Deputy Accused In Fatal Shooting Expected In Court – The Associated Press
Court documents say a New Mexico sheriff's deputy accused of killing a fellow deputy told police, "I shot the guy" after officers arrived to a chaotic scene at a hotel.
Records and 911 recordings released yesterday revealed new details about the shooting. Authorities allege Santa Fe County Deputy Tai Chan fatally shot fellow Deputy Jeremy Martin after a night of drinking and arguing.
Records say that after a number of 911 calls about gunshots, Chan was found in a hotel stairwell with a Glock semi-automatic handgun. Police say he was slurring his words and smelled of alcohol.
A criminal complaint says a friend of Chan's who picked up the pair Monday night to go drinking said he had never seen Chan so hostile and that a bartender had to separate the two deputies.
Trial Underway In Albuquerque Police Shooting Case - The Associated Press and Albuquerque Journal
A trial is underway in federal court in Albuquerque in a civil rights lawsuit stemming from a 2010 police shooting that left a man with a bullet lodged in his spine.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that Chandler Brown was holding a knife and ignored an officer's orders to drop the knife.
Barr's lawsuit contends the officer used excessive force, while a lawyer for the officer contends that Barr was a threat to the officer.
Jurors heard opening statements Tuesday.
Brown is seeking payment for $340,000 in medical bills plus punitive damages and compensation for pain and suffering.
The case is the first police shooting case to go to trial since the U.S. Department of Justice found a pattern and practice of excessive force by the Albuquerque Police Department.
Obama Signs NM Disaster Declaration - The Associated Press
Federal aid is coming to New Mexico after areas of the state were hit by severe storms and flooding last month.
The White House announced Wednesday that President Obama signed a disaster declaration for New Mexico as the state continues to recover from the storms and flooding in September.
Federal funding is available to state, tribal and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis.
Federal funding is also available for hazard mitigation measures statewide.
Additional designations may be made later if requested by the state and warranted by results of further damage assessments.
National Mood Flavors NM Congressional Race - The Associated Press
The battle for New Mexico's U.S. Senate seat is intensifying as Election Day approaches.
The distance between incumbent Democrat Tom Udall and retired Marine colonel Allen Weh is shrinking as Weh's campaign works to capitalizes on general frustration with the Obama administration and the lack of progress in Washington.
Weh's campaign ads state that a vote to send the first-term senator back to Washington is a vote for President Obama.
In an appeal to female voters, Udall's latest ad touts his work on laws aimed at curbing domestic violence.
The two will participate in their first debate tomorrow.
Las Cruces To Let Minimum Wage Increases Begin - The Associated Press and Las Cruces Sun-News
The Las Cruces City Council has decided to implement the first phase of a stepped increase of the minimum wage in the southern New Mexico city, but it may then consider anew whether to have the next two steps take effect.
According to the Las Cruces Sun-News, the council this week balked at a proposal to exempt small businesses from the previously approved ordinance.
Instead, the first phase was left intact to raise the minimum wage in Las Cruces on Jan. 1 to $8.40 per hour. That's a 90-cent increase from the current statewide level.
Mayor Ken Miyagishima says he wants the council to then review the ordinance before subsequent phases would raise the minimum wage to $9.20 in January 2016 and to $10.10 in January 2017.
Court Oks Law For Textbooks To Private School - The Associated Press
The state Court of Appeals has upheld the constitutionality of a decades-old law that calls for the state to provide textbooks and other instructional material to private and religious schools.
The court ruled Monday the law doesn't violate a state constitutional provision barring taxpayer money from being used to support any "sectarian, denominational or private school."
That prohibition, the court said, is to ensure the state controls the public education system and public schools don't become sectarian.
The court said the textbooks are secular, and private schools do not own the instructional material because the state "controls its use and disposition." The program is for the benefit of students, the court concluded.
The ruling upheld a decision by a state district court judge in Santa Fe.
Ex-Parole Officer Appointed Magistrate Judge - The Associated Press
A former parole officer from southern New Mexico has been appointed a magistrate judge in Lincoln County by Gov. Susana Martinez.
Katie Lund of Ruidoso fills a magistrate court vacancy created by the resignation of Lorena LaMay, who was named to the court in 2009 by then Gov. Bill Richardson.
Martinez said Tuesday that Lund previously worked for the Corrections Department as a probation and parole officer and has served as a juvenile probation and parole officer with the Children, Youth and Families Department.
Lund earned a master's degree in criminal justice from New Mexico State University.
Magistrate courts handle a wide variety of cases, including civil lawsuits, misdemeanors, drunken driving and traffic violations.
Celebrated NM Writer Dead - The Associated Press
Juan Estevan Arellano, a picaresque writer who captured the traditional agricultural world of Hispanic northern New Mexico, has died.
His wife, Elena, says he died Wednesday at the family's home in Embudo, New Mexico, from heart failure. He was 67.
Arellano was known for his work on the acequia (ah-SEE'-KEE'-ah) — the communal irrigation canal introduced to New Mexico by Spanish explorers and later celebrated by those wishing to keep Hispanic and indigenous traditions alive in the state.
He won the Premio Nacional de Literatura José Fuentes Mares prize in Mexico for his 1994 novel Incencio.
In addition, he translated into English the 1513 work Obra de Agricultura by Gabriel Alonso de Herrera, a Spanish-language book about agriculture, and he later wrote columns about food and water rights.
Prosecutor To Head Election Program In New Mexico - The Associated Press
The U.S. Attorney's Office has named a federal prosecutor to lead a Justice Department team responsible for handling complaints of election fraud and voting rights abuses in New Mexico during the general election.
U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez says Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan M. Gerson will head the office's efforts in connection with the Justice Department's Election Day Program.
Martinez says the Justice Department will act promptly and aggressively to protect the integrity of the election process.
Federal law protects against such crimes as intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, impersonating voters, altering vote tallies and stuffing ballot boxes.