Albuquerque Voters Approve Proposal For Police Chief Hires – The Associated Press
Albuquerque voters have strongly supported having future mayoral picks for police and fire chief positions submitted to the City Council for approval.
The measure to amend the City Charter was on the ballot in Tuesday's municipal election.
The final count had the police and fire chief appointment amendment supported by more than 63 percent of the vote.
Councilor Ken Sanchez co-sponsored the ballot measure proposing to give the City Council more authority over fire and police chief hires, saying earlier this year that it would help with ongoing police reform in Albuquerque.
City officials and Justice Department officials agreed to a settlement after a scathing federal report last year outlined a pattern of excessive force by police.
Hearing In Secretary Of State's Fraud Case Pushed Back – The Associated Press
A state district judge has decided embattled Secretary of State Dianna Duran's legal team should get more time to mount a defense in her fraud case.
Judge T. Glenn Ellington ruled Thursday he would push back a preliminary hearing until Dec. 1 after a motion filed by Duran's attorney.
Defense attorney Erlinda Johnson made the request last month, saying she needed time to review information provided by the attorney general's office that include more than 20,000 pages of documents and hours of audio interviews.
Prosecutors wanted the preliminary hearing to proceed as scheduled later this month.
Duran has pleaded not guilty to dozens of counts that range from fraud to tampering with state records. She's accused of funneling campaign donations to personal accounts and withdrawing cash while frequenting casinos.
Judge Declines To Order New Auction For Gallup Diocese – The Associated Press
A bankruptcy judge has declined to order a New Mexico diocese to hold a new auction after questioning practices at the diocese's September sales.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David T. Thuma said Wednesday that ordering a new auction could reduce the money available to settle the Diocese of Gallup's bankruptcy case.
He says that would be harmful to the creditors, who are victims of sexual abuse by priests.
The diocese raised about $160,000 from two auctions.
Thuma had asked the diocese to explain why it barred a reporter and a researcher from attending the auction. He advised officials to keep future events open to the public.
An attorney for the diocese argued Wednesday that there was public notice of the auction and anyone who wanted to bid could participate.
3-State Project To Look At Developing Adolescent Brains – The Associated Press
Researchers in New Mexico, Nevada and Louisiana are starting a $5.9 million project to look at how adolescent brains develop.
Lead researcher Vince Calhoun of the University of New Mexico says scientists at the universities of New Mexico and Nevada will scan the brains of 230 children between the ages of 9 and 15, taking three scans of each over the four-year project.
He says Tulane University scientists will analyze DNA from cheek swabs to study a process that regulates the effects of genes.
The brain scans will include magneto-encephalography, which detects and creates images from tiny magnetic fields produced by brain activity, and two kinds of MRIs.
All three institutions will analyze and model various aspects of the data.
A National Science Foundation grant covers the costs.
Tribes Get $4.4M To Reduce Drugs, Suicide, Domestic Violence – The Associated Press
The Indian Health Services will support nine New Mexico tribes' and tribal organizations' efforts to reduce suicide, drug addiction and domestic violence with $4.39 million in federal grants.
U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich and Tom Udall, of New Mexico, say the money will be distributed over the next five years to Isleta, Acoma, Ohkay Owingeh, Sandia, Santo Domingo and Taos pueblos, as well as the Ramah Navajo School Board, First Nations Community HealthSource in Albuquerque, the Five Sandoval Pueblos and Eight Northern Pueblos Indian Council.
Heinrich says the state's rural tribal communities often have access to fewer health resources, and the IHS money is intended to help close that gap as it supports efforts to develop culturally appropriate prevention and treatment programs.
Officials To Celebrate Valles Caldera's Transition – The Associated Press
State, federal and tribal officials will be gathering this weekend to mark the official transition of Valles Caldera National Preserve to the National Park Service.
U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell will be joined by members of New Mexico's congressional delegation, Native American leaders and other local officials for a celebration at the preserve Saturday.
Valles Caldera is home to vast grasslands, the remnants of one of North America's few super volcanoes and one of New Mexico's most famous elk herds.
The federal government purchased the property in 2000 with the goal of operating it as a working ranch while developing recreational opportunities for the public. Legislation signed last year cleared the way for the property to transition from trust management to the Park Service.
Officials say public access is expected to increase with the change.
'Better Call Saul' Spots Now Part Of 'Breaking Bad' Tours – The Associated Press
A company that gives tours around Albuquerque of sites from AMC-TV's "Breaking Bad" is now including spots from spinoff "Better Call Saul."
Breaking Bad RV Tours recently announced it was including "Better Call Saul" locations on its regular three-hour, $75 tours. More than 20 sites are part of the tours showing locations from both AMC-TV shows that were filmed around Albuquerque.
The company is one of many giving similar Albuquerque tours thanks to the popularity of both shows.
"Better Call Saul" follows Jimmy McGill, played by Bob Odenkirk, who later changes his name to Saul Goodman and becomes an attorney for drug lords in "Breaking Bad."
Odenkirk played the lawyer of Bryan Cranston's character, methamphetamine lord Walter White, in "Breaking Bad."
Nobel Prize Winner Hails From Small New Mexico Town – The Associated Press & The Santa Fe New Mexican
One of the three scientists recently awarded a Nobel Prize for chemistry originally fell in love with science as a boy in a small New Mexico town.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that the Nobel committee announced Wednesday that the chemistry prize went to 69-year-old Paul Modrich and his fellow researchers, Thomas Lindahl and Aziz Sancar.
The trio's research explains and maps how the cells repair DNA, a discovery that helps physicians understand and combat diseases.
Modrich grew up in the blue-collar town of Raton in northern New Mexico. Current residents are jubilant after learning that one of their own received the renowned award.
Modrich told writers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute that the biological diversity around Raton helped spark his curiosity.
Enrollment Up 24 Percent At College On Navajo Nation – The Associated Press
Enrollment is up at the country's first tribally controlled college.
Officials at Dine College on the Navajo Nation say enrollment for the fall semester increased by 24 percent over last fall.
The official 21-day count shows 1,554 full-time, degree-seeking students attending two campuses in Arizona and New Mexico, and four smaller centers in both states. Enrollment last fall was 1,257.
Officials attribute the increase to recruitment efforts in New Mexico, a dual credit program and efforts to retain students.
The college was established in 1968 as the first controlled by an American Indian tribe. Its main campus is in Tsaile.
Sheriff: 'Device' At New Mexico State Univ. Not Explosive - The Associated Press
Authorities say a "suspicious device" found on the New Mexico State University campus in Las Cruces contained no explosive material.
Details weren't released on the item found Thursday morning at an NMSU performing arts building.
However, the Dona Ana County Sheriff's Office said there's no indication that the device found Thursday morning was linked to the detonations of explosives outside two Las Cruces churches on Aug. 2.
The performing arts building and several others were closed and traffic in the area was blocked while a bomb squad rendered the device safe and explosives-sniffing dog teams conducted sweeps.
Albuquerque Indian School Transfer Bill Heads To President –The Associated Press
Legislation that would place property adjacent to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque in trust for 19 New Mexico pueblos has cleared its final congressional hurdle.
The bill was approved Wednesday by the U.S. House. It now heads to President Barack Obama for his signature.
The four tracts of land covered by the bill used to encompass the former Albuquerque Indian School.
Sen. Tom Udall, a New Mexico Democrat, says consolidating the last parcels of the school property will enable the pueblos to build on their ongoing efforts to transform the area into a unique business and cultural center.
The president and CEO of the cultural center, Mike Canfield, says developing the area will lead to more jobs and economic return for all of the pueblo communities.
Judge To Consider Request To Push Back Hearing In Duran Case – The Associated Press
It will be up to a state district judge to decide if embattled Secretary of State Dianna Duran's legal team will get more time to mount a defense.
Judge T. Glenn Ellington will consider a motion filed by Duran's attorney during a hearing Thursday morning in Santa Fe.
Defense attorney Erlinda Johnson made the request last month, saying she needed time to review information provided by the attorney general's office that include more than 3,000 pages of documents and hours of audio interviews.
Prosecutors say the preliminary hearing should proceed as scheduled later this month.
Duran has pleaded not guilty to dozens of counts that range from fraud to tampering with state records. She's accused of funneling campaign donations to personal accounts and withdrawing cash while frequenting casinos.
Tribes Get $4.4M To Reduce Drugs, Suicide, Domestic Violence
The Indian Health Services will support nine New Mexico tribes' and tribal organizations' efforts to reduce suicide, drug addiction and domestic violence with $4.39 million in federal grants.
U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich and Tom Udall, of New Mexico, say the money will be distributed over the next five years to Isleta, Acoma, Ohkay Owingeh, Sandia, Santo Domingo and Taos pueblos, as well as the Ramah Navajo School Board, First Nations Community HealthSource in Albuquerque, the Five Sandoval Pueblos and Eight Northern Pueblos Indian Council.
Heinrich says the state's rural tribal communities often have access to fewer health resources, and the IHS money is intended to help close that gap as it supports efforts to develop culturally appropriate prevention and treatment programs.
Official: Stopping Teacher Evaluations Would Hurt Students – The Associated Press
A witness for the New Mexico Public Education Department said during a hearing that if a judge stops the state's new teacher evaluation system it would negatively impact students and the school system in general.
American Federation of Teachers New Mexico and the Albuquerque Teachers Federation are seeking an injunction to halt the use of test scores while their lawsuit against the evaluation system goes through the court system.
A Santa Fe judge is hearing arguments over whether the state should stop its use of test scores in the evaluations.
On Tuesday, Director of Educator Quality for the Public Education Department testified that the state could lose federal funding and its waiver for certain federal No Child Left Behind Act mandates if the evaluations stop.
The hearing is scheduled to continue Thursday.
Trinity Test, And Effects, Subject Of New 'Manhattan' Season –
Russell Contreras, Associated Press
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The Trinity atomic test in New Mexico and the fears around the project are the focus of the second season of WGN America's drama "Manhattan."
Series creator Sam Shaw says audiences can expect characters to face the ethical dilemmas that come with testing an unknown bomb with unknown power without being preachy. However, Shaw says producers wanted to be accurate about the deadly test's effects.
Actors John Benjamin Hickey and Ashley Zukerman — both who play scientists at the then-secret city of Los Alamos — have met with descendants of a small Hispanic village near the Trinity Test site and say meetings prepared them for this next season.
The second season of the World War II-era drama series is scheduled to begin Tuesday, Oct. 13, on WGN America.
Ruling: State Can't Take Action Vs Tribe's Casino Vendors – The Associated Press
State gaming officials are being prevented from taking any action against the businesses that contract with a northern New Mexico tribe.
A federal judge Wednesday granted a preliminary injunction for the Pojoaque Pueblo, which operates two casinos north of Santa Fe.
The tribe complained to the New Mexico Attorney General's Office last month, accusing the state Gaming Control Board of illegally holding a July 15 closed-door meeting on their gaming activities.
Tribal officials say it violated the Open Meetings Act because board members were allegedly strategizing about how to retaliate against the vendors and manufacturers who do business with the Pueblo's gaming operations.
They filed suit in federal court, asking that state gambling regulators be prohibited from taking any action against licensed vendors who do business with the tribe.