News

A wildfire burning in the Pecos Wilderness north of Santa Fe has ballooned to more than 12 square miles in two days, and fire managers say it's still too dangerous to put any firefighters on the ground.

The only option for battling the Jaroso Fire is a fleet of water-dropping helicopters.

The fire management officer for the Santa Fe National Forest, Duane Archuleta, says the canyons are too narrow and steep to allow for any of the big air tankers.

UPDATE 6/13 1p: Officials on the Carson National Forest have decided to close trails in the Camino Real Ranger District that access the Pecos Wilderness.

The decision stems from a wildfire burning in the wilderness. The Jaroso Fire has charred an estimated 5 square miles and is sending up quite a bit of smoke as it runs through acres of dead and downed trees.

Forest officials say the closure order includes the Trampas, San Leoandro, Santa Barbara and the Ripley Point trails.

KUNM Call In Show 6/13 8a: this year Governor Susana Martinez signed the Fair Pay For Women Act into law and it goes into effect on Friday. The mostly bipartisan legislative effort will make it easier for women claiming pay discrimination to get into court.  But will the law lead to equal pay for women in a state that has been near the bottom in pay equity?  How will the law affect small businesses, corporations and the women it was designed to assist?  We’ll hear from the legislation’s sponsor, proponents and those who may be affected most. And we'd like to hear from you!

Laguna Pueblo is working with Sacred Wind Communications to bring Internet service to the central New Mexico tribe.

The high-speed broadband project was first unveiled last week. Officials say it's aimed at connecting every home and building in the tribe's six villages.

The project has been funded through six separate grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The director of the pueblo's utility authority, Leonard Otero, says the service means residents will have access to academic, medical, employment and other types of valuable information.

A key former detective who later doubted that the wife of a former Albuquerque officer committed suicide is slated to take the stand in the former officer's murder trial.

Former Valencia County Sheriff's Detective Aaron Jones is expected Wednesday to testify in trial of Levi Chavez.

Chavez is standing trial in Sandoval District Court for killing his 26-year-old wife and trying to make it look like a suicide. He is charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence and has pleaded not guilty.

District Attorney Diana Martwick of Alamogordo is among seven lawyers asking to be considered for a vacant judgeship in southern New Mexico.

A Judicial Nominating Commission announced the applicants on Tuesday.

The bipartisan panel will meet next week in Alamogordo to interview the candidates and decide who to recommend to Republican Gov. Susana Martinez for possible appointment to the judgeship in the 12th Judicial District of Otero and Lincoln counties.

The Energy Department's inspector general says former Congresswoman Heather Wilson collected $450,000 in questionable payments from the nation's federally funded nuclear labs after she left office.

A report says the New Mexico Republican failed to document what she did to earn $20,000 a month from New Mexico's Los Alamos and Sandia national labs from 2009 to 2011.

The inspector general says private contractors that run the labs have reimbursed the government for the payments. An investigation continues.

Only half of the Native American students in the U.S. graduated from high school in 2010, according to a new report by the non-profit publisher of Education Week. The study found Native American students graduated at a rate 30 percent lower than white students, 17 percent lower than Latino students, and 10 percent lower than African American students.

One out of every five senior citizens in New Mexico isn't getting enough to eat, according to a report from United Health Foundation. The America's Health Ranking Senior Report looks at this and other issues facing the aging population. 

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 (http://bit.ly/17DVeOu) 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.

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 (http://bit.ly/17DVf4N) 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.

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.

State water officials say the prospects are bleak that seasonal rains will provide much relief from the drought gripping New Mexico.

Legislators were told Monday by the State Engineers Office that the precipitation outlook for June to August is likely below normal for the eastern two-thirds of New Mexico and the odds favor above normal temperatures for most of New Mexico.

UPDATE 6/11 3p: The City of Albuquerque has opened cooling centers for residents affected by downed powerlines. Temperatures are expected to peak in the upper 90s and low 100s today.

KOB-TV reports the centers will offer air conditioning and water and are free to the public.  There are four locations. 

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The US fish and Wildlife Service proposed multiple changes to the mexican gray wolf recovery program late last week. Both ranchers and environmentalists say they aren’t happy with the proposal in it's current form.

Under the new provisions, the Mexican gray wolf would be officially recognized as an endangered sub-species and receive federal protections. The Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area would also be enlarged.

New Mexico's highest court has ruled that police can obtain search warrants over the telephone from a judge.

The state Supreme Court said Monday that judges don't have to see in writing the sworn statement from authorities that provides the probable cause for issuing a search warrant.

The ruling overturned a decision by the state Court of Appeals in a case involving Lester and Carol Boyse of Mesilla, who were sentenced in 2010 to probation for five years after pleading no contest to more than 100 charges of animal cruelty.

The Southwest has some of the highest rates of childhood hunger in the country. That's according to a new study that says New Mexico is the most food insecure state in the nation.

More crews and a higher-level management team are being assigned to a fire burning in extremely rugged terrain in the Gila National Forest in southeastern New Mexico.

A mandatory evacuation was ordered early Monday for the small community of Kingston but there's no word of any structures being burned. An evacuation center has been established at the community center in Hillsboro.

The New Mexico Lottery says it has provided more than a half billion dollars for education since starting in 1996.

The lottery's latest annual report says it generated about $462 million from 1996 through the 2012 fiscal year for a program that pays for college tuition of New Mexico students.

Almost $67 million went for public school construction from 1996 to 2001, and then the law was changed to direct all lottery proceeds to the scholarship program.

The City Council in Las Cruces is scheduled on Monday to consider a proposed tax hike.

The proposal is a response to a new law that will phase out the "hold harmless" payments the state currently makes to cities and counties.

The Las Cruces Sun-News reports (http://bit.ly/11p4Kwk) that city officials are considering a three-eighths of 1 cent increase in gross receipts taxes.

The increase would amount to 37.5 cents on a $100 purchase.

City officials say Las Cruces stands to lose about $8.5 million a year in hold stipends.

UPDATE 2p: Smoke from the Jaroso Fire in the Pecos Wilderness has created a 20,000 foot column in the New Mexico sky. 

The wildfire has grown to over 1200 acres and fire officials say crews are developing plans to fight the blaze. 

Because of the fire's extreme behavior- it's burning in an area with a lot of trees killed by bark beetles- all air resources were pulled off the fire Monday. 

Federal education officials have granted the state of New Mexico a waiver for a 2010 violation of federal rules on spending for special education, but refused to grant a waiver for 2011.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that the federal decisions put the state at risk of losing $34 million in federal funds.

Federal officials also are also questioning spending on special education for fiscal years 2012 and 2013, which ends June 30.

The amount at risk for 2012 is about $26.4 million.

Gov. Susana Martinez says Attorney General Gary King was right in not issuing a formal opinion on whether same-sex marriage is legal in New Mexico and her office will not get involved in any challenges.

Martinez told the Associated Press on Friday that she also believed the courts decide if same-sex marriage is legal in the state.

High fire danger is prompting land managers around Albuquerque to close some areas.

The full and partial closures will take effect Monday at 8 a.m.

The city and Bernalillo County are imposing a partial closure of the Rio Grande bosque and the foothills. Residents will still be able to use the levee roads and established trails.

The county is closing open space areas in the East Mountains.

Buried deep within the labyrinth of what is Bernalillo County's Metropolitan Detention Center is a small classroom. The pupil's are inmates of all ages. Today three of them graduated. 

Alan Pereya says never in his wildest dreams did he think he or his fellow pod-mates would ever earn a diploma. "We would have never thought that we would be wearing a cap and gown, who knew that you would graduate high school in jail?"

The drought is taking its toll on Conchas Lake.

Officials with New Mexico State Parks have decided to close the Cove and Central recreation areas at the lake, including the boat ramps, until further notice. They say the lake is now at its lowest level since 1940.

Every corner of New Mexico is dealing with some form of drought. The latest map compiled by federal forecasters shows exceptional drought — the worst category — is covering nearly half of the state.

Members of New Mexico's congressional delegation are urging federal officials and utility companies to find ways to prevent wildfires.

Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich have sent letters to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Interior Department and several utilities and electric cooperatives.

Their concerns stem from two wildfires that are burning in the Santa Fe National Forest in northern New Mexico. The fires have charred dozens of square miles in just one week after being sparked by downed power lines.

The Tres Lagunas and Thompson Ridge Wildfires continue to burn in New Mexico. The blazes have scorched more than 30 square miles, forcing the evacuation of nearly 200 homes, and about 50 Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout.

Biologists stunned and netted nearly 50 Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout from a creek being earlier this week to ensure a pure strain of the native fish would survive if the Tres Lagunas wildfire threatens their habitat.

Two Santa Fe men have filed a lawsuit after being denied a marriage license by a New Mexico county clerk.

The lawsuit filed Thursday in state district court came the same day that New Mexico Attorney General Gary King declined to issue a formal opinion on whether same-sex marriage is legal in New Mexico. An internal legal analysis by his staff, however, concluded that state law doesn't allow same-sex marriage but is vulnerable to a constitutional challenge.

New Mexico regulators have finally approved a revamped set of regulations aimed at managing certain wastes produced by oil and natural gas drilling.

The Oil Conservation Commission approved the so-called pit rule Thursday, following testimony and deliberations that spanned more than a year.

The regulations govern how producers handle drilling mud and other waste in pits, buried tanks, sumps and closed-loop systems.