Regional

By KRWG News

Deming – A Deming woman accused of stealing a credit card from a nursing home resident has pleaded no contest to a charge of unauthorized use of a credit card.

Rachel Mota entered her plea Thursday before state District Judge Gary Jeffreys.

Authorities told the judge the 48-year-old Mota took the card from 88-year-old Eva Carriveau, who was a resident of Mimbres Memorial Hospital Nursing Home where Mota worked.

By KRWG News

Santa Teresa, NM – U.S. Senators Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall today reported that two New Mexico clean energy manufacturing projects will receive a total of almost $5 million in tax credits as part of $2.3 billion in Recovery Act Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credits announced today by President Obama.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – Police are investigating a midday armed robbery at the Bank of the Southwest, at 605 Water St., in downtown Las Cruces.

Las Cruces Police were called at noon today after a man walked into the bank's lobby, threatened a teller with a handgun and demanded cash. The man left the bank with an undisclosed amount of cash.

No injuries were reported and witnesses told officers that the man was last seen running from the bank heading northbound through a residential area.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – Friday morning at approximately 5:55 a.m. Sheriff's Deputies were dispatched to the 16000 block of Sly Song Circle, Organ, after a woman reported that her pregnant granddaughter had been allegedly "punched" in the stomach and head.

The Suspect, age 41, who allegedly threatened to kill everyone in the residence, ran from the back of the residence towards the mountains.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – Angry hunters and skeptical public officials grilled state Land Commissioner Pat Lyons over a package of state trust-land trades around Whites Peak in northern New Mexico.

The confrontation Thursday at the state Land Office in Santa Fe came after the first such deal closed, involving the Stanley Ranch.

Lyons held the meeting to offer state legislators more information about the trade. But the session often turned into heated exchanges, with Lyons and hunting guide Albert H. Goke shaking fingers at each other.

By KRWG News

Texas – Texas sales tax revenue continued to decline in December, falling 11.6 percent from December 2008 levels.

Comptroller Susan Combs released the numbers Friday. She says the state collected $1.65 billion in sales tax revenue in December, continuing a declining trend dating to February. She says collections are down across most major sectors, including oil and natural gas, construction, manufacturing and retail.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – The Sunland Park Police Department's lone investigator is getting help from the Dona Ana County Sheriff's Office.

Last month's firing of the police chief brought the number of vacancies in the Sunland Park department to six positions out of 25 overall including two sergeants, two officers and another detective.

Police Chief Luis Monarez, who is under investigation by New Mexico State Police for allegations he served alcohol to minors, was dismissed Dec. 15 by the city council.

By KRWG News

Deming – Despite weather-related delays for this year's pecan harvest, southern New Mexico producers are anticipating average to above average yields.

Recent rainfalls and snow have left fields muddy and sticky, posing a problem for machinery used by Luna County producers. Mimbres Valley farmer Rick Holdridge says his harvesting efforts have been delayed by at least three weeks.

But Holdridge says his crews should be finished with the harvest as early as this week, and his farm will be processing pecans through late January.

By Vanessa Dabovich

Las Cruces, NM – The City of Las Cruces is holding meetings for public input on a sustainability action plan for the community. KRWG's Vanessa Dabovich reports

By KRWG News

New Mexico – New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and sportsmen from across the state say they are encouraged that the federal government will be making changes to how oil and natural gas leases are awarded on public lands.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Wednesday the changes should ensure stricter environmental standards while bringing more clarity to the process for energy companies hoping to drill.

Richardson says that will bring a sense of balance to managing development and protecting landscapes.

By KRWG News

Silver City – A female wolf is to be released Sunday in southwestern New Mexico's Gila Wilderness.

The state Department of Game and Fish says the year-and-a-half-old wolf was born in the wild but was trapped in Arizona and put into captivity because she left the boundaries of the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area.

The agency says the wolf has no history of killing livestock.

Agency officials say the wolf is considered a good candidate for release because she exhibits a fear of people.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – The Health Department plans cuts to a program that provides services to more than 4,000 people with developmentally disabled.

The agency said Wednesday it needs to slow the rising costs of the program because of the state's budget problems. Cutbacks will be in place by the end of June.

Among the changes is a reduction in payments to providers of services, such as therapy for the developmentally disabled.

Health Secretary Alfredo Vigil said the state should save $9 million a year.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – A Democratic New Mexico congressman wants Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to consider expanding scanning technology at airports throughout the United States after a botched Christmas Day terrorist attack.

Rep. Ben Ray Lujan told Napolitano the nation must institute systems that would prevent the security breaches uncovered in the Christmas plot but still screen the traveling public rapidly.

He urged expansion of a machine called the MagViz, which was developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – New Mexico, including Las Cruces, will receive stimulus funds to develop green jobs in the state.

New Mexico's two U.S. senators, Democrats Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall, say the state will share approximately $10 million to support job training programs that will help dislocated workers find jobs in expanding green industries.

The grant comes through the U.S. Department of Labor's Energy Training Partnership Grant Program in two categories.

By KRWG News

El Paso – An appeals court has rejected an effort to remove a federal judge in El Paso as he presides over a public corruption case.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans denied the petition filed on behalf of former El Paso County Judge Luther Jones and District Clerk Gilbert Sanchez. Both are accused of conspiracy.

They challenged the impartiality of U.S. District Judge Frank Montalvo. The judge denies the allegations.