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UNM Eliminating 4 Sports, Study Says ABQ Area Crime Increased With Poverty

Juan Fidel Larrañaga for UNM via Flickr
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Lobo mascot at University of New Mexico

New Mexico To Eliminate 4 Sports To Curb SpendingAssociated Press

Top officials at New Mexico's flagship university are recommending that the men's soccer team and the skiing and beach volleyball programs be eliminated to help the troubled athletics department get its finances under control.

University of New Mexico President Garnett Stokes and Athletic Director Eddie Nuñez announced the recommendations late Wednesday. They will present them to the Board of Regents at a special meeting Thursday.

The athletic department has been struggling with a double whammy of a fiscal shortfall brought on by years of running a budgetary deficit and problems meeting federal Title IX requirements that guarantee gender equity.

The regents in April had approved a plan calling for reducing the number of sports to address the shortfall and to reduce future expenses. With 22 sports, New Mexico supports the most programs in the Mountain West. The national average is 16.

Lawmakers Debate Ways To Expand Early Childhood Education- Associated Press

A key New Mexico lawmaker said Thursday that he agreed with early childhood education experts who say expanded pre-kindergarten programs could help alleviate poverty in one of the nation's poorest states.

But Sen. John Arthur Smith, chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, told The Associated Press that he remained opposed to advocates' push for New Mexico to dip into its Permanent Land Fund to finance universal early childhood education.

"Nope. Not going to support that," the Deming Democrat said. "Won't happen."

Smith's remarks come as lawmakers who help set spending priorities for New Mexico heard from early childhood education experts at a special legislative hearing in Santa Fe as they seek ways to boost early childhood education programs and strengthen the safety net for children.

Advocates and liberal Democrats are expected to aggressively push measures next legislative session to expand such programs amid pressure to combat the state's growing child poverty rate.

Pre-K Expansion Back On Agenda For Key New Mexico Panel -  Associated Press

Key New Mexico lawmakers are scheduled to listen to early childhood education experts as advocates push to expand pre-Kindergarten classes throughout the state.

Lawmakers who help to set spending priorities for New Mexico each year will team up with the National Conference of State Legislatures and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation at a special legislative hearing on Thursday in Santa Fe. State lawmakers are seeking to chart ways to boost early childhood education programs and strengthen the safety net for children.

But liberal Democrats remain divided with moderate Democrats and Republicans on how the state should pay for proposed expanded programs.

The debate comes as a new report found the number of children living in poverty and without health insurance increased in New Mexico in 2016.

Wildlife Officers Capture Bear Wandering In Santa Fe- KOB-TV, Associated Press

Wildlife officials say they have captured a bear that wandered in front of a Santa Fe auto shop and ran through traffic.

Donald and Loretta Garcia say the bear was hanging out in the lot of Donald Garcia's auto shop, Perfection Auto Craft.

Loretta Garcia says they were watching the bear through an office window, but the bear got spooked when she tapped on the window.

Police said in a Facebook post that officers with the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish eventually tranquilized the skinny bear.

They described it as an adult male bear weighing about 180 pounds.

Game and Fish officers told KOB-TV that the bear would be released to the Valles Caldera National Preserve, west of Santa Fe.

New Mexico Lawmakers Sue Over State Park Transfer- Associated Press

New Mexico legislators filed a lawsuit against officials in Gov. Susana Martinez's administration, arguing they overstepped their authority by moving to convert a state park outside Las Cruces into a regional Game and Fish Department headquarters.

In the suit, filed Tuesday, lawmakers look to prevent the Game and Fish Department from taking control of the Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park.

The Legislative Council argues that officials with the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department and the Game and Fish Department moved ahead with a transfer deed even though the deal was never approved by the Legislature.

Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department Secretary Ken McQueen says he believes state law allows him to transfer the property without legislative approval.

The suit asks a judge to return ownership of the park to the State Parks Division.

New Mexico Education Commissioner Abstains From PledgeAlbuquerque Journal, Associated Press

A member of a state education panel that oversees New Mexico's charter schools is abstaining from standing or saying the Pledge of Allegiance.

The Albuquerque Journal reports that Commissioner Carmie Lynn Toulouse declined to participate in the reciting of the pledge at the start of a meeting Wednesday in Santa Fe.

Toulouse says she has a problem with the phrase "with liberty and justice for all," explaining that she doesn't believe everyone in the U.S. is getting liberty and justice as a result of the federal government's zero-tolerance immigration policy.

Toulouse says she plans to keep abstaining until immigrant families who have been separated are reunited.

Commission Chairwoman Patricia Gipson says she supports the panel members' rights to abstain from the pledge. Gipson said she shares Toulouse's views on the zero-tolerance policy.

US May Pick Western Headquarters For Land Agency In 8 Months- Associated Press

The Trump administration says it may pick a new Western headquarters for the nation's largest land management agency in the next six to eight months.

Susan Combs, a senior adviser to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, told a Senate committee Thursday that Zinke is committed to moving the Bureau of Land Management headquarters from Washington to the West. The bureau is part of Zinke's department.

Combs offered no hints about where the new headquarters will be.

The bureau manages nearly 388,000 square miles nationwide, and 99 percent is in 12 Western states.

Many Western leaders say the bureau's headquarters should be closer to the land it manages. Zinke, a former Montana congressman, agrees.

Some bureau veterans question the plan, saying the agency needs a presence in Washington.

Study Says Albuquerque Area Crime Increased With Poverty- Associated Press

An uptick in crime unfolded in the Albuquerque area over a recent multi-year period as poverty and other social issues worsened in the state's largest metro area, according to a legislative report released Thursday.

The New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee, a non-partisan agency that provides fiscal analyses to state lawmakers, released the report that reviewed crime statistics and other data in Bernalillo County. Analysts also found that as crime increased, the police, courts and prosecutors in the county struggled to keep up with the growing caseload.

According to the report, arrests and indictments overall saw a year-over-year decline between 2013 and 2015.

Convictions also declined in the final years of the study. Figures showed that in 2015 there were some 4,000 convictions. In 2017, there were roughly half as many.

The study says different agencies that make up the county's criminal justice system have enacted reforms to help curb crime.

State Governors Caught In Crossfire Of Trump's Trade WarAssociated Press

State governors are looking for ways to court foreign investment and commerce in the shadows of President Trump's aggressive use of tariffs in trade disputes with countries including China and U.S. neighbors.

Discussions about economic ties with China were scheduled for Thursday as more than 20 state governors gather in New Mexico's state capital for a National Governors Association meeting.

The U.S. and China are threatening a trade war over American complaints that Chinese companies steal trade secrets and force U.S. firms to hand over technology in return for market access.

President Trump has slapped tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, provoking retaliatory measures by Canada, Mexico and U.S. allies in the European Union.

Brookings Institution Fellow Joseph Parilla says governors can resort to direct diplomacy on trade and employment.

Southern Road To New Mexico Spaceport Gets PavedLas Cruces Sun-News, Associated Press

The southern road to Spaceport America is now paved after New Mexico officials had promised it more than decade ago.

The Las Cruces Sun-News reports Doña Ana County officials expect a few remaining details — signage and striping — to be completed on the 24-mile road next month.

A dirt road stretched from the Interstate 25 exit for Upham to the spaceport, but the road's condition had made it impassable for most drivers. From Las Cruces, people headed to spaceport had to travel north to Truth or Consequences and backtrack to the southeast. The new road is expected to cut about 45 minutes of travel time.

The New Mexico Spaceport Authority is funding the $14 million road project, but Doña Ana County oversaw its construction.

New Mexico Stops Taking Fees From Nonunion State WorkersAssociated Press

New Mexico has stopped deducting union fees from the paychecks of more than 1,800 nonunion state workers following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month.

The Albuquerque Journal reports State Personnel Director Justin Najaka told employees in a memo earlier this month that the agency would immediately cease the payroll deductions.

The court had struck down the practice of "fair share" fees, ruling that non-union government workers cannot be required to financially support union activity.

Carter Bundy, the political and legislative director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union, says the state memo is the latest jab at labor unions. The union has about 10,000 members in New Mexico.

Bundy says more state workers have become union members since the court ruling last month.

New Mexico's Child Abuse Tracking System Has Become ObsoleteAlbuquerque Journal, Associated Press

Officials say New Mexico's child-abuse tracking system has become obsolete since it was launched more than 20 years ago.

Officials tell the Albuquerque Journal that the computer system is so difficult to access that they need to take printouts to court or on family visits.

Rep. Gail Chasey, who works as a court-appointed attorney in abuse and neglect cases, compares the system to a dinosaur.

Chasey says she sometimes loses time crossing out irrelevant data on the printouts by hand.

Lawmakers suggested upgrading the case management system during a Tuesday meeting where they brainstormed ways to help the New Mexico agency responsible for protecting children from abuse.

The state's Children, Youth and Families Department has been criticized after a few shocking abuse cases came to light.

Judge Rules No Law Enforcement Duties For County SheriffLos Alamos Monitor, Associated Press

A judge ruled in favor of Los Alamos County, supporting the county's request to bar Sheriff Marco Lucero from performing law enforcement duties.

The Los Alamos Monitor reports Lucero's attorney, A. Blair Dunn, says he plans to appeal last Wednesday's decision.

Lucero sued the county last August, demanding the New Mexico First District Court decide whether state law takes precedence over the county's charter, which allows the county council to divide duties between the sheriff's office and the county police department as it sees fit.

The county council opted last year to reduce the sheriff's budget to about $7,000 a year and transfer process serving duties and Lucero's executive assistant to the Los Alamos Police Department. Lucero's undersheriff and two deputies were laid off, leaving Lucero with one duty to perform — maintaining the Los Alamos sex offender registry.

New Mexico AG Seeks To Void Hispanic Land Grant Transfer - By Russell Contreras, Associated Press

New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas is seeking to void a 2003 land transfer from a historical Hispanic land grant on grounds it was illegal.

Balderas announced Wednesday his office has filed a complaint against the Colorado-based nonprofit group Al Frente de Lucha over a title transfer of property belonging to La Merced de Los Pueblos de Tierra Amarilla in northern New Mexico.

La Merced de Los Pueblos de Tierra Amarilla land grant was established in 1831 by Mexico to encourage ranchers to settle in the New Mexico territory. The Spanish government also made similar grants before 1821.

A 2016 state audit found the La Merced board approved the sale of assets without board approval.

Al Frente de Lucha did not immediately return an email from The Associated Press.

Police Say Man Killed In Exchange Of Gunfire With OfficersAssociated Press

Albuquerque police say a homicide suspect who barricaded himself in a residence is dead after an exchange of gunfire with city police officers and New Mexico state police.

Police say 30-yer-old Arthur Lujan was killed early Wednesday morning following a nine-hour standoff and unsuccessful negotiations for his surrender in the killing Tuesday morning of 33-year-old Anthony Sandoval.

According to Albuquerque Police Department spokesman Gilbert Gallegos Jr., police tracked down Lujan after finding Sandoval dead and learning that he had called 911 to report being shot by Lujan.

Gallegos says Sandoval and Lujan recently had been in an altercation.

Authorities ID 3 Passengers Killed In Bus CrashAssociated Press

Authorities say the three people killed in a bus crash on a New Mexico highway over the weekend were all women from Mexico who were living in Colorado.

State medical investigators confirmed the identities of the three bus passengers, and their names were released Wednesday by the Sandoval County Sheriff's Office.

They were identified as 65-year-old Maria Delosangeles of Denver, 58-year-old Olga Hernandes de Grajeda of Rocky Ford and 70-year-old Maria Doleres Orrantia Camacho of Loveland.

The crash happened early Sunday after the bus driver lost control while trying to avoid a car that had slammed into the back of a pickup truck on Interstate 25. The bus — headed from Denver to El Paso, Texas — was then sideswiped by a semi-truck.

Sheriff's Lt. Keith Elder said Wednesday initial reports that the driver of the car was among the dead were incorrect.