Regional

By KRWG News

New Mexico – New Mexico's budget problems keep getting bigger.

State Controller Anthony Armijo told legislators Monday the state likely will need to draw down its cash reserves more than expected possibly by $100 million to cover a budget shortfall in the just-ended 2009 fiscal year.

Doing that will add to the difficulties facing lawmakers and Gov. Bill Richardson as they try to wipe out a more than $400 million deficit in the current budget year, which started in July.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – Gov. Bill Richardson has traveled to Malaysia to participate in a conference for international business leaders.

Richardson spoke Monday about the economic downturn, U.S. politics and health care at the Forbes Global CEO Conference in Kuala Lumpur, the governor's office announced.

The Democratic governor participated in a session with Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a Republican, and Forbes chairman Steve Forbes.

Richardson left New Mexico on Saturday and will return to the state on Thursday.

By KRWG News

Alamogordo – Alamogordo paid a Holloman Air Force Base sergeant $21,000 after he alleged the city violated his right against unreasonable search and seizure when police removed him from a theater for wearing a gun.

Matthew St. John's attorney, Miguel Garcia, says the settlement pays damages and legal fees.

Federal court records say St. John went to a theater June 27, 2008, and another patron complained he was wearing a gun.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – The City of Las Cruces will hold a public meeting regarding the need to continue or discontinue the current stipend allocations received by local leagues and organizations.

The meeting will be held on Thursday, October 8th at 6:00pm inside city council chambers, 200 N. Church Street.

Currently, leagues and organizations receive a combined total of $54,500 a year from the City. Public comment will be welcomed. The meeting will be facilitated by City Manager Terrence Moore.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – Las Cruces Police have arrested a man who, over the weekend, took two crated carports from a local home improvement store.

David Avalos Saavedra, 43, of the 3200 block of Oak Street, is charged with two counts of felony shoplifting and two counts of tampering with evidence.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – In an effort to optimize operations in advance of its emergence from Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection, Frontier Airlines Holdings, Inc. announced today that it will close its Las Cruces reservations operation, cutting more than 100 local jobs.

By KRWG News

Elephant Butte – State police say no one was hurt by a pipe bomb left at Elephant Butte Lake.

Bomb technicians were able to destroy the pipe bomb Saturday night.

Officials at Elephant Butte Lake got a call Saturday night about a suspicious package left along the shore.

State police discovered the pipe bomb.

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Information from: KOB-TV, http://www.kob.com

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – Los Alamos National Laboratory is beginning a demolition project that will help close its largest active disposal area.

The lab on Wednesday plans to begin demolishing the first of several containment domes at Technical Area 54, a milestone toward closing the disposal area known as Area G.

The 22,500-square-foot dome to be destroyed, Dome 226, once stored drums of radioactive waste.

By KRWG News

Farmington – Farmington City Councilman Jason Sandel is waiving his $10,000 annual salary to help the city in tough economic times.

Sandel, who is executive vice president of Aztec Well Servicing Co., says he hopes the money will help save a city job.

The northwestern New Mexico city plans to eliminate 60 positions through attrition as part of $3.3 million in cuts in the face of declining gross receipts tax revenue.

By KRWG News

Texas – Records show Texas ranks 49th in federal stimulus funding per resident.

A Dallas Morning News analysis of federal grants and contracts, in Monday's editions, shows Texas has been approved for about $12.9 billion in stimulus grants and contracts. That doesn't include the estimated $4.2 billion that Texans received through the law's main individual tax credit, according to federal estimates.

By KRWG News

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By Melissa Aguilera

Las Cruces, NM – The Environmental Protection Agency has chosen Las Cruces as one of four places to receive assistance from a program to aid communities in achieving their development goals. KRWG's Melissa Aguilera reports.