News

A Native American leader from Nevada recently named to a national tourism advisory board says tribes need to learn to better tap into the keen interest so many travelers have in their heritage and the culture and history of the West.

Nevada Indian Commission Director Sherry Rupert says there's really nothing quite like the opportunities awaiting visitors to tribal lands. She says most of those cultures and traditions remain alive.

Rupert is of Paiute and Washoe descent. She says her elders taught her how to garden and make baskets and cradleboards.

An industry report says New Mexico's housing market is seeing fewer signs of distress.

The Albuquerque Journal reports (http://bit.ly/15X97qz) that the report by the Mortgage Bankers Association shows 9.2 percent of homes in the state were either delinquent on mortgage payments or somewhere in the foreclosure process during the first three months of the year.

That's an improvement from 10 percent in the preceding fourth quarter and 9.7 percent in the first quarter of 2012.

Moving into a new home is an exciting event, but for people who have experienced homelessness, the joy is especially poignant. In Santa Fe, the renovated Stage Coach Motor Inn is preserving its classic nicho and viga architecture and working to preserve a sense of permanency for some new tenants.

KUNM's Poverty and Public Health reporter Deborah Martinez has the story. 

The Institute of American Indian Arts will launch its first graduate program this summer. The Masters of Fine Arts degree in creative writing will be the first program of it’s kind at any tribal college in the nation.

The two-year program will focus heavily on writing in a number of genres, and the Institute of American Indian Arts, or IAIA, says there are nearly 30 candidates admitted for the program, which officially opens at the end of July.

A New Mexico utility plans to use some of the water it gets from Colorado to test the idea of pumping water underground for use later during times of drought or high demand.

Starting next week, the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority for about a month will inject the water underground by using a currently idle well that has been used in the past to pump water from the ground.

According to the Albuquerque Journal (http://bit.ly/18xM6JF ), the water will come from the utility's allotment from the San Juan-Chama Project.

  Major stretches of river have already gone dry, farmers are leaving their land fallow and cities are clamping down on water use, but things in New Mexico just went from bad to worse Thursday.

The latest drought map put together by federal forecasters shows New Mexico — the nation's fifth largest state — is in the worst shape of any state. Nearly 40 percent of New Mexico is grappling with exceptional drought.

In just a week, that percentage jump from nearly a quarter. A year ago, it was less than one-tenth.

New Mexico is establishing a state-run health insurance exchange that's subject to open government laws.

Legislation enacted this year makes clear the exchange and its governing board must comply with New Mexico's Open Meetings Act and the Inspection of Public Records Act.

Those laws will require board meetings to be open to the public and that records, such as the exchange's contracts and other expenditures, are available for inspection by the public.

The owners of a coal-fired power plant on the Navajo Nation are objecting to changes made by the tribe in approving a lease extension.

Under legislation signed by tribal President Ben Shelly last month, the lease for the Navajo Generating Station near Page would expire in 2044. The agreement also boosts yearly payments to the tribe to $43 million.

The plant's operator, Salt River Project, told tribal officials this week that amendments dealing with water rights and having the federal government sign on as a lessee are unacceptable.

A federal agency is offering about $2 million to health clinics in New Mexico to help uninsured residents obtain medical coverage.

The Health and Human Services Department said Thursday that said 15 community health centers were eligible to apply for the funding (http://1.usa.gov/10l9e6P).

The clinics are in communities ranging from Albuquerque, Las Cruces and Santa Fe to Lordsburg, Hatch and Portales.

A New Mexico tourism official has been named to the Commerce Department's national travel advisory board.

Sherry Rupert, who is vice president of the American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association in Albuquerque, was one of six new members appointed Thursday to the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board.

The board advises the commerce secretary on travel and tourism issues. Its members represent a broad cross-section of the industry, including transportation and financial services and hotels and restaurants.

With drought affecting much of the southwest, the Navajo Nation is working to bring water to it's citizens with the tribal government recently approving over $8-million dollars for water infrastructure projects.
The Navajo Nation is roughly the size of West Virginia, has a population of around 170,000 people, and much of the Nations citizens are in need of water.

In what's thought to be the first housing program of it's kind brought to a tribal community, the Pueblo of Zuni in western New Mexico has broken ground on a series of homes financed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The "Self-help housing" program works like this: the USDA gives your community a grant to finance housing, delivers supplies to build a home, provides blue prints, then - with the help of technical volunteers - oversees community members build their own homes.

The Census Bureau reports a larger share of New Mexico's Hispanic voters participated in last year's presidential election than in 2008 when President Barack Obama was first elected.

About 56.2 percent of eligible Hispanic voters cast ballots in November, up from almost 53.7 percent in 2008.

Turnout among non-Hispanic white voters, what in New Mexico often are called Anglos, was 70.5 percent last year compared with 71.5 percent in 2008.

The Santa Fe Police Department is going with the classic colors of black and white.

The department on Thursday plans to unveil its new fleet of police cruisers, which includes two new Dodge Chargers, 18 Ford SUVs and five Ford Tauruses.

Gone are the red, white and blue logos that residents have become familiar with. The department says statistics show that the switch to black and white can help curb crime.

Other New Mexico police departments have already made the switch, including Albuquerque and Rio Rancho.

A prestigious nonprofit research and education center in Santa Fe has tapped former U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman to serve as its newest trustee.

The Santa Fe Institute announced Wednesday that Bingaman has been elected to a three-year appointment on the Board of Trustees. The board has fiduciary responsibility for the institute and oversees its operation through biannual meetings and committees that offer advice and support to the institute's leadership.

Tweets from Latino activists, writers and artists are being credited for pushing Disney into withdrawing a "Dia de los Muertos" trademark request.

Advocates say anger and ridicule expressed on social media forced the company to retreat Tuesday as word of the move to copyright the holiday spread.

Online petitions were created and organizers discussed plans to boycott the planned Pixar movie and products that would have been linked to the trademark.

Critics say Disney has no right to trademark cultural holidays.

A prosecutor says an Albuquerque police officer acted in self-defense and won't be charged for fatally shooting a man who had rammed his car into the officer's vehicle in March 2012.

Police had said that Daniel Walter Tillison was a known gang member and that Officer Martin Smith first shot out tires of Tillison's vehicle and only shot at Tillison after he kept driving toward Smith.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Sylvia Martinez says prosecutors didn't' find probable cause that Smith broke the law.

Track officials at Ruidoso Downs say they are sticking with standards that will ensure integrity during this summer's racing season.

That means no trainers who have been suspended by the American Quarter Horse Association, The Jockey Club or any racing jurisdiction will be allowed to compete at the southern New Mexico track.

Track officials included a list of 17 trainers with Wednesday's announcement.

The track acknowledged that the trainers have certain appeal rights within their racing jurisdictions and Ruidoso Downs will continue to monitor their status.

Gov. Susana Martinez's administration plans to open a new juvenile detention center in southern New Mexico.

A spokesman for the Children, Youth and Families Department said Tuesday the juvenile center near Fort Stanton should open in October and will be at the location of the former Camp Sierra Blanca, a state facility for juvenile offenders that was closed four years ago.

A budget measure signed into law by the governor provided $900,000 for improvements to juvenile facilities in Albuquerque and at Fort Stanton, which is northeast of Ruidoso in Lincoln County.

Gila Regional Medical Center has downgraded 70 full-time hospital employees to part-time status as part of new cost cutting measures.

The Silver City Sun-News reports (http://bit.ly/13ugHEQ) that the hospital says the measures were needed after it saw an increase in the numbers of uninsured and underinsured patients. The hospital also is facing a cash crunch because of the shift from inpatient care to outpatient care, and reduced reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid.

The Bureau of Land Management is planning to enact fire restrictions across more than 6 million acres of federal land in New Mexico.

Officials say the restrictions will take effect Saturday. They will cover 15 counties that span parts of eastern and southern New Mexico.

Little rainfall, low humidity levels and above-average temperatures are prompting the need for restrictions. Officials say they're aimed at preventing wildfires and ensuring public and firefighter safety.

U.S. senators from Wyoming and New Mexico say they'll roll out legislation this week to try to restore about $110 million in cuts to a federal minerals payment program that hit their states the hardest.

Wyoming, the nation's biggest coal-producing state, stands to lose more than $50 million this year, while New Mexico faces a loss of about $25 million.

Another space industry heavyweight will use New Mexico's Spaceport America.

Gov. Susana Martinez announced Tuesday that Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, has agreed to a three-year lease to do testing of its "Grasshopper" reusable rocket in southern New Mexico.

SpaceX is one of the leading developers of rockets and spacecraft and is one of the companies the Spaceport project has been trying to recruit.

Santa Fe County has issued an emergency ordinance declaring hazardous fire conditions and imposing restrictions.

Open fires, the burning of trash or vegetation and throwing cigarettes out a vehicle window are prohibited under the restrictions. Smoking is also limited to certain locations.

Authorities say violators can face a fine up to $300 or 90 days in jail.

Jurors were not able to reach a verdict in the case of a man accused in a driver's license scam that involved Chinese foreign nationals who were in the U.S. illegally.

The Albuquerque Journal reports (http://bit.ly/16eUgY9) that a hung jury was declared Tuesday in the case of 24-year-old Gordon Leong. Jurors began deliberations Friday.

Leong faced 110 felony counts in connection with a scheme that involved securing New Mexico driver's licenses for more than 60 people.

  KUNM Call In Show Thu. 5/6 8a: What do you get when you combine students who have artistic vision with artists who have serious skills? We'll hear from the folks at Meow Wolf, an arts organization, and the high school students they've paired up with about the transformative experience of making multi-media installations as part of the Albuquerque Museum's Lead With The Arts after school arts program. 

An Arizona escapee who is accused of killing a couple in New Mexico is seeking to have a key piece of evidence thrown out.

Lawyers for John Charles McCluskey are in federal court in Albuquerque this week asking the judge to toss out DNA evidence they say is tainted.

An Intel employee says in a federal lawsuit that co-workers secretly taped a "Kick Me" sign on his back as part of a pattern of abuse he faced at a Rio Rancho, N.M., Intel plant.

Harvey Palacio says in a lawsuit he went to a senior staffer in August to ask if something was taped on his back and staffer then kicked Palacio in his buttocks. Court papers say another staffer also kicked him.

The lawsuit filed in Albuquerque says other co-workers laughed and Palacio "felt demoralized and assaulted and he began to cry during the drive home."

New Mexico's 1st Judicial District Court will be closed for several work days in early June and its paper records unavailable to the public for about three weeks as the court moves into a new courthouse in Santa Fe.

The Santa Fe New Mexican (http://bit.ly/12auIHs ) reports that the Judge Steve Herrera Judicial Complex will be closed to the public June 5-7 before its scheduled opening on Monday, June 10.

Paper records will be unavailable for inspection from May 20 to June 10 as they're moved from the current courthouse to the new one.

Heightened security measures following the Boston bombings have led to the cancellation of one of New Mexico's largest triathlons.

The Jay Benson Triathlon had been scheduled Sunday at Kirtland Air Force Base.

The sponsor has told the hundreds of expected participants that it's canceled and is offering full refunds.

Duane Kinsley is the owner of Sports Systems, the title sponsor of the event. He says the retail store couldn't meet increased requirements to get participants on base. Those included submitting Social Security and driver's license numbers for athletes.