All New Mexico Prisons On Lockdown After Inmates' Escape - Associated Press
The state's top Corrections Department official says all of New Mexico's prisons are on lockdown and no prisoners are being transported between correctional facilities as state police investigate what led to the escape of two inmates last week from a transport van.
Corrections Secretary Gregg Marcantel also said Monday that all inmates in the state are being interviewed amid a broad, in-depth review of the state's prison system.
The escape of inmates Joseph Cruz and Lionel Clah has raised a series of questions about prison security. Authorities say the two fled a fortified prisoner transport van last week as guards stopped at an Artesia gas station.
Cruz was convicted of first-degree murder, and Clah is serving time for armed robbery and other crimes.
They were taken back into custody over the weekend in Albuquerque.
Attorney General Battles Legislature For Griego Records – Albuquerque Journal
A battle over records related to a former legislator has escalated with the Attorney General’s office asking a judge to order the production of the documents.
The Albuquerque Journal reports the Legislative Council Service refused to turn over records on former Sen. Phil Griego after Attorney General Hector Balderas sought them through subpoena earlier this month.
Griego has been charged with crimes that include bribery, fraud and perjury allegedly related to a real estate deal on a state-owned building.
The Council Service is arguing certain records are confidential under state law and the New Mexico Constitution. The AG is seeking correspondence related to the real estate deal and records from an ethics subcommittee investigation into Griego.
Griego resigned from the Senate in March 2015.
Texas Oil Company Shuts Wells In New Mexico After Spill – The Associated Press
A Texas oil driller has taken the first step toward cleaning up a spill at a waste-water injection well in southeastern New Mexico used by the oil and natural gas industry.
Midland, Texas-based Siana Operations has filed for a remediation permit and is likely to join state officials this week in assessing damage to property outside the town of Eunice overseen by the New Mexico State Land Office.
The state Oil Conservation Division says Siana is complying with an order to temporarily shut off all of its oil and disposal wells until a hearing can be held on possible violations. State records list the company as an operator at 11 drilling locations.
Regulators have accused Siana of causing the spill while trespassing after its lease expired at the disposal site.
Auditor Finds Weak Oversight At New Mexico Charter Schools – The Associated Press
New Mexico's state auditor is highlighting major financial control problems at state-sponsored charter schools overseen by the state's Public Education Department.
State Auditor Tim Keller said Tuesday that problems include missing files on teacher background checks and licenses. At six charter schools, auditors conclude that financial statements are unreliable.
The information comes from an annual financial audit of the Education Department from an outside accounting firm. The state auditor is asking for a corrective action plan from the Education Department.
The number of state-chartered charter schools has grown to 59 last year from just two in 2008.
Beyond charter schools, alleged financial lapses include a $21 million understatement of infrastructure spending by the Education Department.
Feds To Set Aside Land In Western States For Rare Mouse – The Associated Press
The federal government is setting aside nearly 22 square miles across three western states as critical habitat for a rare mouse that has already pitted ranchers against the U.S. Forest Service in New Mexico.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Tuesday that areas in New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona will be covered by the designation for the New Mexico meadow jumping mouse.
Officials say the management of vegetation along 170 miles of streams throughout the region will be effected.
Federal forest managers ordered closures and began installing fencing along streams in parts of the Santa Fe and Lincoln national forests in New Mexico in 2014 to protect the mouse.
Ranchers have argued their private property rights as well as the centuries-old ranching traditions of rural communities are being threatened.
Georgia O'Keeffe Watercolors Of Texas To Go On Display – The Associated Press
A collection of rarely seen watercolors painted by Georgia O'Keeffe during her time in West Texas will be part of a new exhibition at the O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe.
The artwork will be on display April 29 through the end of October.
The watercolors were created about a century ago when O'Keeffe was teaching art at what is now Texas A&M University.
The artwork includes landscapes, abstractions and nudes and curators say the pieces mark a defining moment in the American painter's commitment to the abstraction she came to be known for.
The O'Keeffe Museum says it holds the majority of work she created during this period, but the show will also include pieces on loan from the Amarillo Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art and others.
New Mexico Seeks Reimbursement From Feds Over Mine Spill – Associated Press
The New Mexico Environment Department wants the federal government to reimburse the state for what it spent responding to the Gold King Mine spill.
The department announced Monday that it has sent the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency a request for more than $1.5 million — the money New Mexico spent on emergency activities in the wake of the spill.
The EPA has assumed responsibility for a cleanup crew that triggered the release of 3 million gallons of toxic wastewater at the mine in southwestern Colorado last August. Rivers in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah were fouled.
New Mexico officials say local and state emergency workers, specialists, engineers, scientists and others teamed up to respond to and monitor the plume that deposited heavy metals as it progressed downstream.
Local Governments Boost Monitoring Efforts In Wake Of Spill – Farmington Daily Times, Associated Press
Local governments are stepping up monitoring activities for heavy metals as the spring runoff increases the flow of the Animas River.
The river was among the waterways affected when a federal cleanup crew triggered the spill of 3 million gallons of toxic wastewater from the Gold King Mine in southwestern Colorado last August.
The New Mexico Environment Department has warned that the spring runoff is expected to stir up metals deposited in the river.
The department is working with the cities of Farmington and Aztec, San Juan County, the Navajo Nation and Utah officials to monitor the river.
Farmington's public works director, David Sypher, tells The Daily Times the city's tests have already shown a correlation in the turbidity of the river water and the level of heavy metals.
UNM Regents Vote For Health Sciences Center Restructuring – Associated Press
The University of New Mexico Board of Regents has approved a plan that will change the structure of the governing board of the school's Health Sciences Center.
The 4-2 vote came Monday after an hours-long meeting.
The Health Sciences Center includes University of New Mexico Hospital, the medical school, the nursing college and the cancer center. It all has been governed by a seven-member board that included regents, community members and the chair of the hospital's board of directors.
Under the new plan, that board will be replaced with a committee of three regents.
Regent Rob Doughty said an immediate change was needed to deal with a financial crunch.
Critics accused the regents of rushing to a decision, saying the changes amounted to a power grab that would politicize oversight.
New Mexico Head Coach's Son Cullen Neal To Transfer – Associated Press
The University of New Mexico has confirmed that Cullen Neal, the son of head coach Craig Neal, will be leaving the Lobos men's basketball program.
In a statement issued Monday, the school said the third-year guard is set to graduate this summer with a degree in communication and under NCAA rules can transfer and pursue a graduate degree while completing his playing eligibility.
Cullen Neal says it was a difficult decision but he was grateful to play for his father for two seasons. He also says leaving his teammates, the other coaches and the team's support staff weighs heavy on his heart.
He did not say where he'll be transferring.
Cullen Neal was the target of fan criticism this season. His father said the younger Neal was harassed and received death threats.
New Mexico Court Says Prison Company Can Be Liable For Rapes – Associated Press
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Supreme Court says that private prison operator Corrections Corporation of America may be held liable for compensatory damages to three victims who were raped by a guard.
The opinion was released on Monday and could influence an appeal of damages against the company pending before the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.
A federal jury in 2012 awarded more than $3 million in damages to three former inmates at the Camino Nuevo Women's Correctional Facility that was run by the Nashville, Tenn.-based company.
The New Mexico Supreme Court is affirming that the prison company can be held vicariously liable because private corrections officer Anthony Townes was aided in the sexual assaults by his job position. Townes is serving a 16-year state prison sentence.
Unemployment Rate For New Mexico At 6.5 Percent In January – Associated Press
New Mexico's unemployment rate showed only minor change in January.
The Department of Workforce Solutions reports that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.5 percent in January 2016, down from 6.6 percent in December and up from 6.4 percent in January 2015.
The department says total nonfarm payroll employment contracted by 1,800 jobs between January 2016 and January 2015. That decrease represents a fifth of a percentage point.
According to the department, the global decline in oil prices continues to drag mining and businesses that serve that industry.
Goods-producing industries lost 8,100 jobs over the year, with the mining industry alone losing 7,700 jobs.
Employment in service industries increased by 6,300 jobs. The education and health services industry had the biggest gain at 7,300 additional jobs.
Georgia O'Keeffe Watercolors Of Texas To Go On Display – Associated Press
A collection of rarely seen watercolors painted by Georgia O'Keeffe during her time in West Texas will be part of a new exhibition at the O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe.
The artwork will be on display April 29 through the end of October.
The watercolors were created about a century ago when O'Keeffe was teaching art at what is now Texas A&M University.
The artwork includes landscapes, abstractions and nudes and curators say the pieces mark a defining moment in the American painter's commitment to the abstraction she came to be known for.
The O'Keeffe Museum says it holds the majority of work she created during this period, but the show will also include pieces on loan from the Amarillo Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art and others.