Regional

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – A 2007 graduate of the NMSU criminal justice program, Elise Larsen, was elected Grants Municipal Judge in the March 2 city election.

Larsen is the first Distance Education graduate from Cibola County to earn her bachelor's degree in criminal justice.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – Police in Hawaii have suspended a search for a former Las Cruces soccer coach who hasn't been heard from since Feb. 21 after camping on Maui.

Former Las Cruces Mayfield High School girls soccer coach Laura Vogel had moved to Hawaii to work as a tutor.

A friend in Las Cruces says Vogel sent text messages about camping on Maui and meeting the locals, then did not show up for work the next day.

The friend says Vogel's van was found with the keys in the ignition and a door open.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – New Mexico State University has warned some 300 people who were in a spring 2006 course that some personal information appeared on an unauthorized computer not affiliated with the school.

A company that checks for such problems notified NMSU it found the data on a computer with peer-to-peer sharing software.

NMSU chief information officer Shaun Cooper says a faculty member transferred student data to a teaching assistant's laptop in 2006.

By Melissa Aguilera

Las Cruces, NM – Residents in Las Cruces are not too sure about the United States Postal service considering reducing delivery to five days a week. KRWG's Melissa Aguilera reports.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – Las Cruces, N.M. - Staff members for U.S. Senator Tom Udall, D-N.M., will be holding Udall Serving YoU' Office Hours for Truth or Consequences, Alamogordo, Ruidoso, Deming, Silver City, Lordsburg, Anthony, Chaparral, Las Cruces and Socorro area residents who need help with the federal government.

By KRWG News

Silver City – Enrollment has dropped in the Silver Consolidated School District, meaning less state money for the southwestern New Mexico district.

The latest count shows the Silver City-based district with 58 fewer students than last year.

The state uses average enrollment on two set days to determine funding for the next school year.

Superintendent Dick Pool says the enrollment drop will cost the district about $493,000 in 2011-2012.

By KRWG News

Silver City – The Bureau of Land Management has proposed selling land near the Gila National Forest to Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Co., which wants to expand operations in southwestern New Mexico.

The BLM says Freeport-McMoRan has claims on six BLM parcels and proposes to eventually expand mining operations there.

The BLM would change its designation of the 1,348 acres from "retention" to "disposal," allowing the land to be exchanged or sold.

It says much of the land has been mined for decades.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – Lawmakers are trying to wrap up a budget-balancing special session.

The House worked past midnight and approved a $5.6 billion budget and a proposal to increase the tax on cigarettes by 75 cents a pack.

The cigarette tax will provide $33 million next year, with a third of the money earmarked for public schools.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – The Legislature has given final approval to a $5.6 billion budget and tax increases of more than $200 million to help pay for public schools and government programs next year.

Lawmakers are close to wrapping up a special session, but it will last at least another day.

The House and Senate are coming back on Thursday for what could be a final mop-up.

Pending in the Senate is an increase in the cigarette tax to raise $33 million, and measures to finance capital improvements.

By Melissa Aguilera

Las Cruces, NM – Graduation is fast approaching and this week, students are learning about an alternative to the regular 9 to 5 job. KRWG's Melissa Aguilera reports.

By Vanessa Dabovich

Las Cruces, NM – The Dona Ana County Sheriff's Office is taking over a Las Cruces Police Department Investigation involving City Manager Terrence Moore.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – Lawmakers are assembling the pieces of a potential compromise on tax increases and spending cuts to balance next year's budget.

A House committee approved a proposal Tuesday to increase the cigarette tax by 75 cents a pack. That would generate $33 million and a third of the money would be earmarked for public schools. The higher tax would expire after four years.

By Vanessa Dabovich

Las Cruces, NM – A new Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives office has been created in Roswell and as KRWG's Vanessa Dabovich reports New Mexico U.S Senator Jeff Bingaman says this office has been wanted for some time.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – The Bureau of Land Management wants to reclaim a closed rock quarry northwest of Las Cruces.

BLM officials say it's a danger to the public but could become an asset to the adjacent new Prehistoric Trackways National Monument.

One idea is to turn the closed Community Pit No. 1 quarry into a parking lot and trailhead for the monument.

The head of the BLM's Las Cruces office, Bill Childress, says a dirt road to the top of the quarry attracts people, but the surface at the top is crumbly and the cliffs are sheer.

By KRWG News

El Paso – A report of an ostrich loose on Interstate 10 in the El Paso area turned out to involve an aggressive emu (EE'-myoo).

The El Paso County Sheriff's Office says the big bird died Tuesday as it was being transported to an animal control shelter. The cause of death is pending.

The incident began shortly before 7 a.m. Tuesday when deputies were dispatched to I-10 on a report of a rowdy animal.

The sheriff's department says the initial report of an ostrich on the run turned out to be an emu, which lunged at deputies.