News

Oil production in New Mexico has increased by nearly 50 percent over the last three years, making it one of five western states that have helped boost national production over the last three years.

Statistics from the U.S. Energy Information Administration show onshore oil production increased nationally by more than 2 million barrels a day — or nearly two-thirds — between February 2010 and February 2013.

North Dakota and Texas have been the driving forces, but New Mexico along with Oklahoma, Wyoming, Colorado and Utah account for 15 percent of the growth.

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez will travel to the presidential battleground state of Ohio next month to deliver the keynote speech at a Republican Party dinner.

Ohio GOP Party chairman-elect Matt Borges said in a statement that Martinez will speak at the state party's annual dinner June 29 in Columbus.

Martinez is the nation's first female Hispanic governor and the first woman elected as governor of New Mexico.

The first-term governor recently was named by Time magazine to its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

The U.S. Marshals Service in Albuquerque has auctioned seized vehicles and raised more than $200,000.

The agency said the auction over the weekend netted $212,175 for law enforcement and victims of crime groups. Among the items auctioned were a 1980 Chevrolet Corvette that sold for $3,800 and a 2005 Chevrolet Corvette that sold for $20,500.

Officials say the items auctioned once belonged to individuals and companies involved in criminal activity.

New Mexico State University is seeking to help ranchers with wildlife management and brush control amid a dangerous fire season.

The school is hosting a wildlife management round-table discussion Tuesday at the Southwest Center for Rangeland Sustainability for area ranchers.

Shad Cox, ranch manager of the Corona Range and Livestock Research Center, says reduced income for ranchers due to drought conditions has made managing wildlife for income diversification a very important component to land management.

The Sundance Film Institute says four Native American filmmakers will be on the Mescalero Apache reservation in Southern New Mexico this week. The visit is the first stage of development for Native writers and directors hoping to release independent films in the coming years.

New Mexico Department of Health officials want to help any victims of an unlicensed tooth doctor who was operating as a "mobile dentist" out of a sedan around Santa Fe.

State health officials are offering counseling and testing services for any victims of a man known as "El Dentista."

The services include no-cost confidential blood tests and referrals for additional services if needed.

Santa Fe police are trying to build a strong case against 36-year-old Eliver Kestler, also known as Eliver Lopez.

New sets of twin arrows are beckoning travelers on Interstate 40 in northern Arizona.

A grand opening for the Twin Arrows Navajo Casino Resort is set for Friday. It's the Navajo Nation's first casino in Arizona, about 20 miles east of Flagstaff.

The 267,000 square-foot building sits across the interstate from an old trading post and rest stop known for the giant twin arrows that point toward the ground.

The League of United Latin American Citizens says two recent cases of Spanish being banned at New Mexico high school games are examples of a "disturbing" pattern.

Ralph Arellanes, New Mexico LULAC state director, said Monday that the group has heard of a least five cases of high school players being ordered this school year not to speaking Spanish. Arellanes says LULAC will begin an aggressive effort to monitor future cases, and if necessary, will file lawsuits.

  Thousands of people in New Mexico are still looking for work or at least better jobs even as the state's unemployment rate is down.

The Department of Workforce Solutions reports that New Mexico's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.7 percent in April, down from 6.9 percent in March and 7 percent in April 2012.

The department says New Mexico gained about 7,900 jobs during the past 12 months, for a 1 percent growth rate.

The New Mexico Arts Commission says seven artists and supporters of the arts are recipients of this year's Governor's Awards for Excellence in the Arts.

An awards ceremony is scheduled Sept. 27 in Santa Fe at the New Mexico Museum of Arts and there will be a reception in the state Capitol.

The recipients are Rio Rancho painter and printmaker Edward Gonzales, Santa Fe painter Darren Vigil Gray, Taos musician Jenny Vincent, Taos painter and furniture maker Jim Wagner and Santa Fe potter Frank Willett.

Albuquerque's Board of Ethics will hold a preliminary hearing over a complaint filed by Pete Dinelli's mayoral campaign against incumbent Richard Berry.

The Albuquerque Journal reports that Dinelli's campaign has alleged Berry violated the city's ban on accepting campaign donations from city contractors.

The Berry campaign contends it's in full compliance with campaign laws.

The U.S. Forest Service expects to close its public comment period in mid-June on a draft environmental impact statement for the proposed Roca Honda uranium mine near Mount Taylor.

Strathmore Minerals Corp. and Sumitomo Corp. of Japan propose to sink one or two shafts to depths of 2,000 feet or more below three sections of Forest Service and state lands about 22 miles northeast of Grants.

The proposal has plenty of support from the local business community, but faces strong opposition from environmental and Native American groups.

The Navajo Nation Police Department has gone five years having without a permanent leader.

The police chief's position has been vacant since April 2008 when Police Chief Jim Benally was put on paid leave.

Officials haven't given an explanation as to why Benally was placed on leave.

The Farmington Daily Times reports that the police department has had district commanders take turns filling in as police chief.

Gila National Forest officials say another portion of the popular Catwalk National Recreation Trail is expected to open soon.

Forest employees are replacing an additional quarter mile of the trail and hope to have the work done by Memorial Day.

Glenwood District Ranger Pat Morrison says the U.S. Forest Service recognizes the importance of the trail to local residents and tourists.

UPDATE: Exchange board chairman J.R Damron said Monday that New Mexico will focus on having a state-run insurance exchange ready for small businesses this fall and will use a federally operated exchange to offer insurance coverage to individuals for the next year.

He said a "hybrid" approach to the exchange was necessary because the state didn't have enough time to implement its own computer system to serve individuals by a looming federal deadline.

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State of the RE:Union Thu. 5/30 8a: In this American Graduate special, State of the Re:Union takes a closer look at school, community, and the drop out crisis in this country.

With reporting from both urban and rural schools, and interviews with education experts, State of the RE:Union goes “ back to the basics”, looking at strategies that get to the heart of what makes students want to learn. 

State of the RE:Union Thu. 5/23 8a: More than two million veterans have come home so far from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. For returning veterans, reintegrating into society can be a challenge.

How do you find your place, when you’ve changed and the people you love don’t recognize you? When that old life is gone and you have to start a new one from scratch.

State of the Re:Union explores reintegration and asks the question: how do you come back home from war?

The Navajo Nation says the only financially viable future for its coal supply may be in clean coal technologies, and overseas exports.

KUNM's Tristan Ahtone reports the Nation is taking preliminary steps to find a future for its coal resources in light of tough, domestic regulations.

The University of New Mexico says it has reached an agreement in principal with former men's basketball coach Steve Alford over his buyout.

Alford said in April he was willing to pay a $200,000 buyout for leaving the Albuquerque school to take a job at UCLA, but he wouldn't pay the $1 million payment that New Mexico wanted.

The dispute stemmed from the timing of his announcement and a term sheet he had signed just weeks before agreeing to a new 10-year contract with New Mexico that included a $1 million buyout.

Albuquerque police are searching for leads in a drive-by shooting that landed a UNM Cancer Center executive in the hospital.

Police say Justin Schroer was jogging through a neighborhood near Constitution and Girard around 6 a.m. when he was shot once in the left side of his abdomen. The bullet passed through his right side. He's expected to survive.

The Albuquerque Journal reports that Schroer is the director of development for the cancer center.

A mother who chased down a man and ran into his car after he grabbed her 4-year-old says her "mother's instincts" kicked in when she launched her pursuit.

Melissa Torrez told The Associated Press on Friday she began her chase "without any feeling" and was focused only on getting her daughter back as the abductor led her on a high-speed chase throughout Albuquerque on Wednesday.

The 27-year-old mother of three says as soon as others in the apartment complex told her a man took her daughter she jumped in the car.

New Mexico is receiving a half million dollars from a Denver-based philanthropic group to expand programs that allow students to receive an associate degree from a college while attending high school.

Gov. Susana Martinez announced Friday that the Daniels Fund is providing $525,000 for the state to establish more pilot "early college high schools" like one that operates in Las Cruces.

Operations of an appointed advisory commission that investigates citizen complaints against the Albuquerque Police Department would be suspended while the City Council considers the commission's future.

Councilors Trudy Jones and Brad Winter plan Monday to propose that the Police Oversight Commission's operations be put on hold. A decision would come later.

A federal judge in Arizona is refusing to reconsider a ruling upholding the Interior Department's authority to ban new hard rock mining claims on federal land.

U.S. District Judge David Campbell's ruling Thursday denies mining industry groups' request for reconsideration his March 20 ruling.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced a prohibition in 2012 on over a million acres near the Grand Canyon that are rich in high-grade uranium ore reserves.

Former State Insurance Superintendent Chris Krahling has been named to a panel that will select New Mexico's top insurance regulator.

A nine-member committee will select the next superintendent of insurance, who starting in July will be in charge of an independent office regulating insurance rates and policies.

The committee meets next Tuesday in Albuquerque, and is accepting applications for the superintendent's position until the end of the month.

All Damian Garcia wants to do is wear his black robe when he and his fellow high school classmates graduate next week.

Officials at St. Pius X Catholic School in Albuquerque say no. Because Garcia was born as a girl, the school insists he must wear a white robe along with the other girls.

Television station KRQE reports that Garcia was born Brandi Garcia, but he identifies as a male and even had a legal name-change last year. Fellow students, teachers and faculty call him Damian and so does his family.

A northern New Mexico historic site that is considered one of the best preserved examples of a 17th century Spanish colonial mission has been designated as a national historic landmark.

The San Jose de los Jemez Mission Church was added to the list of landmarks Thursday. There are now nearly four dozen national historic landmarks in New Mexico.

State Cultural Affairs Secretary Veronica Gonzales calls the church in Jemez Springs an "outstanding example of American history and culture."

The unemployment rate for Hispanics in New Mexico is double the rate for non-Hispanic whites, according to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute.

In the last quarter of 2012, the unemployment rate for Hispanics here was 8.2 percent, compared to 4.7 percent for whites.

The Mescalero Apache tribe of New Mexico says it is looking to expand it's economy by mining rare earth elements. The elements are highly sought after for their applications in high-tech and green industries.

West Nile virus cases in the Southwest are up from previous years, according to new 2012 statistics released by the Centers for Disease Control.
First discovered in New York around 1999, the West Nile virus traveled west, carried by birds and mosquitoes, eventually hitting the Southwest.