Police Arrest Suspect In Road Rage Death Of Young Girl – KOB-TV
Albuquerque Police announced they arrested a man in the shooting death of a girl during a road rage incident.
KOB-TV reports that Tony Torrez was charged with murder, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, assault with the intent to commit a violent felony, shooting at or from a motor vehicle, child abuse, child abuse resulting in death and tampering with evidence.
Albuquerque Police said Torrez confessed. He’s being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center on a $650,000 cash-only bond. Police got a tip on Torrez from an anonymous caller. They used that with other tips to track him down.
Lily Garcia, 4, was shot in the head during a traffic incident on Interstate 40 on Tuesday. KOB reports her father, Alan Garcia, exchanged words with Torrez after Torrez forced him out of his lane near an exit. Torrez fired at Garcia’s vehicle, hitting Lily.
Arrest Made In Shooting Of Albuquerque Officer – KOB-TV, Associated Press
Police say a suspect has been arrested in a shooting that left an Albuquerque officer critically wounded. KOB-TVreports the suspect, 34-year-old DavonLymon, was captured just after midnight Thursday.
The eight-year veteran officer underwent surgery Wednesday night after being shot multiple times.
The shooting occurred around 7:45 p.m. by a Walgreen's in the eastern part of the city near Interstate 40.
Albuquerque Police Chief Gorden Eden said the officer was shot during a traffic stop and there was evidence the officer had attempted to use his Taser. KOB reports that police have another man in custody and are searching for a woman who was with Lymon when he was pulled over.
Police Officer Shot Still In Critical Condition - The Associated Press
A police union has identified the officer shot multiple times Wednesday as Dan Webster.
Albuquerque Police Officers Association President Stephanie Lopez said Thursday that Webster remains in "critical but somewhat stable condition" and has already gone through a number of surgeries. She says more surgeries will be needed soon.
The eight-year veteran officer underwent surgery Wednesday night.
Lopez declined to give more details on the officer's condition.
Authorities say 34-year-old Davon Lymon shot Webster during a traffic stop late Wednesday. Lymon was later arrested and now is facing federal weapons violation charges.
Online court records don't list an attorney for Lymon or indicate when he will appear in court.
APNewsBreak: EPA Mine Spill Could Have Been Prevented – The Associated Press
Government investigators squarely blame the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for a 3 million gallon wastewater spill from a Colorado gold mine, saying a cleanup crew rushed its work and failed to consider the complex engineering involved, triggering the very blowout it hoped to avoid.
The Interior Department probe concludes that the spill that fouled rivers in three states would have been avoided had the EPA team checked on water levels before digging into the mine.
The Associated Press obtained the investigation's findings on the Aug. 5 spill prior to their public release on Thursday. The 132-page report has implications across the United States, where hundreds of thousands of abandoned mines have yet to be cleaned up.
New Mexico Opens Health Clinic For State Employees – The Associated Press & The New Mexican
New Mexico is opening a health care clinic for public employees, a move that has won Republican Gov. Susana Martinez a few points with a union she's usually at odds with.
The New Mexican reports that Martinez announced Wednesday that the Stay Well Health Clinic is opening in Santa Fe and will provide primary care, urgent care and occupational health services without the long wait usually encountered at such clinics.
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees spokesman Miles Conway says employees will take advantage of the clinic's convenient location and hours. He said in an interview that the clinic is "being received as very promising."
Martinez says the clinic's preventative care will save about $3.5 million annually in taxpayer money.
Manhattan Project National Park Agreement To Be Signed – Associated Press
The Manhattan Project National Historical Park will be one step closer to being established under an agreement scheduled to be signed by two federal agencies next month.
The park will have locations in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Los Alamos, New Mexico; and Hanford, Washington, to commemorate the secretive World War II program that provided enriched uranium for the atomic bomb.
Congress last year authorized the new park after more than a decade of work by federal agencies, state and local governments and other advocates. The Departments of Energy and the Interior will sign the agreement on Nov. 10 in Washington, D.C.
Once signed, the agreement will establish the Manhattan Project National Historical Park as a unit of the national park system.
Superintendent Accused Of Fake Credentials Gives Up Licenses – Las Vegas Optic, Associated Press
The Mora Independent School District Superintendent who is accused of submitting fake information has surrendered his education licenses.
The Las Vegas Optic reports that the Public Education Department issued a statement Tuesday that Charles Trujillo has given up his licenses in the wake of an investigation into discrepancies into his background.
Without an administrative license, Trujillo cannot continue to serve as the superintendent in Mora.
A five-month investigation by the Optic found several discrepancies in Trujillo's background. It found he submitted a fake transcript from Highlands University.
It states he earned a master's degree in guidance and counseling in December 2004.
The university registrar's office says Trujillo never obtained a master's degree.
A master's or doctorate is required to get an administrative license from the Public Education Department.
Bush Back In Nevada; Unveiling Western Public Lands Plan – Associated Press
Jeb Bush says if he's elected president he'll try to move the U.S. Interior Department's headquarters to someplace in the western United States.
The idea is part of a western land and resource management plan the Republican presidential hopeful intends to unveil Wednesday during a round table discussion in Reno, Nevada.
Bush says it makes no sense for an agency that manages hundreds of millions of acres of federal land across the West to be based in Washington D.C.
He says it would do a better job of keeping in touch with the people it serves if its headquarters was in a place like Reno, Denver or Salt Lake City.
He says government leaders in Washington need to learn that the best stewards of public lands in the West are the people who live on them.
Sandra Cisneros: People In New Mexico 'Don't Like Mexicans' – Santa Fe New Mexican, Associated Press
Noted Mexican-American writer Sandra Cisneros says she contemplated moving to northern New Mexico — until she read residents there "don't like Mexicans."
Cisneros told the Santa Fe New Mexican's Pasatiempo last week that the region, obsessed with its mythical, Spanish colonial past, often looks down on Americans of Mexican descent.
The author of the new book "A House of My Own: Stories From My Life" says because of that view she decided not to relocate to northern New Mexico but she has no problem visiting. She also wants New Mexico residents to confront their views on Mexican Americans.
Some Hispanic residents in New Mexico often differentiate themselves from other Latino in the U.S. by claiming they have a more direct Spanish-colonial lineage. Some scholars have disregarded those claims.