Regional

By KRWG News

New Mexico – Blue Cross and Blue Shield and the New Mexico insurance superintendent have signed off on a rate hike on insurance premiums, less than an hour before a state Public Regulation Commission hearing to hear opposition to the plan.

Public Regulation Commissioner Jason Marks calls Monday's agreement a back room deal announced before the public had a chance to comment.

The hearing was called after a 24 percent increase in Blue Cross and Blue Shield premiums in December.

By Vanessa Dabovich

Las Cruces, NM – New Mexico U.S Senator Jeff Bingaman says the issue of derivatives in financial reform includes much more than many people think. KRWG's Vanessa Dabovich reports

By Vanessa Dabovich

Las Cruces, NM – A bill has been introduced in Congress to name the U.S. Department of Interior building in Washington after the late Stewart Udall. KRWG's Vanessa Dabovich reports

By KRWG News

New Mexico – State records show the oil and natural gas industry provided half of the campaign contributions that Republican gubernatorial candidate Susana Martinez raised during the past six months.

An analysis of the latest campaign finance reports by The Associated Press found that Martinez collected about $215,000 from oil and gas donors from October through early April.

Martinez, the Dona Ana County district attorney, is one of five Republicans seeking the party's nomination for governor in the June 1 primary election.

By KRWG News

Juarez, Mexico – Mexican police say they've arrested five suspects in the killings of seven police officers and a bystander in the border city of Ciudad Juarez.

Authorities said today that the suspects are members of La Linea gang, the enforcement arm of the Juarez drug cartel. they say the men confessed to Friday's ambush of two police patrol trucks as they were flagged down for help by an unidentified man. Six federal police officers and one local police woman were killed.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – Las Cruces Police arrested two men early this morning after a woman's vehicle was broken into and her purse was taken.

Victor Manuel Pinedo, 23, of the 1400 block of Nevada Avenue, and Eric Chavez, 19, of the 1700 block of Smith Avenue, are charged with one count each of burglary of a vehicle, conspiracy and tampering with evidence. Pinedo also faces two counts of bribery of a witness.

By KRWG News

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

By KRWG News

El Paso – Border Patrol agents assigned to the El Paso Sector arrested three convicted registered sex offenders over the weekend. One of the subjects, a United States Citizen, affected an illegal entry in order to evade authorities.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – State Motor Vehicle Division offices will be closing earlier because of budget cuts.

MVD Director Michael Sandoval says the agency's offices will close at 3:30 p.m. instead of 4 p.m. starting July 6. He estimates it will save about $105,000 a year.

Sandoval announced several cost-cutting moves on Friday. Those include closing a branch office at Albuquerque's Cottonwood Mall and shifting its workers to other MVD offices in the city.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – New Mexico has finished switching traffic lights in 33 communities to energy-saving LEDs.

Officials say the change will save about 4 million kilowatt-hours of energy over a year, or enough electricity for more than 500 average homes for a year.

They say the thousands of new LED traffic signal lamps installed at 330 intersections throughout New Mexico will save up to 80 percent of the energy used by conventional incandescent lights that operate all the time.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – New Mexico has three new license plates honoring New Mexico Highlands University, adoption and the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts.

Motor Vehicle Division Director Michael Sanchez says the Highlands University plate is the sixth collegiate license plate available to New Mexico residents.

He says such collegiate plates have proved popular with students and alumni.

The Highlands license plate will cost $37, with $25 going to the Las Vegas school.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – The New Mexico Department of Transportation has canceled its annual engineering conference, citing money concerns.

The conference had been scheduled for Las Cruces later this month.

The Department of Transportation says it's been dealing with declining state road fund revenues for the past three years.

Transportation Secretary Gary Giron says canceling the conference will free the money for more critical transportation needs.

By KRWG News

Texas – Officials say the Texas food stamp program is digging out of trouble after it was swamped by hurricanes, a failed privatization effort and a cuts to the work force that handles claims.

The most recent federal figures show that Texas processed 69 percent of applications within the required 30 days in the year ending Sept. 30. That's 15 percent below the national average.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – Las Cruces is still operating two red-light cameras at intersections under state control, despite last month's vote by the state Transportation Commission to prohibit such cameras on state or federal roads over which it has jurisdiction.

The commission's March 18 vote gave cities 60 days to remove any red-light cameras operating on roads under New Mexico's jurisdiction.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – Members of New Mexico's congressional delegation and some of their colleagues from the West want to name the U.S. Department of Interior building in Washington after Stewart Udall, a former Interior secretary.

Udall, who was Interior secretary under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, died last month at age 90.

He is the father of New Mexico Democratic U.S. Sen. Tom Udall and uncle of Colorado Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Udall.