New Mexico's Top Prosecutor Ready For Fight Over Rio Grande - By Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas says the state is in what he describes as a "historic fist fight" with Texas and the U.S. government over management of one of North America's longest rivers.
Balderas made the comments during a presentation this week to members of a key legislative committee as he provided an update of the legal battle that has been simmering before the U.S. Supreme Court since 2013.
His office is seeking $4.5 million for the next fiscal year to pay for the ongoing litigation as well as a team of scientists who will spend the next year modeling the surface flows of the Rio Grande and the river's relationship to groundwater sources.
Briefings are scheduled next month. But Balderas says it will likely be more than a year before the case makes it to trial.
Forecast Still Sunny For New Mexico State Income – Associated Press
State economists are predicting a $1.1 billion general fund surplus for the coming fiscal year as oil production in New Mexico continues to grow at a rapid pace.
Released today, the forecast for state government income reflects negligible changes from the previous projection in December. State legislators are counting on new money as they craft a state budget that boosts annual spending on public education by more than $400 million in response to a court order and concerns about troubled public schools.
State income linked to a booming oil sector in the state's southeast corner is offsetting reduced revenues from investment returns and forecasts for lower returns in future taxes on sales and business services.
Economists from three state agencies and the Legislature wrote the forecast. They warned that the financial windfall could quickly evaporate because of volatility in world energy markets.
New Mexico Shuns Proposal To Raise Royalty Rates On Oil – Associated Press
New Mexico state legislators have shunned a proposal to increase the maximum royalty rate for oil and natural gas production on state trust lands that generate money for public schools.
A House committee on Friday declined to advance the bill for further consideration after a lengthy public hearing.
Newly elected Democratic State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard backed the proposal to increase top royalty rates from 20 percent to 25. She says that would give the state a stronger hand in negotiating leases with oil producers and raise more money for public education.
The bill also would have allowed the state to charge royalties on methane that is released into the atmosphere to discourage waste and pollution.
Oil companies and industry associations say the changes would drive away business.
Sheriffs Fight Gun Bills With 'Sanctuary County' Resolutions - By Mary Hudetz, Associated Press
A handful of rural New Mexico counties have passed resolutions saying they will not require their sheriffs to enforce a sweeping slate of gun-control measures that have gone before state lawmakers.
The president of the New Mexico Sheriffs Association says "Second Amendment Sanctuary County" resolutions are being presented by sheriffs to commissioners in dozens of counties, following a similar effort in Washington state. He expects more counties to weigh the resolutions in the coming weeks.
A dozen Washington state sheriffs are refusing to enforce new restrictions on semi-automatic rifles until the courts decide whether they are constitutional.
The New Mexico Sheriffs Association president says at least four counties in the state have approved the resolutions that represent the latest push back against state firearms legislation. They are Quay, Union, Curry and Socorro counties.
Man Shot While Driving On Interstate – Associated Press
An Albuquerque man says he was shot by someone in an SUV while he was driving on an interstate.
The Albuquerque Journal reports 21-year-old Tanner Barnes says he was shot Thursday morning after merging onto Interstate 25 to head to downtown Albuquerque.
Barnes says a woman was driving, and a man sat in the passenger seat, holding a gun.
Barnes says a bullet went through the door of his Nissan Altima. He was struck in the back of the left leg, where the bullet damaged an artery, and then went in and out of his right leg.
Police say they are looking for a Hispanic man with glasses and a goatee.
Police spokesman Gilbert Gallegos says the SUV was a 2008 to 2010 dark blue Nissan Armada, with a temporary license plate and tinted windows.
New Mexico Library Shooter Sentenced To Life In Prison – Eastern New Mexico News, Associated Press
A New Mexico judge has handed down a sentence that will result in a teenager spending decades in prison for opening fire and killing two people at a public library in 2017.
Judge James Hudson announced his decision Friday, sentencing Nathaniel Jouett to two life sentences that will run concurrently plus 40 years in prison for carrying out the shooting at the Clovis library.
Jouett previously pleaded guilty to 30 felony counts, including two first-degree murder charges for the deaths of library employees Wanda Walters and Krissie Carter. He also seriously wounded four other people.
Jouett, who turned 18 last month, apologized to the victims and their families earlier this week.
The Eastern New Mexico News reports that the earliest Jouett could be eligible for parole would be in 2051.
Sentencing Set For Convicted New Mexico Library Shooter - Eastern New Mexico News, Associated Press
A New Mexico judge is scheduled to announce his sentencing decision for a man who pleaded guilty to opening fire and killing two people at a library in 2017.
The sentencing Friday is set to come after Nathaniel Jouett apologized two days earlier in court to dozens of victims. The Eastern New Mexico News reported that Jouett told victims that he wanted to get better.
He turned 18 last month. His sentencing is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Jouett previously pleaded guilty to 30 felony counts from the shooting, including two first-degree murder charges for the deaths of library employees Wanda Walters and Krissie Carter.
Defense attorney Stephen Taylor has asked that his client only serve 20 years in prison.
Prosecutors have requested Jouett serve 96 years in the Department of Corrections.
Police: Teen Charged After Firing Gun In School – Associated Press
Police say a 16-year-old boy suspected of opening fire inside a New Mexico high school is being charged with three counts of attempting to commit murder.
Rio Rancho police said in a statement late Thursday that the student also is facing a felony count of unlawfully carrying a deadly weapon on school grounds. He has been booked into the Bernalillo County Juvenile Detention Center.
The Associated Press is not naming the student because of his age.
Police say he fired a handgun inside V. Sue Cleveland High School on Thursday morning before school started. No one was injured in the shooting.
Police have not said what may have motivated the student to open fire.
New Mexico Senate Backs Gun Background Checks – Associated Press
A bill that would expand background checks on private gun sales in New Mexico has cleared its last major hurdle with the approval of the state Senate.
The Senate voted 22-20 on Thursday to pass the Democrat-sponsored bill that would close a loophole that allows many private sales without a background check against a federal database of prohibited buyers.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has vowed to sign the legislation. The House and Senate have approved similar background-check bills and still must agree on one to send to the governor.
Background checks are part of a slate of gun regulation and school safety proposals making their way through the Democrat-led Legislature over the objections of Republican lawmakers and dozens of rural sheriffs.
New Mexico's Top Prosecutor Ready For Fight Over Rio Grande - By Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas says the state is in what he describes as a "historic fist fight" with Texas and the U.S. government over management of one of North America's longest rivers.
Balderas made the comments during a presentation this week to members of a key legislative committee as he provided an update of the legal battle that has been simmering before the U.S. Supreme Court since 2013.
His office is seeking $4.5 million for the next fiscal year to pay for the ongoing litigation as well as a team of scientists who will spend the next year modeling the surface flows of the Rio Grande and the river's relationship to groundwater sources.
Briefings are scheduled next month. But Balderas says it will likely be more than a year before the case makes it to trial.
Judges Tosses 2 Counts In Ex-film Official's Harassment Suit - Santa Fe New Mexican, Associated Press
A New Mexico state judge has tossed out two counts in a sexual harassment lawsuit against a former state film industry union official.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports state District Judge Francis Mathew dismissed two counts but kept the other four counts in the case filed by two women against Jon Hendry.
Two women said in a lawsuit filed in late March that Hendry harassed and discriminated against them when they were union employees.
Hendry served as a business agent for the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 480 and resigned after the lawsuit. Hendry also had served as president of the New Mexico Federation of Labor.
Richard Ellenberg, the chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico, was forced to resign after he defended Hendry.
Reward For Info In 2014 Navajo Nation Killing Raised To $10k - Associated Press
The FBI is raising its reward to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for a 2014 killing on the Navajo Nation.
The reward for information in the bludgeoning death of 75-year-old Wilson Joe Chiquito of Counselor, New Mexico, was raised from $1,000 on the fifth anniversary of his death.
James Langenberg, special agent in charge of the FBI's Albuquerque office, said Thursday in a statement that "it's time for justice to be served" and for the person or people who killed Chiquito to be held responsible.
According to the FBI, Chiquito was killed sometime between the evening hours of Valentine's Day 2014 and noon the following day at his home in Counselor, which is 95 miles north of Albuquerque.
Operator Of Sports Bars Agrees To Settle Sex-Harassment Case – Associated Press
An Albuquerque-based operator of sports bars has agreed to pay $700,000, implement new training requirements and take other steps to settle federal civil rights officials' allegations that the business subjected workers to sex-based harassment and retaliation.
Ojos Locos Sports Cantina denied engaging in any unlawful sexual harassment, retaliation or other unlawful conduct alleged by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission but agreed to apologize to a female former worker who allegedly was fired because she complained about the alleged mistreatment.
The EEOC said a manager texted a photo of his penis to that worker.
The agency also said at least 12 women at the Albuquerque Ojos Cantina were forced to endure "pervasive, egregious and unwelcome conduct" that included requests to show more cleavage in their uniforms and text requests for sex.
Experts: Southwestern US Sees Some Drought Relief - By Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
Drought conditions in much of the southwestern United States have improved due to surges of moisture over the last few months, but national forecasters and climate experts are warning that it hasn't been enough to alleviate concerns about long-term water supplies around the region.
Officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center and others held a briefing Thursday on the conditions in New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah.
While Arizona is greening up and Colorado and Utah are enjoying near average or better snowpack, northern New Mexico is still home to the two driest spots in the nation.
Climatologist Nancy Selover says for those areas where soil moisture levels are already low, it will be harder for the snowpack to replenish streams, rivers and reservoirs this spring.