MILITARY DEATH-SOUTHWEST BORDER
Military service member found dead in southern Arizona
AJO, Ariz. (AP) — Authorities say another military service member assigned to help secure the U.S.-Mexico border has died in southern Arizona.
Officials at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado, said in a statement that the military service member with the Southwest Border Support Mission was found dead Sunday near Ajo, Arizona.
They say the incident is under investigation, but foul play isn't suspected.
The name of the military service member wasn't released.
It's the second such death this month.
The base previously announced the June 1 death of another military service member near Nogales, Arizona, who also was assigned to the Southwest Border Support Mission.
Base officials said foul play wasn't suspected in that death either.
President Donald Trump assigned several thousand troops to the southwest border in recent months to support the U.S. Border Patrol.
NEW MEXICO WILDFIRE
Wildfire in Lincoln Nation Forest continues to grow
ARABELA, N.M. (AP) — A wildfire in south-central New Mexico continues to grow in the Lincoln National Forest.
State and federal fire officials say the fire grew Sunday to more than 9 square miles (24 square kilometers) and is uncontained.
The blaze outside of the small community of Arabela, New Mexico, began Thursday and the cause remains under investigation.
The fire area includes multiple cabins, communication structures, archaeological and historical sites, and the unique wilderness characteristics of the Capitan Mountains Wilderness.
Around 300 firefighters are working to calm the inferno.
Arebela is about 220 miles (354 kilometers) southeast of Albuquerque.
WIND FARM
New wind farm coming to southeast New Mexico
CARLSBAD, N.M. (AP) — A new wind farm is coming to southeast New Mexico, and the project will bring turbines and transmission lines to key counties.
The Carlsbad Current-Argus reports the San Diego-based EDF Renewables recently announced that construction on the Oso Grande Wind Project will start this year and the farm will go into full operations by the end of 2020.
The project between EDF Renewables and Tucson Electric Power will consist of 61 turbines in Chaves, Eddy and Lea counties in New Mexico.
EDF Renewables says the energy generated will be delivered to Tucson, Arizona, and the system will have a capacity of about 247 megawatts.
Tucson Electric Power President David Hutchens says the project will be his company's largest renewable energy asset and advance its goal of increasing renewable resources.
MOTHER-DAUGHTER SLAYINGS
Man suspected of killing 2 in New Mexico in custody in Texas
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A suspect in the deaths of a 19-year-old woman and her mother in southeast Albuquerque has turned himself in to police in Texas.
Albuquerque police announced Sunday that 20-year-old Jesus Cartagena Jr. is being held by El Paso police on suspicion of two counts of murder in the deaths of Shanta Hanish and her 58-year-old mother, Laura Hanish.
According to a criminal complaint, Shanta Hanish had recently broken up with Cartagena.
She was a student at the University of New Mexico while her mother was due to retire this year after 24 years as a social worker at the Public Defender's Office.
The women's bodies were found in their home Friday morning when an employer went to go check on Laura Hanish after she didn't show up for work.
BORDER-ARMED GROUP-INDICTMENT
Member of armed border group indicted for impersonation
GUTHRIE, Okla. (AP) — A man who has been a spokesman for a group of armed civilians patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border has been charged with impersonating a U.S. officer or employee.
Federal prosecutors in New Mexico say an indictment returned Wednesday by a grand jury in that state charged 44-year-old James Christopher Benvie with two counts of false personation of a U.S. officer or employee. He faces up to three years in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors said that Benvie, of Albany, Minnesota, made an initial appearance in federal court Friday in Oklahoma after the FBI arrested him there.
The indictment alleges Benvie committed the offenses in Dona Ana County on April 15 and April 17.
A detention hearing is set for Tuesday. He'll be transported to New Mexico for prosecution.
CENSUS 2020-TECHNOLOGY
US Census Bureau using aerial tech to help with 2020 count
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The U.S. Census Bureau is using new high-tech tools to help get an accurate population count next year as it faces criticism for the way it plans to reach out to people of color.
Census employees are taking images captured from satellites and planes to verify addresses in rural communities and compare them to previous maps from 2010.
It comes as the bureau is planning internet and telephone questionnaires, which advocates say would be more likely to overlook rural areas without reliable communication infrastructure.
Deirdre Dalpiaz Bishop of the bureau's geography division says employees check the data through computers and then plan how to send staff to hard-to-reach areas if census questionnaires aren't returned.
City University of New York Mapping Service director Steven Romalewski calls the technology promising.
INFANT'S DEATH-AUTOPSY
Autopsy: Albuquerque baby girl found dead had meth in system
(Information from: Albuquerque Journal, http://www.abqjournal.com)
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A recently released autopsy report shows a 1-year-old Albuquerque girl found dead in January had methamphetamine in her system.
But according to the Albuquerque Journal, the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator couldn't determine how the Anastazia Zuber died.
Police found the baby's body on Jan. 4 at an Albuquerque home, ending a search for the child that began after her father reportedly told a relative that she drowned in a bathtub.
Authorities say the infant was found wrapped in two plastic bags, stuffed inside a duffel bag and buried in a backyard.
Police say the child's parents — 26-year-old David Zuber and 23-year-old Monique Romero — have been charged with child abuse resulting in death.
The couple's cases are pending. They're out of jail while awaiting their trials.
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Military service member found dead in southern Arizona
AJO, Ariz. (AP) — Authorities say another military service member assigned to help secure the U.S.-Mexico border has died in southern Arizona.
Officials at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado, said in a statement that the military service member with the Southwest Border Support Mission was found dead Sunday near Ajo, Arizona.
They say the incident is under investigation, but foul play isn't suspected.
The name of the military service member wasn't released.
It's the second such death this month.
The base previously announced the June 1 death of another military service member near Nogales, Arizona, who also was assigned to the Southwest Border Support Mission.
Base officials said foul play wasn't suspected in that death either.
President Donald Trump assigned several thousand troops to the southwest border in recent months to support the U.S. Border Patrol.
NEW MEXICO WILDFIRE
Wildfire in Lincoln Nation Forest continues to grow
ARABELA, N.M. (AP) — A wildfire in south-central New Mexico continues to grow in the Lincoln National Forest.
State and federal fire officials say the fire grew Sunday to more than 9 square miles (24 square kilometers) and is uncontained.
The blaze outside of the small community of Arabela, New Mexico, began Thursday and the cause remains under investigation.
The fire area includes multiple cabins, communication structures, archaeological and historical sites, and the unique wilderness characteristics of the Capitan Mountains Wilderness.
Around 300 firefighters are working to calm the inferno.
Arebela is about 220 miles (354 kilometers) southeast of Albuquerque.
WIND FARM
New wind farm coming to southeast New Mexico
CARLSBAD, N.M. (AP) — A new wind farm is coming to southeast New Mexico, and the project will bring turbines and transmission lines to key counties.
The Carlsbad Current-Argus reports the San Diego-based EDF Renewables recently announced that construction on the Oso Grande Wind Project will start this year and the farm will go into full operations by the end of 2020.
The project between EDF Renewables and Tucson Electric Power will consist of 61 turbines in Chaves, Eddy and Lea counties in New Mexico.
EDF Renewables says the energy generated will be delivered to Tucson, Arizona, and the system will have a capacity of about 247 megawatts.
Tucson Electric Power President David Hutchens says the project will be his company's largest renewable energy asset and advance its goal of increasing renewable resources.
MOTHER-DAUGHTER SLAYINGS
Man suspected of killing 2 in New Mexico in custody in Texas
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A suspect in the deaths of a 19-year-old woman and her mother in southeast Albuquerque has turned himself in to police in Texas.
Albuquerque police announced Sunday that 20-year-old Jesus Cartagena Jr. is being held by El Paso police on suspicion of two counts of murder in the deaths of Shanta Hanish and her 58-year-old mother, Laura Hanish.
According to a criminal complaint, Shanta Hanish had recently broken up with Cartagena.
She was a student at the University of New Mexico while her mother was due to retire this year after 24 years as a social worker at the Public Defender's Office.
The women's bodies were found in their home Friday morning when an employer went to go check on Laura Hanish after she didn't show up for work.
BORDER-ARMED GROUP-INDICTMENT
Member of armed border group indicted for impersonation
GUTHRIE, Okla. (AP) — A man who has been a spokesman for a group of armed civilians patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border has been charged with impersonating a U.S. officer or employee.
Federal prosecutors in New Mexico say an indictment returned Wednesday by a grand jury in that state charged 44-year-old James Christopher Benvie with two counts of false personation of a U.S. officer or employee. He faces up to three years in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors said that Benvie, of Albany, Minnesota, made an initial appearance in federal court Friday in Oklahoma after the FBI arrested him there.
The indictment alleges Benvie committed the offenses in Dona Ana County on April 15 and April 17.
A detention hearing is set for Tuesday. He'll be transported to New Mexico for prosecution.
CENSUS 2020-TECHNOLOGY
US Census Bureau using aerial tech to help with 2020 count
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The U.S. Census Bureau is using new high-tech tools to help get an accurate population count next year as it faces criticism for the way it plans to reach out to people of color.
Census employees are taking images captured from satellites and planes to verify addresses in rural communities and compare them to previous maps from 2010.
It comes as the bureau is planning internet and telephone questionnaires, which advocates say would be more likely to overlook rural areas without reliable communication infrastructure.
Deirdre Dalpiaz Bishop of the bureau's geography division says employees check the data through computers and then plan how to send staff to hard-to-reach areas if census questionnaires aren't returned.
City University of New York Mapping Service director Steven Romalewski calls the technology promising.
INFANT'S DEATH-AUTOPSY
Autopsy: Albuquerque baby girl found dead had meth in system
(Information from: Albuquerque Journal, http://www.abqjournal.com)
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A recently released autopsy report shows a 1-year-old Albuquerque girl found dead in January had methamphetamine in her system.
But according to the Albuquerque Journal, the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator couldn't determine how the Anastazia Zuber died.
Police found the baby's body on Jan. 4 at an Albuquerque home, ending a search for the child that began after her father reportedly told a relative that she drowned in a bathtub.
Authorities say the infant was found wrapped in two plastic bags, stuffed inside a duffel bag and buried in a backyard.
Police say the child's parents — 26-year-old David Zuber and 23-year-old Monique Romero — have been charged with child abuse resulting in death.
The couple's cases are pending. They're out of jail while awaiting their trials.
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