Regional

By KRWG News

New Mexico – New Mexico's Environment Department has reached a settlement with Marathon Oil Corp. under which the Houston company will pay $5.1 million in environmental projects and penalties to resolve air quality violations alleged by the state at Marathon's Indian Basin Gas Plant near Carlsbad.

The settlement includes environmental projects totaling $4.5 million plus a civil penalty of $610,560.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – State Motor Transportation police have seized about $350,000 in suspected drug money in three separate stops.

The state Department of Public Safety says money from the three stops Thursday was turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The department says a search of a pickup truck in Raton turned up seven bundles of cash worth about $100,000 hidden in a compartment between the engine and the cab.

Authorities say the driver denied the money belonged to him.

By Melissa Aguilera

Las Cruces, NM – Mesilla Valley Community of Hope in Las Cruces is having a vigil on Monday for the homeless who've lost their lives. KRWG's Melissa Aguilera reports.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – The losing candidate in New Mexico's 2002 gubernatorial race, John Sanchez, says he will seek the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor in 2010.

Sanchez, a former state representative from Albuquerque, made the announcement Thursday.

Sanchez says he has been encouraged by friends and supporters to run again for governor. But he says he wants to avoid a potentially divisive GOP gubernatorial primary.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – Gov. Bill Richardson wants the 2010 Legislature to pass an ethics reform package that includes an independent ethics commission.

Lawmakers convene Jan. 19 for a 30-day session.

Richardson proposes an ethics commission that would provide independent oversight of the executive and legislative branches and state employees. The commission would investigate complaints by citizens and whistleblowers and would be able to investigate and discipline public officials, state employees, lobbyists, contractors and officials.

By KRWG News

Texas – The state's lingering backlog of food stamp applications has led to a lawsuit by a legal aid group in south Texas.

The lawsuit filed Thursday in Austin names the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.

Texas RioGrande Legal Aid seeks a decision for seven specific families, plus asks for a court order to force the agency to meet required 30-day processing deadlines.

The lawsuit says the backlog is "denying individual Plaintiffs and tens of thousands of other Texans access to food, the most basic of human needs."

By KRWG News

El Paso – Officials reopened one of El Paso's international bridges after a police bomb squad determined there was no threat from "unusual wiring" found in a drug-laden car.

Customs and Border Protection spokesman Roger Maier said traffic was diverted for several hours Thursday afternoon from the Bridge of Americas, which connects to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – The New Mexico State Library has been awarded more than $1.45 million in stimulus money to expand broadband technology and access across the state.

The "Fast Forward New Mexico" program wants to increase the adoption of broadband statewide and promote computer literacy and Internet use in rural, Hispanic and Native American populations.

The initiative is administered through a partnership with the University of New Mexico, Global Center for Cultural Entrepreneurship and the 1st-Mile Institute.

By KRWG News

Texas – The state unemployment rate dropped to 8 percent in November, the first decrease in Texas in 16 months.

The Texas Workforce Commission said Friday the jobless rate fell from 8.3 percent in October.

The last monthly decrease came in June 2008, when the rate fell to 4.4 percent from 4.5 percent the previous month.

Texas added 17,300 nonagricultural jobs in November for a total of 70,000 jobs over two months.

The state's jobless rate is still tracking well below the national average of 10 percent.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – Las Cruces Police are investigating the Thursday morning robbery at a Telshor Boulevard Pic Quik store that may involve the same suspect from three other incidents.

Shortly before 1:45 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 17, police were called to the Pic Quik store at 1770 S. Telshor Blvd. Officers learned that a man entered the store, forced the clerk into a bathroom and left with an undisclosed amount of cash.

By KRWG News

El Paso – Police are investigating a reported sexual assault at an El Paso high school.

El Paso police spokesman Javier Sambrano says a sexual assault was reported Tuesday afternoon at Coronado High School, on the city's west side.

No other details, including whether the reported victim was a student or staff member, are being released. No arrests have been made.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will review 67 plants and animals found throughout the Southwest for possible protection under the Endangered Species Act.

This week's decision is in response to a petition filed in 2007 by a conservation group that has sought the review of hundreds of species from the West Coast to the Great Plains.

So far this year, the agency has promised to review 110 species as a result of the group's petitions.

The 67 species the agency will consider for possible protections include:

By KRWG News

New Mexico – A bill that would protect about 370 square miles of public land in northern New Mexico has passed the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman said Wednesday the bill would protect the Rio Grande Del Norte National Conservation Area managed by the Bureau of Land Management in Taos and Rio Arriba counties. The measure is co-sponsored by Sen. Tom Udall.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – The state is returning $1.1 million to the city of Bloomfield for nearly five years of erroneous payments.

The northwest New Mexico city was underpaid for years by the state under a program which compensates cities for untaxed grocery items sold within city limits.

The problem was found and fixed.

City Manager Keith Johnson said a significant portion of the returned cash should be set aside.

The money arrives at a time when Bloomfield was considering roughly $400,000 in potential budget cuts.

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By KRWG News

New Mexico – The state Human Services Department will begin automatically signing up students for free and reduced lunches each month.

Human Services Department Secretary-designate Kathryn Falls said Wednesday children enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance or the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families programs qualify for the National School Lunch Program.

Falls says checking for new children participating in those federal programs each month will allow more students to get free and reduced lunches.