Albuquerque Police Officer Shoots DWI Suspect - Associated Press and KOAT-TV
Albuquerque's police chief says one of his officers has shot a drunken-driving suspect during a traffic stop.
Chief Allen Banks says the shooting happened early Friday after an officer pulled over a car. Banks tells KOAT-TVthat after the car stopped the driver inside showed a gun and the officer shot the person.
The unidentified suspect is hospitalized in critical but stable condition. The officer was not hurt.
The shooting happened along a stretch of Montgomery Boulevard about a mile east of Interstate 25. That section of Montgomery is expected to be closed throughout the morning commute.
NM Law Enforcement To Start Holiday Superblitz - Associated Press
New Mexico law enforcement agents will be targeting drunken drivers, speeders and those who aren't wearing their seat belts throughout the holiday season.
The state Transportation Department says the Holiday Superblitz begins Friday and will involve state, local and tribal law enforcement officers.
Officials say the crackdown coincides with the holidays since drunken driving crashes increase significantly during this time of year.
So far this year, 105 people have died in alcohol-related crashes. That's more than 40 percent of all fatal crashes in the state during 2013.
The Holiday Superblitz is supported in part by state and federal funds awarded through the Transportation Department's Traffic Safety Division.
Native Pride At Heart Of 'Rock Your Mocs' Campaign - Associated Press
Elementary school students in western New Mexico are wearing their moccasins. So are students at Northern Arizona University, Purdue and the University of Michigan.
On the Cherokee Nation, there's a waiting list for Friday's moccasin-making class. At a military base in Afghanistan, one soldier ties a beaded cross around her boot to symbolize her moccasins.
Friday is "Rock Your Mocs" Day.
Coinciding with Native American Heritage Month in the U.S., the social media campaign that was started by a New Mexico student has gone global.
Creator Jessica "Jaylyn" Atsye says the idea was simple — to set aside one day each year to wear moccasins to celebrate the cultures of Native Americans and other indigenous people. Observers say the campaign is helping to fuel a resurgence of Native pride.
Gunnison Prairie Dog Doesn't Make Endangered List - Associated Press
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has decided against listing a prairie dog found in four Southwestern states as endangered or threatened.
The agency said Thursday that threats to the Gunnison prairie dog won't cause the animal to become extinct soon or in foreseeable future.
The prairie dogs live in grasslands and intermountain valleys of northern Arizona, southwestern and south-central Colorado, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah.
Federal officials say while outbreaks of plague have decimated some colonies, the populations have rebounded and are stable.
Recreational shooting also reduces populations, but officials say those impacts aren't spread across the prairie dogs' entire range.
The environmental group, WildEarth Guardians, says the federal government has dodged its responsibility to protect a species that exists in five percent of its historic range.