Farmington police release video from fatal shooting of armed man on Navajo reservation — Associated Press
The Farmington Police Department on Thursday released video from a shooting where they assisted the Navajo Nation and the armed suspect ended up dead.
The Oct. 6 incident was the first time in the agency's history officers were directly involved in a shooting while supporting Navajo police, Police Chief Steven Hebbe said in a statement.
The ordeal began when tribal authorities received reports just after 4:30 p.m. that someone was walking around with a shotgun on the Navajo Nation reservation, which extends into New Mexico, Utah and Arizona.
Navajo police officers responded and the suspect, identified as Brandon Blackwater, sequestered himself inside an RV trailer.a
Police attempted to negotiate with him for almost an hour when he opened fire, according to a timeline released by Farmington police.
One officer was wounded and transported to a hospital.
Four Farmington police SWAT officers with armored vehicles arrived just before 9 p.m.
Camera footage from the helmet of one of the officers, Sgt. Matt Burns, shows when a fire breaks out in the RV after the SWAT team deploys flash bangs and tear gas.
Blackwater emerged from the trailer as firefighters were extinguishing the flames, according to Hebbe. Burns said he spotted the suspect was pointing a gun toward officers so he fired a round.
The footage shows Navajo firefighters working when suddenly one officer shoots multiple times and other gunfire can be heard. An officer than yells to "cease fire."
Blackwater, who had the gun tied to him, was pronounced dead at the scene.
FBI investigators are determining who fired the shots that killed Blackwater and the cause of the fire.
Burns was placed on administrative leave pending investigation.
Former BCSO sheriff, undersheriff named in cross-country machine gun scheme — KUNM News, Albuquerque Journal
Former Bernalillo County Sheriff Manuel Gonzales and Undersheriff Rudy Mora have been named, though not charged, in an alleged cross country scheme illegally importing automatic weapons for dealers and enthusiasts.
The Albuquerque Journal reports Federal Authorities say the two wrote more than 140 letters requesting the import of more than 1,000 automatic firearms in a scheme similar to a doctor writing fraudulent prescriptions for friends.
According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, automatic weapons are illegal in the United States, unless requested by local law enforcement in a written letter.
Federal authorities, however, say Mora and Gonzales never expected any of those weapons to be demonstrated to law enforcement.
According to the Journal, those weapons ended up instead in the hands of a few firearm dealers and enthusiasts, as well as other, quote, “third parties.”
Several others have already been charged in the case, including other prominent law enforcement officers who requested less guns, and are facing felony charges.
Mora and Gonzales were unavailable for comment, but a spokesperson with the BCSO said the agency is fully cooperating with the investigation.
Most New Mexico families with infants exposed to drugs skip subsidized treatment, study says — Morgan Lee, Associated Press
Most New Mexico families with infants exposed to illicit drugs, marijuana and alcohol in the womb have been forgoing subsidized addiction treatment and other voluntary support services since the state's shift in 2020 that halted automatic referrals to protective services, a new study indicated on Friday.
The Legislature's budget and accountability office told a panel of lawmakers that New Mexico's revamped response to substance-exposed newborns — changes implemented in response to federal drug-abuse legislation — succeeded in keeping more parents together with their children, to avoid trauma associated with separation.
At the same time, evaluators said the approach does not fulfill its purpose of keeping newborns safe and directing families to treatment, as parents miss or decline services ranging from mental health counseling to home visits by nurses aimed at improving the health and development of infants. The study notes that drug and alcohol use by parents is a major risk factor in neglect and abuse of children.
"The vast majority of (these) families are not receiving support services or substance-use treatment," said Ryan Tolman, a program evaluator with the Legislature's budget and accountability office.
He said rates of newborns with substance-withdrawal symptoms in New Mexico have climbed to more than twice the national average. And yet only one-in-seven local families with substance-exposed newborns accepts referrals to addiction treatment, the study found.
Home visiting services for infants reaches about 50 families out of about 1,300 each year that receive state-mandated plans of care for substance-exposed newborns.
Even when families do accept services, the study cited obstacles to monitoring and tracking long-term participation — which is not required by law. Other states including Arizona require child protective services to monitor progress and participation when referrals are made for substance-exposed infants. Illinois has extensive requirements for meetings between caseworkers and parents.
The new findings arrive amid an overhaul of the state's foster care and child welfare agency. New Mexico's repeat rate of reported child abuse cases is among the worst in the country, amid chronic workforce shortages in the child welfare system.
The new approach to substance-exposed newborns was enacted by New Mexico lawmakers in 2019 at the outset of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's first term in office, requiring that hospitals and birthing centers develop a plan of care for infants exposed to drugs and alcohol before birth, in coordination with medical providers, insurers and state agencies.
The administration of Gov. Michelle Lujan defended its oversight of the program in a written response to the new study, saying it has "improved outcomes for hundreds of infants and families," and that infant mortality rates under the program are similar to the general population.
Still, the administration wants to hire 20 new professional "navigators" to help families with substance-exposed newborns access services, said Teresa Casados, secretary of the Children, Youth, and Families Department that leads oversight.
"That's really my hope, is that we can get navigators out into the communities that are more engaged with families," Casados said.
Leslie Hayes, a physician in Española who frequently treats opioid addiction among pregnant women with regimens including anti-craving medication, said many new parents hesitate to accept home visits from nurses — in part out of embarrassment about ordinary household messiness.
She said it's crucial to devote resources not only to babies but also to the well-being of their parents.
"I find with pregnant women in general and especially with postpartum women with substance-use disorders, they get so focused on the baby that they forget to take care of themselves," said Hayes, who works for El Centro Family Health at its Rio Arriba Health Commons. "Some of them end up relapsing and dying."
National Air Races get bids for new home in California, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming — Associated Press
Leaders of the National Championship Air Races held in Reno since 1964 plan visits later this year to six Western cities that have submitted bids to host the annual competition beginning in 2025 in California, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado or Wyoming.
Organizers of the event announced early this year that the races held last month would be the last in Reno because of a variety of factors, including rising insurance costs and encroachment of housing around Reno-Stead Airport where the races have been held for more than a half-century.
Three of the cities that have submitted proposals to become the competition's new home are in states neighboring Nevada — Wendover, Utah, on the Nevada line along Interstate 80; Thermal, California, southeast of Palm Springs; and Buckeye, Arizona, on the western edge of Phoenix.
The others are Roswell, New Mexico; Pueblo, Colorado; and Casper, Wyoming.
Fred Telling, CEO and chairman of the board for the Reno Air Racing Association, said elected officials and tourism executives from all six cities attended the races that were cut short on Sept. 17 when two planes collided in mid-air, killing both pilots.
Telling told the officials to return home to determine whether their communities wanted to reconsider given the tragedy.
"No one backed out," he told the Reno Gazette Journal last week.
Telling said organizers didn't want to leave Reno but were left no choice when the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority voted to terminate their contract.
"Seeing the interest to host the National Championship Air Races at each of these unique venues gives me great hope for the future of air racing," he said in a statement.
A selection committee has been established to consider the requirements to host the event, including availability of open land for the racecourses, suitable runways, ramp and hangar space, administrative and security facilities, as well as proximity to hotels, commercial airports and restaurants, the association said.
"We only want to go through this process once and because of that, we're going to make sure our next location is the best fit for the future of the air races," said Terry Matter, board member and chairman of the selection committee.
A final decision is expected to be announced early next year as the organization prepares for a final air show in Reno in 2024 before moving to the new location in 2025.
Over just the past 10 years, the event attracted more than 1 million visitors to the Reno area and generated more than $750 million for the economy, the association said.
Event organizers had been considering moving to a new home since insurance costs starting rising after the 2011 event when a plane had a mechanical failure and crashed into the apron in front of the grandstand, killing the pilot and 10 spectators and seriously injuring another 70.
It was one of the deadliest air show disasters in U.S. history.
Australian hydrogen company outlines US expansion in New Mexico, touts research — Morgan Lee, Associated Press
An Australia-based company plans to build a campus in New Mexico to expand its research into hydrogen fuel as a heat source for industry, touting a proprietary chemical process without greenhouse gas emissions.
Hydrogen-technology research and developer Star Scientific Limited, which has around 20 employees, signed a letter of intent with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham while she was in Sydney attending a summit Thursday on hydrogen and the energy sector.
Andrew Horvath, global group chairman at Star Scientific, said the new facilities in Albuquerque would scale up research and development of its hydrogen technology for generating heat.
"Our system doesn't burn gas, it reacts the gas," said Horvath, describing the proprietary technology in general terms only. "It creates an instantaneous reaction whereby you end up with the heat from the excitation energy from those atoms."
Horvath said the company is developing a chemical catalyst system for use in combining hydrogen and oxygen to produce heat directly, with water as a byproduct. The system is different from hydrogen fuel cells that provide electricity, he said.
Star Scientific is currently sponsoring two hydrogen-energy pilot projects in Australia with a food-production company and a plastics-packaging business. They aim to replace heat systems derived from natural gas, reducing emissions of climate-warming pollution in the process.
The New Mexico governor's office said in a statement that the company is looking to acquire enough land to place up to 10 buildings for laboratory research, testing and eventual manufacturing, and possibly qualify for public incentives that underwrite infrastructure investments and job training.
Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, has enthusiastically embraced support for hydrogen-energy ventures to create local jobs. But there's been concern and criticism from environmentalists who say hydrogen presents its own pollution and climate risks depending on production methods and precautions against leaks.
The Biden administration this month selected clean-energy projects from Pennsylvania to California for a $7 billion program to kickstart development and production of hydrogen fuel, a key component of the administration's agenda to slow climate change. Applications that were passed over include a collaborative pitch by New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.
Some consider hydrogen "clean" only if made through electrolysis — splitting water molecules using renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, which also is carbon free, as well as nuclear power. Hydrogen also can be produced from methane using heat, steam and pressure, but that brings challenges of storing the carbon dioxide that is generated.
Horvath said Star Scientific chose New Mexico for its expansion based on factors including public investments in education, business incentives and relatively inexpensive labor and land costs.
2 young children and their teen babysitter died in a fire at a Roswell home, fire officials said — Associated Press
Two young children and their teenage babysitter have died in a fire at a Roswell home, authorities said Wednesday.
Roswell Fire Department officials said a 3-year-old girl and 4-year-old boy were rushed to a hospital Tuesday night along with a 16-year-old girl who was babysitting the siblings.
The three were later pronounced dead. Their names haven't been released yet.
Authorities said the parents of the two children returned home and found their house filled with smoke. The three victims were found unresponsive inside the home around 10:30 p.m.
Fire officials say the blaze happened in the front living room of the house, but there was smoke and heat damage throughout the home.
They said the Roswell Fire Marshal's Office is investigating the cause of the fatal blaze with assistance from city police.