$400M NM Border Railroad Project May Open In 2014 - The Associated Press
A $400 million Union Pacific railroad facility near a young New Mexico border town could open next year.
Union Pacific spokesman Aaron Hunt said Tuesday that construction near Santa Teresa is ahead of schedule and the facility could be operational in 2014.
Hunt says more than 50 contractors are involved in the project and there is an average of 250 workers on site daily.
The Santa Teresa-San Jeronimo region is still young and development there only started after the Santa Teresa Port of Entry opened in 1993. The New Mexico Border Authority said last year that the port of entry processed more than 81,000 commercial trucks — 13 percent higher than any year on record.
The region's growth has been a keystone to plans by Gov. Susana Martinez for New Mexico economic expansion.
Navajo Council Tables Proposal Related To Mine - The Farmington Daily Times
Members of the Navajo Nation Council tabled a proposal that would let disputes over a northwestern New Mexico coal mine that's being bought on behalf of the nation be settled in state courts rather than tribal courts.
The Farmington Daily Times reports that the decision to table the proposal on Monday stemmed from discussion over whether it required a super majority for passage.
Delegates will revisit the Navajo Mine proposal Friday.
Zurich American Insurance Company is asking the tribe to waive its sovereign immunity and settle any arbitration in New Mexico and Arizona courts before it and another company issue $500 million in bonds and insurances to a tribal company set up to purchase the mine.
Earlier on Monday, two tribal committees endorsed the legislation.
NM Officials Eye Vaccines For Pneumonia Illness - The Associated Press
State health officials are encouraging adults to get vaccinations against a pneumonia-related illness hitting New Mexico.
The New Mexico Department of Health said this week that the vaccines for pneumococcal disease are now available at many doctors' offices.
Officials say so far this year, around 300 people in New Mexico have been diagnosed with severe pneumococcal disease and 47 have died from their infection.
Department of Health Cabinet Secretary Retta Ward says one out of three adults who are recommended to receive the vaccine have never been vaccinated against pneumococcal disease.
Santa Fe Hospital Ordered To Pay Woman $1 Million - The Santa Fe New Mexican
A Santa Fe hospital has been ordered to pay $1 million to a woman who stopped breathing and nearly died while being treated there in May 2010.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that a jury Monday awarded Zelda Jiron $250,000 in compensatory damages and $750,000 in punitive damages in her lawsuit against Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center.
According to testimony, Jiron was given doses of a narcotic pain reliever when she was admitted complaining of abdominal pain.
Later, a physician assistant was unable to examine her because she was asleep.
Court records say Jiron's husband later came into her hospital room to find his wife's arms twitching and her face purple.
She was then resuscitated.
It was determined that she had stopped breathing and her heart stopped.