British Manufacturer Buys Nambe LLC For $12M – Santa Fe New Mexican, Associated Press
A Santa Fe-based company known for its polished aluminum alloy kitchenware and home décor has been acquired by a British manufacturer and worldwide distributor.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports Portmeirion Group's purchase of Nambé LLC for $12 million from the Hillenbrand family closed Tuesday.
Portmeirion CEO Lawrence Bryan says he has always enjoyed Nambe's design ethic, describing it as contemporary and chic.
The sale included the Nambé headquarters building in Santa Fe, all rights and intellectual property and a distribution center in nearby Española.
Nambé brings in $18 million in annual revenue, with its products available at Nambe stores in New Mexico and Arizona and other retailers in the U.S. such as Bloomingdale's, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom.
Bryan says he expects to open Nambé shops in other states.
Chaco Legislation Clears US House Committee – Associated Press
Federal legislation aimed at limiting oil and gas development near a national park in New Mexico held sacred by Native Americans has been endorsed by a key congressional committee.
The House natural resources panel on Wednesday approved the Democrat-sponsored bill. A similar measure is pending in the Senate.
Tribes and environmentalists have been advocating for more protections beyond the boundaries of Chaco Culture National Historical Park, saying the region is full of culturally significant sites.
The legislation would permanently ban drilling on federal land within 10 miles of the park.
Most of the land surrounding the park belongs to the Navajo Nation or individual Navajo allotment owners. While top Navajo officials support cultural preservation, they have stopped short of asking for a drilling ban because development in the region nets substantial revenue.
Valerie Plame Campaign Gets Boost From Undisclosed Sources – Associated Press
Thousands of small campaign contributions from undisclosed sources have propelled former CIA operative and author Valerie Plame to the financial pole position in a crowded primary competition for an open congressional seat in 2020.
Plame spokesman Daniel Garcia says small, non-itemized contributions to the campaign since April 1 are evidence of broad political support from everyday people.
Plame's campaign for the Democratic nomination raised $239,000 from April through June and has drawn criticism from rival campaigns for not revealing the source of more than 3,000 contributions of under $200. Garcia says that is standard practice in federal campaigns.
Democratic state Rep. Joseph Sanchez says he also chose not to itemize small contributions to his congressional campaign but will in the future to highlight his local base of support.
New Mexico Labor Agency Wins Judgment For Unpaid Workers – Associated Press
Workers who were left without their final paychecks when the Albuquerque-based consulting company they worked for went bust are one step closer to getting their money.
The New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions has won a summary judgment of more than $52,000 on behalf of seven workers of now defunct CPST Consulting, LLC.
State labor officials say the company ceased operations in 2015 without distributing final paychecks for employees.
The judgment includes $16,920 in unpaid wages plus 200% in liquidated damages and interest mandated by state law when workers are left unpaid.
A state district court found that company owner Richard Montoya was individually liable for the wage debts and that going out of business doesn't shield business owners from having to pay workers for time on the job.
Nuclear Weapons Waste Shipped From Idaho To New Mexico – Associated Press
Radioactive waste shipped to Idaho from a Midwestern nuclear weapons facility during the Cold War has been compacted and sent out of state for permanent disposal.
A U.S. Department of Energy contractor on Wednesday said nearly 26,000 cubic yards of waste contaminated with plutonium-238 has been sent to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad.
The waste was produced at a Department of Energy facility in Miamisburg, Ohio, and sent to the Energy Department's 890-square-mile site west of the city of Idaho Falls that includes the Idaho National Laboratory.
Workers in Idaho placed the waste in barrels that were compacted into the size of hockey pucks.
The Energy Department has been cleaning up the Idaho site following legal battles that led to a settlement agreement with state officials in the 1990s.
Ex-Navajo President's Daughter Pleads Guilty In DUI Case – Associated Press
The daughter of former Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye is serving three years of probation in a DUI case.
Karis Begaye pleaded guilty last month to misdemeanor impaired driving and criminal damage, and to a felony count of endangerment.
She had been serving as legal counsel in her father's administration when she was arrested south of Flagstaff in April 2018. The tribal vehicle she was driving crashed into a tractor-trailer.
Authorities say her blood-alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit for driving. The DUI charge was downgraded in a plea agreement.
Begaye must pay more than $35,000 in restitution to the tribe and a private transportation company.
Russell Begaye wrote to the court saying his daughter is working to overcome alcohol abuse with help from friends and family.
Crews Working To Suppress Fire In Prescott National Forest – Associated Press
Crews are trying to suppress a grass and brush wildfire that is starting to burn ponderosa pine on the Prescott National Forest in north-central Arizona while sending smoke toward New Mexico.
The fire started late Sunday by lightning 16 miles south of Prescott grew to approximately 11 square miles by Wednesday and a top-tier management team is scheduled to take over Thursday.
Forest officials said firefighting crews supported by air tankers, fire engines and bulldozers were constructing containment lines and burning vegetation along those lines to deprive the fire of fuel.
Forest officials said smoke from the fire would be visible in Prescott and surrounding communities, while the National Weather Service said the smoke likely would drift into New Mexico late Wednesday night and Thursday.
New Mexico Warns Of Blister-Causing Livestock Virus- Associated Press
New Mexico officials are warning horse owners to take precautions to keep their animals from contracting a virus that causes blister-like sores on the mouths of infected animals.
The state livestock board says vesicular stomatitis cases have been confirmed in Valencia, Sandoval, Los Alamos and Santa Fe counties.
State Veterinarian Ralph Zimmerman says officials aren't ordering the cancellation of any events at this point, but they're circulating a list of recommendations for fair and rodeo organizers and individual owners.
That includes checking for sores, using fly spray and not sharing grooming equipment.
The virus primarily affects horses and cattle, and occasionally swine, sheep, goats, llamas and alpacas. In rare events, humans can also become infected when exposed.
There's no specific treatment and there are no licensed vaccines for the virus.
Lab Officials Report Progress On Chromium Plume Cleanup- Associated Press
Officials at Los Alamos National Laboratory say they're seeing positive results from efforts to contain and control a plume of chromium contamination located in two canyons at the northern New Mexico complex.
A system that extracts tainted groundwater and then re-injects treated water into the ground has been operating for the past year near the lab's boundary with San Ildefonso Pueblo.
Officials said Tuesday that sampling in May from a monitoring well near that boundary showed a drop in concentrations of hexavalent chromium to levels just above state standards.
Cheryl Rodriguez is with the U.S. Energy Department's Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office. She says the interim measure is helping to reduce the plume's footprint.
Officials say the contamination has not affected any drinking water wells in the area.
New Mexico Candidate Wants US Immigration Agency Abolished- Associated Press
A candidate seeking the Democratic nomination to an open Senate seat announced her support Tuesday for disbanding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and turning its responsibilities over to the FBI and others.
New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver said in a statement that she wants to "abolish ICE" and accused the agency of undermining community safety and stability.
"As millions of people huddled in fear of mass raids, ICE no longer prevents terrorism, instead it creates terror in the United States," Toulouse Oliver said in a statement.
The state's top election regulator is competing with U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján in the 2020 Democratic primary to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Tom Udall.
Toulouse Oliver says ICE has strayed from its core mission of preventing terrorist acts and removing dangerous people, and that the agency's functions can be handled by other, more accountable law enforcement agencies.
New Mexico Leases Ranch Land To Epstein Company- Associated Press
New Mexico state land regulators are reviewing property leases to a company controlled by Jeffrey Epstein in light of federal charges that he sexually abused underage girls.
State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard on Tuesday delivered lease documents to state prosecutors who have interviewed possible victims of Epstein who visited his ranch south of Santa Fe.
In 2016, New Mexico renewed agricultural grazing leases on 2 square miles of inholdings, or privately owned land inside the boundary of a state park, at Epstein's ranch through his company Cypress.
Garcia Richard says her agency is pursuing every legal avenue to terminate the leases while acknowledging that the contracts are legally binding.
New Mexico has come under scrutiny for laws that allowed Epstein to avoid registering as a sex offender following a guilty plea a decade ago in Florida.
Feds Say Moving Land Agency Will Save Money, Improve Decisions- Associated Press
The Trump administration said Tuesday that it can save taxpayers millions of dollars, make better decisions and trim a "top heavy" office in Washington by moving the headquarters of the nation's biggest land agency to Colorado and dispersing scores of jobs across 11 states in the U.S. West.
Interior Department officials said they hope to open the new Bureau of Land Management headquarters in the western Colorado town of Grand Junction and complete most of the job shifts by September 2020.
Moving the bureau, which is part of the Interior Department, out of Washington is a long-cherished goal of Western state politicians who cite the preponderance of public lands in their part of the country.
Energy and ranching interests praised the move as an overdue step to give them better access to officials who have considerable power over their businesses. Environmental groups say it will make the bureau a less important part of President Donald Trump's administration.
Police Say Drug-Fueled Delusion Led To Deadly Shooting – Associated Press
Authorities say a driver who became paranoid after smoking methamphetamine and marijuana opened fire on another vehicle as he was driving along a New Mexico interstate, killing the other driver.
Albuquerque police say 51-year-old Donald Duquette turned himself in after Monday's shooting. He was booked on an open count of murder and shooting at or from a motor vehicle.
Duquette told investigators he thought the other driver was going to kidnap his friend and sell her for drugs. It wasn't immediately clear if he had an attorney.
Police on Wednesday identified the man who was killed as 45-year-old Jose Ruben Diaz. He was on his way to work when the shooting happened.
Officers found Diaz, a father of two, slumped over the steering wheel of his truck. He had been struck in the head by the gunfire.
Man Accused Of Deadly I-40 Shooting Surrenders To Police- Associated Press
Authorities say a man accused of a deadly shooting on I-40 in Albuquerque has surrendered to police.
Albuquerque police arrested 51-year-old Donald Durquette on a murder charge after he turned himself over to New Mexico State Police.
Police found a pickup truck with the driver dead early Monday, prompting authorities to shut down the interstate and launch a homicide investigation.
Authorities have not released the victim's name.
According to the criminal complaint, Duquette told authorities that he was smoking methamphetamine and marijuana Sunday.
Authorities say Duquette became paranoid and thought he was being followed by the truck.
Authorities say Duquette fired five times at the truck, hitting the man in the head.
Online court records don't list a defense attorney for Duquette who could comment on his behalf.