Senator: Compensate Residents Near Site Of Atomic Bomb Test - The Associated Press
A U.S. senator says those who lived near the site of the first atomic bomb test in the New Mexico desert and later developed cancer and other health problems need to be compensated.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Tom Udall said Thursday that the federal government neglected residents of the historic Hispanic village of Tularosa near the Trinity Site, where the weapon was detonated July 16, 1945.
Udall made his remarks on the Senate floor on the 70th anniversary of the test that took place as part of the Manhattan Project, the secretive World War II program that provided enriched uranium for the atomic bomb.
Tularosa residents say many of those living in the area weren't told about the dangers and suffered rare forms of cancer. They say they want acknowledgement and compensation from the U.S. government.
Balloon Group Ratifies Records Set By Cross-Pacific Flight – The Associated Press
An international organization has ratified duration and distance records set by two pilots who completed a flight across the Pacific Ocean in a helium-filled balloon.
The Federation Aeronautique Internationale said Thursday it ratified records for distance of more than 6,650 miles (10,700 kilometers) and for duration of 160 hours and 34 minutes for Troy Bradley of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Leonid Tiukhtyaev of Russia.
The Two Eagles balloon landed early Jan. 31 just off the coast of Baja California after being aloft for nearly seven days from Japan.
The men beat a 137-hour duration record set in 1978 by the Double Eagle crew in a cross-Atlantic flight.
They also exceeded the distance record of 5,209 miles set by the Double Eagle V team during the first trans-Pacific flight in 1981.
Santa Clara Asks Feds To Shut Down Pojoaque Casinos – The Associated Press
Santa Clara Pueblo has asked the federal government to shut down Pojoaque Pueblo's casinos north of Santa Fe, which have continued to operate without a state gambling compact.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports Santa Clara Gov. J. Michael Chavarria made the request to the U.S. Department of the Interior's deputy secretary of Indian affairs in a July 5 letter. Chavarria wrote that allowing Buffalo Thunder and Cities of Gold casinos to operate gives Pojoaque an unfair advantage over other gambling tribes.
Pojoaque's compact with the state expired at the end of June.
Pojoaque leaders have been trying to negotiate a new compact with the federal government after failing to negotiate with the state in 2013.
The casinos have been allowed to operate while the U.S. Court of Appeals addresses the matter.
Udall To Visit Cibola National Forest For Wildfire Update - The Associated Press
Sen. Tom Udall is slated to visit the Cibola National Forest to discuss new efforts to combat wildfires in the state.
The New Mexico Democrat is scheduled Friday to meet with officials in the Sandia Mountains and see how a recently forest thinning project is helping to fight potential fires.
Udall will receive an update on these projects from local U.S. Forest Service officials.
In recent months, New Mexico has seen record rainfall after years of persistent drought. The rains have caused vegetation growth and officials worry it could be fuel for more fires in the coming years.
Advocates Fight Work Requirements For Food Stamp Recipients – The Associated Press
The clock is ticking as New Mexico and other states move toward reinstating work and job training requirements for certain low-income adults who receive food stamps.
Statewide waivers that have been in place since the economy took a dive in 2009 are expiring, and federal officials say few states are eligible for extensions.
New Mexico is proposing to go a step further by also reinstating work requirements for some teenagers and parents with children over the age of 6.
Roughly 15 percent of New Mexico's more than 493,000 food stamp recipients could be affected, and social service advocates are crying foul.
A public meeting Friday in Santa Fe marks the last chance for people to comment.
Advocates argue there aren't enough jobs or meaningful training opportunities in the poverty-stricken state to help recipients meet the requirements.
Medical Marijuana Producers To Be Named - The Associated Press and Albuquerque Journal
Gov. Susana Martinez has announced that the names of state medical marijuana dispensaries and their employees will soon be made public.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that the governor's announcement came Wednesday, less than a week after a lawsuit was filed in an effort to strike down the regulation allowing the names of medical marijuana producers to be confidential.
The decision will only apply to producers and their employees and not the nearly 16,000 patients certified in the state's Medical Cannabis Program.
The Department of Health, which previously defended the confidentiality rule based on security reasons for medical pot producers and patients, will now have to formally change the rule. It was unclear Wednesday how long that process would take.
Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Challenging New Mexico Test Contract - The Associated Press
A judge has dismissed a lawsuit that sought to overturn a contract issued for New Mexico's assessment exam for students in public schools.
State District Court Judge Sarah Singleton ruled Monday that the nonprofit that filed the suit did not have legal standing to sue over the contract because it did not bid for the contract against the winning bidder, London-based Pearson PLC.
Washington-based nonprofit American Institutes for Research had accused state officials of rigging the bidding process in favor of Pearson by tailoring the request for bidders to a testing program already run by Pearson.
The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers tests are required for all New Mexico public school students in grades 3-11.
The tests assess students' grasp of the new Common Core Standards.
Advocates Fight Work Requirements For Food Stamp Recipients – The Associated Press
The clock is ticking as New Mexico and other states move toward reinstating work and job training requirements for certain low-income adults who receive food stamps.
Statewide waivers that have been in place since the economy took a dive in 2009 are expiring, and federal officials say few states are eligible for extensions.
New Mexico is proposing to go a step further by also reinstating work requirements for some teenagers and parents with children over the age of 6.
Roughly 15 percent of New Mexico's more than 493,000 food stamp recipients could be affected, and social service advocates are crying foul.
A public meeting Friday in Santa Fe marks the last chance for people to comment.
Advocates argue there aren't enough jobs or meaningful training opportunities in the poverty-stricken state to help recipients meet the requirements.
Ranchers Sue Over Rule Giving Feds Authority On State Water - The Associated Press
Ranchers in New Mexico, California and Washington state are challenging a new Obama administration rule giving federal agencies authority to protect some streams and wetlands.
The Sacramento, California-based Pacific Legal Foundation announced this week it has filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Minnesota on behalf of the ranchers over a recent expansion of the Clean Water Act.
The rule is a response to calls from the U.S. Supreme Court and Congress for the Environmental Protection Agency to clarify which smaller waterways are protected under the law.
But the foundation argues the rule is unconstitutional because it sets no limit on the Clean Water Act's reach.
EPA spokeswoman Monica Lee declined to comment on the lawsuit.
In June, 13 states led by North Dakota filed a lawsuit over the same rule change.
Zuni Pueblo Awarded $3.1M Federal Grant For Airport Project - The Associated Press
A northwestern New Mexico pueblo and more than a dozen communities across the state are getting federal funding for airport rehabilitation and development projects.
The total of $6.1 million of Federal Aviation Administration grants announced Thursday by Sen. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich include $3.1 million awarded to the Zuni Pueblo for construction of a new airport and related work.
The senators said the grants will help boost local economies by increasing travel access, support economic development and encourage business expansion.
Communities receiving grants include Truth or Consequences, Moriarty, Carrizozo, Hobbs, Las Cruces and Lordsburg.
Grants also were awarded to Ruidoso, Carlsbad, Spring, Vaughn, Hatch, Farmington, Espanola and Silver City.
2 Suspects Wanted In Albuquerque Homicide Case Are Arrested - The Associated Press
Federal authorities say two suspects wanted in a homicide case in New Mexico are in custody.
U.S. Marshals Service officials announced Thursday that 31-year-old Thomas Stevenson was arrested last Friday in Louisiana while 19-year-old O'Shay Toney was apprehended Wednesday in Texas.
Stevenson is being held by Kenner police and Toney is booked into the Lubbock County Detention Center.
Both men are awaiting extradition to New Mexico.
Federal authorities say Stevenson and Toney were wanted in connection with the fatal shooting of 42-year-old Marvin Ellis at an Albuquerque home on May 31.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Ellis was being flirtatious with the mother of Stevenson's child before he was shot.
Albuquerque police believe Stevenson and Toney fled the state and arrest warrants for them were issued on June 1.
Clovis Police: Man Mistakenly Released From Jail Recaptured - The Associated Press
Clovis police say an inmate mistakenly released from the Curry County jail earlier this month has been recaptured.
Police say 34-year-old Albert Moncada was arrested Wednesday after he was spotted entering a house, nearly two weeks after he was released from jail.
Police said Moncada again was booked into the jail, where he's being held on warrants alleging such crimes as being a felon in possession of a firearm, drug trafficking and receiving stolen property.
A woman in the house also was arrested. She's accused of aiding a felon.
Udall To Visit Cibola National Forest For Wildfire Update - The Associated Press
Sen. Tom Udall is slated to visit the Cibola National Forest to discuss new efforts to combat wildfires in the state.
The New Mexico Democrat is scheduled Friday to meet with officials in the Sandia Mountains and see how a recently forest thinning project is help fight potential fires.
Udall will receive an update on these projects from local U.S. Forest Service officials.
In recent months, New Mexico has seen record rainfall after years of persistent drought. The rains have caused vegetation growth and officials worry it could be fuel for more fires in the coming years.
'Breaking Bad' Actor To Address New Mexico Anti-Crime Summit - The Associated Press
"Breaking Bad" actor Steven Michael Quezada is scheduled to headline a New Mexico Attorney General's summit on fighting crime.
Quezada, who played DEA agent Steven Gomez in the hit AMC-TV series, is set to speak Friday in Albuquerque at the Office of the Attorney General's "3rd Annual Summit on Community Violence." Quezada is an elected member of the Albuquerque Public Schools board.
Attorney General Hector Balderas is hosting the summit as pressure mounts to reform the state's judicial system. Critics say courts are failing to keep violent offenders off the street and blame the courts for releasing a violent offender who recently killed a Rio Rancho police officer.
Albuquerque police also is under a federal court-ordered plan to reform its force amid allegations of excessive force.
Arizona Schools Chief Names Director Of Indian Education - The Associated Press
A member of New Mexico's Laguna Pueblo has been named to oversee Native American education in Arizona.
Schools chief Diane Douglas says Nadine Groenig will help ensure students receive an education that embraces their needs.
Groenig has been with the Arizona Department of Education since 2002, working on several federal initiatives. She's served on various committees advocating for Native Americans and is the founder of the nonprofit Southwestern Institute for the Education of Native Americans.
As director of Indian education, she'll lead efforts to integrate tribal culture and history into classrooms.
Groenig says she wants Native American students to be well educated, healthy and confident, and have a strong sense of cultural identity.