Search continues for Los Lunas woman missing for 2 weeks
(Information from: KOB-TV, http://www.kob.com)
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Valencia County Sheriff's officials say they're investigating what they call "suspicious circumstances" surrounding the case of a Los Lunas woman missing for nearly two weeks.
More than 200 people helped search Saturday for 49-year-old Rita Denise Jaramillo.
Albuquerque TV station KOB reports that searchers looked along the foothills of El Cerro, Monzana mountains and outskirts of Meadow Lake.
Sheriff's investigators are calling Jaramillo's disappearance suspicious because they say her home was intentionally set on fire.
Firefighters say they found tires in each room of the house, acting as accelerators in the blaze.
Authorities say Jaramillo's car also is missing.
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POWER PLANT CLOSURE
Closing generating station could have huge economic impacts
(Information from: The Daily Times, http://www.daily-times.com)
FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) — One of the biggest issues looming over a northwestern New Mexico county is the potential closure of a coal-fired power plant in 2022 — about 20 years before the end of its useful life.
The Farmington Daily Times reports the closure of the San Juan Generating Station, which provides electricity to an estimated two million customers in the Southwest, is expected to have severe economic consequences for San Juan County.
A study commissioned by Four Corners Economic Development estimates closing the San Juan Generating Station and the accompanying San Juan Mine will lead to more than $105 million in lost wages in San Juan County and nearly 1,500 lost jobs.
The city of Farmington, in addition to lost taxes and jobs, will have to replace the electricity that it receives from the generating station.
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NEW MEXICO-MICHIGAN MAN KILLED
Police investigating killing seek group of young people
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Santa Fe police investigating the fatal shooting of a 64-year-old Michigan man visiting the northern New Mexico city are looking for five young people.
Richard Milan of Kalamazoo died Wednesday night after being shot while walking in his dog during a stop in Santa Fe on a return trip to Michigan from California.
Police spokesman Greg Gurule says investigators believe Milan was shot during a confrontation with a group of males and females in their late teens or early 20s.
Parishioners at a nearby church used linens and their own shirts to put pressure on Milan's wounds in an attempt to stop heavy bleeding.
FATAL HIT-AND-RUN
Man killed in hit-and-run on highway in western New Mexico
QUEMADO, N.M. (AP) — Authorities say 57-year-old man is dead after being struck by a hit-and-run vehicle in a rural area of western New Mexico.
The New Mexico State Police says Joseph Wayne Stewart of Veguita was struck by a westbound vehicle on U.S. 60 early Thursday morning about 5 miles (8 kilometers) east of the Arizona-New Mexico line.
According to the State Police, Stewart stopped his vehicle on the side of the highway, got out and was standing in the middle of the westbound lane when he was struck.
The State Police says evidence suggests that the hit-and-run vehicle was a tractor-trailer rig and that alcohol apparently was a factor of why Stewart was in the traffic lane on a dark and unlit section of the highway.
FARMINGTON-COLD CASE HOMICIDE
Farmington police reopen investigation into 1992 homicide
FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) — Farmington police have reopened their investigation into the 1992 killing of a woman in hopes that advances in forensic sciences and the possibility of receiving new information from the public can crack the case.
Police say Carla Helmer hadn't gone to work for three days before she was found fatally stabbed in her home on Oct. 28, 1992.
According to police, evidence suggested Helmer knew her attacker and indicated she tried to fight off the attacker.
Police say people of interest were identified early on in the original investigation but that the case went cold after a few years and hasn't been solved after several additional reviews over the years.
Police say investigators are reviewing what evidentiary items can be re-examined.
ALBUQUERQUE AIRPORT-SUSPICIOUS BAG-THE LATEST
The Latest: 'All clear' pronounced at Albuquerque airport
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The Albuquerque airport is pronouncing "all clear" following a security concern involving a suspicions suitcase and airport operations have returned to normal.
The incident Saturday resulted in temporary closures of street access to the Albuquerque Sunport and of the west end of the airport terminal for about two hours.
A Police Department spokesman said the incident began when the suitcase was left unattended and an explosives-detection dog signaled interest in it.
Officer Simon Drobik said the bomb squad's examination of the suitcase found nothing dangerous and that there was no threat made in the incident.