Regional

By KRWG News

El Paso – El Paso Water Utilities has issued mandatory water restrictions citywide for the next 24 hours.

Please refrain from washing your car, showering, using your dishwasher or clothes washing machines, or anything else that uses a large amount of water. The only exceptions are water usage for public safety purposes like hospitals and other emergency medical facilities. We are encouraging any businesses or organizations that can close early to do so.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – The water system in the City of Sunland Park, NM cannot handle the current demand. All City of Sunland Park residence are advised to limit their use. Residents are also advised to boil their water for at least 30 minutes before use. City officials have contacted the Office of Emergency Management to request potable water. A command center has been set up at the municipal complex fire station located at 1000 McNutt Rd. in Sunland Park.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – New Mexico Gas Co. workers were making slow progress Saturday restoring service to about 32,000 customers who were cut off because of a shortage.

Gas company spokeswoman Monica Hussey says only about 1,400 customers had their gas turned back on as of midmorning. Crews from other states and licensed contractors were helping gas company crews with the huge job.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima has invited local officials from El Paso Electric to Monday's February 7th city council meeting. "I will be asking for a summary of their findings regarding the loss of generation, as well as how various areas of rolling blackouts are determined." Miyagishima said.

"I will also be asking our staff for their assessment to the city's response during this emergency and what improvements they feel can be instituted in their own plans and procedures". Said Miyagishima.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – New Mexico does not require people diagnosed with mental illness to register with a national gun registry when they purchase guns.

A state police spokesman tells The Santa Fe New Mexican there's no law requiring the state to do so. Lt. Eric Garcia says New Mexico doesn't have criteria for determining if a person should be disqualified from owning a gun due to mental illness.

By KRWG News

El Paso – An immigration judge has delayed for 15 months the second round of asylum hearings for a Mexican journalist who says he fled across the U.S. border because of death threats due to his coverage of the drug war.

Emilio Gutierrez Soto last month spent hours before Judge Robert Hough in El Paso. He was to resume his hearing Friday.

But his attorney, Carlos Spector, asked it to be rescheduled since he had to appear in a separate court case.

The new date is May 9, 2012, Spector's staff said.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – New Mexico Natural Gas Co. officials say they don't anticipate any more disruptions in gas service after bitterly cold weather hit the state.

Temperatures are rising after some communities reported overnight temperatures as low as 36 below zero earlier this week.

But authorities, like Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry, are urging residents to turn down thermostats to save energy.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – Former State Police Chief Faron Segotta says Gov. Susana Martinez's directive for immigration checks of criminal suspects shouldn't mean much change for the state's law enforcement agency.

Segotta, who retired last year, told The Associated Press on Friday that it was state police policy during Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson's administration to ask about the immigration status of those arrested for crimes and in some instances of people being investigated for possible crimes, such as drug trafficking.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – In addition to the resumption of RoadRUNNER Transit, Dial-a-Ride and residential and commercial solid waste service, Branigan Library, 200 E. Picacho, and the Museum of Natural History in Mesilla Valley Mall next to JC Penney, will be open this weekend. Library hours will be 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Saturday and 1 - 5 p.m. Sunday. Museum hours are 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday.

Facilities that will be closed this weekend include:

By KRWG News

New Mexico – A proposal to require voter identification is back before the Legislature.

Rep. Dianne Hamilton, a Silver City Republican, introduced a bill on Wednesday to require New Mexico voters to show a government identification card with a photograph, such as a driver's license. Native Americans could use a tribally issued document as identification.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman says it's clear to him that President Barack Obama expects energy policy to have a major place on Congress' agenda.

The New Mexico Democrat met with the president at the White House on Wednesday to talk about the nation's energy policy. Bingaman is chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

The senator says he's impressed by Obama's commitment to clean energy.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – Democratic legislators are vowing to fight a directive by Republican Gov. Susana Martinez requiring state law enforcement to ask about the immigration status of criminal suspects.

More than a dozen lawmakers criticized the governor's executive order at a news conference Thursday in the Capitol. They say the policy will lead to racial profiling of Hispanics and they likened it to a controversial immigration enforcement law in Arizona.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – Gov. Susana Martinez has declared a state of emergency as thousands of New Mexico residents lost natural gas service due to the bitter cold.

Martinez sent all nonessential state workers home for the day Thursday, and urged all residents to turn down their thermostats, bundle up and shut off appliances they don't need for the next 24 hours.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – New Mexico Congressman Steve Pearce says Americans face a bleak economic future unless the federal government stops running deficits.

Pearce told a joint session of the Legislature on Thursday that it will take a bipartisan effort to bring spending in line with revenues. He also said the nation must focus on creating jobs to reinvigorate the economy.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – Former astronaut and New Mexico energy secretary-designate Harrison "Jack" Schmitt has made his pitch to state lawmakers.

He's asking that they help the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department fill critical vacancies that threaten to keep the agency from meeting mandates and competing for federal funding. He made the request Thursday before the Senate Finance Committee.