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Controversial Test Results Out Today, EPA Tests Show Water Sent To Navajos Met Standards

Rita Daniels
Connor Guiney, Daniel Schilling and Anna Bentham-Grey organized a mass walkout at Highland High School earlier this year over PARCC tests.

New Mexico Students Score Lower On New Statewide TestsThe Associated Press

More than half of New Mexico high school students failed to meet college and career readiness benchmarks for reading and writing based on the results of new standardized tests.

And a vast majority of students fell short when it came to proficiency in math.

The results released Friday by the state Public Education Department were no surprise since Education Secretary Hanna Skandera had warned that scores would be lower since the bar was being raised.

This also marked the first time students in New Mexico and 10 other states had taken the assessments developed by the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC.

The tests, designed to show how well schools helped students meet Common Core standards, have generated strong opposition from teachers and parents.

Work Complete On Nuke Dump's Emergency Operations Center – Associated Press

Work is complete on a new state-of-the-art emergency operations center at the federal government's nuclear waste repository in southern New Mexico.

The center is housed with the U.S. Department of Energy's Carlsbad Field Office inside the Skeen-Whitlock Building. It was remodeled over the past several months to include the new operations center.

Upgrades include new computers, wall-mounted monitors and interactive message boards.

Software changes will allow for the sharing of information between the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant and state and local public safety agencies.

WIPP shut down last year after part of the underground storage facility was contaminated by a breached drum of radioactive waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory.

The closure is indefinite, and the cost of reopening the repository has been pegged at more than a half-billion dollars.

Policy Makes Plan B More Accessible To American Indian WomenThe Associated Press
The federal Indian Health Service has finalized a policy that makes emergency contraception more accessible to American Indian women.

The written policy released this week requires the morning-after pill to be available to women of any age over the counter at IHS facilities, no questions asked.

Previously, American Indian women had to consult with a provider and get a prescription for the medication that was dispensed on site.

Women's health advocates have said the process was time-consuming and burdensome.

The medication was made available to women 17 years and older at IHS pharmacies under a verbal directive in 2013.

Health advocates pushed IHS for a written policy in line with a 2013 U.S. Food and Drug Administration decision to lift age limits and make it available without a prescription.

Las Vegas Man Pleads Guilty To Impersonating Federal OfficerThe Associated Press

A 37-year-old northern New Mexico man has pleaded guilty to falsely impersonating a federal officer to help a now-former sheriff's deputy steal $7,500 from motorists who actually were undercover law enforcement investigators.

Leon Herrera of Las Vegas entered his plea Thursday in federal court in Albuquerque, where former Colfax County sheriff's Deputy Vidal Sandoval awaits trial.

Herrera's plea agreement said he and Sandoval are friends and that Sandoval asked him to pose as a federal drug agent in December 2014 to seize money that Sandoval found in the motorists' automobile during a traffic stop.

Herrera said in the agreement that Sandoval offered him $1,000 for his help.

Herrera faces up to three years in prison when sentenced.

Sandoval is charged with theft of government property. He has pleaded not guilty.

Commission Meets To Choose NM Supreme Court NomineesThe Associated Press

Eight candidates, including five current and former state judges, are vying to fill a seat on the New Mexico Supreme Court.

The state Judicial Nominating Commission released their applications for public review this week and will meet Monday to consider applications.

Gov. Susana Martinez will make a final selection for outgoing Supreme Court Justice Richard Bosson's seat based on the committee's recommendations.

Chief Judge for New Mexico Court of Appeals Michael Vigil is among the applicants, along with appeals court Judge Linda Vanzi, who also served as judge presiding over civil cases in New Mexico's Second District Court.

All candidates are from Albuquerque or Santa Fe, except for Fifth District Court Judge Gary Klingman, who lives in Hobbs, and 12th Judicial District Attorney Diana Martwick, of Alamogordo.

Santa Fe Film Studio Asks County To Help Fund ExpansionThe Associated Press

Santa Fe Studios is asking Santa Fe County to help fund its expansion with a $22 million industrial revenue bond issue.

The film studio announced Thursday that it has asked the county for help building a post-production facility and another sound stage at its 60 acre campus along N.M. 14.

County officials say they have never before issued an industrial revenue bond, which does not preclude the option, but does mean they will need more information before they respond to the studios application. They also say Santa Fe Studios is behind on repaying funds borrowed to open in 2011, which studio officials deny.

The studio has been used for the 2013 comedy "We're the Millers," the 2014 Western-comedy "A Million Ways to Die in the West," and, more recently, the remake of "The Magnificent Seven."

Ex-CNN Couple Sue Motel 6 After Shooting In AlbuquerqueThe Associated Press

A pair of former CNN journalists are suing Motel 6 after a man tried to rob the couple at gunpoint and the encounter led to an exchange of gunfire that wounded one of the former reporters.

Chuck DeCaro, a former reporter, and Lynne Russel, a former anchor, say the chain does not do enough to ensure the safety of its customers. Their complaint was filed Tuesday in New Mexico Second District Court in Albuquerque.

KRQE News 13 was first to report the lawsuit late Thursday.

The couple's attorney Randi McGinn said Friday that the Motel 6 in Albuquerque where the couple stayed in June is a haven for crime, and unmonitored security cameras give travelers a false sense of security.

Motel 6 did not immediately return calls for comment.

EPA: Tests Show Water Sent To Navajo Nation Met StandardsAssociated Press

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says new tests on water sent to Navajo Nation farmers after a Colorado mine waste spill indicate it met federal and tribal standards for livestock and irrigation.

The EPA released the results Tuesday, two months after farmers and Navajo officials said the water delivered by a contractor contained oil. The agency says the results are consistent with earlier tests.

A spokesman said Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye wasn't immediately available for comment Thursday.

The water was delivered after wastewater laced with heavy metals spilled from the inactive Gold King Mine on Aug. 5 and polluted rivers in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah, including on the Southern Ute Reservation and the Navajo Reservation.

It was sent for Navajo farmers who use the rivers for irrigation.

Push On To Bring High-Speed Internet To New Mexico SchoolsAssociated Press

Nearly a third of New Mexico's public school districts don't have adequate access to high-speed Internet, and Gov. Susana Martinez wants to fix that.

Martinez visited a Bernalillo elementary school Thursday to outline plans for bolstering broadband access for schools statewide. Her announcement comes as districts face new online testing requirements and other changes in education.

Martinez says increasing access will be a game-changer for New Mexico.

The state is partnering on the project with the nonprofit Education Superhighway and will be leveraging $49 million in state funding over the next couple of years.

Martinez says the goal is to bring high-speed Internet to every classroom by the 2018 school year.

The project will include new fiber optic lines to enable faster connections, upgrading equipment and helping schools go wireless.

Audit Finds Albuquerque School Employee Overpaid $12,000Associated Press

A state audit has found that Albuquerque Public Schools mistakenly overpaid an employee for five years, paying an extra $60,140.

The Albuquerque Journal reports that according to a summary of state audits released recently, the employee received about $12,000 extra per year. The district discovered the error in 2014.

A schools spokesman says he does not know the employee's identity, but that the employee is still working for APS.

APS came under fire in a 2012 state audit for problems with its payroll system. APS interim Chief Finance Officer Tami Coleman says they have decreased the number of audit findings over the years and is working to improve issues.

Recovery Of Water Stored In Albuquerque-Area Aquifer Starts Associated Press

A project to use water from the Colorado River's watershed to recharge the Albuquerque area's aquifer is underway.

The Water Authority for Albuquerque and Bernalillo on Thursday began pumping water for the first time from its Bear Canyon Recharge Project.

The project stores surface water obtained from Colorado as part of New Mexico's share of the Colorado River. The water is allowed to seep into the bed of the Bear Canyon Arroyo. It then can be pumped out of the ground when needed for drinking water.

States such as Arizona, California and New Mexico have numerous recharge projects but the Water Authority says the Bear Canyon Recharge project is New Mexico's first to store surface water in an underground aquifer for later use.

Withdrawals will continue through mid-November.

Former CNN Journalists Sue Motel 6 Over Shootout KRQE

Two former journalists with CNN are suing Motel 6 after one was seriously injured in a shootout at a motel on Albuquerque’s west side earlier this year.

KRQE reports that former CNN anchor Lynn Russell and her husband, Chuck de Caro, sued the company claiming it misrepresented that the site was safe for guests. It cited more than 820 responses by Albuquerque Police to problems at the property over the last five years. Motel 6’s tagline is “We’ll leave the light on for you,” a fact noted in the suit.

De Caro killed the would be robber in a shoot-out at the motel after the man pulled a gun on Russell. De Caro is still recovering from three gunshot wounds.

Motel 6 declined to comment on the litigation.

NM Mission Church in Acoma Pueblo Among Threatened Sites Associated Press

The World Monuments Fund has released its list of cultural heritage sites threatened by neglect, overdevelopment or social, political and economic change.

On the list is the San Esteban del Rey Mission in Acoma pueblo west of Albuquerque. 

According to historical records and local traditions, the church was built in the first half of the seventeenth century, by the forced labor of the Acoma people, under the direction of the Spanish colonizers, who had arrived in New Mexico.

The 2016 World Monuments Watch lists 50 sites in 36 countries. It was released today.

Also on the list is a notorious labor camp in Albania, a famous burial place in Chile and the world's oldest submerged city in Greece.

The New York-based preservation group began issuing the list in 1996 to call attention to important landmarks threatened around the world in an effort to promote awareness and action.

TV Series 'Graves' To Film In New MexicoAssociated Press

A new political satire television series starring Nick Nolte will begin filming this week in New Mexico.

The New Mexico Film Office says "Graves" will be shot in Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Bernalillo and Santa Fe. Crews will be working on the production through January.

The series, being produced by Lionsgate for the EPIX network, is expected to mean jobs for at least 200 New Mexico crew members and about 2,500 local background talent.

The series will tell the story of the character Richard Graves and his journey to reclaim his sense of authenticity two decades after serving as the president of the United States.

The series was created by Joshua Michael Stern, a director and writer who is also known for the movie "Swing Vote."