$1M Donation To Boost Restoration Efforts Along Rio Grande – Associated Press
A $1 million donation from a nonprofit group is expected to triple the acres thinned along the Rio Grande Valley in northern New Mexico and help leverage more funding for restoration projects.
The Nature Conservancy says the funding comes from the Wyoming-based LOR Foundation. It marks the second donation by the foundation to the Rio Grande Water Fund.
The fund uses donations to increase the scale and scope of forest thinning to improve watershed conditions and minimize the risk of wildfires.
Officials say the additional funding will be used in the Taos area. They also plan to create a template for restoration strategies that can be shared with other communities.
Supporters of Rio Grande Water Fund have set a goal of restoring more than a half-million acres in 20 years.
House GOP Subpoenas 3 Groups In Planned Parenthood Probe – Associated Press, Albuquerque Journal
The Republican chairman of a special House panel investigating Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers has issued the first three subpoenas to groups she says are withholding information.
Tennessee Rep. Marsha Blackburn said Tuesday she'd subpoenaed documents from StemExpress, a company that supplies fetal tissue from abortion clinics to researchers. She said subpoenas also went to the University of New Mexico and Southwestern Women's Options, which provides abortions in New Mexico and Texas.
Illinois Rep. Jan Schakowsky is top Democrat on the investigative panel, and she called the subpoenas unjustifiable and abusive. Schakowsky said Republicans want to build a database of patients, doctors and researchers that would risk their privacy and safety.
The subpoenas seek information on people involved in procuring tissue, where it came from and where it went.
The Albuquerque Journal reports an anti-abortion group is suing the UNM Health Sciences Center contending it withheld records connected with a study using fetal tissue.
The Alliance for Life alleges UNM violated state open records law when it failed to release documents related to the study.
Senate Sends Bail Bond Reform To Voters – The Associated Press
A proposal to reform the state's bail bond system will go before voters in November after the Senate moved to approve the constitutional amendment.
Sen. Peter Wirth's proposal passed the Senate unanimously with no debate Wednesday, the second to last day of this year's legislative session in Santa Fe.
The measure had cleared the House earlier this week.
The proposal would change the state's constitution to allow judges to deny bail to defendants deemed a danger to the public.
It also grants cash-strapped, non-violent defendants pre-trial release if they file a motion approved by a judge that shows they cannot make bail, and the defendant is not considered a flight risk.
Voters must approve the constitutional amendment for it to become law.
Uber, Lyft Bill On New Mexico Impasse Heads To Full Senate – The Associated Press
A bill aimed at welcoming and regulating ride-booking companies like Uber and Lyft in New Mexico is headed to the full state Senate.
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted Tuesday to move the proposal to the Democratic-led Senate despite objections from traditional taxi companies.
The GOP-led House overwhelmingly passed the measure 58-8 earlier this month.
The legal status of the companies has been in limbo in the state since they began offering services in 2014. The companies say the state's Motor Carrier Act doesn't apply to them because they don't operate as commercial taxi businesses.
Uber and Lyft offer an online service that allows people with cars to connect with people seeking rides.
The bill has not been scheduled for a Senate floor vote yet. The session ends Thursday.
Number Of New Mexico Anti-Crime Bills In Play Dwindles – The Associated Press
The fate of a dwindling number of anti-crime bills is in question as the legislative session comes to a close and Senate Democrats raise concerns over proposals that could cost the state millions of dollars in added incarceration costs.
Some two dozen bills aimed at increasing prison sentences for violent career criminals and repeat DWI offenders were up for debate at the start of this year's 30-day legislation in Santa Fe that ends Thursday.
Most were proposed by House Republicans and sailed through that chamber, but have since stalled or died in Senate committees.
However, several pieces of legislation introduced in response to several high-profile crimes and court rulings last year appear to remain in play as they await one more hearing or floor vote. One would expand the three-strikes law that makes repeat violent offenders eligible for life sentences.
New Mexico Cult Leader Released From Prison Early – The Associated Press
A cult leader convicted of sex crimes in 2008 has been released early from a New Mexico prison after being diagnosed with skin cancer.
A Department of Corrections spokeswoman says 74-year-old Wayne Bent was released on supervised parole last week.
Bent was sentenced to a decade in prison for sexual behavior with two teenage girls at his northern New Mexico compound. Bent and his followers argue that the three were participating in a spiritual healing rite.
A judge ordered Bent's release for health reasons, with the requirement that he have no involvement with children, undergo sex-offender treatment and register as a sex offender.
Bent's attorney John McCall said in a hearing last month that Bent could lose his hearing without an ear operation scheduled for early March.
Stolen Albuquerque Museum Dog Statue Recovered – The Associated Press
A bronze dog statue police say was stolen from the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History has been recovered.
New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department spokesman Ben Cloutier says a recycling company bought the stolen artwork and immediately contacted state officials after recognizing it.
Cloutier says the company purchased the statue from someone for $55 and information about the seller has been turned over to Albuquerque police.
Last week, the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History reported the bronze pooch nicknamed Sparky was stolen from the museum gardens.
No arrests have been made.
House Panel Sidelines Lottery Scholarship Bill – Associated Press
A House committee has sidelined a measure aimed at shoring up New Mexico's struggling lottery scholarship program.
With just days remaining until adjournment, the House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday pulled the brakes on a proposal that would have revamped the funding formula for the scholarship program.
The measure would have removed a requirement that the lottery authority funnel at least 30 percent of its monthly revenue to the scholarship program. Instead, it would have been required to provide at least $41 million a year for scholarships.
Critics were concerned that would limit the incentive to raise more money for scholarships, but higher education officials say without a fix there's no doubt the program will be affected.
Current estimates show there could be a 30 percent drop in tuition assistance at the end of the 2017 fiscal year.
Senate Committee Passes Amended Version Of Child Porn Law – Associated Press
A proposal for tougher sentencing laws for possessing, distributing and manufacturing child pornography images has cleared the Senate Finance Committee — with a much-debated amendment that says teens caught sexting wouldn't be prosecuted under the legislation.
The bill went before the committee Tuesday evening after clearing a House floor vote, and two other senate committees — where it was amended twice.
Attorney General Hector Balderas, a Democrat, had advocated for the legislation and since the start of the session, called on lawmakers to pass it, saying current state laws for punishing child pornographers are too lax. But James Hallinan, a spokesman for Balderas, said after the vote that the attorney general's office wouldn't support the measure as amended.
Sen. George Munoz of Gallup raised concern that the proposed law could unintentionally classify teens caught sexting as child pornographers.
Group Creates Fund To Help New Mexico Ranchers, Farmers – Associated Press
The New Mexico Farm and Livestock Bureau has created a fund to help farmers and ranchers as they recover from a brutal winter storm that killed an untold number of livestock and derailed the dairy industry.
The bureau announced the creation of its relief fund Tuesday. Individuals and county farm bureaus are among the contributors.
Bureau President Mike White says agriculture families are experiencing significant financial hardships as a result of the storm.
The bureau will be accepting applications for assistance through May 1st. Money from the fund will be distributed beginning in June.
The storm brought about two feet of snow, 80 mph gusts and freezing temperatures to some parts of eastern New Mexico in late December. Animals were lost and barns and fences were demolished.
Feds Funnel More Money To Eastern New Mexico Pipeline – Associated Press
The federal government is funneling another $2 million toward a pipeline project aimed at bringing billions of gallons of water a year to parts of eastern New Mexico.
Members of the state's congressional delegation announced the funding from the Bureau of Reclamation on Tuesday.
Supporters of the project say this is the largest financial award to date.
The pipeline would bring water from Ute Reservoir to Cannon Air Force Base, Clovis, Portales and other communities along the Texas-New Mexico border. Officials say about 70,000 people would be served.
The project has been decades in the making to ease the strain on the Ogallala aquifer. But the price has ballooned to more than $550 million, and the Bureau of Reclamation has acknowledged it could end up costing $750 million.
Inmate Alleges Two People In Cells Violates Consent Decree – Associated Press
A handwritten filing by an inmate contends a move to put two inmates in cells at a prison in Grants violates a longstanding consent decree.
The Albuquerque Journal reports at issue is a 1991 settlement known as the Duran Consent Decree. Barry Holloway filed the handwritten motion seeking an injunction halting the state from putting two people in cells at the Western New Mexico Correctional Facility.
The settlement came from a class action lawsuit filed in the late 1970s, which took two decades to litigate. Two of the original attorneys on that suit are working with Holloway on his motion. Lawyer Peter Cubra contends on a visit to the Grants facility they found double-celling has been going on for years.
