Potash Company To Idle Mine In Southeastern New Mexico – Carlsbad Current-Argus, Associated Press
A Denver-based company says it plans to suspend production at a potash mining facility in southeastern New Mexico, with hundreds of workers reportedly losing their jobs.
Intrepid Potash Inc. said the West facility in Carlsbad in July will go into what the company called a "care and maintenance mode."
The announcement said approximately 300 employees "will be impacted by this decision," while the Carlsbad Current-Argus reports that a company executive said during a phone call with investors Monday that 300 people were laid off.
The company said its West facility has become increasingly less profitable in recent months because of falling prices due to oversupply and foreign competition.
The company on Monday also reported a first-quarter loss of $18.4 million.
Preliminary Hearing Set For Ex-Senator In Fraud Case – The Associated Press & The Santa Fe New Mexican
A former legislator charged in a fraud case is set for a week-long preliminary hearing split between Albuquerque and Santa Fe.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports Albuquerque-based Judge Brett Loveless scheduled the hearing for July 5.
Former state Sen. Phil Griego has pleaded not guilty to charges including bribery and fraud.
Griego had a role in the state's sale of a building in 2014, receiving commissions topping $50,000.
A Senate ethics committee investigated the sale and Griego resigned from the Legislature a week before the end of the 2015 session.
A June 14 hearing will deal with the state attorney general's subpoena for documents related to the investigation.
The Legislative Council Service is pushing against handing over the documents.
New Mexico State University Considers Faculty Furloughs – The Associated Press & The ABQ Journal
New Mexico State University may furlough faculty members to help trim $10.7 million from the budget.
The Albuquerque Journal reports the university is restructuring while enrollment declines and state funding drops.
University Provost Dan Howard says the faculty has been largely untouched by the process so far, and is the last place to look for cost savings.
He said furloughs are just one of the options up for consideration ahead of June budget decisions.
University regents unanimously nixed a 4.1 percent tuition and fee hike for the 2016-2017 academic year.
Low oil prices and state funding cuts are impacting public university budgets across New Mexico.
University of New Mexico tuition and fees will increase in the fall as the school anticipates a $7.9 million decrease in its budget.
Judge In Ex-Gov. Richardson's Hit-And-Run Case Withdraws – The Associated Press & The Santa Fe New Mexican
A municipal judge in a hit-and-run case involving former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has recused herself.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that Santa Fe Municipal Judge Virginia Vigil said Monday she withdrew because she lobbied fellow Democrat Richardson for capital construction money while she was a county commissioner.
Vigil's decision postpones a hearing that was scheduled for Wednesday. Municipal Court Administrator Arlene Sisneros says another judge will likely be assigned by Friday or early next week.
Richardson is facing a citation after police said he rear-ended another vehicle in downtown Santa Fe in January and left the scene.
Richardson contends it was just a tap, but the other driver told police the second impact was strong enough to push the car into the intersection.
New Mexico Students Miss A Third Of Instructional Time – The Associated Press
A survey of available instruction time at public schools in New Mexico has found that almost a third of the hours are lost to a combination of standardized assessments, test preparation, re-teaching distracted students, absences and disciplinary actions.
Staff at the Legislative Finance Committee announced the findings Tuesday at the state capitol. They found that late starts, recess and subsidized breakfasts also offset instructional time while being counted as productive learning hours.
Elementary students lose well over a third of instructional time, while their school year can be nearly 10 percent shorter.
New Mexico has increased teaching time in high-poverty schools by extending the school year for 25 days in Kindergarten through third grade. More than 19,000 students participate.
About 340,000 students are enrolled in New Mexico public schools.
Southern New Mexico Officials Eye Tougher Laws On 'Spice' – The Associated Press & The Las Cruces
Officials in southern New Mexico want tougher laws to combat the synthetic drug knowns as spice.
The Las Cruces Sun-News reports that Las Cruces city staff presented a proposal on Monday that could lead to the city business licenses of shops being pulled if they're found to be selling the drug.
Officials say it would be a civil law approach, rather than a criminal law change.
But city councilors cautioned the measure in itself won't be a cure-all and will have to be part of a larger, multi-faceted attempt to combat spice use and sales.
City Police Chief Jaime Montoya says state law already allows for spice distribution to be prosecuted.
State Plans $61 Million In Medicaid Cuts, For Starters – Associated Press
State officials are predicting they can shrink next year's budget shortfall for Medicaid health care by $61 million if proposals go forward to reduce reimbursements to hospitals and general physicians.
The Human Services Department on Monday released detailed financial projections for its evolving plan to deal with an initial $85 million shortfall in the state's obligations toward Medicaid.
The agency is proposing reductions of up to 8 percent to reimbursement rates for hospitals and a roll-back of 2014 reimbursement increases for physicians and nurses. The changes would begin July 1. A one-time federal waiver on insurance taxes also would help fill the budget gap.
The Albuquerque Journal reports more than a dozen advocates urged state officials to find another way and said cuts will impact some of the state’s most vulnerable citizens.
New Mexico residents have flocked to Medicaid since Republican Gov. Susana Martinez agreed to an expansion in 2014 under the federal Affordable Care Act.
NMSU May Furlough Faculty – Albuquerque Journal
Some faculty may be furloughed at New Mexico State University as the college seeks to cut nearly $11 million from its budget next year.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that Provost Dan Howard said this is one of the options NMSU is exploring to deal with state budget cuts and enrollment drops.
Unlike the University of New Mexico, regents at NMSU rejected a proposed hike in tuition and fees to deal with budget issues. UNM students will see a 2.5 percent increase in tuition next year and a bump of more than 10 percent in fees.
Plummeting oil prices and cuts in state funding have hit public universities around the state hard.
One possibility on the table is a three-day furlough that would result in a pay cut to faculty of about two percent. Final budget decisions will be made in June.
Navajo Nation Plan New Alert System In Wake Of Girl's Death – Associated Press
The Navajo Nation's president is reacting to concerns raised by the abduction and death of an 11-year-old girl by setting a 60-day goal for establishing a new tribal alert system.
Eight hours passed between the initial May 2 missing-persons report by the family of Ashlynne Mike to tribal police and the May 3 issuance of an Amber Alert by New Mexico State Police at the FBI's request.
Tribal President Russell Begaye announced Monday he has created a task force headed by the tribe's telecommunication director and the director of the Department of Public Safety.
Begaye says tribal officials will consult with telephone companies and are testing a text-message alert system.
A search began the evening the girl was reported missing. Her body was found the next day.
New Mexico Ban On Teachers Criticizing Tests To End – Associated Press
The New Mexico Public Education Department says it will remove a rule that prohibits teachers from making disparaging remarks about standardized tests.
Department spokesman Robert McEntryre confirmed Monday that officials are working on getting rid of the rule and have never used it against any teacher anyway.
The move comes after the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico filed a lawsuit in March challenging a regulation that prohibits New Mexico teachers and other public school employees from criticizing standardized tests.
The ACLU said the provision against making disparaging statements could result in a license suspension or revocation for teachers and other educators.
ACLU-NM Staff Attorney María Mártinez Sánchez says the group is pleased the department is ending this "unconstitutional gag rule."
Gov. Martinez Says She Will Attend GOP Convention – Associated Press
Gov. Susana Martinez says she will be attending the Republican National Convention amid anxiety within the party over the presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump.
Martinez, the nation's only Latina governor, said Monday that she has a responsibility to attend the convention since she is the head of the Republican Governors Association. But she says she is concerned about the discord in the party over Trump.
The second-term Republican governor has criticized Trump's proposal to build a bigger wall along the U.S.-Mexico border as a threat to international trade relations.
Martinez is a prominent Republican fundraiser in New Mexico and nationwide as chairwoman of the RGA, a fundraising arm of the GOP.
Martinez's announcement comes as other high-profile Republicans say they are considering skipping the convention. Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval's office said Monday he won't attend.
Officer Shooting Suspect Pleads Guilty To Fed Drug Charges – Associated Press
A suspect in connection with a fatal shooting of an Albuquerque police officer in October has pleaded guilty to federal heroin trafficking and firearms charges.
Davon Lymon entered his plea Monday in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque. The federal charges accusing him of being a felon in possession of a firearm and of distributing heroin.
The 35-year-old Lymon previously had been convicted of several felony offenses including voluntary manslaughter, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon resulting in great bodily harm, fraud, and forgery.
Police have said Lymon fatally shot Officer Daniel Webster during an Oct. 21 traffic stop, but he has not been charged in that killing.
Lymon faces 20 years in prison on the two heroin trafficking charges and 10 years on the firearms charge.
Democratic Presidential Hopeful Wants On New Mexico Ballot – Associated Press
A Democratic presidential candidate not named Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders is fighting to be placed on the ballot in New Mexico.
Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente, a California Democrat, has filed a federal lawsuit to get his name on the New Mexico ballot for the state's June 7 primary.
De La Fuente says he collected enough signatures to be on the state's ballot but the New Mexico Secretary of State's office says his campaign fell short. His campaign disputes that and wants his name next to Clinton and Sanders.
De La Fuente is a businessman based in San Diego.
A spokesman for the New Mexico Secretary of State's office did not immediately return an email from The Associated Press.
Residents Of Dulce Claim UFOs, Bigfoot Spotted In Area – Santa Fe New Mexican, Associated Press
When most people think UFOs and the unexplained in the state they turn to Roswell, but residents of a tiny town in northern New Mexico say they've also seen strange things.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that residents of Dulce, a small town on the Jicarilla Apache Reservation, say they've seen flying saucers, UFOs and fast moving lights moving back and forth in the sky. One resident says he's tracked Bigfoot.
Legend says space aliens are working with the U.S. government at the so-called "Dulce Base" underneath the flat-topped Archuleta Mesa, a mountain that overlooks the town.
Dulce has been featured on the History Channel's "UFO Hunters" television show and employees at the town's casino and hotel say they get visitors who are in search for UFOs.