Feds Plan Funding Boost To Fight Assaults On Native Women - Mary Hudetz, Associated Press
A U.S. Justice Department official says the agency is doubling the funding for tribal public safety and crime victims as it seeks to tackle the high-rates of violence against Native American women.
The move comes amid increased focus on the deaths and disappearances of Native American women and girls. Acting Associate Attorney General - Jesse Panuccio told The Associated Press that the department recognizes the serious nature of the problem.
Wednesday, Panuccio plans to announce that the department will award $113 million to 133 tribes and Alaska Native villages for public safety programs. Another $133 million will be awarded to tribes this fall to specifically serve crime victims.
The announcement follows years of federal efforts to fix a system that many say leaves Native American women especially vulnerable to violent crime.
Attack Ad Sets Off Sparring In New Mexico Governor Race – Associated Press
An attack ad against New Mexico's Democratic gubernatorial candidate has set off sparring between campaigns as the contenders prepare for their first open debate.
Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham's campaign describes as false and misleading the ad that combines images of a shovel pitching dirt with a voice describing Lujan Grisham as "shamelessly corrupt."
The campaign of Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Pearce said Wednesday it replaced an inaccurate ad caption that cited a nonexistent publication. Pearce campaign spokesman Kevin Sheridan says the blog's name and posting date have been fixed.
The first direct attack ad of the campaign focuses on Lujan Grisham's past role in a business that oversees a statewide health insurance pool for the severely ill. A cancer patient defends Lujan Grisham in an ad sponsored by her campaign.
Dems, GOP Buy Attack Ads For U.S. House Race In New Mexico -Associated Press
The national Democratic and Republican parties are jumping into a bellwether congressional race in southern New Mexico that may determine which party controls the U.S. House.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee have each purchased attack ads this week in a race for the open U.S. House seat along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The Democratic ad attacks Republican Yvette Herrell for failing to disclose nearly $500,000 dollars in state contracts while she was a state lawmaker. While Herrell did fail to disclose the contracts, after an Associated Press story she amended financial disclosure filings and state officials said she is now compliant.
The Republican ad attempts to link Democrat Xochitl Torres Small to Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and, “radical, socialist extremists”. Torres Small is running as a gun-owning Democrat who supports the region's oil and gas economy.
Accused Leader In New Mexico Soccer Hazing Faced Charges – Hobbs News Sun, Associated Press
The suspected ringleader of reported hazing on a southeastern New Mexico high school boys' soccer team faced criminal charges in a sexual misconduct case but the charges were dismissed.
The Hobbs News-Sun reports the Hobbs High School player was charged with tampering with evidence and bribery or intimidation of a witness, both third-degree felonies in connection with an alleged sexual assault caught on video.
But Fifth Judicial District Attorney Dianna Luce says the charges against the player were dismissed because of a lack of witness cooperation.
A 15-year-old boy charged with sexual exploitation of children for distributing the video later pleaded guilty and entered into a six-month consent decree agreement.
News of the charges come after a parent of a former player filed a lawsuit against the school and coaches alleging her son was raped by his teammates.
The lawsuit alleges a video showed soccer players sexually assaulting a boy two years ago and that a coach told players to delete the cellphone video.
Lawsuit Alleges New Mexico Soccer Team Raped Player, Abused Others - Hobbs News-Sun, Associated Press
A federal lawsuit says members of a southeastern New Mexico high school soccer team repeatedly sexually assaulted teammates while coaches looked the other way.
The Hobbs News-Sun reports a parent of a player filed a lawsuit Friday in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque alleging her son was raped by his Hobbs High School soccer teammates shortly after another player was sexually assaulted on a bus.
The lawsuit alleges a video showed soccer players sexually assaulting a boy two years ago and that a coach told players to delete the cellphone video.
Hobbs Municipal Schools Superintendent T.J. Parks declined to comment on the lawsuit. But said that the district was investigating player misconduct within the boys' soccer program this month.
The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount in damages from each defendant.
New Mexico Bighorn Sheep Face Relocation Near Alamogordo -Santa Fe New Mexican, Associated Press
New Mexico wildlife officials are hoping to relocate 40 to 60 desert bighorn sheep to the Sacramento Mountains — an area where the animal has been absent for nearly a century.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish announced this week that the agency would expand the desert bighorn's range and numerically increase its statewide population.
Desert bighorn sheep were listed as endangered in 1980. But after more than three decades of restoration, they were removed from the list in 2011.
Stewart Liley, the department's chief of wildlife, says there are an estimated 1,200 to 1,400 desert bighorn sheep in New Mexico.
One Person In Custody After Campus Bomb Threat – Albuquerque Journal
A woman is in custody following a bomb threat that shut down a campus of Central New Mexico Community College today.
The Albuquerque Journal reports Officer Simon Drobik, spokesman with the Albuquerque Police Department, would not release the woman’s name but said she will be charged with a felony bomb scare.
The CNM Montoya Campus in Northeast Albuquerque was evacuated around 10 a.m. and classes were cancelled until 5 p.m. after flyers were left at the site promising a bomb would go off today, killing 200 people.
Drobik said officials are reviewing video surveillance footage.