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Students' Test Scores Lower, Secretary Of State's Case

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New Mexico Students Score Lower On New Statewide Tests -
Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press

More than half of New Mexico high school juniors failed to meet college and career readiness benchmarks for reading and writing based on the results of new standardized tests.

And a vast majority of students fell short when it came to proficiency in math.

The results released Friday by the state Public Education Department were no surprise since Education Secretary Hanna Skandera had warned that scores would be lower since the bar was being raised.

This also marked the first time students in New Mexico and 10 other states had taken the assessments developed by the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC.

The tests, designed to show how well schools helped students meet Common Core standards, have generated strong opposition from teachers and parents.

House Committee To Get Briefing On Secretary Of State's Case - The Associated Press

A panel of New Mexico lawmakers investigating fraud, embezzlement and money laundering charges against Secretary of State Dianna Duran is scheduled to be briefed later this month.

The House Special Investigatory Committee will meet Oct. 27 in Santa Fe. Special Counsel Robert Gorence will brief the panel during the public meeting.

Lawmakers also are expected to discuss the rules and procedures for the committee's investigation.

It will be up to the committee to recommend to the House whether to pursue impeachment proceedings against Duran, who is accused of misusing campaign donations and filing false campaign finance reports with her own office.

Duran has pleaded not guilty to dozens of related charges. A preliminary hearing is scheduled in state district court for Dec. 1.

New Mexico Man Pleads Guilty To Impersonating A DEA Agent - The Associated Press

A New Mexico man has pleaded guilty to falsely impersonating a federal officer and is facing up to three years in prison.

Prosecutors say 37-year-old Leon Herrera, of Las Vegas, pleaded guilty Thursday in an Albuquerque federal court.

In his plea agreement, Herrera says he committed the crime in December 2014 at the behest of a friend who was then a Colfax County sheriff's deputy.

Herrera's friend had made a traffic stop on motorists he believed to be drug traffickers and found about $8,000 in their vehicle.

The friend asked Herrera to tell one of the motorists he was a Drug Enforcement Administration special agent and intended to seize the currency as proceeds of criminal activity.

The motorists were undercover law enforcement officers and the currency belonged to the FBI.

 
US Rig Count Declines By 8 This Week To 787 - The Associated Press
Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. this week declined by eight to 787.

Houston's Baker Hughes said Friday that 595 rigs were seeking oil and 192 explored for natural gas. A year ago, with oil prices about double the prices now, 1,918 rigs were active.

Among major oil- and gas-producing states, New Mexico lost five rigs, Oklahoma and Texas each declined by two and Colorado and North Dakota each lost one.

Louisiana gained three rigs, Wyoming gained two and California gained one.

Alaska, Arkansas, Kansas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah and West Virginia were unchanged.

The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981 and bottomed at 488 in 1999.