Albuquerque, NM — Today, in expressing his “significant concern regarding the persistent threats to our election systems,” Attorney General Hector Balderas joined a total 22 attorneys general from around the country to urge Congress to take action to protect the integrity of America’s elections.  Here is a statement from the AG's office:

In a letter addressed to key U.S. Senators, Attorney General Balderas and the other attorneys general ask Congress to provide additional election security grants to states and localities, support the establishment of cybersecurity and audit standards for election systems, and pass bipartisan election-security legislation.

“Make no mistake; our elections were attacked by Russian operatives in 2016, and they will be attacked again,” said Attorney General Hector Balderas. “Congress has a responsibility to take substantive steps to protect the integrity of our elections. The fate of our democracy is at stake.”

KRWG Public Media features interviews with the Las Cruces Mayor's Top Teens in between programs on KRWG-TV. KRWG is also featuring Top Teens on its website. 

Salvador received Hispanic National Merit Scholar recognition and received 2nd place on the AP exam portion of the Chemistry Science Olympiad competition. He has lettered in academics and has been a dedicated member of the Science Olympiad teams all while maintaining a rigorous class load and remaining dedicated to his extra-curricular activities.  Salvador has been involved in marching and symphonic band through all years in high school.

He participates in the community regularly through church. Most recently, he helped serve at El Caldito Soup Kitchen. In the future, he would like to volunteer his time working with cancer patients and helping to find gentler treatments.

El Paso native Monica Cortez planned to be a newspaper reporter when she started studying journalism at New Mexico State University. Then she got involved in NMSU’s “News22” program and by the time she graduated in 2013 she had two years experience in day-to-day TV news. She immediately got a part-time job at KTSM-TV and worked her way up. 

Today, Cortez is the chief meteorologist for KTSM news in El Paso. 

The man suspected in Monday morning’s incident that resulted in injuries to three law enforcement officers and the temporary closure of several businesses has been positively identified as 35-year-old Francisco “Paco” Tarin.

Tarin, who has resided in Las Cruces and Roswell, N.M., is suspected of shooting at a marked Las Cruces Police Department unit, striking the officer inside of it, and then shooting at several officers who were attempting to take him into custody. Officers from four agencies – LCPD, the Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office, New Mexico State Police and the U.S. Border Patrol – discharged their service-issued weapons and Tarin was struck multiple times.

ALBUQUERQUE -- The New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions (NMDWS) was notified last week that it has been awarded a $815,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to increase apprenticeships across the state. The overarching goal of the project is to increase the total number of apprentices by 25 percent over the award period while ensuring job placement in middle- to high-skilled jobs upon program completion.  Here is a statement from NMDWS:

“Apprenticeships provide a pathway to a productive, fulfilling work-life,” Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said. “We want to expand these programs in as many areas possible because we know they work for both employees and their employers. I’m excited to see what our Workforce Solutions team can do with this new grant.”

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The head of development and external affairs at New Mexico State University Alamogordo has been named state director of the New Mexico League of United Latin American Citizens.

The university announced Juan Garcia's selection Monday.

Garcia says he began working with LULAC two decades ago after the organization awarded him a scholarship that allowed him to buy books and pay tuition.

  Since then, he has served as a president of local councils, national vice president for young adults and a district director in New Mexico.

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A professional mediator in civil and commercial court cases has been named to serve on New Mexico's fledgling state Ethics Commission.

Former state district court judge William Lang was appointed Tuesday by New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to serve on the commission when it convenes next year to consider ethics complaints against public officials, lobbyists and public contractors.

  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is threatening to remove millions of people living in the country illegally on the eve of formally announcing his re-election bid.

In a pair of tweets Monday night, Trump said that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would next week "begin the process of removing the millions of illegal aliens who have illicitly found their way into the United States."

"They will be removed as fast as they come in," he wrote.

  ALBUQUERQUE— New Mexico is once again ranked 50th out of the 50 states for child well-being by the 2019 KIDS COUNT® Data Book, released today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. This is the third time the state has ranked last in the nation. New Mexico fell to 50th in 2013, then again in 2018.  

Louisiana ranked 49th this year, bumping Mississippi up to 48th. New Hampshire ranked first.  Here is a statement from New Mexico Voices For Children:

“It’s disappointing, but not terribly surprising to see New Mexico ranked at the bottom again, given the last ten years,” said James Jimenez, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children, which runs the state’s KIDS COUNT program. “It is going to take sustained investment to undo the damage from a decade of underfunding all of our child-serving programs and services like health care, child care and K-12 education. We started making progress in 2019, but clearly much more needs to be done.”