News

The Boy Scouts of America is asking the Texas Supreme Court to review an order requiring it to turn over years of so-called perversion files in a child abuse lawsuit.

BSA filed its request last week, a month after the San Antonio-based 4th Court of Appeals sided with a district judge's order. Attorneys for a former Scout who says he was abused by his Scout leader are asking for about a decade's worth of the internal files.

Files publicly revealed from 1965 to 1985 in a different case showed a decades-long cover-up for sexual abuse allegations by Scout officials.

The federal government is spending less and less on preventing wildfires even as the nation endures increasingly destructive blazes.

The Obama administration is proposing a 31 percent cut to the main program that clears brush and overgrown trees to prevent forest fires. That program is already funded at lower levels than 11 years ago. Automatic budget cuts that kicked in in March have made the gap worse. As a result, the Forest Service treated 1 million fewer acres this year than last and expects to treat far fewer next year.

 A federal appeals court has overturned a ruling by a West Texas judge that resulted in a six-year prison sentence for a man accused of fraud.

The federal panel determined in a filing Tuesday that the judge interfered with plea negotiations involving Adrian Pena. The El Paso contractor pleaded guilty in December 2010 to fraud for his participation in a scheme to bribe officials to win county contracts.

Water users within the Camino Real Regional Utility Authority should see water pressure improving soon as gravity-feed tanks fill, now that all the wells in the system have been repaired and are pumping at full capacity. Customers are advised to continue to conserve while the tanks fill.

The last broken well was repaired at about 1 a.m. today.

The Camino Real Regional Utility Authority provides water service for the City of Sunland Park and most of the unincorporated areas in and around the Santa Teresa County Club and the Santa Teresa Port of Entry.

  Dry conditions and wind  are fueling growth of the Silver Fire.  The fire grew 5,500 acres to reach 30,300 acres. Firefighters were able to hold containment lines and protect the community of Kingston. The fire burned actively in Railroad Canyon, Carbonate Creek and Little Bear Canyon.  

Predicted weather will have west-southwest winds to 20 mph with possible gusts up to 35 mph  and single digit humidity. The temperature is predicted to be in the mid 90’s. Smoke from the fire today will be visible from miles away.

A large blaze charring through southern New Mexico's Gila National Forest is expected to grow and become more visible thanks to high winds and low humidity.

Officials say the 47-square-mile Silver Fire could grow another 9 square miles Wednesday with smoke spreading across the region. It remains only around 5 percent contained.

Crews are scheduled to continue indirect line construction on the west flank of the fire along existing trails and mop up and patrol in the Kingston and Royal John Mine area.

A man and his young grandson have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit, alleging Dona Ana County Sheriff's deputies unjustly ordered them out of a vehicle at gunpoint and illegally searched them.

The Las Cruces Sun-News reports that the complained filed last week in U.S. District Court in Las Cruces says the search occurred when Mike Castro and his then-8-year-old grandson were rabbit hunting in 2001 on a private road.

A video of the stop reportedly recorded a deputy saying a rifle had been seen pointing outside Castro's vehicle's window.

Western New Mexico residents say federal officials need to either move the tailings from an abandoned uranium mill near Milan or relocate the owners of about 75 nearby homes.

The Albuquerque Journal reports that residents told a top U.S. Environmental Protection Agency official Tuesday that a cluster of cancer cases in subdivisions near the Homestake Mining Co. uranium mill show a need for immediate action by the agency.

  Federal auditors are recommending that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recover more than $6 million in grant funding from New Mexico.

The EPA's Office of Inspector General says three bureaus within the New Mexico Environment Department did not always comply with federal requirements when it came to charging labor, fringe benefits and indirect costs to federal grants.

The New Mexico Engineering Resource Network, New Mexico State University College of Engineering, will host a beginning robotics camp in Las Cruces from July 10-12 for students ages 10 and older.

A railroad museum in West Texas has left a locomotive behind after being evicted in a rental dispute at a city-operated building.

Volunteers with the Railroad and Transportation Museum of El Paso on Monday finished removing items as they seek a larger location.

The city had allowed the museum, which was founded in 2004, to operate without paying rent. A May eviction notice says the city needs a paying tenant as property values rose.

Texas counties needing financial help controlling feral hogs are being encouraged to pair up and apply for $30,000 in grants.

The Texas Department of Agriculture on Tuesday announced the County Hog Abatement Matching Program, or CHAMP.

Commissioner Todd Staples says feral hog control efforts need to be coordinated across public entities and private landowners. Individual Texas counties must partner with at least one other county also working on feral hog abatement.

  HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. – The Holloman Airman who died June 11 has been identified as Tech Sgt. Melissa L. Shroka.  Her death is currently under investigation.  Shroka was assigned to the 4th Space Control Squadron as the NCO in charge of material management.  The 4th SPCS is a geographically-separated unit assigned to the 21st Space Wing at Peterson AFB, Colo., and is a tenant unit at Holloman AFB.

  A hot and dry air mass with stronger winds and lower relative humidity has settled over the Silver Fire resulting in an increase in fire behavior.   The fire continues to grow.  It now stands at 24,800 acres and remains just five percent contained.  

A New Mexico man accused of trying to kidnap a 4-year-old girl but was thwarted by the girl's mother who chased him down and crashed into his car has pleaded not guilty.

David Hernandez was arraigned Monday in New Mexico District Court in Albuquerque and ordered held on $100,000 cash bail.

Police say Hernandez tried to kidnap the child in May outside of the St. Anthony's Plaza Apartments in Albuquerque when a group of teenagers saw the kidnapping and ran to alert the girl's mother, Melissa Torrez.