New Mexico To Release Monitoring Plan For Mine Spill – Associated Press
New Mexico is developing a plan that will guide long-term monitoring activities in the wake of a spill of wastewater from a Colorado mine.
The state is expected to release a draft of the plan Tuesday. Officials are urging tribes, local leaders, concerned residents and researchers to weigh in during a 30-day comment period.
A public meeting is scheduled Tuesday evening in Farmington.
A crew working for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released about 3 million gallons of waste tainted with heavy metals when equipment breached a debris dam inside the Gold King Mine in southwestern Colorado in August.
Rivers in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah were polluted by the spill. Cities shut down water plant intakes and farmers closed irrigation canals until the plume passed.
'Problem-Solving' Courts Awarded $600K In New Funding – The Associated Press
So-called "problem-solving" courts around New Mexico are receiving $600,000 in new state funding to treat mental illness and offenders' addictions.
The Administrative Office of the Courts announced the funding, which was approved by the state Supreme Court based on recommendations made by an advisory committee that reviewed applications submitted by courts.
The Legislature appropriated the money for courts such as those focusing on drugs, DWI, family dependency and mental health.
Court officials say problem-solving courts provide a less expensive alternative to incarceration yet are more effective in reducing the rate at which offenders are rearrested.
Programs typically require counseling, drug tests and probation visits. Some of the money included in the new funding will pay for hiring additional probation officers.
State To Hold Public Hearing On Turner Ranch Wolves – The Associated Press & The Roswell Daily Record
The New Mexico State Game Commission will hold a public hearing in Roswell to consider an appeal to keep endangered Mexican gray wolves at Ted Turner's ranch.
A bid by the Ladder Ranch in southern New Mexico to renew its permit for holding wolves in captivity on the private property was recently denied by the state Game Commission, triggering calls for Gov. Susana Martinez to reverse the decision.
The Roswell Daily Record reports that the Game Commission is scheduled to meet Nov. 19 to review an appeal by the Turner Endangered Species Fund.
Game Commission officials have said they couldn't approve the permit, citing the failure by the federal government to update a decades-old recovery plan for the wolves.
Fund officials say denying their permit will not lead to a new plan.
New Mexico Woman, 89, Inducted Into Explorers Club – The Associated Press & KRQE
After six decades of traveling the globe, a New Mexico woman has been inducted into the prestigious Explorers Club.
The 89-year-old Helen Schreider told KRQE-TV that she "never, ever thought it would happen."
Her husband Frank became a member of the club in 1956, after the couple devoted 2.5 years to traveling the unfished Pan-American Highway from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego. But Schreider could not join because women were not allowed to be members.
The Schreiders worked for National Geographic for 15 years and explored at least 100 countries. Their sometimes dangerous journeys brought them in contact with pirates, perilous seas and extreme weather.
Schrieder has been named not only a member of the Explorers Club but a national fellow.
Her husband died in 1994.
New Mexico High Court Asked To Set Aside Water Regulations – The Associated Press
Environmental groups say the New Mexico Supreme Court should set aside contested water regulations because they fail to prevent pollution by copper mines.
The New Mexico Environmental Law Center filed a brief on behalf of its clients Monday in the case against the state's so-called copper rule.
The rule was initially approved by state water regulators in September 2013. Opponents argued the regulations violated the state Water Quality Control Act in addition to giving mining companies too much leeway to pollute groundwater.
The New Mexico Environment Department has argued that the regulations are among the most stringent of any copper-producing state in the West and strike a balance between protecting water and allowing for economic development.
The high court announced in July that it would consider the case.
New Mexico Thrift-Store Workers Find $290,000 In Bonds – The Associated Press & The ABQ Journal
Two thrift-store workers in Truth or Consequences found more than clothes and knickknacks in the donation box, instead finding an envelope stuffed with $290,000 in U.S. savings bonds.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that an employee of the Community Health Foundation Thrift store found the envelope while sifting through donated items. The manager called the police and turned the bonds over to an officer who happened to know the man in whose name the bonds were subscribed.
Police say they contacted the man, who recalled the exact amount of the bonds and said he was unaware his personal property had been donated. He had recently been moved into an assisted living center and an advocacy group acting as his guardian had cleaned out his apartment.
Colorado Springs Meat Company Recalls 36 Products – Colorado Springs Gazette, Associated Press
A Colorado Springs meat company has recalled more than 12,500 pounds of beef, pork and poultry products after failing to list sodium nitrite as an ingredient.
The Colorado Springs Gazette reports the recall has affected 36 products from Ranch Foods Direct that were produced over the last year, and then shipped to retail locations in Colorado and New Mexico.
A Food Safety Inspection Service audit revealed that the products hadn't listed sodium nitrate as an ingredient, which is required because it is an added preservative that can be toxic in excessive amounts.
The products should be thrown out or returned to the place of purchase.
No illnesses have been reported.
A Ranch Foods Direct official says the company's parent, Good Food Concepts, strives to adhere to federal regulations.
New Mexico High Court Asked To Set Aside Water Regulations – Associated Press
Environmental groups say the New Mexico Supreme Court should set aside contested water regulations because they fail to prevent pollution by copper mines.
The New Mexico Environmental Law Center filed a brief on behalf of its clients Monday in the case against the state's so-called copper rule.
The rule was initially approved by state water regulators in September 2013. Opponents argued the regulations violated the state Water Quality Control Act in addition to giving mining companies too much leeway to pollute groundwater.
The New Mexico Environment Department has argued that the regulations are among the most stringent of any copper-producing state in the West and strike a balance between protecting water and allowing for economic development.
The high court announced in July that it would consider the case.
Councilman To Introduce Motion For Indigenous Holiday – Associated Press
A motion to censure the Albuquerque City Council president over his handling of an Indigenous Peoples Day proclamation and critical remarks of councilors who didn't sign it has been revoked.
Councilman Dan Lewis last week filed documents signaling his intent to censure Council President Rey Garduño as the city observed its first Indigenous Peoples Day.
A proclamation read by Garduño at an Oct. 7 meeting added Albuquerque to a growing list of cities recognizing the holiday honoring Native Americans on the same day as Columbus Day, a federal holiday.
At Monday evening's meeting, Lewis announced he no longer intended to put forward a motion to censure Garduño.
The Council's meeting agenda also includes a proposal from Garduño for a resolution that would go further in ensuring the second Monday of October is recognized as Indigenous Peoples Day each year.
Commission Narrows Field To 4 For NM Supreme Court Seat – Associated Press
The Appellate Court Judicial Nominating Commission has narrowed a field of eight candidates by half to fill a seat on the New Mexico Supreme Court.
The commission on Monday recommended Gov. Susana Martinez appoint one of the four district court or appeals court judges who applied for the job.
They are Gary Clingman, of Hobbs, who is a judge in New Mexico's Fifth District Court in southeastern New Mexico; Judith Nakamura, a Second District Court judge in Albuquerque; Linda Vanzi, a state appeals court judge in Albuquerque; and Michael Vigil, chief judge for the New Mexico Court of Appeals.
Martinez will make the final selection to fill outgoing Supreme Court Justice Richard Bosson's seat.
Her appointment would have to seek election on ballots next year if he or she wanted to keep the seat.
Developers Plan New Mexico 'Ghost City' For Scientific Use – Las Cruces Sun-News, Associated Press
Developers are planning a southern New Mexico city capable of housing nearly 40,000 people -- but they don't want anyone to move there.
The Las Cruces Sun-News reports that Pegasus Global Holdings is pursuing permitting for a facility west of Las Cruces called the Center for Innovation, Testing and Evaluation.
Scientists and private companies will use the full-scale city to test things like building materials and technology on a larger and more realistic scale than can be replicated in laboratories.
Pegasus Managing Director Robert Brumley says that if all goes well, construction on CITE could begin later this year and it could be operational by early 2018.
The ghost city is expected to fill about 18 square miles and include specialized zones for agriculture, energy and water treatment.
New Mexico Lags National Trend Of Higher Graduation Rates - Jennifer C. Kerr, Associated Press
The Education Department says high school graduation rates for most states continue to improve.
Many states also are showing gains for black and Hispanic students.
The department says preliminary data show graduation rates up in 36 states for the 2013-2014 school year. The biggest gains were in Delaware, Alabama, Oregon, West Virginia and Illinois.
Five states had declines, including Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, Oklahoma and New Mexico. The District of Columbia also slipped.
Eight states were flat; Idaho did not have complete numbers to report.
Embattled NM Official Proposes New Campaign Finance Rules – Albuquerque Journal, Associated Press
A New Mexico official facing criminal charges for misusing campaign contributions is proposing new campaign finance rules.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that Secretary of State Dianna Duran's office plans to present a slate of proposals at a public hearing on Friday, including some that regulate how candidates can spend money donated to them.
Duran will have the final say on the new rules and her office wants them in place before next year's election.
Her office was already working on the package when Attorney General Hector Balderas charged Duran with fraud, embezzlement and other crimes in August. He says she used campaign money for personal spending, including at casinos.
Duran has pleaded not guilty and rejected calls to step down.
Bankruptcy Judge Frustrated With Gallup Diocese Case – Gallup Independent, Associated Press
A judge says he is getting frustrated as a New Mexico diocese nears its second year in bankruptcy court.
The Gallup Independent reports that U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David T. Thuma said during a Thursday court hearing that he's not pleased the Diocese of Gallup's case is still going on.
He agreed to the diocese's request to postpone its final hearing, originally scheduled for next month. He scheduled a status conference in its place.
Thuma hasn't yet ruled on a request from Phoenix attorney Robert E. Pastor, who represents 18 people who say they were sexually abused by the diocese's clergy.
Pastor wants to pursue two or three sexual abuse lawsuits filed in Flagstaff before the Gallup Diocese declared bankruptcy, but a stay currently prevents civil cases against the diocese after the final bankruptcy hearing.