NM Earns Nearly $48M From Trust Lands - The Associated Press
Royalties from leases and oil and natural gas production on New Mexico trust land netted nearly $48 million in revenue in May.
The revenue coming into the State Land Office each month supports public schools, universities and hospitals.
New Mexico Land Commissioner Ray Powell says the goal is to create jobs while protecting the state's working lands.
In May, more than $42 million went to public schools alone. Special schools, such as the School for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Alamogordo and the School for the Deaf in Santa Fe, received nearly $2.3 million.
More than $377,000 went to state colleges and universities.
Agency: Free-Roaming Placitas Horses Must Go Now - The Albuquerque Journal (AP)
An independent political subdivision in New Mexico has ordered the state Livestock Board to immediately remove all the free-roaming horses from a mountain hamlet.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that the Coronado Soil and Water Conservation District agency issued the order Monday to prevent damage to the land and to ensure public safety in Placitas, N.M.
Coronado is tasked with protecting the environment. Its district covers an area stretching from Sandia Pueblo to the south, Santa Ana to the west, Cochiti to the north and the Santa Fe County line to the east.
The order said no agency has done an inventory of the free-roaming unbranded "estray" horses in Placitas, which now number more than 100. It said the horses have caused extensive damage to the watershed, soil and landscape.
Nearly $200K Paid In 'Billy The Kid' Records Case - The Albuquerque Journal (AP)
A New Mexico county has paid $125,000 in attorney fees to a weekly newspaper for violating open records laws in a lawsuit over Billy the Kid's death.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that a De Baca County News attorney says the settlement agreement represents only the payment from Lincoln County to the newspapers, which sued along with East Mountain resident Gale Cooper in 2007.
The lawsuit sought documents relating to an investigation into Billy the Kid's death and whether he was buried in Fort Sumner.
Four other law firms previously involved in the case were paid another $70,000 combined and one claim is outstanding.
The Lincoln County sheriff's office has opened an investigation into the escape of the famous New Mexico outlaw from the Lincoln County jail 122 years ago, hoping to determine if he had an accomplice.