Outside the Las Cruces Utilities (LCU) Administration building is its Demonstration Garden, filled with native trees and plants. However, New Mexico State University (NMSU) professor Dr. Leslie Beck decided to walk across the parking lot – a different plant had caught her eye. It was the simple morning glory, famous for its pretty flowers, but a pest when it comes to local chile farmers.

Beck, an NMSU Extension weed specialist, was followed by a small, socially distanced Youth Conservation Corp (YCC) summer crew who was there to learn about responsible irrigation, but also weed management. Beck explained how to homeowners the flowers are attractive, but to chile plants, it’s deadly when the vines wrap around and choke the plant.

  ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A Colorado man has been sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for threatening to kill a New Mexico state official and an attorney with a law firm in connection with a fraud case. Federal prosecutors say 40-year-old Andrew Graham of Snowmass, Colorado, had pleaded guilty to sending interstate communications threatening to killing someone and was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Albuquerque. The U.S. Attorney's Office for New Mexico says Graham falsely believed an official with the state Department of Regulation and Licensing and a lawyer with a private law firm were complicit in his losing trust fund money in a fraud case, 

  SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico regulators have ordered employers to promptly report coronavirus cases to the state. An emergency rule issued by the Environmental Department requires employers to report positive COIVD-19 cases to the department within four hours of being notified of the case. The department said requiring employers to quickly report positive cases means the state will be able to more rapidly respond to workplaces to provide immediate guidance and support to employers. The goal is preventing the spread of COVID-19 beyond the infected employees. The state on Saturday reported 155 additional confirmed cases with six more deaths.

  ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The attorney for the family of a Colorado man fatally shot by a U.S. National Park Service ranger in New Mexico said she was disappointed with a district attorney decision to not pursue criminal charges against the ranger. Civil rights lawyer Shannon Kennedy said District Attorney Dianna Luce had omitted “some key factors” when explaining the decision. Luce announced earlier this week that the actions of Park Ranger Robert Mitchell were “objectively justifiable” during a traffic stop at Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Kennedy filed a wrongful death claim against the National Park Service and the U.S. Department of Interior in June. They have yet to file a response.

  SANTA FE – New Mexico state health officials on Saturday announced 155 additional COVID-19 cases and 6 deaths.

As of today, there are 127 individuals hospitalized in New Mexico for COVID-19. This number may include individuals who tested positive for COVID-19 out of state but are currently hospitalized in New Mexico. This number does not include New Mexicans who tested positive for COVID-19 and may have been transferred to a hospital out of state.

  WASHINGTON (AP) — It was a week of relentless attacks by President Donald Trump and his allies on mail-in voting for the November election, and truth took a beating at every turn.

Fearing a pandemic-induced surge in such voting will work against him, Trump persisted in arguing that fraud is rampant for mail-in ballots yet quite fine and safe for absentee votes, which are also mailed. There is no functional difference between the two, and both have extensive verification systems.

  ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A man linked to a child pornography investigation that sparked a mysterious closure of a solar observatory in New Mexico has been indicted. Court documents show that a grand jury last month indicted former janitor Joshua Lee Cope on three child pornography counts stemming from an investigation in 2018 at the Sunspot Solar Observatory. The mountaintop observatory in Sunspot closed for 11 days in 2018, but the research association that manages it has said only that an unspecified security issue was the reason for the closure. Cope's attorney, Lauren Elizabeth Anne Truitt, did not immediately return a phone message.

  SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Public School Insurance Authority board unanimously voted Thursday to send a letter warning schools and districts about the dangers of not complying with coronavirus guidelines. The letter to member districts and charter schools warns that if they do not comply with state health restrictions, they may jeopardize their chances of receiving coverage for coronavirus-related work claims. The Santa Fe New Mexican reports the board also approved the creation of a task force to better understand the challenges of returning to school during a pandemic. The authority provides insurance for all school districts in the state except for Albuquerque.