States' legal marijuana industry. But the scare caused a 15% decline in market share for vapes.
Industry analyst firm New Frontier Data says states like Oregon and New Mexico saw more than a 60% drop in vape market share.
Experts say the crisis won't stop marijuana legalization but will mean tighter regulation overall.
Public health officials haven't pinpointed any one substance or product that's to blame.
Many patients say they used vapes containing marijuana oil, but some patients say they smoked nicotine-only vapes.
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Flaccus and Peltz, who reported from New York City, are members of AP's marijuana beat team. Follow the AP's complete marijuana coverage: https://apnews.com/Marijuana .
​
PECAN GROWERS-TARIFFS
Senators press Trump administration on India pecan tariff
(Information from: Carlsbad Current-Argus, http://www.currentargus.com/)
CARLSBAD, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's U.S. senators want the Trump administration to defend the state's pecan growers from tariffs during ongoing trade negotiations with India.
The Carlsbad Current-Argus reports U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich and Tom Udall recently signed on to a bipartisan letter from 12 senators urging U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to negotiate a lift of a trade barrier.
Records show India charges a 36% tariff on pecan imports, while other tree nuts such as pistachios and almonds are charged tariff rates of 10% or less.
New Mexico became the largest pecan-producing state last year, after Hurricane Michael ravaged Georgia's crop.
New Mexico was estimated to have produced about 90 million pounds of pecans in 2018, down about 2 million from 2017.
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