Regional

By KRWG News

New Mexico – Motorists who travel through Albuquerque on interstates 25 and 40 this week will see parts of the highways closed due to a film production.

The movie "Due Date" starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx requested the closures. The film is about an anxious father rushing to see his child's birth.

A section of southbound lanes of Interstate 25 on Albuquerque's south side will be closed Tuesday from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – Dr. Richard Herman is one of five finalists for President of New Mexico State University. He is the Special Assistant to the President at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Herman served as President there from May, 2005, until last month, when he resigned after a major controversy. Fred Martino spoke with Herman, who will be at a public forum Monday at 7:00pm at NMSU's Fulton Center.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – New Mexico State University police say someone out there knows who raped a woman on campus on Halloween two years ago.

The rewards for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect is now $3,000.

NMSU Deputy Police Chief Stephen Lopez says with some small DNA samples still being tested, the case is far from being closed.

By KRWG News

Texas – Texas Comptroller Susan Combs, in a policy reversal, will urge a state oversight board next week to keep a generous refund formula for those who want to cancel their pre-paid college tuition plans.

Combs says she'll urge the Texas Prepaid Higher Education Tuition Board on Nov. 5 to cancel new rules that would cut the value of the refunds.

The proposed cuts sparked an outcry among parents and legislators.

By KRWG News

Texas – The U.S. Coast Guard says searchers have found the body of one pilot whose plane disappeared off the Texas coast.

The search continues for a second pilot who was aboard when the training plane went missing Wednesday.

The Coast Guard said in a news release that the body was found Friday afternoon when a floating rig's crew reported something in the water.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded more than $10 million to explore geothermal energy projects in New Mexico.

Sens. Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall say the grants will be used for four projects in Albuquerque, Jemez Pueblo and Socorro.

Udall says geothermal energy is a carbon free energy source. He says New Mexico has known and potential geothermal resources, so the state is in a good position to develop the energy and create jobs.

Jemez Pueblo will receive nearly $5 million to locate geothermal reservoirs.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – Sen. Tom Udall is asking the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission to share plans for providing telephone service to Native American communities.

In a letter Friday to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, Udall writes that more than 30 percent of households in Indian Country do not have access to basic telephone service.

Udall says on the Navajo Nation, two out of three people cannot receive telephone service in their homes.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – There's new information about one of the candidates for President at New Mexico State University.

The Raleigh, North Carolina News and Observer reports that former North Carolina State Chancellor James Oblinger brokered a severance package for his Provost Larry Nielsen.

Nielsen and Oblinger both resigned in the wake of a controversy over the University's hiring of former North Carolina first lady Mary Easley.

By KRWG News

Texas – A 1970s-era Texas law that allows parents to show "harmful material" to their children has come under fire.

That's after an Amarillo prosecutor said he couldn't charge a man accused of forcing his 8- and 9-year-old daughters to watch hardcore online pornography.

Randall County District Attorney James Farren has asked the Texas attorney general's office to review his decision not to pursue charges in the case. That case has prompted at least one lawmaker to vow to change the state's public indecency law.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – The New Mexico Human Services Department is asking poor homeowners who need help their energy bills this winter to apply to a state assistance program.

The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program helps families pay for natural gas, electricity and bulk fuels, like propane, firewood and wood pellets.

The department says nearly 70,000 New Mexico households participated in the program last year.

The one-time benefit this year is expected to average $150.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – Former Rep. Heather Wilson says she will not run for governor of New Mexico in 2010.

Wilson says in a statement Thursday that the governor's post has no significant national security role, which is an issue that is important to her.

She says New Mexicans have encouraged her to run for the last 10 months but her work in the private sector is satisfying.

By Vanessa Dabovich

Las Cruces, NM – This week New Mexico U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman outlined four steps congress can take to help create jobs in the current economic climate. KRWG's Vanessa Dabovich reports

By Vanessa Dabovich

Las Cruces, NM – New Mexico U.S. Senator Tom Udall says even though nuclear energy provisions haven't been mentioned publicly in the new climate bill they do play a big role in the legislation. KRWG's Vanessa Dabovich reports

By KRWG News

Alamogordo – Members of the New Mexico congressional delegation confirmed that the Holloman Air Force Base is being looked at as a possible home for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

The Air Force has informed the delegation that it will conduct environmental impact analyses on three bases, one of which will be selected to house a F-35 training mission. In addition to Holloman, the Air Force is looking at Luke (Arizona) and Eglin (Florida) Air Force bases.

By KRWG News

El Paso – An El Paso company has been chosen for a major federal stimulus project in New Mexico.

Licon Engineering Company of El Paso has been selected for Middle Rio Grande Flood Protection project.

The one million dollar contract using federal stimulus dollars .was granted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Albuquerque District.