Grant County To Allow Gay Marriage Next Week-Assocaited Press
A southwestern New Mexico county plans next week to start issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples.
Grant County Clerk Robert Zamarripa said his office will begin next Monday to provide marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
He said his office will comply with a district judge's ruling on Tuesday in a lawsuit brought by a lesbian couple.
In a separate case, the Los Alamos County clerk said she won't issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples and will go to court to defend her decision.
Clerk Sharon Stover made the announcement in response to a judge's order last week that she grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Stover wants the lawsuit put on hold until the gay marriage issue is resolved by the state Supreme Court.
Search Effort For Missing NM Firefighter Grows- Associated Press
Some 250 people have fanned out across a rugged forested area of northern New Mexico in search for a firefighter who has been missing since Friday.
Authorities say 41-year-old Token Adams vanished while checking the perimeter of a 25-acre wildfire in the area of Jemez Springs. Adams was on an ATV at the time.
Adams is the captain of an engine crew on the Jemez Ranger District. He's a former Hotshot and a Navy veteran who authorities say is a very experienced outdoorsman. He grew up on the edge of California's Sierra National Forest.
On Friday, Adams failed to return to a pre-arranged meeting point with two other firefighters.
Searchers are scouring canyons and mesa tops, through heavy timber, brush and grass. Rain hindered the search Monday.
Energy Secretary To Visit NM Labs - Associated Press
Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz will be in New Mexico Tuesday to visit the Los Alamos and Sandia national labs.
Moniz will tour the labs and meet with employees. Democratic Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich as well as Rep. Ben Ray Lujan will join him on the visits.
Both laboratories are run by private contractors overseen by the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
Police: Meth Was Found Near Truck-Train Accident - Associated Press and KOB-TV
Authorities are now providing details about illegal drugs found at the scene of a collision between an Amtrak passenger train and a tractor-trailer rig carrying automobiles.
Sgt. Emmanuel Gutierrez of the New Mexico State Police says investigators discovered four pounds of meth near two vehicles thrown from the auto-carrier during the Aug. 14 accident at a crossing.
No one was seriously injured, and there's no word of any arrests at this point in the investigation.
KOB-TV reportsthat the owner of the auto-carrier said one of the cars belonged to a regular customer and that the other belonged to a man who paid for a one-time transport from Phoenix to Albuquerque.
Navajo Council Set To Consider Proposed New Budget - Associated Press and The Farmington Daily Times
The Navajo Nation Council on Tuesday begins considering a proposed new budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.
Budget proposals include using $2.9 million from a personnel fund to reinstate 40-hour work weeks for Navajo Area Agency on Aging workers who work additional hours.
The Daily Times reports that about a third of the money for the $571.6 million budget would come from tribal revenues and about two-thirds from federal, state and private funding.
Tribal law requires the council to approve a budget in place 20 days before Sept. 30, the end of the current budget year.
Budget and Finance Committee chairman LoRenzo Bates says council consideration of the budget is on schedule to meet the deadline.