New Mexico Official Discourages Drilling At Otero Mesa – Associated Press
New Mexico's departing state land commissioner is warning against oil and natural gas drilling activities in a desert grasslands area where environmentalists have sought protections for decades.
State Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn on Thursday urged the state to ensure that fresh water supplies and wildlife in the Otero Mesa area are safeguarded from contamination by the oil and natural gas industries.
In a stark warning, Dunn invoked difficulties in monitoring booming oilfield activities in southeastern New Mexico. He says any drilling activity at Otero Mesa should be discouraged until better infrastructure and more regulators are in place to prevent environmental damage.
Dunn will be succeeded as land commissioner on Jan. 1 by Democratic state Rep. Stephanie Garcia Richard of Los Alamos. Garcia Richard could not immediately be reached for comment.
Albuquerque Police Seizing Cars Despite Appeals Court Ruling – Albuquerque Journal, Associated Press
Court documents show Albuquerque police are continuing to seize cars from certain drunken driving suspects under a city ordinance that the Court of Appeals recently ruled "completely contradicts" a state law.
The Albuquerque Journal reports the Dec. 5 ruling says vehicle seizure programs such as the one in Albuquerque don't comply with the New Mexico Forfeiture Act, which was amended in 2015 to sharply curtail when and how law enforcement could take property from someone.
But as recently as Saturday evening, a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court showed Albuquerque police were still taking vehicles to their seizure lot.
A spokeswoman for Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller says city officials are meeting this week to determine what changes will be made to the city's vehicle seizure program after the court's ruling.
Police Search For Teens Who Went Missing In Albuquerque – Associated Press
Albuquerque police say they are continuing to search for two teenagers — days after one of their mothers reported a video on social media showed them bloodied and beaten.
Police say the last time that Collin Romero and Ahmed Lateef were seen was Sunday. Romero is 15.
Authorities did not provide an age for Lateef, except to indicate he also is a teenager. Officer Simon Drobik said in an emailed statement Thursday he has a felony warrant out for his arrest, but did not elaborate.
Drobik says investigators believe the teens were involved in a drug deal that may have gone bad.
Romero's mother, Amanda Kimbrel, reporter her son missing to police after learning a Snapchat video had surfaced showing her son and Lateef being beaten in the area of Albuquerque's west mesa.
Report Finds US Fails In Funding Obligation To Native Americans – Associated Press
A new report by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights finds that federal funding levels for Native American tribes are woefully inadequate.
That's despite the United States' responsibility under treaties and other acts to provide for services, such as education and health care.
The report released Thursday follows a 2003 report that described the shortfalls as a quiet crisis.
Funding has remained mostly flat. That's left tribes unable to tackle an epidemic of suicide, climate change and violence against women.
Catherine Lhamon is the commission's chairwoman and says the U.S. government lacks the will to boost spending.
The report recommends Congress assemble a spending package to fulfill the tribes' needs.
It also makes a strong push for Native Hawaiians to get the same benefits as federally recognized tribes.
'My Baby's Been Shot!' Chaotic Scene At Shooting Of Infant – Associated Press
Police in Gallup say detectives are still trying to connect the moments leading to when a bullet struck the face of an 8-month-old girl.
The 18-year-old mother Shayanne Nelson told police minutes after the shooting that she and her boyfriend, Tyrell Bitsilly, were in a shower at a motel when they heard a gunshot.
Nelson said she believed her 3-year-old found a gun and accidentally shot his infant sister.
But a good Samaritan who was helping the infant says he saw the boyfriend wiping the gun with a towel.
Court records show police arrested Bitsilly in October after authorities say he fired a weapon inside a car with Nelson, and the kids.
Nelson and Bitsilly have been charged with child abuse.
New Mexico, Arizona And Sonora Sign Plan For Natural Gas -Associated Press
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has joined Govs. Susana Martinez of New Mexico and Claudia Pavlovich of Mexico's Sonora state in agreeing to a cross-border plan to provide natural gas to Asia.
The three leaders announced the pact signed Wednesday morning at the Arizona state Capitol in Phoenix.
The memorandum of understanding calls for the states to develop a plan to export natural gas from New Mexico's abundant supply to Asian nations, which are leading importers of liquefied gas.
Sonora's ports are far closer to Asia than U.S. ports in the Gulf of Mexico to the east. Shipping gas from the Pacific coast also would not require a trip through the Panama Canal.
Both Arizona and Sonora have existing pipeline networks that could be used to help transport the fuel.
Tribal Officials In New Mexico Mark Return Of Cultural Items - By Mary Hudetz, Associated Press
Tribal officials are marking the return of dozens of cultural items to Acoma Pueblo, where leaders have spent years pressing for the repatriation of ceremonial items.
In a statement Wednesday, tribal Gov. Kurt Riley called the items' return a "great joy and relief."
They include what he and an attorney described to The Associated Press as six large items and dozens of smaller ones, with perhaps the most significant a sacred ceremonial shield that vanished years ago.
Riley says the shield is similar to one that remains at a Paris auction house more than two years after an international uproar halted bidding on it.
Riley says the now-repatriated shield had been listed for sale at a Montana gallery. The gallery voluntarily turned it over to authorities.
US Land Agency Appoints New Boss In Oil-Rich Region -Associated Press
The U.S. agency that oversees oil and gas development in one of the nation's most prolific areas has appointed a career employee as the region's new director.
The Bureau of Land Management says Tim Spisak will oversee New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.
The region covers 42 million acres of mineral estate that includes oil, natural gas and other deposits.
Ongoing interest in the Permian Basin, which straddles parts of New Mexico and Texas, recently resulted in the largest oil and gas lease sale in the agency's history. Federal geologists also identified more potential for the basin in a report released earlier this month.
Spisak has served as acting director since October. He previously was the agency's deputy assistant director for energy, minerals and realty management.
New Mexico Governor-Elect Makes More Cabinet Appointments -Associated Press
A Democratic legislator from southern New Mexico has been appointed to lead the state labor department.
New Mexico Gov.-elect Michelle Lujan Grisham on Wednesday announced Bill McCamley as one of her latest cabinet picks as she prepares to take office Jan. 1.
McCamley's legislative term wraps up at the end of the year. He did not seek re-election to the seat because he bid instead for state auditor. He lost to Brian Colon in the primary.
A lawmaker since 2013, McCamley has chaired the House Labor and Economic Development Committee, which dealt with issues like increasing the minimum wage.
The other appointments include attorney Alice Liu McCoy to head the Aging and Long-Term Services Department and Jackie White to oversee homeland security and emergency management. White is a captain with Albuquerque Fire Rescue.
New Mexico Farmers Brace For Meager Allocations In 2019 - By Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
The irrigation canals are all but dry as farmers along the Rio Grande set in for winter, holding out hope that El Niño will develop and save them from what could otherwise be another dry start to the next growing season.
The irrigation district that serves farmers in southern New Mexico already has issued a warning that next year's allotment could be as little as a few inches of water.
Elephant Butte, the largest reservoir in the state, bottomed out at 3 percent of capacity at the end of September. That marked the lowest since the early 1970s.
Federal drought maps show the situation has improved along the Rio Grande corridor but the Four Corners region and the southern Colorado mountains that feed the river are still dealing with extreme to exceptional drought.
New Lawsuit Alleges Clergy Sex Abuse By Las Cruces Priest -Associated Press
Another lawsuit has been filed against the Catholic Church, alleging repeated sexual abuse of a minor by a now-deceased priest who once served at Our Lady of Health Parish in Las Cruces.
Attorneys for the victim filed the lawsuit Monday. It names the parish and the Diocese of El Paso, which used to oversee the southern New Mexico parish.
The attorneys say the victim, identified only as Jane Doe N, had been left in the care of the parish pastor, Joaquin Resma, and that she was raped on multiple occasions.
Resma was the basis of other lawsuits filed earlier this year by the same attorneys, but his name isn't among the former clergy who have been listed by regional church officials as having been credibly accused over the decades of sexually abusing children.
Racing Commission To Resume License Discussion Friday - The Santa Fe New Mexican, Associated Press
The New Mexico Racing Commission has scheduled a special meeting, raising the possibility it may issue a license for a new horse-racing track and casino.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports the meeting's agenda on Friday calls for commissioners to discuss the new license, as well as a court petition seeking to block the commission — at least temporarily — from making a decision on which of five competing companies will get the license.
The commission voted Dec. 6 to postpone any decision on the license until the court petition seeking to block it from taking such action has been resolved. A hearing on the petition before a state District Court judge in Albuquerque hasn't been scheduled, but there is no court order in place preventing the Racing Commission from issuing the license.