DOJ Says Tribes Can Decide Whether To Legalize Pot - The Associated Press
The U.S. Justice Department says Indian tribes can grow and sell marijuana on their lands, even in states that haven't legalized pot.
Oregon U.S. Attorney Amanda Marshall was co-chair of a group that developed the policy announced yesterday.
Marshall says the policy was developed after a handful of tribes asked how legalization of pot in states like Oregon and Washington would apply to them.
Marshall insists that federal prosecution priorities that exist for individual states also apply to tribes. That means no sales outside reservations.
The Justice Department has said it will tolerate state legalization as long as a series of conditions are followed — including banning access to minors and the export of pot outside state boundaries.
Racy 'Our Lady of Guadalupe' Painting Draws Fire - The Associated Press
A racy painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe depicting the religious icon naked under a shawl is drawing criticism in Santa Fe.
The piece by California artist Paz Winshtein sparked an angry community forum Thursday as some Catholics urged the Eye on the Mountain art gallery to remove the work.
The painting is on exhibit at the art gallery featuring different images of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Santa Fe resident Jose Villegas called the work "blasphemous" and demanded that it be removed.
But Winshtein says art is supposed to make some people uncomfortable and the painting was not meant to be blasphemous.
Last year, an alternative newsweekly in Santa Fe apologized for its cover with an image of a woman in a bikini who strongly resembles Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Judge Refuses To Shut Down Lyft In New Mexico - The Associated Press and Santa Fe New Mexican
A New Mexico judge is refusing to bar a ride-hailing service from operating in the state, saying the authority of state regulators is unclear.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that state District Judge Raymond Ortiz declined yesterday to enforce a cease-and-desist issued against Lyft by the state Public Regulation Commission six months ago.
Ortiz says he doesn't have jurisdiction over Lyft because the commission hasn't yet decided whether it has regulatory authority over Lyft and another company, Uber.
Both companies use smartphone technology to line up passengers for the companies' contracted drivers. Those drivers use their own vehicles to provide rides.
The companies compete with traditional cab companies, which are regulated by the commission.
New Mexico Airlines Cancels Flights - The Associated Press and KOAT-TV
A small airline that serves several New Mexico communities has grounded its planes and canceled its flights until further notice.
New Mexico Airlines is based in Albuquerque and also serves Los Alamos in northern New Mexico and Carlsbad in southeastern New Mexico.
FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford told KOAT-TV that New Mexico Airlines recently decided to ground its planes because of mechanical issues. The airline primarily flies smaller aircraft that seat up to nine passengers.
Airline officials did not immediately return a call for comment Friday morning, but a reservation center agent told the Associated Press that flights are canceled until further notice.
Hobbs Voter ID Special Election Saw Low Turnout - The Associated Press and Hobbs News-Sun
Less than eight percent of registered Hobbs voters bothered to vote on a special election to require voter ID.
Of around 16,000 registered voters in the southeastern New Mexico city, the Hobbs News-Sun reports only 1,310 made it to the polls. The measure passed this week with 78 percent approval.
Lea County turned in the worst voter participation in the state during November's general election.
The amendment says that if voters don't have identification, the city will provide it free of charge.
The oil-boom town is the latest battleground over requiring strict identification to cast ballots.
Albuquerque and Rio Rancho, two of the biggest cities in the state, already require photo ID for local elections. Previous efforts to get a statewide law have stalled in legislative committees.
NM Electric Utility Seeks To Raise Rates For Customers - The Associated Press
The state's largest electric utility is asking regulators to approve a 12 percent rate increase to help cover the costs of building new solar-power generating stations, installing pollution controls at a coal-fired power plant in northwestern New Mexico and other infrastructure investments.
PNM's residential customers could see their month's bills jump by almost 10 dollars starting in January 2016 if the state Public Regulation Commission approves the request.
PNM says the rate increase will also help make up for a drop in consumption that has resulted from energy conservation efforts and lower demand due to the sluggish economy.
Marshals Recovered 2 Kidnapped Oklahoma Children - The Associated Press
Federal authorities say they've arrested an Albuquerque man and safely recovered two children who were kidnapped in Oklahoma City in July.
The U.S. Marshals Service says the arrest and the recoveries occurred Wednesday in Albuquerque.
Deputy Marshal James Badway says Vincent Armijo was arrested on a kidnapping warrant issued in Oklahoma and awaits extradition to that state.
Badway says Armijo is the former husband of the children's mother, the biological father of one of the children and the stepfather of the other.
The deputy marshal says the two children were turned over to New Mexico child-welfare authorities pending their mother's arrival from Oklahoma.
Lawsuit: Suicide Blamed On Solitary Confinement - The Associated Press
The family of a Georgia woman who was arrested for domestic battery and later committed suicide says "inhumane" New Mexico county jail conditions led to her death.
A lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque says Sandoval County authorities kept 39-year-old Raynbow Gignilliat in solitary confinement for weeks without proper treatment for her bipolar disorder. The lawsuit says Gignilliat hallucinated and screamed for hours.
Gignilliat, who had moved in with her mother in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, was arrested Oct 2013 after a domestic dispute. Court documents say her mother wanted authorities to take her daughter to a mental hospital, not jail.
Charges were later dismissed.
The lawsuit says Gignilliat committed suicide after her release.
Sandoval County spokesman Sidney Hill says he couldn't comment on pending litigation.