Police: Man Dies In Police Custody At Walmart Parking Lot – Associated Press
Authorities say one person has died in the custody of Bernalillo police at a Walmart parking lot after an apparent domestic dispute.
Bernalillo Police Chief Tom Romero said late Sunday that the incident started with some sort of domestic dispute at a nearby restaurant.
The 45-year-old man then went to Walmart, and a while later police were called because of reports of fighting.
Romero says customers had restrained the man but he then began resisting police.
The struggle continued outside but at some point Romero says the man ceased to struggle and became unresponsive.
Police and medics couldn't revive him and he was pronounced dead.
He says an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.
Rio Rancho police are handling the investigation.
The man's name was being withheld until relatives could be contacted.
Questions Remain Unanswered On Man's Death While In Custody – The Associated Press
Authorities say a 45-year-old man who died while fighting with Bernalillo officers had been involved moments earlier in a domestic dispute and vehicle crash before he ran to a store where he got into a struggle with employees, customers and police.
Bernalillo Police Chief Tom Romero says Monday that the man's cause of death is unknown. It's not yet known whether he was impaired or suffered from an underlying health condition.
An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death for the man.
Four officers who responded to the call Sunday at a Walmart have been put on paid administrative leave.
Still, Romero says it appeared that the officers acted properly.
Rio Rancho police, who are investigating the death, didn't immediately return a message seeking comment Monday.
Report 'Appalled' By State Of Albuquerque Animal Shelters – Albuquerque Journal, Associated Press
A nonprofit that works toward preventing animal cruelty says it is "appalled" by conditions in Albuquerque animal shelters.
The Albuquerque Journal said Sunday private investigators found that morale is at a low among city employees who work with shelter animals.
According to the report, workers are worried about overpopulation in kennels and have little confidence in the city's animal welfare officials.
The findings were released by Mayor Richard Berry's office late last week and are similar to a report issued by the city inspector general.
The Journal says the city had previously refused to release the report, which city officials received in June.
The report was triggered by complaints that dangerous dogs were being adopted out of shelters.
Investigators found several dogs that failed canine aggression tests were adopted.
Congress Wades Into Toxic Mine Spill Caused By EPA Crew – The Associated Press
The focus on a toxic mine spill that fouled rivers in three Western states is shifting to Congress, where lawmakers this week kick off a series of hearings into the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency accident.
Leading House and Senate Republicans said EPA officials were frustrating their attempts to investigate the spill.
They want documents released explaining how a government cleanup team doing excavation work triggered the release of 3 million gallons of rust-colored sludge from the inactive Gold King Mine near Silverton, Colorado.
U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas suggested the hearings offer the agency a chance to dispel growing suspicions over its actions.
Meanwhile, some Democrats are pursuing a proposal for companies to pay for the cleanup of thousands of abandoned mines across the U.S.
Mine Spill Stirs Concerns About New Mexico's Old Mines – Santa Fe New Mexican, Associated Press
The ongoing fallout in New Mexico from last month's Colorado mine spill is a stark reminder that the "Land of Enchantment" has its own dangerous mines.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that New Mexico has a staggering number of abandoned mines and only a small number are remediated.
Experts say there is not enough money to address the issue.
The Bureau of Land Management so far has identified more than 13,000 abandoned mines in or around public land in the state.
Nearly 9,000 of them need to be analyzed.
The San Juan and Animas rivers became polluted as a result of the Aug. 5 spill.
The EPA accidentally unleashed 3 million gallons of contaminated wastewater while inspecting the idled Gold King Mine.
Roads Dispute Stalling Aamodt Water-Rights Settlement – Santa Fe New Mexican, Associated Press
Santa Fe County will not make payments on a multimillion-dollar settlement of a water-rights case until a roads dispute is resolved in court.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that a resolution approved by the county commission last month calls for ceasing funding for a $7 million rural water system until the roads issue is settled.
The roads conflict between the county and San Ildefonso Pueblo is currently tied up in federal court.
San Ildefonso claims County Road 84 and side roads trespass on tribal lands.
Attorneys representing farmers, ranchers and business owners say the county is effectively withdrawing the agreement to provide funding.
In a filing Monday, the county said that was not the case.
County officials say they believe the roads dispute can be settled.
National Lab Reports Violations Of Hazardous Waste Permit – Associated Press
Top officials at one of the nation's premier federal laboratories say an extensive review has turned up violations in how the lab has handled hundreds of containers of radioactive waste during the past decade.
The latest revelations are on top of the permit violations the Los Alamos National Laboratory first reported last year in the wake of a radiation release at the federal government's underground nuclear waste dump in southern New Mexico.
That release was caused by a container that had been inappropriately packed at Los Alamos.
The incident forced the indefinite closure of the repository, leaving in limbo national efforts to clean up decades' worth of plutonium-contaminated waste.
Lab officials say the containers highlighted in the latest review pose no danger, but state officials are concerned about the lab's lack of compliance.
New Mexico To Get Federal Funds To Combat Drug Overdoses – Associated Press
New Mexico health officials say the state will get federal funding for the next four years to stop prescription drug overdoses.
The New Mexico Department of Health announced Friday that the state will be part of the new program that will issue an annual grant of $850,000.
New Mexico is one of 16 states that successfully competed for the grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Department of Health Cabinet Secretary Retta Ward says officials will also be able to reach communities where there are high rates of overdoses.
The funding will help enhance prescription drug monitoring programs, facilitate work with health providers and other goals.
Officials say more than 260 people died in New Mexico from prescription-drug-related overdoses in 2014.
New Mexico State Police Gets First Female Motorcycle Officer – KOB-TV, Associated Press
After 80 years of being a boy's club, New Mexico State Police Motorcycle Division is getting its first female officer.
KOB-TV reports that officer Vanessa Martinez is the first female motorcycle officer in the department's history.
Martinez says she was worried she would not qualify for the division, but she passed all the tests and met all of the qualifications. She says she hopes she can be an inspiration to girls when they see her on her bike.
The New Mexico State Police has been using motorcycles since 1935. Martinez started working with the division this summer.
5 Cases Of Salmonella Reported In New Mexico - The Associated Press
The New Mexico Department of Health is investigating 15 confirmed cases of salmonella that appear to be linked to eating garden-variety cucumbers grown in Mexico.
Authorities say there's an ongoing investigation of 285 confirmed cases nationally from 27 states.
The cucumbers were sent to grocery stores and restaurants in New Mexico and other states through a non-New Mexico produce distributor.
The 15 cases involve seven residents of Bernalillo County, two residents of Dona Ana County, two residents of Sandoval County and one resident from McKinley, Santa Fe, and Valencia counties plus one case of an unknown residence at this time.
Health officials say the New Mexico cases range in age from 1 to 65 years of age and about 60 percent are female.