Regional

By KRWG News

New Mexico – New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson was on his way Sunday to Havana, Cuba as part of a trade mission.

Richardson's office says he will help market New Mexico commodities and follow up on potential trade partnerships discussed during a visit to Cuba last year.

The mission will meet with officials from Alimport, the Cuban government agency responsible for agricultural commerce.

By KRWG News

Texas – Texas officials expect to regulate insurance rates more actively under a new federal law, requiring insurers to justify "unreasonable" increases in premiums.

However, state officials tell the Austin American-Statesman that a lack of staff and other resources may keep the state from reviewing and comparing rates on a regular basis. They say the state has had the authority to regulate insurance premiums more rigidly, but that power wasn't used regularly.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has stirred up a historical hornet's nest with his talk of pardoning Old West outlaw Billy the Kid.

The latest to come out against it is a descendant of the territorial governor who once met with the Kid but never granted him clemency 130 years ago.

William N. Wallace, great-grandson of Civil War Gen. and New Mexico territorial Gov. Lew Wallace, says he sees no solid historical foundation for Richardson to offer a posthumous pardon for the Kid, also known as William H. Bonney.

By KRWG News

Juarez, Mexico – A shootout between Mexican police and gunmen has killed one person in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas.

Federal police spokesman Ramon Salinas says three municipal police officers were wounded.

The gunbattle lasted more than 20 minutes Saturday night on the edge of the Rio Grande, which divides Ciudad Juarez and El Paso.

Salinas says gunmen ambushed a municipal police patrol and fighting escalated when federal police arrived to help.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – Organizers of high school athletics in New Mexico want students across the nation to know Gabe Gurule's story.

A three-sport standout at Manzano High School in Albuquerque, Gurule lost his spot on the football team after he started drinking alcohol. That ended a flow of college scholarship letters from schools like Nebraska, Michigan and Notre Dame.

Today, he's serving an 8-year prison sentence after killing three people in a drunken driving crash early on Thanksgiving Day 2005.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – Gov. Bill Richardson is taking his first steps into this fall's gubernatorial election, firing off a pointed criticism of Republican nominee Susana Martinez over her remarks in a debate and in a campaign advertisement.

Richardson said Friday that Martinez "obviously doesn't know what she's talking about."

The governor attacked Martinez for making false claims about his record and says she has continued to get his administration's record wrong.

By KRWG News

Santiago, Mexico – Mexican authorities say six police officers have been arrested in the killing of a mayor in the northern state of Nuevo Leon.

Nuevo Leon state Attorney General Alejandro Garza y Garza says the suspects include the security guard of Mayor Edelmiro Cavazos.

Garza y Garza announced the arrests Friday. Investigators are pursuing other leads.

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.