UNM To Use Grant To Help Student Journalists – The Associated Press and Daily Lobo
University of New Mexico will use a $35,000 grant to help student journalists get their work published and read throughout the state.
The Daily Lobo reports the school's Communication and Journalism Department recently received the Online News Association grant and have used it to build an online news portal called New Mexico News Port.
Michael Marcotte, a visiting associate professor, says the portal will serve as a platform where students can experiment with the new tools of journalism.
She says students will cover the upcoming New Mexico elections and will partner with KUNM, KNME and the Daily Lobo.
County Changes Policy On Immigration Checks - The Associated Press and Albuquerque Journal
New Mexico's most populous county no longer will keep inmates in jail while their immigration status is being checked if there's no order to keep them in custody once they've posted bail.
Bernalillo County officials say the new policy means the county won't keep inmates confined at the Metropolitan Detention Center merely on the basis of a request from immigration authorities.
According to the Albuquerque Journal, County Attorney Randy Autio said the policy change is a result of court cases around the country.
He said authorities can't violate somebody's civil rights for the convenience of a government agency.
Autio says the county will still communicate with federal agents and notify them if there's been a release order.
Sheriff's Office: Man Fatally Shot During Robbery - The Associated Press
Bernalillo County authorities say an armed robber was shot and fatally wounded by an employee at an Albuquerque-area Dairy Queen.
Sheriff's Sgt. Aaron Williamson says deputies in the area on a traffic stop heard the gunshots, went to the business and found the wounded man outside with apparent gunshot wounds late Thursday. He later died.
Williamson says the robber pointed a gun at a worker at the counter, demanded and received money but continued to point the gun. Williamson says that's when a second employee shot the man multiple times.
According to Williamson, employees of the Dairy Queen were shaken up but uninjured. He says they sheltered in place and locked the business down until deputies arrived.
FBI Offering Reward In Attack On Iraqi Woman - The Associated Press
The FBI is offering a reward in a case involving a man who assaulted and robbed an Iraqi Catholic refugee in Albuquerque and yelled obscenities about Muslims.
The agency announced yesterday it will offer a $2,000 reward for the capture of a suspect who stole $20,000 in gold during the violent home invasion in June.
Authorities say the assailant forced his way into the home of Seham Jaber, shouting nasty remarks about Muslims and punched her in the head and stomach. Investigators say the intruder then tore up her family's citizenship papers.
Carol Lee, Special Agent in Charge of the Albuquerque FBI office, says such a crime should make all Americans feel disgusted.
She says the FBI is working with Albuquerque police on the case.
4 Killed In New Mexico Crash Of Medical Flight - The Associated Press
New Mexico authorities say all four people aboard a medical flight were killed when the plane crashed in Las Cruces.
New Mexico State Police say the twin-engine aircraft had just left the Las Cruces airport and was headed to Phoenix before it crashed and burst into flames Wednesday evening.
State Police identified the crew members as 29-year-old pilot Freddy Martinez, 27-year-old flight paramedic Tauren Summers and 35-year-old flight nurse Monica Chavez, all from El Paso, Texas. The patient was identified as 59-year-old Fredrick Green.
Green's brother, Leslie, says his brother had been staying with him in Las Cruces while he underwent radiation treatment for a brain tumor. He says he was being flown back to the Phoenix area, where he lived and was originally treated, because his condition had deteriorated.
Mayor Appoints Navajo To Homelessness Task Force - The Associated Press
Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry has appointed Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly's former chief of staff to chair the city's new Native American Homelessness Task Force.
Berry says Sherrick Roanhorse joins the task force with extensive knowledge of Native American affairs. In addition to his role with Shelly, Roanhorse has worked as a policy analyst for the New Mexico Indian Affairs Department and as and a government and legislative affairs specialist with the Navajo Nation in Washington, D.C. He currently works in the state government affairs office of PNM.
Berry and Shelly agreed to create the task force following the brutal beating deaths in July of two homeless Navajo men in a vacant lot on Albuquerque's southwest side.