News

Uranium Resources, Inc. has announced that it will be closing its offices in Albuquerque, Crownpoint and Grants.

The move announced Friday is aimed at reducing corporate overhead, but URI President and CEO Christopher Jones says the company is still committed to the projects is has pending in New Mexico.

The Lewisville, Texas-based company says the changes will likely be complete by the end of June. The company expects to save about $1.5 million annual with the consolidation.

Gila National Forest officials say another portion of the popular Catwalk National Recreation Trail is expected to open soon.

Forest employees are replacing an additional quarter mile of the trail and hope to have the work done by Memorial Day.

Glenwood District Ranger Pat Morrison says the U.S. Forest Service recognizes the importance of the trail to local residents and tourists.

As the Legislature barrels toward its Memorial Day finish, Gov. Rick Perry is getting more powerful by the hour.

That power is tied to Perry's veto pen and his demonstrated willingness to wield it like a sledge hammer over his 12 years as governor. He has vetoed more than 260 bills and used his line-item veto power over the state budget to slash billions in spending.

The University of New Mexico says it has reached an agreement in principal with former men's basketball coach Steve Alford over his buyout.

Alford said in April he was willing to pay a $200,000 buyout for leaving the Albuquerque school to take a job at UCLA, but he wouldn't pay the $1 million payment that New Mexico wanted.

The dispute stemmed from the timing of his announcement and a term sheet he had signed just weeks before agreeing to a new 10-year contract with New Mexico that included a $1 million buyout.

The city of Santa Fe has launched a $1 million project aimed at improving the city's broadband infrastructure and boosting the availability of high-speed Internet connections.

City officials announced Friday that they have issued a request for firms to compete for the opportunity to design, build, own and operate a fiber-optic link from downtown Santa Fe to the St. Michael's corridor.

With its ranks deeply divided, the Boy Scouts of America is asking its local leaders from across the country to decide whether its contentious membership policy should be overhauled so that openly gay boys can participate in Scout units.

The proposal to be put before the roughly 1,400 voting members of the BSA's National Council on Thursday, at a meeting in Texas, would retain a ban on gays serving in adult leadership positions.

A man arrested in a 51-year-old killing is being held in Louisiana's Calcasieu Parish jail without bond.

Authorities arrested 73-year-old William Felix Vail Friday for the October 1962 killing of his wife, Mary Horton Vail. Calcasieu Parish District Attorney John DeRosier says he intends to seek Felix Vail's indictment for second-degree murder.

Authorities reopened an investigation into Mary Vail's death after stories written by The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Miss. Until recently, Vail lived in Mississippi.

New Mexico health officials are urging parents to tell children not to handle wild animals.

The warning comes after a bat found in northeast Albuquerque tested positive for rabies. A number of children were reportedly near the bat and took photographs of it on the evening of May 11, but it's not clear if any of them touched or handled it.

Letters were sent to the parents of children who attend two nearby schools and flyers have been posted in the neighborhood, but the state Health Department says no known exposures have been reported.

A 50-year-old man goes on trial Monday in Las Cruces in the 2010 killings of a New Mexico couple and their business partner from California.

First-degree murder charges accuse Eugene Ferri of fatally shooting 69-year-old Gilles Delisle, 72-year-old Helga Harries Delisle and 68-year-old Peter J. Weith of San Diego.

Ferri had worked for the Delisles as a contractor, and they and Weith had sued Ferri for $1.3 milion.

The victims' bodies were discovered at the Delisles' Mesillas home after they didn't go to a court hearing.

Graduates at Navajo Technical College got to hear from Jill Biden, the wife of Vice President Joe Biden, during their commencement ceremony Friday.

A longtime educator, Biden shared some lessons about the importance of community and told the graduating class to continue to reach out to each other for support and encourage one another.

Biden marks the second big name to visit the school on graduation day. Last year, it was U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

The Department of Workforce Solutions reports that New Mexico's unemployment rate dropped last month and that job growth has improved.

State officials said Friday the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.7 percent in April. That's down from 6.9 percent in March and 7 percent in April 2012.

New Mexico has gained about 7,900 jobs during the past 12 months, for a 1 percent growth rate.

A former Gallup paramedic convicted of raping of an 11-year-old boy in an Albuquerque arroyo has been sentenced to more than 40 years in prison.

State District Judge Kenneth Martinez sentenced Genaro Sandoval on Friday in Albuquerque District Court to 41 1/2 years in prison for criminal sexual penetration of a child under 13, kidnapping and sexual exploitation of a child.

The 39-year-old Sandoval was convicted in January following a two-week long trial.

Hundreds of motorcyclists are being greeted by honks and waving flags as they make their way across parts of central and southern New Mexico.

The riders are passing through New Mexico as part of the annual Run For The Wall, a cross-country trip in honor of military veterans, prisoners of war, those killed in action and their families.

The riders are stopping at memorial parks, veterans' hospitals and schools along the way. They will finish in Washington, D.C., on May 25. The ride traverses routes that are nearly 3,000 miles long.

Former State Insurance Superintendent Chris Krahling has been named to a panel that will select New Mexico's top insurance regulator.

A nine-member committee will select the next superintendent of insurance, who starting in July will be in charge of an independent office regulating insurance rates and policies.

The committee meets next Tuesday in Albuquerque, and is accepting applications for the superintendent's position until the end of the month.