NM Officials: Flu Sickened More This Year; Season Not Over – The Associated Press
New Mexico health officials are warning that the flu season is not over.
Officials say more people have been hospitalized in the state this season than in many years.
According to the state Department of Health, the virus hospitalized 40 people per 100,000 this flu season as compared with 29 per 100,000 during 2012-13.
Children under 5 and the elderly are particularly vulnerable.
One Dona Ana County child and 27 adults have died from flu-related complications since the start of the 2014-15 flu season.
Flu season peaked at the end of December nationally and in New Mexico. While the predominant strain of flu this season has been the influenza A virus, the influenza B virus continues to be a threat.
Albuquerque Police Release Name Of Officer Who Died - The Associated Press
Authorities have released the name of an Albuquerque police officer who died from a medical issue during a training exercise.
APD say John Kelly was a detective and a field training officer who had worked for the department since 2006.
Police say Kelly was stricken yesterday morning as he and others gathered at a location in northeast Albuquerque for role-playing training on how to interact with people in crisis.
CPR was performed, but Kelly died at a hospital.
Police say his death wasn't related to the training.
They say Kelly was in his mid-30s and leaves behind three children and three stepchildren.
He was in the U.S. Army and served in Afghanistan before joining APD.
New Mexico Has 30th Straight Month Of Over-Year Job Gains – The Associated Press
State labor officials say New Mexico notched its 30th consecutive month of over-the-year employment growth in February.
That's when the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6 percent, up from 5.9 percent in January but down from 6.7 percent in February 2014.
Officials said Friday the state's economy added 15,900 jobs from a year earlier for a 2 percent increase.
February was the first month since May 2006 that no industry posted an over-the-year job loss.
Across the economy, 12 industries added jobs while only one — financial activities — remained unchanged from February 2014.
The industries with the biggest February job gains were education and health services with 4,300 additional jobs and professional and business services with 3,500 additional jobs. Leisure and hospitality added 2,600 jobs.
Study Of Rail Crossing In Santa Teresa On Fast Track – The Associated Press
The head of the New Mexico Border Authority says a $2 million study on the feasibility of building an international rail crossing at Santa Teresa is on a fast track.
Bill Mattiace tells the Las Cruces Sun-News the feasibility study could be completed as early as July.
Mattiace says the rail crossing would be a key element in building the border community into a regional powerhouse for international trade.
HNTB, a Houston-based international engineering, architecture and planning firm, was selected last year to conduct the feasibility study for the new railway bypass and international border crossing.
If there's promise, the project would be designed to link with a proposed railroad to be built from Mexico's west coast to San Jeronimo, just across the border from Santa Teresa.
DA: No Charges Warranted In Non-Fatal Police Shooting – The Associated Press
Bernalillo County's district attorney says no charges should be filed against an Albuquerque police officer in the 2013 shooting and wounding of an armed motorist.
District Attorney Kari Brandenburg announced Friday there was no probable cause to bring charges against Officer Pete Romero.
The district attorney's office reviewed police reports, lapel camera recordings and witness interviews before making a determination.
According to a criminal complaint, the incident started with a traffic stop around 3 a.m. on Nov. 15, 2013. The driver, Robert Garcia, got out of the vehicle and turned toward the officer, revealing that he was armed.
Authorities say Garcia ignored commands to drop the gun and walked toward the officer. Romero fired once, hitting Garcia in the abdomen.
Garcia is serving a three-year sentence for assaulting the officer.
City Of Hobbs May Get New MLK Street - The Associated Press and Hobbs News-Sun
The city of Hobbs is mulling a proposal to change the name of a portion of South Dal Paso Street to MLK Street after the iconic civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
The Hobbs News-Sun reports that City Manager J.J. Murphy said the consideration comes after Joe Cotton, president of Hobbs NAACP, approached city commissioners about changing the street name.
Murphy said the NAACP submitted its request to commissioners after a recent MLK celebration where participants marched down South Dal Paso.
City officials say the change would affect only a handful of businesses and residents.
It is likely the Hobbs City Commission will have to vote on the name change before it can be made.
Funeral For Slain Navajo Police Officer To Be Held Friday - The Associated Press
Law enforcement officers and residents from the surrounding communities are expected to gather in Farmington to remember a Navajo Nation police officer killed in a shootout with a gunman.
A funeral service will be held for 42-year-old Alex Yazzie on Friday at 10 a.m. at Pinon Hills Community Church. A procession will then travel down Main Street to Memory Gardens.
Authorities say Yazzie was killed March 19 after 24-year-old Justin Fowler shot at officers in Red Valley, Arizona.
Fowler led police on a high-speed pursuit from a Shiprock home where he allegedly had been beating his wife and mother.
Authorities say he also wounded officers Herbert Frazier and James Hale.
Fowler was killed by police.
Report: Mix Of Cat Litter, Salts Caused Nuclear-Dump Mishap - The Associated Press
Experts from national laboratories around the country have determined that an incompatible cocktail of nitrate salts and organic cat litter is to blame for a mishap that forced the closure of the nation's only underground nuclear waste repository.
The independent technical team released its report Thursday.
The team was charged by the U.S. Energy Department to investigate the chemical reactions that may have led to the release of radioactive material at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in February 2014.
The report comes more than a year after a single container of waste stored at the repository breached and contaminated 21 workers with low-level radioactivity.
The container came from Los Alamos National Laboratory.
While it couldn't determine the cause of the breach with absolute certainty, the team says it's clear a thermal reaction inside the container forced the lid to pop.
No Decision On Large Development Plan Near Albuquerque - The Associated Press
Bernalillo County commissioners have punted a final decision on the future of a planned community west of Albuquerque that developers say could someday be home to as many as 90,000 people.
Commissioners decided Thursday to schedule another hearing on the development known as Santolina for May 11.
The nearly 22-square-mile development would rival some of New Mexico's largest cities once completed.
It's the largest development master plan ever considered by Bernalillo County.
Opponents of the plan spoke out in an effort to convince county commissioners to vote down the development. They say the community would take away needed water resources in Albuquerque's South Valley.
The development would be located along Interstate 40 and would have its own business parks and town centers.
Albuquerque Officer Dies From 'Catostrophic Medical Event' - The Associated Press
The Albuquerque Police Department says one of its officers has died as a result of what the department calls a "catastrophic medical event."
The department said the officer was stricken as he and others gathered at a location in northeast Albuquerque for role-playing training on how to interact with people in crisis.
CPR was performed but the officer died at a hospital.
The department said his death was not related to the training.
Mayor Richard Berry said he joins the officer's family and the community in grieving and that Albuquerque is grateful to the officer and all who serve the city with honor and courage.
Navajo Nation Bill Aims To Remove Chief Justice - The Associated Press
A bill introduced in the Navajo Nation Council this week seeks to oust the tribe's chief justice.
Herb Yazzie was appointed to the Navajo Nation Supreme Court in 2005 and given a lifetime term in 2007. He previously served as the chief legislative counsel and as the tribe's attorney general.
The bill to remove him comes shortly after the high court reaffirmed an order requiring the tribe's belated presidential election to be held without further delay.
Tribal lawmakers wanted to hold a referendum vote on language requirements for top elected posts before the presidential contest.
The bill's sponsor, Leonard Tsosie (SOH'-see), insists it's not a form of revenge. He says Yazzie has failed in his duties and wrongfully interpreted laws.
Yazzie declined through a spokeswoman to comment on the bill.
Police: New Mexico Meth Dealer Beat Roommate Who Lost Toe - The Associated Press and Albuquerque Journal
A suspected methamphetamine dealer is facing charges after Albuquerque police say he repeatedly beat his roommate and refused to let the diabetic victim go to the hospital. Authorities say that victim later lost his toe.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that 29-year-old Antavio Marquice Cox arrested this week on charged with aggravated battery, extortion and kidnapping.
According to a criminal complaint, Cox, who also goes by "Stretch," beat his roommate with a metal bar, extorted more than $1,000 from him and refused to let him sleep in his bed out of fear he would call police.
Authorities say Cox got upset because the victim stopped buying meth from him.
Cox was ordered held on $5,000 bail.
It was not known if he had an attorney.
New York Man Gets Prison For Drug Trafficking In New Mexico - The Associated Press
A New York man has been sentenced to one year in federal prison for marijuana trafficking in New Mexico.
Prosecutors say 50-year-old Gary Anthony Harris, of Carle Place, also was sentenced Thursday to two years of supervised release after serving his prison term.
Harris and a co-defendant were charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy to distribute marijuana in August 2013.
He pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana with intent to distribute in March 2014.
In his plea agreement, Harris admitted to owning 300 pounds of the more than 1,100 pounds of marijuana found in the commercial vehicle of another defendant in the case.
Harris also forfeited nearly $53,000 in drug proceeds that were seized from two bank accounts and a safe deposit box by federal authorities.