New Mexico House Speaker Names Panel To Investigate Duran – The Associated Press
New Mexico House Speaker Don Tripp has announced creation of a 10-member bipartisan committee to investigate charges against Secretary of State Dianna Duran and consider whether to recommend impeachment.
Democrat Gail Chasey of Albuquerque and Republican Zach Cook of Ruidoso will serve as co-chairs of the special committee announced Wednesday.
Duran faces a 64-count criminal indictment accusing her of funneling campaign contributions to personal bank accounts.
Duran's attorney's has said Duran will fight the criminal charges in court.
Tripp says lawmakers need to conduct an independent analysis of the evidence against Duran.
Impeachment of Duran by the full House would set the stage for Senate proceedings to decide whether to remove her from office.
No state elective officer has ever been impeached in New Mexico.
Business Groups Target EPA Smog Proposal With Ad Blitz – Associated Press
A multimillion-dollar advertising blitz that takes aim at the federal government's smog reduction proposal will be hitting the air waves in more states.
The National Association of Manufacturers will be airing a new 30-second commercial starting Wednesday in New Mexico, Virginia and Washington, D.C. The campaign will continue through Oct. 1.
The Obama administration plans to finalize its ozone regulation by Oct. 1. The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing an emission limit of 65 to 70 parts per billion, saying a reduction will save lives and cut emergency-room visits.
The New Mexico Association of Commerce and Industry is among those opposed. The group says the price tag for compliance in New Mexico could top $5 billion and result in an $8 billion loss in gross state product by 2040.
Violent, Busy Weekend For Albuquerque Police Officers – The Associated Press
Albuquerque police officers are recovering from a busy Labor Day weekend after responding to a string of violent incidents and more than 3,000 calls.
The Albuquerque Journal reports police spokesman Tanner Tixier said Tuesday the department was stretched thin as officers responded to about 3,400 calls and detectives launched three homicide investigations in a 24-hour period.
An incident Saturday involved a man who police found with multiple gunshot wounds near an apartment complex.
Police say a man stabbed another man to death on Sunday night, and on Monday two possible burglars were shot and killed by a homeowner.
Tixier says police also investigated a man's death that may have been a suicide.
Tixier says officers were trying to keep their "heads above water" during the busy weekend.
House Chairman: EPA Actions In Mine Spill 'Inexcusable' - The Associated Press
The chairman of the House Science Committee says the Environmental Protection Agency's actions in causing a toxic mine spill that fouled rivers in three Western states were "inexcusable."
Republican Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas is vowing to hold the agency accountable for its "negligence" in causing the Aug. 5 spill near Silverton, Colorado, and for its "lack of transparency" afterward. The spill tainted rivers in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah with heavy metals.
Smith says the EPA took more than 24 hours to inform the public about the seriousness of the spill and initially underestimated the amount of rust-colored sludge released from the inactive Gold King Mine.
Smith adds he was disappointed that EPA chief Gina McCarthy declined to attend a hearing Wednesday, saying: "Perhaps she doesn't have good answers."
Military Vehicles Loaned To Las Vegas Police In New Mexico – The Associated Press
The federal government is lending three military vehicles to Las Vegas in New Mexico.
The Las Vegas Optic reports the department has gotten some criticism for the vehicles, but Police Chief Juan Montano says the objective is to protect people, not intimidate.
He said one will be used as a mobile command post. The department previously shared a post with the Las Vegas-San Miguel Office of Emergency Management.
Officials are drafting a grant to equip the vehicle with a generator.
Montano says the vehicles will be useful in flood situations.
Martinez: State 'Falling Short' On Higher Ed, Reforms Needed – The Associated Press
New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez says the state is "failing short" on graduating college students on time and universities should consider a number of reforms to battle poverty.
Speaking at her Summit on Higher Education on Wednesday at the University of New Mexico, the Republican governor said universities need to increase counseling efforts and reduce all undergraduate degree programs to 120 hours.
Martinez also said state colleges should consider locking tuition rates for students who stay on a 4-year schedule and work to keep students from "wandering" through various career options.
She says high schools should do a better job to prepare students since many enter college needing remedial work.
The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education says the state's six-year college graduation rate 46 percent. Nationally, it's 69 percent.
Federal Prosecutors Meet To Discuss Public Safety For Tribes – The Associated Press
The top federal official for Native American affairs says new laws have helped improve a legal system that left tribal communities especially vulnerable to violent crimes.
But challenges remain.
Kevin Washburn, head of the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs, spoke Wednesday at a meeting of some 75 federal prosecutors and tribal law enforcement officials held in Santa Ana Pueblo, north of Albuquerque.
Washburn says the 2010 Tribal Law and Order Act and 2013 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act gave tribes new authority to address crimes within their jurisdictions. He also says the Obama administration's effort to close tribal justice gaps is unmatched.
Still, Washburn says, detention centers on reservations are understaffed, and jury trials for Native Americans take place in federal courts sometimes hundreds of miles from the community where the crime occurred.
Production Of Romance Film To Begin At Spaceport America – The Associated Press
Shooting for an intergalactic love story is to begin at Spaceport America.
The New Mexico Film Office says production of STX Entertainment's "The Space Between Us" begins Sept. 16 the commercial spaceport located north of Las Cruces and continues through early November in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Truth or Consequences.
Directed by Peter Chelsom and produced by Richard B. Lewis, the film features Gary Oldham, Asa Butterfield, Carla Gugino, Britt Robertson, BD Wong and Janet Montgomery.
In a statement released by the Film Office, Oren Aviv of STX Entertainment's motion picture group said a diverse array of New Mexico landscapes lend authenticity to technical elements of space travel.
The office said the production will employ at least 100 New Mexico crew members and approximately 30 New Mexico principal actors.
Erin Brockovich Calls Out Feds In Wake Of Mine Waste Spill – Associated Press
Environmental activist Erin Brockovich is accusing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of not telling the truth about the amount of wastewater that fouled rivers in three states after spilling from a Colorado mine.
She leveled the accusation against the agency during a visit to the Navajo Nation on Tuesday. She met with tribal leadership and farmers affected by last month's spill and spoke to a crowd of high school students in Shiprock, New Mexico.
During her speech, Brockovich questioned the EPA's estimate that 3 million gallons spilled from the Gold King Mine near Silverton, Colorado.
The agency did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The EPA initially estimated the spill at 1 million gallons. That was revised to 3 million gallons after the agency reviewed river flow data following the spill.
Navajo President Russell Begaye has also questioned the amount given the damage he saw at the mouth of the mine just days after the spill.
Judge To Decide On Halting Teacher Evaluation System – Los Alamos Monitor, Associated Press
A judge will hear arguments later this month on whether the education department's evaluation system should be shut down while a lawsuit heads to court.
The Los Alamos Monitor reports Santa Fe First Judicial District Court Judge David Thomson scheduled preliminary injunction hearings for Sept. 16 and Sept. 21.
The Albuquerque Teachers Federation and the American Federation of Teachers requested the injunction after filing a lawsuit earlier this year that said the evaluations are punitive.
Thompson scheduled an April 4 court date in the lawsuit to determine the validity of the evaluations.
Attorney Shane Youtz is defending New Mexico Secretary of Education Hanna Skandera and the New Mexico Public Education Department. Thompson granted Youtz's request for more time to conduct research on the allegations being made by the plaintiffs.
Psychotropic Drug Prescriptions Increase At State Prisons – Albuquerque Journal, Associated Press
The corrections department is looking into ways to address the large percentage of prison inmates who are prescribed medications that can be abused for a high.
The Albuquerque Journal reports a quarter of the state's inmates in 2012 were taking psychotropic drugs, which can be crushed and snorted. As of April 30, that rate had jumped to 33 percent.
Corrections officials released a statement saying rates were high, especially for women.
About 70 percent of the inmates at the state's only woman's prison were taking these medications, compared to roughly 30 percent of male inmates.
Data for both men and women is well above the 10-percent prescription rate for federal inmates in 2014.
The department's statement says it is working with its medical contractor to find solutions.
Bernalillo Police ID Man Who Died In Struggle With Officers – Associated Press
Authorities have identified the 45-year-old man who died while fighting with Bernalillo police as Ben A. CdeBaca.
Bernalillo Police Chief Tom Romero also said Tuesday that an autopsy was conducted Monday, and its results will be released after a toxicology report is completed.
According to police, Cdebaca had been involved in a domestic dispute and vehicle crash Sunday before running to a Wal-Mart, where he got involved in a struggle with employees and customers. When police arrived, the struggling continued as officers restrained Cdebaca, placed handcuffs on him and moved him outside. At some point, Cdebaca became unresponsive.
It's not known if he had an underlying health condition.
Four Bernalillo police officers were placed on two days paid administrative leave. Romero says they are expected to return to shifts Wednesday.
ENMU Sets Fall Enrollment Record For 19th Consecutive Year – Associated Press
Eastern New Mexico University has set a fall enrollment record for the 19th consecutive year.
School officials say this fall's student enrollment is 5,946 compared to last year's 5,887.
That's a one percent increase.
ENMU's enrollment includes 4,574 undergraduate and 1,372 graduate students.
School president Steven Gamble says ENMU's tuition and fees are among the lowest in the nation for a university.
Drilling Boom Means More Harmful Waste Spills – Associated Press
The U.S. oil and gas production boom of the past decade has an unwanted side effect: Millions of gallons of briny wastewater have spilled onto land and flowed into waterways, often doing severe damage.
An Associated Press analysis of state and federal record finds some 21,651 spills of oilfield wastewater between 2009 and 2014. They add up to more than 175 million gallons. And officials acknowledge many releases are never reported.
The spills happen primarily because of human error and equipment failures such as ruptured pipelines, overflowing tanks or illegal dumping.
Experts say wastewater spills can be more environmentally harmful than oil spills. The salty byproduct turn can land into barren moonscapes where plants can't grow.
Oil industry officials say they're trying to reduce the number of spills.
Closing Arguments Set In NM Child Abuse Case Trial – Associated Press
Closing arguments are set for Wednesday in the trial of an Albuquerque man charged in connection with the death of his stepson.
Stephen Casaus faces multiple charges including child abuse resulting in death.
Authorities say 9-year-old Omaree Varela died from severe internal bleeding in his abdomen caused by blunt force trauma.
The brutality of the beating and revelations that police and state child services had been tipped to abuse at Omaree's home sparked criticism of the Albuquerque Police Department and the state's Children Youth and Families Department.
Witness testimony in the trial came from medical experts, police detectives and relatives of the victim, including his 7-year-old sister, who told prosecutors her stepfather and mother punched and kicked the boy.
Defense attorneys argue only the mother is responsible for the boy's death.
The sole witness for the defense was Albuquerque psychologist Elizabeth Penland, who said the memories of young children are not as reliable.
APS To Discuss Testing Opt Out Policies – Albuquerque Journal
A committee of the Albuquerque Public Schools Board will meet today to review information about opting out of standardized testing.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that APS doesn’t have a policy on opting out, but this process will help committee members decide whether one is needed. Parents have raised the issue often during board meetings. Critics contend frequent testing is harmful and can also lead to unfair evaluations of teachers.
Board President Don Duran told the Journal the state law on opting out is not clear and the committee hopes to clarify the process. The full board would vote on any changes.