New Mexico To Share In Federal Energy Revenues – The Associated Press
Oil and gas development and mineral production on federal and tribal lands in New Mexico have netted nearly a half-billion dollars in revenues for the state.
The U.S. Interior Department announced this week that more than three dozen states, 34 American Indian tribes, numerous counties and thousands of individual Indian mineral owners are getting disbursements from energy development during the last fiscal year.
New Mexico's share is $496 million, second behind Wyoming's $886 million.
Officials with the Office of Natural Resource Revenues say the money comes from traditional energy development as well as renewable sources. It goes toward public education and meeting local infrastructure needs.
Officials say the federal Reclamation Fund, the Land and Water Conservation Fund and the Historic Preservation Fund also benefit.
Nuclear Waste Repository To Install Safety Chambers – The Associated Press
Managers at the federal government's troubled nuclear waste repository in southern New Mexico plan to install several safety bunkers.
Eight of the refuge chambers — or safety havens as they're called — were recently delivered to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad. Officials say the havens will be taken into the underground before the disposal of waste resumes.
The repository has been closed since February 2014, when a container of waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory ruptured and released radiation into portions of the underground storage area.
The havens are about 28 feet long, 8 feet wide and more than 7 feet high.
Each unit can house 20 people for at least 36 hours in the event of an emergency where workers may not be able to evacuate.
Army Corps To Suspend Recreation At Jemez Dam Overlook – The Associated Press
Recreation will soon be off limits at the Jemez Canyon Dam overlook.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it's temporarily closing the day-use area so the agency can assess the long-term viability for recreation while maintaining the area's cultural resources and infrastructure.
The closure begins Nov. 30. It could be next fall before the situation is re-evaluated.
The overlook includes a picnic area with views of the Jemez Mountains. The access road also is popular among cyclists and motorcyclists.
Since the agency released the water that had been held behind the dam more than a decade ago, the costs associated with operation and maintenance of the day-use area increased disproportionately with visitation.
Officials say at least one recreation season is necessary to adequately assess the impact of the suspension.
State Supreme Court To Review Breaking-And-Entering Case – The Associated Press & The ABQ Journal
The New Mexico Supreme Court will review the case of a man convicted of breaking-and-entering for placing his hand behind a window screen.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that the high court agreed to hear Anthony Holt's case in October.
Holt was convicted of breaking and entering but argued the law was ambiguous. He said putting his hands between a screen and a window wasn't the same as actually entering a home's interior.
But the state Court of Appeals of Appeals upheld the conviction. The court said the law was clear enough, saying putting his hands behind the screen amounted to intruding inside the home.
New Mexico Court Orders New Trial In Excessive Force Case – The Associated Press
The New Mexico Court of Appeals is ordering a new trial in a civil case against the city of Clovis and three police officers accused of using excessive force in restraining a man in 2006.
The court ruled this week that a wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of the estate of Juventino Hernandez of Mexico should be heard again.
Among the arguments, the court said Hispanics were unconstitutionally excluded from the jury when defense lawyers were allowed to use peremptory strikes against prospective Hispanic jurors.
The defendants argued their selections were racially neutral, but the appeals court says the challenges indicted a pattern.
The lawsuit accused the officers of hog-tying Hernandez after he suffered a psychotic episode and attacked them while they responded to a family's call for help.
Albuquerque's Popular Luminaria Tour Sells Out In Hours – The Associated Press
Tickets for Albuquerque's annual luminaria tour have sold out in record time.
The city's transit system, ABQ RIDE, says the 3,600 tickets that were available for the Christmas Eve event were gone in about four hours. It took 12 hours to sell out last year.
ABQ Ride has been helping with the tour for more than 50 years.
Six separate tours will leave from the Albuquerque Convention Center on Christmas Eve, the first at 5:30 p.m. and the last at 7:25 p.m. Each will last about 45 minutes.
Participants will get to see countless luminarias — or candles that are placed inside paper bags weighted with sand — and other Christmas lights on their tour through historic and other well-known neighborhoods in Albuquerque.