News

A 50-year-old man goes on trial Monday in Las Cruces in the 2010 killings of a New Mexico couple and their business partner from California.

First-degree murder charges accuse Eugene Ferri of fatally shooting 69-year-old Gilles Delisle, 72-year-old Helga Harries Delisle and 68-year-old Peter J. Weith of San Diego.

Ferri had worked for the Delisles as a contractor, and they and Weith had sued Ferri for $1.3 milion.

The victims' bodies were discovered at the Delisles' Mesillas home after they didn't go to a court hearing.

Graduates at Navajo Technical College got to hear from Jill Biden, the wife of Vice President Joe Biden, during their commencement ceremony Friday.

A longtime educator, Biden shared some lessons about the importance of community and told the graduating class to continue to reach out to each other for support and encourage one another.

Biden marks the second big name to visit the school on graduation day. Last year, it was U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

The Department of Workforce Solutions reports that New Mexico's unemployment rate dropped last month and that job growth has improved.

State officials said Friday the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.7 percent in April. That's down from 6.9 percent in March and 7 percent in April 2012.

New Mexico has gained about 7,900 jobs during the past 12 months, for a 1 percent growth rate.

A former Gallup paramedic convicted of raping of an 11-year-old boy in an Albuquerque arroyo has been sentenced to more than 40 years in prison.

State District Judge Kenneth Martinez sentenced Genaro Sandoval on Friday in Albuquerque District Court to 41 1/2 years in prison for criminal sexual penetration of a child under 13, kidnapping and sexual exploitation of a child.

The 39-year-old Sandoval was convicted in January following a two-week long trial.

Hundreds of motorcyclists are being greeted by honks and waving flags as they make their way across parts of central and southern New Mexico.

The riders are passing through New Mexico as part of the annual Run For The Wall, a cross-country trip in honor of military veterans, prisoners of war, those killed in action and their families.

The riders are stopping at memorial parks, veterans' hospitals and schools along the way. They will finish in Washington, D.C., on May 25. The ride traverses routes that are nearly 3,000 miles long.

Former State Insurance Superintendent Chris Krahling has been named to a panel that will select New Mexico's top insurance regulator.

A nine-member committee will select the next superintendent of insurance, who starting in July will be in charge of an independent office regulating insurance rates and policies.

The committee meets next Tuesday in Albuquerque, and is accepting applications for the superintendent's position until the end of the month.

A new version of Carl Sagan's 1980 Public Broadcasting Service series "Cosmos" will be filming in Santa Fe through early June.

State film officials say the production of "Cosmos: A Space Time Odyssey" will mean jobs for at least 80 New Mexico crewmembers, principal actors and background talent.

Writer, director and producer Seth MacFarlane and Sagan's widow and collaborator, Ann Druyan, have teamed for the new 13-part series. It's scheduled to premiere on Fox in early 2014.

The series will be hosted by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Operations of an appointed advisory commission that investigates citizen complaints against the Albuquerque Police Department would be suspended while the City Council considers the commission's future.

Councilors Trudy Jones and Brad Winter plan Monday to propose that the Police Oversight Commission's operations be put on hold. A decision would come later.

The Albuquerque Journal reports that critics of the commission range from the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico to the police union.

New Mexico State Police say a 17-year-old Glorieta girl is accused of trying to blackmail a 43-year-old man over consensual sex by threatening to falsely report that he raped her.

According to police, the man said the girl demanded that he pay her $1,500.

State Police says the girl made incriminating statements during an arranged phone call with the man and was arrested when she arrived at a store parking lot, supposedly so the man could pay her.

May 17, 2013 – Las Cruces, NM - On this edition of PUENTES, Emily Guerra bridges the community with CEO and Clinical Director of Esperanza Guidance Services, Rachel Madewell; and Esperanza Guidance Services UTEP Student Intern, with a Masters in Social Work, Donna Bleimeyer; and with Therapist for "A Journey of Hope" at Esperanza Guidance Services, Vietnam Veteran Gilbert Morales.

According to national news reports, the Better Business Bureau is warning of a new utility bill scam that is popping up throughout the U.S. and Canada. The scam involves asking people to pay their bills with prepaid debit cards.

The BBB reports scammers claim to work for a local electric, water or gas company. Callers tell people they're late on a utility bill and service will be cut off if they don't pay immediately. They then instruct people to purchase a prepaid debit card to pay their bill and call them back with the card number. Thieves then drain the value from the card.

Las Cruces Crime Stoppers is offering a $1,000 reward for information that helps identify the three suspects who broke into a Mesilla restaurant twice since April 9.

The Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the two burglaries at Meson de Mesilla, at 1803 Avenida de Mesilla, which occurred on April 9 and May 15. Surveillance photos from the restaurant show three men entering the restaurant shortly after 3 a.m. on Wednesday, May 15.

The same three men are suspected of burglarizing the restaurant the previous month.

The former director of an Albuquerque halfway house for criminal defendants and former inmates has admitted she stole from the federally funded treatment center.

The U.S. Attorney's Office says 56-year-old Robin Cash pleaded guilty Wednesday to four counts of thefts from a program receiving federal funds and three counts of willfully failing to file a tax return over three years.

Cash was executive director of the La Pasada Halfway House at the time of the offenses.

The New Mexico Supreme Court is considering whether thousands of state workers covered by union contracts are owed back pay and raises totaling millions of dollars.

The state high court on Wednesday heard arguments on an appeal by the administration of Gov. Susana Martinez.

Her administration is appealing a state Court Appeals' ruling.