New Mexico Considers Fair-Pay Rules For College Athletes – Associated Press
A Republican state senator wants New Mexico to allow college athletes to receive paid endorsements.
Senator and former University of New Mexico football player Mark Moores of Albuquerque announced Thursday that he will be sponsoring a bill to legalize student endorsement deals.
The proposal would follow in the footsteps of California’s first-in-the-nation law aimed at allowing players share in the wealth of big-money college athletics.
The NCAA oversight organization for college athletics prohibits players from hiring agents and does not pay players in most cases. The organization is studying other ways players might make money.
Moores says student athletes deserve the opportunity to enjoy the financial fruits of their labor.
He said his bill would ensure student athletes are not barred from participation for promoting products and companies for payment.
Navajo Nation Woman To Seek GOP Nod For US House Seat – Associated Press
A northwestern New Mexico woman has announced she is running for an open U.S. House seat in New Mexico and wants to become the first Republican Native American female in Congress.
Karen Bedonie recently filed papers with the Federal Election Commission to seek the GOP nomination for open U.S. House seat in northern New Mexico.
The Navajo Nation businesswoman promises on her campaign website site to “lift the government burdens off our shoulders.” She also says a robust Second Amendment could address the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women in the U.S.
Bedonie joins a crowded field of Republican and Democratic candidates running for the seat.
The seat is currently held by U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján, who is running for U.S. Senate.
‘Nothing Like It:’ Global Balloon Fiesta Ready For Liftoff – Associated Press
Hundreds of hot air balloons will lift off from the New Mexico desert over nine days as part of one of the world’s largest festivals dedicated to the sport of ballooning.
In its 48th year, the annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is scheduled to kick off Saturday with a mass ascension.
More than 580 balloons are registered, 17 countries are represented, and tens of thousands of spectators from around the world are expected to turn out for opening weekend.
Elijah Sanchez will be among the youngest to launch. After years of crewing on the ground and hours of studying to earn his license, the 20-year-old pilot says he couldn’t be more excited.
Albuquerque has hosted the fiesta since its inception in 1972.
Troy Bradley, one of the ballooning world’s most prolific record-setters, said, “There’s just nothing like it in the world, to see that much color going into the sky.”
States Say Oxycontin Maker Purdue Should Not Pay Bonuses – Associated Press
Attorneys general from 24 states are telling a judge that OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma should not be allowed to pay $38 million in bonuses and severance packages to employees as it goes through bankruptcy.
The company is in bankruptcy as it tries to settle 2,600 lawsuits against it over the toll of the nation’s opioid crisis.
It has said it needs to make bonus payments to keep employees at a time of high turnover. A government bankruptcy trustee objected to the request last week, and the bankruptcy judge has scheduled an upcoming hearing on the issue.
Thursday’s filings on the bonus question come a day before the deadline on a key matter in the bankruptcy: Whether states can continue their lawsuits against members of the Sackler family, which owns Purdue.
Pennsylvania made its own filing objecting to the bonuses on Thursday. The District of Columbia and 23 other states filed jointly. They are: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
This story has been changed to reflect that New Mexico is not among the 24 states filing objections to the bonuses.
Finland Agrees To Return Native American Remains To Tribes – Associated Press
Finland has agreed to return to Native American tribes ancestral remains and artifacts taken more than a century ago from what is now Mesa Verde National Park in the Southwest United States.
The White House announced the agreement during a news conference in Washington on Wednesday. The agreement involves the remains of about 20 people and 28 funerary objects.
The remains and items were excavated by a Swedish researcher in 1891 and later became part of the collection at the National Museum of Finland.
U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt says President Donald Trump and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto acknowledged the sanctity of the items to the two dozen tribes that are culturally connected to the Mesa Verde region.
That list includes tribes in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Texas.
Albuquerque Mayor Says Crime Figures Show Need For State Help – Associated Press
FBI figures show New Mexico’s 2018 violent crime rate was more than double the national rate.
Figures released this week show Albuquerque accounted for 60 percent of total violent crimes in the data for New Mexico.
Albuquerque is home to about 560,000 people, more than a quarter of the state’s population.
New Mexico had a rate of 857 violent crimes per 100,000 residents in 2018. The national rate was about 369 violent crimes per 100,000 residents.
Reporting by law enforcement agencies for the annual report is voluntary.
Mayor Tim Keller says curbing crime remains his administration’s top priority, and that the figures show it’s important for state officials to prioritize crime fighting in Albuquerque too.
Crime statistics have remained a political flashpoint in New Mexico in recent years as authorities and lawmakers debate how best to boost public safety.
New Mexico Reports Season’s First Confirmed Flu Cases – Associated Press
Health officials have confirmed the first flu cases of the season in New Mexico.
The state health department reports all five cases involve adults: three cases in Sandoval County, one in Santa Fe County and one in Bernalillo County in which a 90-year-old patient died.
State Health Secretary Kathy Kunkel says flu can be fatal if left untreated or if a person has a weakened immune system. She’s encouraging people to get vaccinated.
Near the end of last season, state officials had said flu activity in New Mexico was higher than the national average and that the rate of hospital admissions among children 4 and younger was particularly high.
Officials say young children and older adults are the most vulnerable.
The flu season typically runs through the end of April.
Gasoline Fundraiser For School Supplies Rankles And Pleases - Associated Press
A major oil company is encountering criticism and appreciation for its pledge to donate $1 to local school math, technology and science projects for every tank of gasoline purchased.
Chevron said Wednesday it would make up to $75,000 available to support schools in three New Mexico cities through its “Fuel Your School” program.
The company invests heavily in local oil production. Top state and district education officials were scheduled to visit an elementary school as new books are delivered under Chevron’s education initiative.
High school senior Jonathan Alonzo of Albuquerque says that Chevron’s charitable efforts put cash-strapped communities in an awkward bind and fly in the face of recent mass student protests against oil dependency.
Chevron corporate affairs manager Tommy Lyles says the company strongly supports technology and science education.
New Mexico High Court Denies To Declare Law Unconstitutional – Santa Fe New Mexican, Associated Press
The New Mexico Supreme Court has denied a petition by a clean energy group to declare new legislation unconstitutional.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that the petition by New Energy Economy and other groups was denied by the high court Tuesday.
Officials say the Energy Transition Act was designed to move public utilities and rural electric cooperatives toward renewable and zero-carbon resources.
Officials say the law requires the state to meet half its energy demand without fossil fuels by 2030, and 100% by 2045.
The Santa Fe-based energy group says the law undermines the Public Regulation Commission’s right to review and approve how to pay costs of retiring old fossil fuel power sources.
The law passed earlier this year and was signed by Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
Oldest Of Navajo Nation Fairs Runs Through Sunday - Associated Press
The oldest of several Navajo Nation fairs starts this week in Shiprock.
The Northern Navajo Nation Fair features traditional dances and ceremony, art displays, livestock sales, a rodeo, parade and royalty pageants. The exhibit hall, Indian Market and carnival open Thursday on youth and elder day – a popular day for school children to visit.
Thousands of people are expected to attend the fair that runs through Sunday.
Organizers say the fair is in its 108th year. The community has been preparing for weeks by doing volunteer clean-ups.
The Western Navajo Nation Fair is scheduled later this month in Tuba City, Arizona.
Methane Study To Deploy Planes, Towers In Texas, New Mexico – Associated Press
A new effort is under way to measure emissions of a potent greenhouse gas across an area of surging oil and natural gas production in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico.
The Environmental Defense Fund announced Wednesday that it will work with university researchers to collect measurements of methane emissions across the Permian Basin.
The effort will collect data from sensors mounted on towers, ground vehicles and airplanes across a booming region for oil production that spans some 85,000 square miles.
Defense Fund Regulatory Affairs Director Jon Goldstein says study results including a map of emissions will be made public. He says researchers with Pennsylvania State University will install stationary methane monitors and the University of Wyoming will use vehicles to measure methane concentrations near drilling sites.
House In Southeast New Mexico Stunk Up Town, Costing Thousands – Hobbs News-Sun, Associated Press
A house in southeastern New Mexico severely damaged by a sewer backup while vacant is continuing to leave a stench -- financially.
The Hobbs News-Sun reports officials in Eunice, New Mexico, want to recoup the previous administration’s expenses on the feces-plagued house and are seeking repayment of more than $34,500 from the current homeowner.
Records provided to the News-Sun show sewage from the city’s sewer system backed up sometime around June 2015 into the house. A recent widow who had moved to Roswell owned the uninsured house, so no one had entered it to discover the backup.
Tree roots had plugged the sewer line and had not been removed by city workers before significant damage occurred.
Lost California Dog Found In Southern New Mexico - Associated Press
A lost dog who belonged to a Los Angeles-area family has been found in southern New Mexico followed a three-state journey.
KVIA-TV in El Paso, Texas, reports Bella was located in Las Cruces, New Mexico, after a college student took the young husky to an expo and discovered she was chipped.
New Mexico State University student Juan Treto says he had been taken care of the dog for six weeks after the dog showed near his home.
It turns out Bella had traveled around 700 miles from Southern California to southern New Mexico.
Bella’s original owner, Jessica Smith, says her two daughters had been heartbroken the dog was lost and thought they’d never see her again.
The dog has been reunited with the family.