Regional

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – Members of "Occupy Las Cruces" face a deadline to leave city park after complaints from the public.

The Las Cruces Sun-News reports (http://bit.ly/tgMnQ4) that the Las Cruces Police Department gave protesters until 11 p.m. Thursday to leave the park. LCPD spokesman Dan Trujillo said those who don't leave could be cited for trespassing. Trujillo said those who refuse to leave after a citation will be arrested.

By KRWG News

Albuquerque, New Mexico – ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRWG) Kirtland Air Force Base is slated to lose 82 positions after the U.S. Air Force announced it would cut around 9,000 positions nationwide.

The cuts announced Wednesday means many of the Albuquerque base's open positions will not be filled. Tom Berardinelli, director of staff of the 377th Air Base Wing, says the rest of the cuts will come from "voluntary force management measures" in order to prevent layoffs.

Kirtland has been under a hiring freeze in recent months.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRWG) A pair of public policy groups is accusing federal environmental regulators of abusing their power when enforcing air quality rules at a coal-fired power plant in New Mexico.

The New Mexico-based Rio Grande Foundation and the Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., have released a report on a recent decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to require new pollution controls at the San Juan Generating Station.

By KRWG News

Navajo Nation – FARMINGTON, N.M. (KRWG) Enrolled members of the Navajo Nation soon can ditch their green Certificates of Indian Blood in favor of new, tribal-issued identification cards.

The Daily Times reports (http://bit.ly/tWeWMV ) the Navajo Office of Vital Records will begin issuing the cards to tribal members on Nov. 11.

The cards will be issued first to 100 randomly selected people during a test run of the program.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRWG) Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says two projects in New Mexico will be included in a 50-state report outlining proposals for reconnecting Americans to the great outdoors.

The projects include the creation of an urban national wildlife refuge on Albuquerque's southern edge at the site of the old Price's Dairy and construction of a pedestrian bridge at the Aztec Ruins National Monument in northwestern New Mexico.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – Police are reminding Las Cruces automobile and home owners that the majority of burglaries committed over the past several months might have been prevented had doors been locked or valuables secured out of sight.

The overwhelming majority of auto and home burglaries committed within the past several months were considered to be crimes of opportunity where the perpetrator gained access through an unsecured window or unlocked door.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – The wife of a former Columbus village trustee indicted in connection with a smuggling ring that federal authorities say funneled hundreds of guns into Mexico has pleaded not guilty.

The Las Cruces Sun-News reports (http://bit.ly/v3ewoU) that 30-year-old Gabrielle Gutierrez entered her plea Tuesday to U.S. Magistrate Court Judge William P. Lynch.

A federal grand jury in Las Cruces last month returned a five-count indictment against Gutierrez, the wife of ousted Columbus village trustee Blas "Woody" Gutierrez.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – SANTA FE, N.M. (KRWG) A former state pension governing board official has filed a lawsuit against financial firms and New Mexico's former state investment officer for damages because of an alleged pay-to-play scheme involving pension fund investments.

Bruce Malott, former chairman of the Educational Retirement Board, filed the lawsuit Tuesday in state district court in Santa Fe.

By KRWG News

El Paso, Texas – EL PASO, Texas (KRWG) Five men and five women from Baltimore are due for arraignment after they were accused of luring women to West Texas and forcing them into prostitution.

The arraignments will be Wednesday in federal court in El Paso.

By KRWG News

Los Alamos, New Mexico – LOS ALAMOS, N.M. (KRWG) Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory will be getting a financial boost as they work to unravel the secrets of how many human genes function.

The lab's bioscience division has been awarded a grant worth more than $4 million from the National Institutes of Health for the Antibody Library Project.

One way to expose a gene's function is to take the protein it produces and generate specific antibodies. That's usually done by vaccinating mice or rabbits.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces, NM – SANTA TERESA, N.M. (KRWG) Gov. Susana Martinez is set to announce a $4 million appropriation for a water and waste water treatment plant for Santa Teresa and Sunland Park region.

Martinez is scheduled to make her announcement Wednesday at the Monarch Litho Santa Teresa Plant.

Jerry Pacheco, vice president of Global Perspectives Integrated, said the plant is needed to attract more businesses to southern New Mexico.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – Police at New Mexico State University continue to investigate the Saturday death of a student on campus and have issued a statement to the NMSU community:

NMSU Las Cruces and DACC community:

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – Las Cruces motorists are advised that the intersection of Griggs Avenue and Walnut Street will be closed beginning Wednesday, November 2, 2011 starting at 7 am.

The road closure will be in effect for approximately 30-days while new water/sewer main lines are installed under the intersection as part of the Griggs-Walnut Ground Water Plume Site Project.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – Beginning this Saturday, Nov. 5th, the Las Cruces Farmers & Crafts Market will no longer occupy the southern part of Downtown in order to make room for the next phase of construction to complete Main Street.

Market vendors will re-locate to the newly opened portion of Main Street from Las Cruces Avenue to the roundabout on the north end.

By KRWG News

Albuquerque, New Mexico – ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRWG) The irrigation season is officially over for thousands of farmers in the heart of New Mexico.

Despite the drought, it wasn't all bad for those growing crops in the Middle Rio Grande Valley.

The area marked one of the longest irrigation seasons in the state, while farmers elsewhere received just enough to water their crops for only a few weeks this summer.