New Mexico Gov. Martinez Formally Requests REAL ID Waiver
New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez has formally requested a waiver from federal REAL ID requirements after state lawmakers passed a bill to revise the state's driver's license law.
The governor's office said Monday that Martinez recently met with U.S. Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas in Washington, D.C. and presented the waiver request.
The move is needed to give state officials time to adopt the law.
The measure would stop immigrants in the country illegally from obtaining new driver's licenses. Residents would have the option of applying for a driver's license that is compliant under the federal REAL ID Act or getting a noncompliant driver's authorization card.
New immigrants will be able to obtain the driver's authorization card.
Martinez says she will sign the bill.
Family Says Killing By Marshals Unjustified – The Associated Press
New Mexico State Police say 23-year-old Edgar Camacho-Alvarado was killed Saturday after marshals went to a trailer park to arrest homicide suspect George Bond.
A spokesman for the U.S. Marshals office in Albuquerque has declined comment.
Juan Alvarado says law enforcement opened fire on his grandson Camacho-Alvarado as he was repairing his pickup truck outside the family's trailer home.
The grandfather says shots also were fired as Comacho-Alvarado reached the trailer's front stoop in an attempt to escape the gunfire.
Bond was arrested in the trailer park hours later.
Albuquerque Mayor Talks Bonuses To Solve Officer Shortage – Albuquerque Journal, Associated Press
Albuquerque's mayor is looking at bonuses as a last resort to stave off an officer shortage.
The Albuquerque Journal reports Mayor Richard Berry said bonuses could cannibalize other departments, but may be necessary after the failure of legislation that would have allowed retired officers to return to work while still drawing their pensions.
Berry called the measure a common-sense bill.
Opponents objected to the bill allowing double dipping for returning retirees as they draw both pensions and paychecks, and say younger officers should be hired.
Dozens of New Mexico cities supported the measure. The former legislator says he plans to push the bill next year.
The city has 814 officers this month compared to 1,099 in mid-2010. The shortage comes amid reforms related to federal findings of excessive force.
AG Wants El Paso Electric's Rate Proposal To Be Reconsidered – The Associated Press
Attorney General Hector Balderas is asking state utility regulators to reconsider a recommendation he says will negatively affect thousands of electric customers in southern New Mexico.
The attorney general's office has filed a motion asking the Public Regulation Commission to order a hearing examiner to reconsider a proposal by El Paso Electric to raise its rates.
The examiner recently recommended that the utility's request for a $6.4 million rate hike be slashed to just $640,000, or an increase of about one-half percent.
But Balderas says he's concerned because residential customers would feel the brunt of the increase under a restructuring of the rates. Businesses and other customers would get a break on their bills.
Balderas says families must be able to share in lower energy costs.
New Hiking Trail Planned In Santa Fe Area – The Associated Press & The New Mexican
Officials are working to link the historic El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro trail to a wider network of trails in the Santa Fe area.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that the Royal Road of the Interior Lands is set to be part of a new 15-mile trail linking the Santa Fe River trail to the Municipal Recreation Complex and to other recreation sites.
Santa Fe Conservation Trust Trails Program Manager Tim Rogers says once the new additions are complete, people will be able to travel from downtown Santa Fe to Diablo Canyon on bike or foot.
The trail project costs $4.3 million, most of which is coming from the Federal Lands Access Program of the Federal Highway Administration. Santa Fe County and the city of Santa Fe also contributed.
2 Men Arrested In Killings Of 2 Women In Surprise Home – Associated Press
Police say two suspects in the shooting deaths of two women, including an Albuquerque woman, in Surprise, Ariz., have been arrested.
Surprise police Sgt. Norm Owens said Sunday that 24-year-old Andrew Thomas Lauro has been booked in Phoenix on several charges including two counts of first-degree murder.
Owens says investigators located the second suspect, 23-year-old Montez Lavell Wright III, in Michigan where he resides. Wright, of Southfield, is awaiting extradition back to Arizona to face the same charges. Police say 75-year-old Ruth Schwed, of Albuquerque, and 70-year-old Barbara Leslie were found shot to death Feb. 9 in Leslie's home.
Authorities say a car was stolen from the home's garage and then found abandoned at a Phoenix-area apartment complex.
Notices Issued To Federal Contractors After Radiation Leak – Associated Press
The federal government has issued a pair of preliminary notices of violation against two contractors after a radiation leak forced the shutdown of the nation's only underground nuclear waste repository.
The U.S. Department of Energy said Friday the notices mark the completion of investigations into the 2014 disaster as well as the enforcement process against the managers of Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.
The notices cover worker safety violations at the southern New Mexico repository as well as violations stemming from the handling of waste at the lab.
The contractors did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Gov. Martinez: State Public Safety Secretary Stepping Down – Associated Press
Gov. Susana Martinez says her cabinet secretary for public safety is stepping down to become a federal magistrate judge in Las Cruces.
Public Safety Secretary Greg Fouratt's resignation was announced Friday. It comes just two years after he was appointed to run the Department of Public Safety, which oversees the State Police, Motor Transportation Police and the Law Enforcement Academy.
A longtime federal prosecutor, Fouratt replaced now-Albuquerque Police Chief Gorden Eden as public safety secretary.
Martinez says Fouratt brought together law enforcement, forensic scientists and victim advocates to review the scope of the state backlog of untested rape kits.
New Mexico High Court To Weigh In On Workers' Comp Question – Associated Press
The New Mexico Supreme Court plans to review a lower court ruling that cleared the way for farm and ranch laborers across the state to receive workers' compensation benefits.
The justices this week issued a brief order suspending a ruling by the New Mexico Court of Appeals until they can hear oral arguments and make a final decision.
The appellate court issued an opinion last year that declared unconstitutional a decades-old provision in state law regarding farm and ranch laborers.
That provision, on the books since the 1930s, excluded those employees whose duties focus primarily on growing and harvesting crops, meat or dairy products from receiving benefits if injured on the job.
New Mexico Inmate Disputes 2 Prisoners To A Cell – Albuquerque Journal, Associated Press
A New Mexico prison inmate is asking a judge to issue an injunction against putting two inmates to a cell.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that inmate Barry Holloway, acting as his own attorney, first filed a motion in December to keep the state from doubling up cell capacity.
In court documents, Holloway says the Western New Mexico Correctional Facility where he is serving time is installing bunks in cells.
He says this practice violates the Duran Consent Decree.
Now represented by two attorneys, the inmate wants a federal court to rule the state is acting in contempt.
The 1991 decree was the result of forced federal oversight of New Mexico prisons after 33 inmates died in a 1980 prison riot in Santa Fe.
Albuquerque Rally Draws Hundreds To Protest Hate – Albuquerque Journal
A rally held at Albuquerque’s Civic Plaza Sunday afternoon drew nearly 500 people calling for love and tolerance.
The Albuquerque Journal reports community groups under the name Albuquerque United Front Against Hate started organizing the rally following calls to ban Muslims from entering the United States by GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump.
People carried signs against racism and advocating for peace. Javier Benavidez of the Southwest Organizing Project said participants wanted to show they are disappointed with tactics used by political candidates in this election season.
Poll Finds NM Republicans Favor Cruz and Trump – Albuquerque Journal
New Mexico Republican voters are nearly split on support for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Donald Trump for president.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is running a close third according to a poll by Research & Polling Inc.
Cruz had support from 25 percent of those surveyed and about 24 percent of respondents favored Trump. Rubio garnered support from 19 percent of Republicans.
Meanwhile Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders got more favorable marks than Hillary Clinton in the Democratic race among New Mexico Republicans.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that its poll found 34 percent of New Mexico Republicans viewed Sanders favorably versus nine percent who saw Clinton favorably.