Regional

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – City animal control officers have started removing hundreds of large, feral rats from inside a Las Cruces rental home.

Animal shelter director Beth Vesco-Mock says the rats some sickly and displaying evidence of fighting are about the size of a four- to five-month-old kitten.

Animal control officers had taken two skinny dogs and about 170 rats to the shelter by mid-Thursday, and officers estimated there were at least that many rats still hiding in the home.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – New Mexico Public Regulation Commissioner Carol Sloan has been ordered to serve probation after being convicted of battery and burglary stemming from a fit of jealous rage.

A state district judge sentenced Sloan on Thursday to five years and suspended the term with the condition of supervised probation. Sloan must also pay a $2,500 fine and $1,000 in court costs.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – The New Mexico Department of Agriculture is cracking down on overcharges for liquefied petroleum gas what consumers are familiar with as the 5-gallon bottles used for barbecue grills.

The head of the Agricultural Department's standards and consumer services division, Joe Gomez, says inspectors found some vendors in New Mexico selling the gas by a flat rate instead of the required weight or liquid measure.

By KRWG News

Alamogordo – Twelve F-22A Raptors from Holloman Air Force Base in southern New Mexico will deploy to Kadena Air Base in Japan for four months.

Another 12 of the aircraft will be sent in late May from Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., to Andersen Air Force Base in Guam.

About 250 airmen will accompany the Raptors to each location.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – Gusty winds and low humidity has led the National Weather Service to issue a fire danger warning for southwest and south-central New Mexico for Saturday afternoon.

Critical fire weather conditions will likely exist along the eastern slopes of higher mountain ranges and in lowland areas of southwestern New Mexico.

West-southwest winds will increase to 20 to 25 miles-an-hour with gusts to around 30 miles-an-hour Saturday afternoon.

By Vanessa Dabovich

Las Cruces, NM – State budget problems are having a significant impact on this year's primary and general elections in the state. KRWG's Vanessa Dabovich reports

By Vanessa Dabovich

Las Cruces, NM – Primary elections in New Mexico are soon approaching and Secretary of State Mary Herrera is urging voters to cast their ballots. KRWG's Vanessa Dabovich reports

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – The decomposed body that was discovered in the Organ Mountains has been identified by Dona Ana County Sheriff investigators as a disabled Las Cruces woman who went missing in February.

The body has been identified as that of ROBIN COLTS, age 46, who was reported missing to the Sheriff's Department on February 15, 2010.

Sheriff's Investigators are continuing to investigate.

While the investigation is on-going, the Sheriff's Department will not release any other information.

By Melissa Aguilera

Las Cruces, NM – An air quality project is beginning in the border region to help the New Mexico Department of Health better understand the impact of pollution. KRWG's Melissa Aguilera reports.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – For the first time in the history of the Las Cruces Public Schools, the graduation ceremonies for the district's three largest high schools will be webcast over the Internet and televised on the City's cable access channel.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – In the past four years, more than 3,500 high school students across New Mexico have conducted basic genetics experiments with the help of New Mexico State University scientists and a mobile lab that travels to a different high school each week.

The Mobile Molecular Biology Lab is an outreach program in the Department of Biology. The program takes contemporary biology research techniques to high school classrooms across the state and gives students an opportunity to get hands-on experience with state-of-the-art lab equipment.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – A Las Cruces woman was arrested Wednesday after she passed out from a night of partying and left her 8-month-old son unattended in a vehicle.

Shawntae Raydiance Wiley, 21, of the 300 block of east Amador Avenue, is charged with one count of negligent child abuse. Wiley was booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center with bond set at $5,000.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – The interim president of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association says projections show the state's untapped natural gas reserves could result in trillions of additional cubic feet of gas, while the potential for crude oil could top a billion barrels.

Deborah Seligman addressed members of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce during a luncheon Wednesday on the future of energy development in New Mexico.

By KRWG News

El Paso – Homeland Security and Pentagon officials are at loggerheads over a plan to send National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, even as President Barack Obama is pledging to bolster security there.

By KRWG News

Alamogordo – The Otero County Commission is scheduled to consider a proposed ordinance in opposition to any designation of Otero Mesa as a national monument.

A crowd is expected for Thursday night's meeting.

Commissioner Ronny Rardin says the latest version of the proposal includes a statement that opposes designating a national monument without the written consent of the commission after public hearings and appropriate consultation.