New Mexico Commission Approves Wildlife Trapping Changes -Associated Press
Under a measure adopted Friday by the state Game Commission, trappers now have to complete an education course and new restrictions will be imposed on setting wildlife traps and snares around designated trailheads and on select public lands in New Mexico.
Trapping and snaring triggered emotionally charged debates during last year's legislative session.
A bill dubbed "Roxy's Law" after a dog that was strangled by a poacher's illegal snare on a lakeside trail would have banned traps, snares and animal poison on public land with few exceptions.
It never came to a floor vote.
State wildlife managers suggested they tried to strike a balance, but trappers argued the changes are burdensome.
Las Cruces Native Rick Montoya Announces Run For US Senate -Las Cruces Sun News, Associated Press
A Las Cruces businessman has entered the contest for U.S. Senate in New Mexico, adding to a list of Republicans looking for a nomination.
Las Cruces Sun News reported Thursday that 72-year-old Rick Montoya announced his candidacy at Roberto's Mexican Restaurant in Las Cruces.
Montoya is the sixth Republican who announced their run for the at-large seat ahead of the June primary election.
Officials say the seat was held by Democratic Sen. Tom Udall who announced in March that he would not seek a third term.
He told a crowd of supporters that his campaign strategy relies on counties in southern New Mexico.
Congressmen Help Migrant Girl With Down Syndrome Get Into US -Associated Press
A delegation from the U.S. Congressional Hispanic Caucus has helped a 6-year-old migrant girl with Down Syndrome and a heart condition get paroled in the United States.
U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico said Friday he and other members accompanied the girl to a Port of Entry in Brownsville, Texas, and asked federal immigration authorities to allow the girl into the country to seek medical treatment.
There is exemption for vulnerable people in the Trump administration's "Remain in Mexico" policy for migrants seeking asylum.
The girl and her family had previously been denied entry.
Wanted Heavyweight MMA Fighter Arrested In New Mexico -Associated Press
Authorities in New Mexico have arrested a mixed-martial arts fighter wanted on a fraud charge who has evaded police for months.
Police in Bosque Farms, New Mexico, detained Tyler East on Thursday after receiving a tip about his whereabouts.
A bench warrant was issued for the 28-year-old in November after he failed to appear in a criminal case where prosecutors accuse him of defrauding another man of $3,000.
In December, police in Los Lunas, New Mexico, said East slapped an officer's hand after the officer spotted him during a traffic stop.
He is facing fraud and battery of a peace officer charges.
Union Bucks Proposed 3% Pay Boost For State Workers -Associated Press
Leaders of the second-largest labor union for New Mexico state employees are bristling at a proposed 3% pay increase from the governor and are promising to push for more compensation at the Legislature in an election year.
Dan Secrist, executive vice president to the Communications Workers of America, said he will present to lawmakers Saturday a budget amendment that would raise base pay to at least $15 an hour.
The union also is calling for tiered pay increases ranging from 9% for workers earning under $30,000 annually to 5% for most workers earning over $60,000.
The Legislature convenes Tuesday for a 30-day session.
Judge Says Conservation Group Can Look Into Energy Panel -Associated Press
A conservation group can seek details from the Trump administration on whether it used the recommendations of a disbanded committee to craft policies on oil, gas and coal extraction.
U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy says there is "a significant question" on whether the administration followed the advice of the Royalty Policy Committee.
The industry-dominated panel was created under former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to remove obstacles to natural resource extraction.
It was disbanded last year, and Molloy later said it had been established illegally.
The judge's ruling Thursday allows the Western Organization of Resource Councils to seek documents, depositions and other materials from the administration.
Lawyers: ICE Arrests Trans Migrant Woman Month After Release -Associated Press
Lawyers for a transgender woman from El Salvador who won her release from immigration detention say she has been arrested and taken back to the same New Mexico facility because the U.S. government is appealing a judge's decision.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement re-arrested the woman Monday during what her lawyers expected would be a routine check-in.
One of her lawyers says Joselin suffers from seizures as well as symptoms of a traumatic brain injury and had been released from the hospital days before the check-in.
Her lawyer says Joselin's detention is unnecessary because she had a place to stay and was not a flight risk.
ICE did not respond to requests for comment Thursday and Friday.
National Preserve In New Mexico Expands Land Holdings -Associated Press
A national preserve in northern New Mexico that is sometimes referred to as the "Yellowstone of the Southwest" has added another piece of property to its land holdings that contains sulfuric acid hot springs, volcanic fumaroles and steaming mud pots.
The National Park Service recently completed the purchase of a 40-acre parcel known as Sulphur Springs within the Valles Caldera National Preserve.
Officials say many of the geothermal features on the property are found nowhere else in New Mexico, and similar sites are very rare in the Western U.S.
The acidic pools and streams also are home to a range of "extremophile" algae and bacteria.