News

  The Camino Real Regional Utility Authority (CRRUA) is seeking applications from residents interested in serving on the newly formed Extra-Territorial Planning and Zoning Commission (ETZC) between the City of Sunland Park and Doña Ana County.

   The ETZC will consist of a five-member board of volunteers comprising two residents of the City of Sunland Park, two residents living within the 56-square-mile ETZ and one Doña Ana County resident living outside of both areas.

The New Mexico Lottery says it has provided more than a half billion dollars for education since starting in 1996.

The lottery's latest annual report says it generated about $462 million from 1996 through the 2012 fiscal year for a program that pays for college tuition of New Mexico students.

Almost $67 million went for public school construction from 1996 to 2001, and then the law was changed to direct all lottery proceeds to the scholarship program.

More crews and a higher-level management team are being assigned to a fire burning in extremely rugged terrain in the Gila National Forest in southeastern New Mexico.

A mandatory evacuation was ordered early Monday for the small community of Kingston but there's no word of any structures being burned. An evacuation center has been established at the community center in Hillsboro.

New Mexico National Guard troops are helping support firefighters strengthening lines around the Thompson Ridge fire in northern New Mexico and mopping up hotspots within the fire's perimeter.

The fire burning in the Valle Caldera National Preserve and the Santa Fe National Forest has burned just under 33 square miles near Jemez Springs. It started May 31.

Approximately 1,000 personnel are assigned to the fire. Approximately 20 National Guard personnel are delivering supplies to firefighters.

  Every Monday at 7:51am on Morning Edition, Fred Martino covers the week's top local business stories with Las Cruces Sun News Business Editor Brook Stockberger.  Subscribe to our podcast on the right side of this page so you never miss a segment.

The New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) District One office is assisting law enforcement with the placement of traffic control on NM-152 from Hillsboro to Silver City, mile marker 16-40. This section of roadway has been CLOSED due to a forest fire in the Silver City area.  Please avoid any travels to area until the closure has been lifted.

Sunday, June 9, 2013 – Fire Update 1p.m.
Silver City Ranger District-

A wildfire in northern New Mexico prompted a section of state highway to be closed after embers crossed a protection line and caused the blaze to grow.

The growth in the Thompson Ridge fire burning in the Valle Caldera National Preserve and the Santa Fe National Forest near Jemez Springs led to the closure of New Mexico Highway 4 from the junction at Route 126 to the junction at State Route 501.

The blaze had grown to more than 32 square miles by Sunday morning. It was 40 percent contained.

The fire was 1 ½ to 2 miles from the roadway.

An oncologist at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center is being accused by authorities of trying to poison another doctor she was sleeping with by spiking his coffee with a sweet-tasting toxic chemical used in antifreeze and medical research.

Ana Maria Gonzalez-Angulo, a breast cancer oncologist, was charged last week with aggravated assault against Dr. George Blumenschein, a specialist in lung and head and neck cancers at the institution. According to a criminal complaint, the pair were in "a casual sexual relationship."

Federal education officials have granted the state of New Mexico a waiver for a 2010 violation of federal rules on spending for special education, but refused to grant a waiver for 2011.

The federal decisions put the state at risk of losing $34 million in federal funds.

Federal officials also are also questioning spending on special education for fiscal years 2012 and 2013, which ends June 30.

The amount at risk for 2012 is about $26.4 million.

An Albuquerque police officer caught on video beating a surrendering suspect and firing a stun gun at another has been fired.

Department spokeswoman Tasia Martinez told KRQE-TV on Friday that officer Connor Rice was fired last month following an internal investigation.

In August, Albuquerque police announced that Connor would face battery charges in connection with the video beating and firing of the stun gun.