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Headlines: Missing Evidence, Min Wage in Las Cruces, Pot Bust, Death Sentence Appeals...

justgrimes via flickr.com

Several Cases Impacted By Farmington Police Theft – The Associated Press

San Juan County prosecutors say more than a dozen drug cases have been affected by thefts allegedly committed by a Farmington police evidence technician and they expect the number to rise.

The Daily Times reports that the San Juan County District Attorney's Office has identified 13 active cases impacted by Ashley Goodvoyce's theft of pills and cash from a police storage facility.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Dustin O'Brien says eight other cases are also being reviewed.

Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe says detectives have spent the last several days looking at evidence packages for signs of tampering.

Authorities charged Goodvoyce on Oct. 17 with 39 felonies.

They say the theft was discovered after a detective found evidence was missing.

Goodvoyce is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.

Las Cruces City Council To Consider Two Minimum Wage Increases - The Associated Press & The Las Cruces Sun News

The Las Cruces City Council is weighing two ordinances involving raising the minimum wage.

The Las Cruces Sun-News reports that Mayor Ken Miyagishima (Mee-Ah-Gee-Shee-mah) will propose scrapping one ordinance.

City councilors approved a salary hike in June that would increase wages to $8 per hour starting in July next year and to $8.50 an hour in 2016.   But a voter petition drive proposing a higher increase starting with $8.40 per hour next year and increasing to $10.10 by 2017 was passed by the council in September.

Miyagishima says the original ordinance should be dropped. But he also plans to propose a threshold on the $10.10 increase, limiting it only to businesses with 50 or more full-time employees.  New Mexico's hourly minimum wage is currently $7.50.

Officers Eradicate Pot Plants In San Miguel County - The Associates Press & The Santa Fe New Mexican 

Law enforcement officers eradicated dozens of marijuana plants after exchanging gunfire with several suspects at a growing site in southern San Miguel County.

Sheriff's deputies and officers from several other agencies raided the site several miles from Interstate 25 after Las Vegas police received a tip about a growing operation.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that shots were fired at officers who identified themselves at the site Friday but that the suspects then ran off.

Dozens of area residents were kept from reaching their homes for several hours after authorities erected a roadblock.

Officers resumed their search Saturday but no arrests were reported.

Officers destroyed approximately 100 plants but it appeared that 600 plants had already been harvested.

New Mexico Water Panel Issued Restraining Order – The Associated Press

The New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission has been ordered not to meet about its deliberations regarding the future of the Gila River.

The New Mexican reports that a Santa Fe state district judge issued a temporary restraining order Thursday, preventing the commission from holding meetings or taking action related to the river or the Arizona Water Settlements Act until a hearing Oct. 30.

Norman Gaume, the former head of the commission, has accused the agency in a lawsuit of violating the state Open Meetings Act.

Gaume says the commission and a subcommittee conducted policy meetings without proper public notice or behind closed doors.

The commission faces a Dec. 31 deadline for deciding whether to accept federal funds to build a diversion and storage system along the Gila.

New Mexico Court To Hear Death Sentence Appeals – The Associated Press

New Mexico's only inmates facing possible execution want the state Supreme Court to declare their death sentences unconstitutional because capital punishment was abolished after their convictions.

The court is to hear arguments from lawyers on Monday but the justices aren't expected to issue a ruling until months later.

New Mexico repealed the death penalty in 2009 for future murders but left it in place for Timothy Allen and Robert Fry, who were sentenced to die years before the Legislature and then Gov. Bill Richardson agreed to end capital punishment.

No execution has been scheduled for either Fry or Allen, who contend their death sentences violate constitutional provisions against cruel and unusual punishment and equal-protection guarantees.

The attorney general's office disagrees and says their death sentences should remain in place.

Democrat Struggles Against Gov. Susana Martinez – The Associated Press

Democrat Gary King hopes to follow his father's footsteps into the governorship of New Mexico but he's struggled to raise money and make headway against Republican Gov. Susana Martinez, the nation's only Latina governor.

Martinez has outspent King more than 6-to-1 on television ads and a new poll shows Martinez holding a comfortable lead in what's traditionally a Democratic-leaning state.

An Albuquerque Journal poll released Sunday showed 53 percent of likely voters backing Martinez to 38 percent for King, with 9 percent undecided.

King is the son of New Mexico's longest serving governor, the late Bruce King.

The poll surveyed 614 voters over a three-day period last week, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Las Cruces To Consider 2 Minimum Wage Proposals – The Associated Press

The Las Cruces City Council is weighing two ordinances involving raising the minimum wage.

The Las Cruces Sun-News reports that Mayor Ken Miyagishima will propose scrapping one ordinance at a council meeting Monday.

City councilors approved a salary hike in June that would increase wages to $8 per hour starting in July 2015 and to $8.50 an hour in 2016.

But a voter petition drive proposing a higher increase starting with $8.40 per hour in 2015 and $10.10 by 2017 was passed by the council in September.

Miyagishima says the original ordinance should be dropped. But he also plans to propose a threshold on the $10.10 increase, limiting it only to businesses with 50 or more full-time employees.

New Mexico's hourly minimum wage is currently $7.50.