News

A far-reaching immigration bill is getting its first test at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, where opponents of the legislation will be able to face off with its authors.

The committee includes New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer and three other lawmakers who authored the bill to boost border security, fix legal immigration programs and eventually grant citizenship to some 11 million people in the U.S. illegally. The panel also includes skeptics of the legislation, including Republican Jeff Sessions of Alabama.

Gov. Susana Martinez's administration plans to help public schools identify students who are at risk of dropping out of school.

The governor announced Thursday the Public Education Department will use $500,000 approved by the Legislature to implement an early warning system for potential school dropouts.

The Democratic-controlled Legislature had a better track record this year in getting bills signed into law by Republican Gov. Susana Martinez.

The governor signed 77 percent of the 298 bills passed by the Legislature during its 60-day session, which ended last month.

Martinez vetoed 23 percent of bills that cleared the Legislature.

In 2011, when Martinez took office and the Legislature last met in a 60-day session, the governor signed 65 percent of the 284 bills approved by lawmakers. About 35 percent were vetoed, according to Legislative Council Service records.

A Route 66 motor lodge in Albuquerque where Bill Gates and Paul Allen stayed while launching Microsoft Corp. is being redeveloped into apartments as part of a neighborhood revival project.

Officials broke ground Thursday on the redevelopment of the Sundowner Uhuru Apartment Complex.

The federally funded project will create 70 apartments for veterans, the homeless, mixed-income residents and people with special needs.

The University of New Mexico-Gallup has announced three finalists for the branch campus's new executive director.

The university system said this week that the three finalists will each speak at open forums beginning next week.

Vice President of Academic Affairs at Long Beach City College Gaither Loewenstein, former Berkeley City College president John Garmon and Missouri State University-West Plains Dean Christopher Dyer are among the finalists.

School officials say Gallup community members will have an opportunity to ask questions at forums.

New Mexico State University this weekend is hosting a grand opening for its new wine academy.

The new wine laboratory at its hospitality school is named after Bobby Lee Lawrence, known throughout the area as the "Southwest Wine Guy."

Lawrence passed away in 2010. His widow, Marion, established the Bobby Lee Lawrence wine academy with a $250,000 gift to the university.

Lawrence trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and the Culinary Institute of America. He taught about wine at area festivals and had a wine blog.

A coalition of state, federal and tribal agencies and nonprofit groups is starting a campaign aimed at curbing illegal dumping across New Mexico.

The yearlong campaign will include billboards, posters, radio spots and television commercials.

Officials say a toll-free number and website have also been set up for reporting illegal dumping.

Authorities say all evacuations from a 109-acre blaze in southern New Mexico have been lifted.

New Mexico State Forestry spokesman Dan Ware says the evacuations were lifted early Thursday now that the fire located on the edge of the Lincoln National Forest is 10 percent contained.

Firefighters are being helped by the weather as they mop up the fire in pine and grass on federal and private land in the Curtis Canyon Dam area southwest of Mayhill.

Firefighters are being helped by the weather as they battle an estimated 200-acre blaze on the edge of the Lincoln National Forest in southern New Mexico in an area where 20 homes have been voluntarily evacuated.

New Mexico State Forestry spokesman Dan Ware says the fire is burning in grass and pine on federal and private land in the Curtis Canyon Dam area southwest of Mayhill.

Ware says winds lessened Wednesday night and that lower temperatures from a cold front passing through the area dampened fire activity. The fire is 10 percent contained.

Federal water managers have released their annual operating plan for the Middle Rio Grande Valley and it doesn't look good.

The Bureau of Reclamation says the state is heading into its third year of drought, snowpack in key mountain ranges throughout northern New Mexico was only 45 percent of average and reservoirs are already low.

Hydrologist Ed Kandl says it's almost unprecedented to have three bad years in a row.

New Mexico's campaign contribution limits have increased, allowing candidates to accept larger amounts from donors.

State law requires adjusting the contribution caps for inflation after each general election.

For the 2014 elections, the secretary of state's office says candidates for statewide office, such as governor, can accept contributions from individuals of $5,200 per election — a total of $10,400 for primary and general election campaigns. The previous limit was $5,000 per election.

Navajo Nation lawmakers have put off voting on a lease extension for a coal-fired power plant until later this month.

The lawmakers took the action Wednesday after questioning water use at the Navajo Generating Station in Page, how to control pollution, the federal government's role in the plant and the formation of a negotiating team.

The agreement would extend the lease that expires in 2019 to 2044 and boost payments to the tribe from $3 million a year to $43 million a year.

An art and antiques dealer who claims he hid a chest of treasure somewhere in the southern Rocky Mountains north of Santa Fe says it's still out there.

Forrest Fenn spoke to an audience of several hundred people at a Santa Fe bookstore on Wednesday.

According to the Albuquerque Journal (http://bit.ly/11gGbEP ), Fenn said two separate groups of treasure-hunters interpreted the first two clues correctly and came within 500 feet of the treasure.

But he said both groups ended up walking by the treasure without finding it.

The Bureau of Land Management has netted more than $20 million in revenues from its quarterly oil and natural gas lease sale.

More than 50 parcels in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas were leased as part of Wednesday's sale.

The federal leases are awarded for 10 years and for as long thereafter as there is production in paying quantities. The revenues and royalties collected from the leases are shared between the federal government and the states.

A contested race for the Democratic nomination for New Mexico governor appears to be shaping up.

State Sen. Linda Lopez of Albuquerque says she's preparing to run for the nomination, and state Sen. Tim Keller of Albuquerque says he's also thinking about running for the nomination as well.

Attorney General Gary King is the only declared candidate for the Democratic nomination for the office now held by Republican Susana Martinez.

The Santa Fe New Mexican (http://bit.ly/13aVjYh ) reports that Lopez has decided to run.

New Mexico State University has announced that all five finalists to become the school's new president will hold community forums starting next week.

Former New Mexico Gov. Garrey Carruthers is scheduled to meet with the public Monday at the Corbett Center Auditorium. He will be followed by former Texas Tech President Guy Bailey the next day.

David Ashley, former University of Nevada-Las Vegas President will hold his forum the following Thursday and Elsa Murano, Texas A&M President Emeritus, will meet with the community April 29.

The on-again off-again renovation of a Route 66 landmark in Albuquerque has hit yet another snag.

The Albuquerque Journal reports (http://bit.ly/YoDqOE) that National Park Service is requiring that the developer of the De Anza Motor Lodge design elements that were added to the motel in 1964. But Rob Dickson, the project's developer, says are those deigns are costly and irrelevant.

The National Park Service in November gave "conditional approval" to the $4.3 million renovation of the Route 66 landmark. The agency's approval is needed to obtain federal historic tax credits.

Gov. Susana Martinez is reshuffling the leadership of two state agencies because of the retirement of Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Secretary John Bemis.

The governor named Environment Secretary F. David Martin to succeed Bemis, who is retiring Tuesday.

Bemis turns 62 this month and said he had long planned to retire at this time.

Martinez on Monday appointed Environment Department General Counsel Ryan Flynn to take over for Martin as cabinet secretary. Flynn has been the agency's top lawyer for two years.

The first details of the New Mexico Department of Corrections' massive audit of inmate files are scheduled released at the end of April.

Department spokeswoman Alex Tomlin said Monday that the first phase of the audit will be publicly be released later this month and will include information on inmates mistakenly released from September 2010 to September 2012.

Last week, the New Mexico Department of Corrections said Dion Henderson, a man convicted in a 1994 double-murder case, was mistakenly released in February 2012.

The Valles Caldera National Preserve is offering the public a chance to explore its 89,000 acres in northern New Mexico on three-day photography excursions this spring and in the fall.

Lotteries will select the winners, 12 for each outing. Each winner can bring one guest.

The winners can drive their own vehicles to take photographs in most parts of the preserve although some areas will remain closed. Camping will be allowed at a designated location.

  The worst-ever Rio Grande drought is posing plenty of challenges this season for chile growers in New Mexico.

The Las Cruces Sun-News reports (http://bit.ly/130JzY7) that one challenge is groundwater that's applied to crops in the absence of river water is saltier.

Such water tends to stunt plants and hurt the overall yield of crops.

This week, about 60 percent of New Mexico's chile crop had been planted.

Overall acreage statewide has dropped sharply over the past two decades after the all-time high of 34,500 acres in 1992.

  New Mexico plans to spend about $31 million in new money over the coming year to expand early childhood education programs.

That brings the state's annual spending for such programs to about $197 million for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

The Albuquerque Journal reports (http://bit.ly/177spEW) that the state's early childhood education spending has increased nearly 44 percent in the past two years.

The new money for the upcoming fiscal year includes about $21 million in budget increases for state agencies administering the programs.

The NAACP has filed a complaint with the state Attorney General's Office.

KRQE-TV reports (http://bit.ly/XMJXaM) that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People says programs for youth enrichment and fitness has received very little funding from the state.

Harold Bailey, president of the Albuquerque NAACP, says all three branches of state government are guilty in denying local African Americans the basic right to enjoy the benefits of funding.

The move stems from recent actions during the 2013 legislative session.

Navajo lawmakers are gathering in Window Rock on Monday for the start of their spring session.

Among the items they'll consider is a lease extension for the coal-fired Navajo Generating Station in Page.

The Tribal Council has been divided on whether to approve a 25-year lease for the power plant that will expire in 2044. The agreement would increase annual payments to the Navajo Nation from $3 million to more than $40 million a year.

Warm, windy and dry conditions are expected to sweep across New Mexico on Sunday.

Forecasters with the National Weather Service have issued red flag warnings for much of the northern half of New Mexico due to strong winds and low humidity levels.

The Middle Rio Grande Valley and the west-central highlands are in line for similar conditions Monday.

Records released by the state Department of Public Safety show state police officers racked up overtime, holiday pay and other expenses while providing security for Gov. Susana Martinez's husband on an out-of-state hunting trip.

The documents obtained by The Santa Fe New Mexican and other media organizations were part of a public information request that was made 10 months ago. The administration first refused to release the records, citing security concerns, but Attorney General Gary King directed them to be released.

Prosecutors say a racehorse-buying operation was supposed to be a clandestine way for one of Mexico's most powerful and violent drug cartels to launder its illegal proceeds in the United States.

But authorities reined in the operation partly because those who ran it didn't keep a low profile, spending millions of dollars in an industry going through tough times and owning horses with such names as Number One Cartel.

One of painter Georgia O'Keeffe's famous New Mexico landscapes is part of a new series of postage stamps dedicated to modern art in America.

The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe will be unveiling the painting "Black Mesa Landscape, Out Back of Marie's II" next week in commemoration of its inclusion in the stamp series.

The painting will be installed in the museum's first gallery.

State education officials have launched an investigation into one of New Mexico's top performing public high schools over allegations of testing "irregularities."

Officials from the state's Public Education Department visited La Cueva High School in Albuquerque on Thursday to question students and teachers over the Standard Based Assessments that students took last month.

The required exam helps determine schools' grades under the federal No Child Left Behind law.

Environmentalists are accusing state construction regulators of running afoul of the New Mexico Court of Appeals.

The court last week overturned a 2011 decision by the state Construction Industries Commission to revamp green building codes that former Democrat Gov. Bill Richardson's administration promoted as among the most environmentally friendly in the country.

The court said the commission failed to provide reasons for changing the construction standards. The case was ordered back to the commission for reconsideration and a new vote.