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Headlines: Artesia Immigrant March, Ginsberg On Gender Bias

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Immigrant Rally Planned In Artesia Near Center The Associated Press

Advocates are scheduled to hold a march and prayer rally in Artesia aimed at calling for the release of detained immigrant women and children.

The Santa-Fe based Somos Un Pueblo Unido and a coalition of Catholic churches are slated to hold the rally Sunday.

Organizers say the event will take place outside a temporary detention center where the immigrants are being held.

Currently, more than 600 women and children from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador are detained at Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Artesia while they await either deportation or asylum.

 
Lawyer: NM Immigrant Center Like Guantanamo The El Paso Times, The Associated Press

A lawyer helping Central American immigrants housed at a temporary center in southern New Mexico has compared the facility to the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The El Paso Times reports attorney Pamela Muñoz says that like prisoners at Guantanamo, the immigrants at the center in Artesia, New Mexico, are in a legal limbo, without formal charges and without due process.

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman says the facility and other similar ones operate in an open environment, which includes play rooms, social workers and access to legal counsel.

Officials say the New Mexico center housed 532 people as of Thursday.

The immigrants are part of the more than 57,000 unaccompanied children who have come to the U.S. in the last few months.

Ginsburg: Gender Bias More Subtle Today The Santa Fe New Mexican, The Associated Press

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says discrimination against women is more subtle than when she began her legal career more than 50 years ago.

Ginsburg made the remarks Friday at a kickoff event for a women's symposium at a downtown Santa Fe hotel, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.

She told an audience of about 350 people that "rooting out unconscious bias is much harder" than simply changing laws that would prevent women from holding positions such as firefighter or police officer.

The 81-year-old justice was the founding director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Women's Rights Project.

She says one way women today can help fight for equality is by voting.

Ginsburg talked about several subjects, including opera and her two bouts with cancer.

Rain Eases Short-Term Drought In New Mexico The Associated Press

Recent rains are easing the pain of drought across New Mexico.

The latest map released by federal forecasters highlights a spot in southeastern New Mexico where drought has disappeared.

The area represents less than 2 percent of the state, but the development is significant since it has been more than two years since an area that large or larger has been drought-free.

There are still pockets where extreme drought is holding on in the northwest and southwest, but those areas have been shrinking. More than one-third of New Mexico was dealing with extreme to exceptional drought three months ago. Now, it's just over 7 percent.

Forecasters with the National Weather Service say the best chance for rain this weekend is in the mountains and across the east.

Santa Fe Teachers' Evaluation Scores Rise The Santa Fe New Mexican, The Associated Press

New Mexico Education Secretary-Designate Hanna Skandera says evaluations incorrectly rated Santa Fe public school teachers.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reports Skandera said Friday that initial ratings indicating fewer than 50 percent of Santa Fe teachers were "effective" were inaccurate because of bad data.

Revised scores now show 67 percent of the teachers were rated effective or better. Rankings in several evaluation categories have gone up.

Santa Fe Superintendent Joel Boyd has previously said the new teacher evaluation results were wrong.

Skandera says the department is still learning and improving under the new evaluation system.

The Santa Fe district turned in required data for its evaluations a month after other districts.

Skandera says the education department will change the deadline for gathering data next year.

Police ID Woman Found Dead From Attack The Associated Press

Albuquerque police have identified a woman they say died after being victimized in a violent attack.

Police spokesman Tanner Tixier said that the body of 53-year-old Maryellen Gutierrez was found Thursday morning.

A witness told police that a male had fled the scene near Zuni Road and Utah Street.

Authorities at the scene say there are obvious signs the woman had been violently attacked.

Investigators have not released further details.

Police: Woman, Child Seriously Hurt In Dog Attack The Associated Press

Police say a woman tried to protect her young child from being mauled by two dogs in a Rio Rancho backyard, but they both suffered serious injuries.

The Police Department says in a news release Saturday that a 2-year-old boy was flown to a hospital and the woman went by ambulance, both with substantial injuries. Her 8-year-old child received a minor wound.

Officers responding to a disturbance heard screaming from a backyard, where they found two dogs biting a woman on the ground.

After shouting and other efforts to distract the animals failed, the officers opened fire to stop the attack. Police found the woman lying over the toddler in an attempt to shield him from the dogs.

No other details were immediately available.

Victim Of Albuquerque Home Invasion Shoots Suspect The Associated Press

Albuquerque police say the victim of a home invasion shot and killed one of the assailants.

Police say two or possibly three armed suspects broke into a home Friday morning in northeast Albuquerque that was occupied by two people.

According to police, one of the victims fatally shot one of the suspects.

Police are not identifying the victim for their safety.

The identity of the deceased suspect is unknown pending an autopsy.

However, Officer Tanner Tixier says it appears the victim and the suspect knew each other and traded gunfire with handguns.

Officers are looking for a white pickup truck with white stickers in the center and top left corner of its back window.

Tixier says a male was seen jumping into the passenger side of the truck.