Regional

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Alaska Airlines is pulling two non-stop flights for Albuquerque International Sunport while adding two non-stop flights to El Paso.

The airline announced last week it was ending its non-stop services from Albuquerque to San Francisco and Orange County because of a lack of demand. The Sunport says flights on the airline to Portland, Seattle and San Diego will remain.

Meanwhile, Alaska Airlines says it will add direct daily flights from El Paso to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and San Diego International Airport.

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The state of New Mexico plans to cut full-time jobs in human resources across state government by more than 30 percent.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reports the State Personnel Office says the goal is part of a controversial plan to move human resources bureaus from various departments into one agency.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Tropical Storm Rosa soaked northwestern Mexico with heavy rains as it neared the Baja California Peninsula on Monday and was projected to extend into a drenching of the U.S. Southwest.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the center of Rosa, which was a hurricane until late Sunday, should hit Baja California and Sonora late Monday, bringing 3 to 6 inches (7.5 to 15 centimeters) of rain.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Salaries for professors at New Mexico's largest university ranks among the lowest in the nation and is hurting the school at retaining teachers and attracting new ones.

The Albuquerque Journal reports more than half of the engineering faculty at the University of New Mexico would need raises just to reach the 25th percentile for pay nationally.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — Pope Francis has appointed the bishop emeritus of the Tucson Diocese to temporarily oversee the Diocese of Las Cruces.

The Las Cruces Sun-News reports Rev. Gerald Kicanas (kih-KA'-nuhs) was named last week as the administrator for the southern New Mexico diocese until a new bishop is named.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico State University's SMART Grid Center has landed a $20 million grant from the National Science Foundation for more research aimed at developing sustainable systems for distributing electricity.

The center will use the five-year grant for research focused on micro-grids, cyber security and the relationship between power plants and customers. Testbeds are planned across New Mexico.

LAGUNA PUEBLO, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico election officials say Native American interpreters are being trained for a series of official ads that will run ahead of the Nov. 6 election.

The Secretary of State's Office says the ads will air on radio stations that cover areas where tribes and pueblos are located.

New Mexico State University’s Interdisciplinary Studies Department and Gender Studies Program is cosponsoring a presentation featuring Valerie Jarrett, former senior adviser to President Barack Obama, from 6–8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 1 at the NMSU College of Health and Social Services Auditorium, Room 101A.

Valerie Jarrett served as the senior adviser to Obama and assistant to the president for public engagement and intergovernmental affairs from 2009 to 2017.

   AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Democratic Texas Senate candidate Beto O'Rouke rallied thousands with Willie Nelson on Saturday night, offering an openly liberal vision for the country's largest conservative state and vowing that his campaign that has shunned outside political support can topple Republican Ted Cruz in November.

  FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) — One of the biggest issues looming over a northwestern New Mexico county is the potential closure of a coal-fired power plant in 2022 — about 20 years before the end of its useful life.

  SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Santa Fe police investigating the fatal shooting of a 64-year-old Michigan man visiting the northern New Mexico city are looking for five young people.

Richard Milan of Kalamazoo died Wednesday night after being shot while walking in his dog during a stop in Santa Fe on a return trip to Michigan from California.

Police spokesman Greg Gurule says investigators believe Milan was shot during a confrontation with a group of males and females in their late teens or early 20s.

  ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The federal government is demanding that New Mexico repay $164 million of alleged overpayments for food benefits provided to low-income families, but the state agency involved denies it provided too many benefits.

Trashard Mays, a graduate student at New Mexico State University, is using valuable resources provided by Arrowhead Center at NMSU to commercialize vacuum technology developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory that solves a problem scientists and technicians have grappled with for years.

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — An attorney for a former Santa Fe County sheriff's deputy on Friday questioned prosecutors' motivation in planning to bring a voluntary manslaughter charge against the officer, noting juries twice cleared him of murder charges in the shooting death of a fellow deputy.

Attorney Tom Clark's comments came a day after District Attorney Mark D'Antonio in Las Cruces said his office will seek a grand jury indictment for voluntary manslaughter against Tai Chan. He is accused of opening fire on Deputy Jeremy Martin at a Las Cruces hotel during a work trip.

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico environmental regulators will continue monitoring two national laboratories in the state under a grant renewed by the U.S. Energy Department.

The renewal helps to fund ongoing environmental oversight and monitoring by the state at Los Alamos National Laboratory in northern New Mexico and Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque.

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico lawmakers are studying ways to extend the typical school year by 10 days or more, with longer summer extensions at schools catering to low-income families.

A report from the Legislature's lead budget writing committee puts a price tag on efforts to extend instructional time and shorten long summer gaps that increase disparities in learning.