Albuquerque attorney appointed as state district judge
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has chosen an Albuquerque attorney to fill a vacancy on the bench that serves New Mexico's busiest judicial district.
Erin O'Connell will fill the seat left open by the retirement of Judge Nan Nash, who served as the 2nd District's chief judge before stepping down.
O'Connell has managed a solo practice since 2013. She previously worked as an associate attorney at another Albuquerque law firm and clerked under former New Mexico Supreme Court Justice Charles Daniels.
She also was a member of the high court's Appellate Rules Committee for five years and serves on the New Mexico Trial Lawyers board.
Once a farmer and rancher in Mora County, O'Connell earned her law degree from the University of New Mexico in 2007.
LEGISLATURE-NEW MEXICO
New Mexico bill to boost school funding heads to House vote
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The Democrat-led New Mexico House of Representatives is poised to approve a spending plan for the coming fiscal year that would channel a windfall of state income toward public education, infrastructure projects and pay raises for public officials.
The House scheduled floor deliberations for Thursday on the $7 billion general fund budget proposal for the fiscal year that begins July 1. It increases annual state spending by nearly $700 million.
About $450 million would go toward education initiatives as lawmakers grapple with a judicial order to provide more resources to struggling schools and minority students in particular.
The bill also includes $150 million in one-time subsidies for the film industry and would reinstate intercollegiate soccer, skiing and beach volleyball teams at the University of New Mexico.
TORTURE-KILLING
Report: New Mexico man used machete, sword to torture victim
(Information from: Albuquerque Journal, http://www.abqjournal.com)
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Authorities say a New Mexico man facing murder and kidnapping charges tortured his victim with a number of items.
The Albuquerque Journal reports prosecutors say Allister Danzig Quintana tortured and killed the victim in February 2018 using a machete, sword, broken broomsticks, and a flashlight.
According to a criminal complaint and a new indictment, the 25-year-old suspect killed a man with the help of at least one accomplice. The name of the victim has not been released.
The Jicarilla Apache Police Department says tribal officers found the victim's body in a closet during a search of Quintana's home.
It was not known if Quintana had an attorney.
Quintana is in custody awaiting trial. He faces up to life in prison if convicted.
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BODY IN ARROYO-ID
Albuquerque police ID girl whose body was found in arroyo
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Albuquerque police are investigating the death of a teenager whose body was found in an arroyo as a homicide.
Police identified the girl Thursday as 16-year-old Tomica Yellowhorse.
The medical examiner's office is working to determine exactly how she died.
Authorities had responded to a call about a body in an arroyo in northeast Albuquerque on the morning of Feb. 10.
MURDER CASE-PLEA
Dulce man pleads not guilty in first-degree murder case
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A Dulce man has pleaded not guilty in the death of another man at a home on the Jicarilla Apache reservation.
Allister Quintana entered the plea in federal court Wednesday to charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping.
Prosecutors say Quintana tortured and killed a man at Quintana's home on Feb. 3, 2018. Police found the victim's body with his hands and feet bound in a closet 11 days later.
The 25-year-old Quintana faces up to life in prison if convicted.
A medical examiner ruled the man's death a homicide.
Authorities say Quintana beat the victim with his fists, a flashlight, and a stick, and stabbed him with a machete and a sword.
Quintana was arrested last May. A grand jury issued a superseding indictment last week.
OILFIELD ENFORCEMENT-NEW MEXICO
New Mexico weighs new authority for oilfield regulators
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico oilfield regulators would recover the authority to directly levy civil fines against well operators who fail to properly maintain equipment or spill waste under proposed legislation backed by the Democratic administration of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
Initial committee deliberations were scheduled Thursday on a bill that is being closely watched by the oil industry and advocates for tighter state oversight.
State fines against oilfield operators in New Mexico have ground to a halt in the aftermath of a 2009 state Supreme Court decision that required the involvement of state prosecutors.
The bill from Sen. Richard Martinez of Espanola would give new authority to the Oil Conservation Division to pursue sanctions directly through administrative hearings or litigation. It would increase potential penalties from $1,000 a day to $15,000.
PUBLIC PENSIONS-NEW MEXICO
Task force to address New Mexico's public pension problems
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Officials who oversee one of New Mexico's major public pension funds say they're encouraged Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is creating a task force to address mounting unfunded liabilities.
The board chair of the Public Employees Retirement Association, Jacquelin Kohlasch, is among those who will serve on the 19-member task force. She said Thursday the goal is developing meaningful solutions to "our very real solvency challenges."
The Public Employees Retirement Association, or PERA, covers roughly 50,000 active state and municipal workers and 40,000 retirees. It had an unfunded liability of $6 billion at the end of the 2018 budget year.
Lujan Grisham issued an executive order Monday calling for the task force. The panel's recommendations are due Aug. 30 and will serve as the basis for legislation during the 2020 session.
OIL BOOM-LEASE SALE
New Mexico oil and gas lease sale nets $35 million
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The State Land Office says this month's oil and natural gas lease sale has netted more than $35 million.
Officials say that includes the largest open bid sale in the agency's history, with numerous tracts in southeastern New Mexico closing at more than $12 million.
Most of the money generated by the State Land Office supports public education and other beneficiaries.
Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard says New Mexico is continuing to see the benefits of the boom in the Permian Basin, which straddles parts of New Mexico and West Texas.
Federal energy forecasters expect the United States to pump 12.4 million barrels of crude a day in 2019 and 13.2 million barrels a day in 2020. Most of the increase is expected to come from the Permian Basin.