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Voters Head To Polls After AP Calls Nomination, Police Union Says APD Mishandled Protest

Hillary Clinton

New Mexico To Vote Day After Clinton Secures Nomination By Morgan Lee, Associated Press Writer

Primary voters in the nation's most Hispanic state are weighing in on their favorite presidential contenders a day after Hillary Clinton secured delegate commitments to become the presumptive Democratic nominee for president.

Seven of New Mexico's nine superdelegates committed to vote for Clinton and helped her cross the nomination threshold before Tuesday's primary election. Two are uncommitted.

There are 34 pledged delegates at stake in Tuesday's vote. Bernie Sanders received more direct campaign contributions from New Mexico than any other presidential candidate. He campaigned recently at a trio of public rallies across the state.

Clinton campaigned elsewhere, while Bill Clinton swung through New Mexico twice to stump for his wife with policy-heavy speeches and impromptu stops at restaurants.

Police Union Criticizes APD Handling Of Trump Protest – Albuquerque Journal

The union representing officers in the Albuquerque Police Department is criticizing how APD handled a Donald Trump protest that turned violent last month.

The Albuquerque Journal reports the Albuquerque Police Officers Association filed a labor complaint against APD over the response to the May 24 rally where about six officers were injured arguing the department failed to protect officers.

The protest was mostly peaceful, but became more violent later on when some people threw rocks and flaming projectiles. There were about 300 officers and other personnel from other police departments. About 1,000 protestors marched through Downtown.

The complaint contends there were not enough officers and they did not have enough riot gear. The union also alleges the city is trying to hide mistakes by changing police reports.

Mistrial Declared In Case Of Deputy Who Shot Co-WorkerThe Associated Press

A mistrial has been declared in the murder case of a former Santa Fe County sheriff's deputy accused of killing a fellow deputy in 2014.

Jurors told a Las Cruces judge Tuesday that they couldn't reach a decision in the trial of Tai Chan after nearly 14 hours of deliberations.

The jury reportedly was undecided between first-degree murder, second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter charges and could not reach a consensus.

Dona Ana County District Attorney Mark D'Antonio says his office plans to retry the case.

Chan had been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Jeremy Martin.

The two deputies had dropped off prisoners in Arizona and were staying the night at a Las Cruces hotel in October 2014 when shots were fired, killing Martin.

Primary Could See Biggest Turnout In 40 YearsKOB-TV, Albuquerque Journal

New Mexico could see the highest turnout in years for today’s primary.

KOB-TV reports in Bernalillo County alone twice as many people have voted early compared to the primary in 2012

County Clerk Maggie Toulouse Oliver expects more than 50,000 people will likely head to the polls today. Officials have numerous extra voting machines ready to go to meet demand.

As of Monday 48,106 people in Bernalillo County had voted and about 8,000 people cast absentee ballots. The Albuquerque Journal reports that statewide, 117,506 New Mexicans had voted early by the end of Saturday when early voted ended.

Polls are open until 7 p.m.

Man Pleads Not Guilty To Abducting, Killing Navajo GirlThe Associated Press

The man accused of abducting and killing an 11-year-old Navajo girl has pleaded not guilty to murder, kidnapping, sexual abuse and other charges.

Tom Begaye Jr. entered the plea Tuesday in federal court in Albuquerque, where relatives of the victim left the courtroom weeping after his brief court appearance.

The arraignment for the 27-year-old Navajo man came just over a month after authorities say he kidnapped fifth-grader Ashlynne Mike and her younger brother as they played near their home on the Navajo Nation.

A criminal complaint says Begaye took the children to a desolate area, where he sexually assaulted Ashlynne, bludgeoned her and left her to die. The boy later was freed.

The girl's body was found the next morning after a massive search. Begaye was arrested later May 3.

New Mexico Inmates Hospitalized For Apparent IntoxicationThe Associated Press

Five inmates at a county detention center in New Mexico were hospitalized, treated and released after staff believed they were under the influence of an unknown substance.

The Clovis News Journal reports that Curry County Detention Administrator Mark Gallegos says the inmates were taken to the hospital Saturday after staff suspected they were under the influence. The medical department referred them to the hospital.

Gallegos says four of the five inmates were taken back to jail the same night with no major physical harm. He says the fifth was released on bond while at the hospital.

Gallegos says privacy laws prevent him from releasing the names of those involved.

New Mexico City Finds Thousands Of Unpaid Traffic TicketsThe Associated Press & KOAT

Officials in a New Mexico city are reconsidering a red light camera and speed van program after discovering thousands of people who never paid fines from those tickets.

KOAT-TV reports that Rio Rancho's automated traffic system has sent out 90,000 tickets and brought in more than $1.4 million between 2011 and 2015.

The city says 35,000 people have ignored red light or speed van tickets over the last five years, however, costing the city around $3.7 million.

Rio Rancho leaders say they will take those numbers into account when deciding whether to keep the program when the contract runs out at the end of the year.

Groups Seek To Intervene In Mexican Gray Wolf Legal Battle Associated Press

Four environmental groups want to intervene in a legal fight between the state of New Mexico and the federal government over releases of endangered Mexican gray wolves into the wild.

Defenders of Wildlife, the Center for Biological Diversity, WildEarth Guardians and the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance filed their motion Monday, saying the state has no authority to block the release of the predators.

The state is seeking a temporary restraining order that would require the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to get state permission before releasing wildlife — including wolves — in New Mexico.

The wolves are found in parts of southern New Mexico and Arizona.

New Mexico is fighting the federal agency's insistence that it continue with the wolf recovery program despite opposition over releases and the lack of an updated recovery plan for the species.

Officials: Prescriptions On The Rise For Overdose AntidoteAssociated Press

New Mexico is seeing a significant increase in the number of prescriptions for an overdose antidote being dispensed from community pharmacies.

The state Health Department on Monday reported there were 285 Medicaid claims from nearly three dozen pharmacies for naloxone in the first quarter of 2016. That's a fivefold increase over the same period last year.

State officials say one of New Mexico's overdose prevention strategies calls for expanding access to naloxone. Legislation aimed at doing that was signed earlier this year.

Naloxone can revive someone who has stopped breathing after overdosing on so-called opioids — highly addictive drugs that include prescription painkillers like Vicodin as well as illegal narcotics like heroin.

In the past, naloxone has been available mostly through clinics, hospitals or first responders like paramedics.

Oil Company Investing Around $6M In New Hobbs Headquarters Hobbs News-Sun, Associated Press

An East Texas-based energy company is investing more than $6 million in a new Permian Basin headquarters despite the oil and gas downturn.

The Hobbs News-Sun reports that Mewbourne Oil started construction on a 32,000-square-foot office facility in Hobbs, New Mexico.

Mewbourne Oil President Ken Waits says the company's current facility is just getting old, and employees are running out of space.

Mewbourne employs close to 120 people in Hobbs and does not plan to hire more with the new facility. However, if the company ever did need to hire more people, officials say the facility would be able to accommodate them.

Mewbourne Oil is headquartered in Tyler, Texas, and operates in the Permian Basin and in the Anadarko Basin in the Texas Panhandle, Kansas and Oklahoma.

Advocates: Albuquerque Police In Trump Protest 'Witch Hunt'Associated Press

Albuquerque police are continuing to search for suspects linked to a violent anti-Donald Trump protest while advocates say the effort is part of a "well-financed witch hunt."

Authorities are combing through police lapel video a week after arresting three people. Albuquerque businesses have donated $12,000 in reward money to help police arrest others involved in a riot that caused thousands of dollars in damage to the city.

But Javier Benavidez, executive director of the advocacy group Southwest Organizing Project, says Albuquerque police also were to blame for the violence. He and other advocates say police escalated tensions outside an Albuquerque rally for the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.

Police say officers were attacked with rocks.

Activists blasted the media on Monday for focusing on the violence and ignoring the earlier peaceful protest.

Endangered Fish Gets More Protected Habitat In New MexicoAssociated Press

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has protected nearly 35 miles of critical habitat for an endangered 8-inch fish with a torpedo-shaped body in the headwaters of the Zuni River in northwestern New Mexico.

The Center for Biological Diversity says the designation for the Zuni bluehead sucker ensures that federally permitted actions such as logging, mining and livestock-grazing don't degrade streams where the fish lives.

The protected habitat is in McKinley and Cibola counties. One-third of the designation is on the Cibola National Forest and two-thirds are on state and private lands.

The Zuni bluehead sucker was protected under the Endangered Species Act in 2014, a decade after the Center filed a scientific petition to protect the species.

The fish was first identified as needing protection in 1985.

BLM Postpones Land Auction Near Chaco CanyonSanta Fe New Mexican

The Bureau of Land Management is withdrawing several parcels near a United Nations World Heritage Site from a leasing auction for oil and gas drilling.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reports the leases were near Chaco Canyon National Historical Park and Farmington. The BLM said more environmental analysis is required and suspended the auctions indefinitely.

More than 200 protestors from environmental groups and other advocates protested the auction in Santa Fe in April as part of a national movement against hydraulic fracturing.

BLM said the decision was not motivated by protests, but Mike Eisenfeld with the San Juan Citizens Alliance applauded the move. He called Chaco one of the most important cultural areas in the country.