Regional

By KRWG News

Phoenix, AZ – Officials say that an escaped state prison inmate and his fiancee who were targets of a nationwide manhunt have been captured at an Arizona campground after an alert forest ranger spotted their stolen vehicle hidden in the trees.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – Environmentalists are suing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over the Canada lynx.

The agency issued a finding in December that the lynx in New Mexico warrants federal protection under the Endangered Species Act, but the agency didn't act immediately because it must finish work on other higher-priority listings.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – The state Transportation Department says more highway projects will be financed with federal economic stimulus money.

Gov. Bill Richardson said Thursday that several state and local highway projects cost less than expected. That freed up about $12 million in federal aid that could be used for a dozen new projects and to cover the costs of several others needing more money to complete.

Among the planned work is pavement upgrades to Interstate 40 and I-25, and revamping a road interchange in Artesia.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – The July unemployment rate in urban areas of Texas held steady at 8.2 percent.

The Texas Workforce Commission on Friday reported the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for last month matched the June rate.

TWC says Texas continues to trend below the national jobless rate, which was 9.5 percent during July.

By KRWG News

El Paso – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers and U.S. Border Patrol agents performing southbound inspections at the Stanton Street international crossing in downtown El Paso seized $530,170 late Wednesday morning. The money was concealed in a single tire.

By Vanessa Dabovich

Las Cruces, NM – Stepped up efforts to reduce border violence and drug trafficking on the Arizona-Mexico border may cause a fluctuation in drug seizures in Southern New Mexico. As KRWG's Vanessa Dabovich reports, officials say the state may soon see an increase.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – Las Cruces Police have arrested the suspect involved in a Wednesday evening altercation that led to a 17-year-old boy with a cut to the back of his head.

Humberto Banda, 18, was arrested Wednesday, Aug. 18, and is charged with one count of aggravated battery that may cause great bodily harm. Banda was transported to the Dona Ana County Detention Center with bond set at $10,000.

By KRWG News

Acala, Texas – Two metal footbridges are on each side of a towering West Texas stretch of the $2.4 billion border fence designed to block people from illegally entering the U.S. from Mexico.

The Associated Press today reports the footpaths that could easily guide illegal immigrants and smugglers across the Rio Grande without getting wet seem to be there because of what amounts to federal linguistics.

While just about anyone would call them bridges, the U.S.-Mexico group that owns them calls them something else.

By KRWG News

Texas – The Labor Department says the number of workers who died on the job in Texas last year rose 3.6 percent.

A Bureau of Labor Statistics report released Thursday shows the state had 480 workplace deaths in 2009, that's 17 more than the previous year.

More than half, 256, died in transportation incidents or as a result of assaults and violent acts, the report shows.

The report is based on preliminary numbers that could change once the final report is released next year.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – Sixty-six percent of 2010 New Mexico high school graduates took the American College Test, a college admission and placement examination.

That's according to the ACT's annual report released Wednesday.

The report says 12,679 New Mexico students took the test.

Among New Mexico's test-takers, 59 percent are deemed ready for college English classes, while 32 percent are ready for college algebra. Both figures are up 1 percent from last year.

By KRWG News

Texas – Texas spent at least $250 million in the past year for medical care and imprisonment of illegal immigrants and other non-citizens.

The House State Affairs Committee heard testimony in Austin. Lawmakers who convene in January could face a projected $18 billion budget shortfall.

Jerry McGinty, with the Texas Department of Corrections, says prisons last month had 11,766 inmates who are foreign citizens and housing them costs $171 million annually. The federal government reimburses 10 percent.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – The City of Las Cruces is teaming up with several area agencies to host the Governor Richardson's Southern New Mexico Job Expo on Thursday, September 9th from 10am to 3pm inside the Pan Am Center on the NMSU campus. The expo will help match job seekers and employers.

By Vanessa Dabovich

Las Cruces, NM – A lack of manpower and resources is proving to be a struggle in the combat against border narcotics in the region. As KRWG's Vanessa Dabovich reports, a border counternarcotics strategy session held in Las Cruces Wednesday addressed the issue.

By Vanessa Dabovich

Las Cruces, NM – New Mexico U.S Senator Tom Udall was in Las Cruces Wednesday.
As KRWG's Vanessa Dabovich reports .Udall hosted a Counternarcotics Strategy Session.

By KRWG News

Near Monterrey, Mexico – The kidnapped mayor of a northern Mexican town has been found dead, extending a rash of deadly attacks on political figures in an area besieged by drug gang battles.

Officials say Santiago Mayor Edelmiro Cavazos' body was found Wednesday near a waterfall outside his town, which is a popular weekend getaway for residents of the industrial city of Monterrey.