UNM To Give Free Tuition To First Year Students - Associated Press
The University of New Mexico has announced it will offer free tuition for first-time students whose families make $50,000 or less.
The Lobo First-Year Promise scholarship program was announced yesterday and is only available to next fall's freshmen class.
University officials say the scholarship will cover tuition and fees not covered by other scholarships, grants and financial aid. The university capped the qualifying household income at $50,000.
That's about the state median income. University officials estimate up to 1,500 students are eligible for the program. Officials say the program could cost the university more than $9 million based on current tuition and fees.
NM Irrigation Season To Being Along Rio Grande - Associated Press
The 2020 irrigation season for farmers along the lower Rio Grande will begin in the coming days when U.S. water managers begin releasing water from one of New Mexico's largest dams.
The Bureau of Reclamation cautioned people below Elephant Butte and Caballo reservoirs that water will be flowing again through the dry riverbed.
Initial releases from both reservoirs could reach around 2,000 cubic feet per second.
The flows will fluctuate throughout the season. Officials say they're watching snowpack measurements and spring streamflow forecasts to prepare for operations.
Early forecasts indicate that runoff is close to average on the Rio Grande.
Cultural Preservation Among Options In Oil And Gas Plan - By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
The preservation and protection of Native American cultural sites would be a priority of U.S. land managers under one of the options up for consideration as they work to revamp an outdated guide for management of oil and gas drilling across northwestern New Mexico.
The area is home to Chaco Culture National Historical Park, which has become the focal point of tribes, environmentalists and archaeologists who want to halt development beyond the boundaries of the World Heritage site.
The campaign to curb drilling in one of the nation's oldest basins has spanned at least three presidential administrations. In recent years, concerns expanded beyond environmental effects to the preservation of cultural landmarks as tribes joined with environmentalists and archaeologists to warn that unchecked development could compromise significant spots outside the boundaries of the World Heritage site.
The draft made public Friday through a federal notice includes alternatives crafted by both the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The public will have 90 days to comment on the alternatives. It could take months before a final decision is made.
Albuquerque Lab Could Begin Testing For COVID 19 - Santa Fe New Mexican, Associated Press
Health officials in New Mexico say samples from people suspected of having the new virus that started in China will soon be tested by an Albuquerque laboratory.
The samples from New Mexico have been sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reported Wednesday that state Epidemiologist Michael Landen expects the state to soon begin its own testing.
That means doctors will be able to send samples to the proposed lab in Albuquerque instead of a federal lab. It is unclear when the lab would open.
The state has no confirmed cases of the virus which is known as COVID-19.
Convicted New Mexico Sect Leader Seeks New Trial - Gallup Independent, Associated Press
A leader in a rural New Mexico paramilitary religious sect convicted of kidnapping and sexual abuse is seeking a new trial.
The Gallup Independent reports lawyers for Deborah Green, leader of the Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps, filed a motion recently after they say prosecutors did not disclose specific evidence.
Green is serving a 72-year prison sentence after being found guilty of eight counts connected to the alleged kidnapping, physical and sexual abuse of a young girl from Uganda.
In a motion filed by the Harrison & Hart law firm of Albuquerque, attorney Nicholas Hart asked the court to vacate the 2018 jury verdict and prison sentence and order a new trial.
Lawyers say a 2006 psychological assessment of a girl from Uganda “showed no signs psychologically of being traumatized or depressed and denied abuse.”
Authorities raided the Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps' secluded Fence Lake, New Mexico, compound in 2017 following a lengthy investigation.
New Mexico Man Accused Of Using Website To Solicit 2 Murders - Associated Press
Authorities say a former Roswell high school student is accused of using a website to try to hire someone to kill two fellow students.
Roswell police say 18-year-old Colton Beall has been indicted on two counts of criminal solicitation for murder.
They say Beall was arrested Thursday in Manchester, Tennessee on a warrant and will be extradited to Roswell to face charges.
Police say when the investigation began in December, Beall reportedly told officers that he wanted to have two 16-year-old girls strangled with a belt to live out a fantasy.
The services aren't real, but police investigators believe Beall's requests were.
Police say they learned of Beall's alleged request from the website's owner in California.
The man says the website is a parody site, but some people take it seriously and request murders.
Report: Albuquerque BioPark Trains See Derailments, Injuries - KOB-TV, Associated Press
A review of Albuquerque records shows that the city's BioPark zoo train has experienced derailments and injuries.
KOB-TV reports a review of five years worth of maintenance records at Albuquerque City Hall revealed several mentions of derailments.
Records show a rear driver side wheel broke off, causing the engine to bottom out and the train to derail in May 2018.
Former train conductor James Lakatos says he was thrown from the conductor's chair and was taken to urgent care after reporting back pain.
Albuquerque's Cultural Service Department deputy director Hakim Bellamy says injuries on the train are rare.
Effort To Euthanize Family Duck Draws Police Attention - Santa Fe New Mexican, Associated Press
A New Mexico grandfather's effort to euthanize the family duck drew police attention after residents reported multiple shots fired.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports police initially confiscated a handgun from Lorenzo Pacheco, who had fired four shots at the bird before striking and killing it.
Officers had arrived to the scene just before a burial for the bird was about to commence. Kaelyn Pacheco says the duck, a family pet, had become paralyzed and couldn’t walk, and it also had an eye infection.
Lorenzo Pacheco said police returned his gun to him and determined there was no cause for a charge of negligent use of a firearm.
US Identifies Habitat Critical For Survival Of Rare Songbird - By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
US wildlife managers have proposed setting aside a vast area across seven Western states as critical habitat for a rare songbird.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service made public its recommendation Thursday for the western yellow-billed cuckoo.
If approved, the designation would affect activities that involve federal funding or permitting along hundreds of miles of rivers and streams from New Mexico and Arizona north to Idaho.
A threatened species, the cuckoo travels each spring and fall between its breeding grounds in Mexico and the U.S to its wintering grounds in Central and South America, often using river corridors as routes.