Regional

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – Richard Scott Zikmanis now faces an open count of murder after his sister, Denise Zikmanis, died Monday afternoon at University Medical Center of El Paso.

Richard Scott Zikmanis, 40, of the 3700 block of Agate Street in Las Cruces, was originally charged with one count of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. With his sister's death, he now is charged with an open count of murder.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says it will review the status of more than a dozen Southwestern plants and animals that are protected by the federal Endangered Species Act.

The agency said Monday it is doing a five-year status review on the species to ensure their classification as threatened or endangered is accurate. The review will result in a recommendation, and any changes must undergo a full rulemaking process.

By KRWG News

El Paso – Authorities say a former Fort Bliss soldier is facing charges after a weekend drive-by shooting that damaged two cars in a military-run neighborhood just outside the gates of the Army post.

FBI spokeswoman Andrea Simmons said Monday that 20-year-old Christopher Stafford Peaden of El Paso was arrested Saturday after allegedly firing at a house and hitting two cars. No one was injured.

By KRWG News

Juarez – Chihuahua state police say soldiers have arrested a suspect in the killings of three people linked to the U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juarez.

Police spokesman Enrique Torres says the Mexican army arrested the suspect on Friday.

Consulate employee Lesley A. Enriquez and her husband, Arthur H. Redelfs, were killed March 13 when gunmen attacked their car after they left a birthday party. The husband of a Mexican employee of the consulate was killed in a separate attack.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – Fred Martino speaks with Joe Campos, Democratic Candidate For Lt. Governor. The primary election takes place on Tuesday, June 1.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – Fred Martino speaks with Doug Turner, GOP Candidate For Governor. The primary election takes place Tuesday, June 1.

By Vanessa Dabovich

Las Cruces, NM – Researchers at New Mexico State University are studying ways to get rid of a harmful weed in the area. KRWG's Vanessa Dabovich reports...

By KRWG News

New Mexico – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers Friday stopped a New Mexico police officer at the San Ysidro port of entry when he attempted to enter the United States with an illegal alien.

At about 10 a.m. March 26, Ronald Lewis Haley, a 41-year old U.S. citizen and member of the Bosque Farms Police Department near Albuquerque, New Mexico, drove up to the San Ysidro port of entry in a Chevy Tahoe with New Mexico plates. He was driving with a female passenger.

By KRWG News

Lordsburg – Border Patrol agents encountered "booby traps" in southern New Mexico and foiled 14 attempts to smuggle approximately 2,900 pounds of narcotics in separate seizures.

The busy weekend was ominous as Border Patrol Agents assigned to the Lordsburg Station made 10 different seizures, including the significant seizure of 477 pounds of marijuana. Agents in Lordsburg utilized the latest enforcement technology to watch a group of drug smugglers as they walked north near Rodeo, NM.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – U.S. Senators Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall, along with Representative Harry Teague, today pressed the Department of Homeland Security to step-up the Border Patrol's presence in New Mexico's boot heel. The area is about 10 miles from an Arizona ranch where a rancher was killed over the weekend.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – Every Monday, Fred Martino speaks with Las Cruces Sun News Business Editor Brook Stockberger.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – New Mexicans are consuming more energy to heat, cool and power their homes than a decade ago and more traffic is clogging highways.

However, an inventory of the state's greenhouse gas emissions shows they have remained flat.

Officials say that's good news, considering the state's population grew more than 6 percent from 2000 to 2007.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – A government analyst is facing charges after police say he shot his sister in the head with a .40 caliber handgun.

Las Cruces Police Officer Wallace Downs says 40-year-old Richard Scott Zikmanis was booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center early Saturday and charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

Zikmanis' sister, who was visiting from Montana, was listed in critical condition at an El Paso, Texas, hospital.

By KRWG News

Juarez, Mexico – Mexican police say the bodies of four men and a woman have been found on a rural road in a town not far from the violent border city of Ciudad Juarez.

Enrique Torres, a spokesman for the Chihuahua state police, says the victims had been lined up and shot to death. He says they were found early Sunday near a dirt road in the town of Placitas, about 25 miles southeast of Ciudad Juarez. That city across from El Paso, Texas, is one of the world's most dangerous cities.

By KRWG News

El Paso – Army officials are investigating after a pair of cars were found with bullet holes in a military neighborhood outside the gates of Fort Bliss. No one was injured and there were no immediate arrests.

Fort Bliss spokeswoman Jean Offutt says military police responded to the neighborhood near the post's golf course Saturday afternoon after getting a report of shots fired. They found two parked cars that had bullet holes.

Offutt says the Army's criminal investigation division is investigating.