Regional

By KRWG News

New Mexico – Human Services Secretary Pam Hyde has been selected for a job in President Barack Obama's administration.

The White House announced Friday that Obama will nominate Hyde as administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in the Health and Human Services Department.

Hyde runs a state agency that administers Medicaid as well as social services such as food stamps. She has served in the job since 2003, when Gov. Bill Richardson took office.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – The state Health Department says a 17-year-old girl from Chaves County has died from swine flu.

Her death Thursday marks the third death from the illness announced this week and the eighth death in New Mexico from the disease.

The Health Department said Friday that the girl did not have any known chronic health conditions and died at an Albuquerque hospital.

State Health Department spokesman Chris Minnick says the department cannot release which school the girl attended.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – Gov. Bill Richardson says two major motion picture projects and the third season of a television series will be made in New Mexico in the coming months.

Richardson says "Due Date" starring Robert Downey Jr. as a farther-to-be who is trying to make it home before his wife, played by Michelle Monaghan, gives birth to their first child will be shot in the state this fall.

He says the movie will be made at Albuquerque Studios and in the Las Cruces area, Santa Fe and Las Vegas.

By Melissa Aguilera

Las Cruces, NM – The second annual What's Art Convention will begin today. KRWG's Melissa Aguilera has the details.

By KRWG News

Anthony, NM – U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman has announced that Tierra Del Sol Housing Corporation in Anthony, NM has been awarded a $121,848 grant through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Housing Preservation Grant program.

The New Mexico nonprofit will used the funding to repair and rehabilitate the homes of five low and very-low income families in designated Colonia areas of Dona Ana County. In addition to the USDA grant, Tierra Del Sol will provide more than $300,000 from other sources.

By Vanessa Dabovich

Las Cruces, NM – The possibility of a passenger rail service coming to the Las Cruces and El Paso area was discussed this week. KRWG's Vanessa Dabovich has the details

By KRWG News

New Mexico – Gov. Bill Richardson's administration will limit enrollment in a program offering taxpayer-subsidized health insurance for low-income adults.

The state hopes to save $16 million to cope with a budget shortfall. The Human Services Department said Thursday it will stop enrolling individuals in the State Coverage Insurance program early next month. Individual applicants will be placed on a waiting list.

People can continue to enroll if they are part of an employer-sponsored group.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Thursday signed the final environmental impact statement for a project to supply water to the Navajo Nation, the Jicarilla Apache Nation and the city of Gallup.

Salazar signed documents in Washington, D.C., joined by three members of New Mexico's congressional delegation, Democrats Sens. Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall and Rep. Ben Ray Lujan.

Congress in March passed a massive public lands bill that included legislation settling a decades-long dispute over Navajo water claims.

By KRWG News

Texas – A Texas judge has cleared the way for two Dallas men to get a divorce, ruling that Texas' ban on same-sex marriage violates the constitutional guarantee to equal protection under the law.

The Dallas Morning News reports that a Dallas district judge's Thursday ruling finds that the court "has jurisdiction to hear a suit for divorce filed by persons legally married in another jurisdiction."

By KRWG News

New Mexico – The New Mexico Department of Health announced Thursday night that a female infant from Roosevelt County and a 5-year-old girl from Sandoval County have died from swine flu.

Health officials say neither child had a chronic medical condition.

The names of the victims were not released.

The Albuquerque Journal reported that the 5-year-old girl attended Rio Rancho Elementary School.

Rio Rancho School District officials said they planned to send a letter to parents notifying them about the girl's death.

By KRWG News

Texas – Fingerprinting of Texas food stamp applicants is coming under fire from federal administrators who want the application process expedited.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst say fingerprinting is an important way to prevent people from collecting benefits under more than one name.

But William Ludwig, a regional administrator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service, says Texas needs to streamline its operations.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – Attendance at the 2009 New Mexico State Fair rose slightly from the 2008 fair.

Officials say 611,231 people attended the 2009 fair, or about 1 percent higher than the 602,504 visitors in 2008.

State Fair Commission Chairman Luke Otero says that's despite heavy rain the first Thursday of the fair and two overcast days.

He says the increase was more than officials could have hoped for given the state of the economy and high jobless rates.

By Vanessa Dabovich

Las Cruces, NM – Seven candidates are set to run for city council positions in the upcoming Las Cruces municipal election and as KRWG's Vanessa Dabovich reports district 3 candidate Olga Pedroza says education and economic development are her top priorities.

By Vanessa Dabovich

Las Cruces, NM – With the Las Cruces municipal elections coming up seven candidates are set to run for city council positions. As KRWG's Vanessa Dabovich reports District 3 Incumbent Dolores Archuleta says a great deal has been accomplished while she has been in office, but even more can be done.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – Police are continuing to investigate an overnight crash that claimed the life of 39-year-old Shawna Jerome of Las Cruces.

Jerome was killed after the 2006 Scion tC she was driving crashed sometime around midnight on Union Avenue, just west of Mesilla Park Elementary School. Jerome was traveling alone and no other vehicles are believed to have been involved in the crash.