News

Las Cruces Police have arrested two young men suspected of committing the May 6 armed robbery of a west Picacho Avenue convenience store.

Pablo Andres “Andy” Soto Jr., 19, and Eli C. Cowan, 17, are charged with one count each of armed robbery, conspiracy and tampering with evidence. Soto also faces one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Shortly after 11 p.m. Sunday, May 6, a young man walked into the Circle K store at617 W. Picacho Ave. and used a large knife or machete to threaten an employee. The suspect left with an undisclosed amount of cash and cigarettes.

After multiple cross-Atlantic trips, hundreds of hours spent pouring over thousands of handwritten pages and six years of dedication, a New Mexico State University professor is making sure an 18th century poet gets the attention she deserves.

The first-ever print edition of "Selena," written by Mary Tighe and edited by Harriet Kramer Linkin, a professor of English at NMSU, comes out in May of this year. The department is in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Linkin specializes in British Romanticism, and she says that when she was in graduate school the poets associated with the period were all male. But she quickly discovered Tighe, a female poet from the era, and has since dedicated much time and effort toward ensuring that her work is published.

Las Cruces Police have arrested a mother and her boyfriend after the woman’s 19-month-old child was found to have compound fractures to both arms and other bruises believed to be the result of child abuse.

Victoria Lynn Gutierrez, 20, and Juan M. Morales, 26, were arrested early Thursday morning and are being held at the Dona Ana County Detention Center. Gutierrez faces one count of negligent child abuse while Morales is charged with one count of intentional child abuse resulting in great bodily harm.

New Mexico State University has hired its first associate provost for international and border programs.

Cornell H. Menking comes to NMSU from Kentucky State University in Frankfort, where he served as assistant vice president for international affairs. He begins his duties at NMSU in July.

AUSTIN— As a part of the national DREAM Act Day of Action, Senator José Rodríguez released the following statement:

“We teach our children to be responsible, productive citizens, yet there are many in our community who do just that and are then denied citizenship. These are young people who have worked hard and played by the rules; they sit in our churches and go to our schools, and now they’re graduating from universities in our state. We must show these kids that we support them by supporting the DREAM Act.

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A watchdog group says New Mexico lacks enough inspectors to adequately oversee the tens of thousands of oil and natural gas wells across the state.

Earthworks' Oil and Gas Accountability Project released a new report Thursday that shows the number of inspections conducted by the Oil Conservation Division increased in 2011 but that more than half of producing wells went unchecked.

The group questions whether the state can ensure responsible oil and gas development without adequate inspections and enforcement of existing rules.

The report comes as state regulators consider a request by the industry to revamp the so-called pit rule.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A bitter Republican fight for a Texas Senate seat has taken a new legal turn with Sen. Jeff Wentworth filing a libel lawsuit against opponent Elizabeth Ames Jones.

A recent radio ad from the Ames Jones campaign suggests Wentworth illegally double bills the state and his campaign for the same travel expenses, a potential felony.

Wentworth denies the allegation and says records back him up. He filed his lawsuit Thursday in San Antonio.

Ames Jones is fighting Wentworth for the Republican nomination for District 25, which stretches from San Antonio to south Austin, and the campaign has been among the most contentious in the state.

A spokesman for Ames Jones said her campaign will issue a response the lawsuit.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Corrections Department has launched an investigation into a then warden accused of thwarting an FBI inquiry into an alleged rape of an inmate by a guard.

Corrections Secretary Gregg Marcantel said Wednesday that he has ordered an investigation into the allegations against Anthony Romero, then warden of Central New Mexico Correction Facility in Los Lunas. But Marcantel also said in a statement that so far "no current information exists" that shows Romero tried to obstruct any criminal inquiry.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Smoke from wildfires in New Mexico and Arizona is expected to be noticeable across both states for the next 24 hours.

The National Weather Service said Thursday windy and dry climate conditions will shift smoke from blazes along the Mogollon Rim in Arizona and the Gila Region of New Mexico.

The winds will likely push smoke into central and southern New Mexico.

Meteorologists say the concentration of smoke will not be near the level created by last year's wildfires.

Albuquerque officials at this time have no plans to issue any advisories about smoke impacts.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

DALLAS (AP) — Federal authorities say they hope to solve the worst white power mailing case in U.S. history because the letters are tying up first responders and costing taxpayers millions of dollars.

Amanda McMurrey of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service says authorities believe the same person has sent nearly 400 letters containing non-toxic powder to locations across the country and abroad from Texas over the past four years.

She says officials have found similarities in the letters and the way they were mailed, but the suspect has proved elusive in part because no finger prints have been discovered.

McMurrey says while no one has been harmed, each incident diverts fire department personnel and resources.

Campus sustainability expert and author Geoffrey Chase visited the New Mexico State University Las Cruces campus this week to discuss graduation, retention and sustainability with NMSU officials.

Chase is dean of undergraduate studies at San Diego State University, but is also the coauthor, along with Peggy Bartlett, of "Sustainability on Campus: Stories and Strategies for Change (Urban and Industrial Environments)." 

Fred Martino interviews Margarita Leza-Porter, Principal of the New
America School in Las Cruces.  The school specializes in education for
immigrants and English-language learners.

Doña Ana County Sheriff’s investigators arrested a 25-year-old Las Cruces man Tuesday, and charged him with intentional child abuse after a toddler in his care was taken to the hospital with severe burns all over her body.

            According to a report filed in Magistrate Court, sheriff’s investigators were called to Mountain View Medical Center on April 28 after a two-year-old girl was brought in with second- and third-degree burns to her hands, arms, face, right leg and feet.

            She was later flown to the burn unit at University Medical Center in Lubbock.

LAS CRUCES – LCPS will hold a public meeting at 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, May 30, 2012 in the board room of the LCPS Administration Building to provide information about LCPS dual language programs and a new dual language enrichment model that 14 elementary schools will begin using next school year, said LCPS Assistant Director of Instruction for English Language Acquisition, Bilingual, and Migrant Education Programs Roberto Lozano.

              The presentation will be conducted by Lozano and members of his staff, along with Dr. Leo Gómez and Dr. Richard Gómez, founders of the Gómez & Gómez Dual Language Enrichment (DLE) Model.