Regional

By KRWG News

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

By KRWG News

New Mexico – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is releasing $1.87 million in grants to support emergency preparedness efforts in New Mexico.

The grants include $800,677 to the state of New Mexico to help improve security of driver's licenses and state-issued identification cards to reduce fraud and improve their accuracy.

The state also will get $334,000 for statewide communications used to respond to natural disaster or terrorism.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – State Treasurer James Lewis has a new policy that will allow a greater investment of state money in certificates of deposit with New Mexico banks.

Up to $400 million can be invested in bank CDs. The investment cap was increased by $50 million.

By KRWG News

Texas – Texas Gov. Rick Perry has spent almost $600,000 in public money during the past two years to live in a sprawling rental home in the hills above the capital.

That's according to records obtained by The Associated Press.

To live in the exclusive neighborhood, Texas' longest-serving governor is billing the state more than $10,000 a month for rent, utilities and upkeep on the five-bedroom, seven-bath mansion that has pecan-wood floors and three dining rooms.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – More than 230 radios meant to improve safety for southern New Mexico ranchers and other residents in remote areas near the Mexican border remain stacked in a storage shed, five years after their purchase.

Dona Ana County Sheriff's Cpl. Jim Hash says a big problem is that the area lacks radio towers to relay transmissions to emergency responders.

Hash says even sheriff's officers are not able to talk to the county dispatch center in places along N.M. 9, which parallels the border.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – The Las Cruces Police Department's most recent annual crime statistics show 2009 was the third straight year in which the crime rate has increased.

The statistics show crime overall in the city increased 3 percent from 2008 to 2009. However, rape and aggravated assault decreased and police made arrests in more violent crimes.

Officer J.R. Stewart says a growing city and a continuing recession no doubt contributed to the increase in crime, which saw rising levels of thefts and other property crime.

By KRWG News

Albuquerque – Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin stopped in Albuquerque to throw her support behind New Mexico Republican gubernatorial candidate Susana Martinez.

Some 1,200 people turned out to see Palin and Martinez at a Sunday morning rally.

Martinez, a district attorney from southern New Mexico, is in a five-way race heading into the June 1 primary. She's one of two Republican women vying for the post.

By KRWG News

El Paso – A 43-year-old U.S. Customs and Border Protection technician says she's guilty of conspiring to smuggle marijuana and illegal immigrants into the country.

Martha Alicia Garnica pleaded guilty Friday in federal court to charges of conspiracy to import more than 100 kilos of marijuana into the United States, conspiracy to smuggle undocumented immigrants, three counts of bribery of a public official and one count of importation of a controlled substance.

By KRWG News

El Paso – An unarmed, unmanned surveillance drone may be flying over the border in West Texas and New Mexico as soon as June.

The Federal Aviation Administration has given permission for the drone to patrol the border, beaming real-time surveillance video of the border to operators and federal authorities, starting June 1.

Vincent Perez, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, said the El Paso Democrat was told of the decision Friday.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – Gov. Bill Richardson has eliminated about 1,000 vacant government jobs.

Richardson announced Friday that by permanently removing the positions from the state budget, they cannot be filled in the future unless the Legislature approves.

Among the 1,071 eliminated positions are 73 appointive jobs. That includes 14 positions in the governor's office, including a senior energy and environment policy adviser and an executive assistant to the governor.

By KRWG News

Silver City – The U.S. Forest Service is seeking public comment on the Mogollon mining district in southwestern New Mexico.

The mining district consists of 16 individual mine sites in the Mogollon Mountains of the Gila National Forest about 63 miles northwest of Silver City.

An engineering evaluation proposes leaving the sites in their current state, with no removal or containment at any of them.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – The New Mexico Environment Department will receive $400,000 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to assess and clean up potentially contaminated locations known as brownfields.

Those are properties where redevelopment or reuse could be complicated by the potential presence of hazardous substances.

The EPA grant provides $200,000 for petroleum sites and $200,000 for other hazardous waste sites.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – Wendy K. Wilkins, provost and vice president for academic affairs at the University of North Texas, has accepted an appointment as provost and executive vice president at New Mexico State University.

NMSU President Barbara Couture noted Wilkins' extensive experience as an acclaimed scholar and her strong track record of working with faculty.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – Las Cruces Police have charged four teenagers for their involvement in at least three residential burglaries that were reported over the past few weeks.

Michael Nava, 17, Raul Serna, 15, and 16-year-olds Marcus Bustamante and Victor Orquiz, were each charged with burglary of a dwelling, attempted burglary and conspiracy.

By KRWG News

Truth or Consequences – Authorities say they have apprehended a jail inmate who had escaped from the Sierra County Detention Facility in Truth or Consequences.

Authorities say 22-year-old Michael Todd escaped Tuesday afternoon and his orange jumpsuit was found a short time later lying on the ground behind a clothing store.

Todd was captured late Thursday afternoon at a store in Dona Ana County. He had been in the detention facility since last June on charges of car theft and driving under the influence.