News

By Vanessa Dabovich

Las Cruces, NM – An independent investigation found that accusations of voter fraud in Dona Ana County were false. As KRWG's Vanessa Dabovich reports, the allegation stated that several people who voted in the county were dead when their ballot was cast in November.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – The U.S. Department of Agriculture has declared seven New Mexico counties as disaster areas after losses due to severe drought and high winds.

The designation covers Chaves, Eddy, Lincoln, Roosevelt, DeBaca, Lea and Otero counties. The USDA also named Dona Ana, Curry, Guadalupe, Sierra, Torrance, Quay and Socorro counties as contiguous disaster counties.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – Two North Korean diplomats are in Santa Fe and will meet with Gov. Bill Richardson on Wednesday.

A spokesman for Richardson said a delegation from the North Korean mission to the United Nations will meet at the governor's mansion for a daylong meeting but the topic was not disclosed.

The North Koreans had requested the visit, but the governor's office said Richardson will not be negotiating nor will he be representing the Obama administration.

By KRWG News

Texas – In a couple of days the annual Texas sales tax break weekend will be in full swing.

The shopping period is from Aug. 21-23 and comes just in time for students returning to school.

School supplies have been added to the annual tax-free holiday. The state comptroller's office says the law exempts most clothing and footwear priced under $100 from sales and use taxes.

The agency says backpacks under $100 used by elementary and secondary students are also exempt.

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On the Net:

www.window.state.tx.us

By KRWG News

New Mexico – The New Mexico Film Office is seeking proposals for a contract award program that provides up to $20,000 for filmmakers to fund original narrative, documentary, animation and experimental films.

The program is open to all New Mexico filmmakers and awards can be used toward the completion of existing projects or the development of new ones.

By Marco Grajeda

Las Cruces, NM – The last Blockbuster store in Las Cruces officially closed its doors this week. Company officials made the announcement Monday making this the third location to close shop in just one year; but as KRWG's Marco Grajeda reports, on Tuesday the store was looking very much alive with a number of people taking everything from five dollar movies to ten dollar TV's.

By Marco Grajeda

Las Cruces, NM – A forty-five year old Dona Ana County man died after developing the severe form of West Nile Virus. He is the state's first victim of West Nile Virus this year; and as KRWG's Marco Grajeda reports, health officials are asking people not to drop their guard and follow precautions diligently.

By Vanessa Dabovich

Las Cruces, NM – This week the Las Cruces City Council approved a resolution allowing the city to accept close to two million federal dollars to improve the city transit system. KRWG's Vanessa Dabovich has more

By Copyright KUNM

Albuquerque, NM – A 48-year-old woman is recovering from H1N1 virus in Alamogordo, just weeks after being near death from the infection. The woman is home from the hospital, but tells KUNM's Jim Williams she's still far from well.

By Marco Grajeda

Las Cruces, NM – Dona Ana County will soon be home to the first early college high school in southern New Mexico; expected to be the largest in the state, welcoming around five hundred students once it opens its doors two years from now. KRWG's Marco Grajeda has more

By KRWG News

Texas – A federal judge has dismissed a federal lawsuit that claimed undergraduate admissions policies at the University of Texas at Austin violate the Constitution and federal law.

U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks ruled Monday that UT's use of race and ethnicity as factors in admissions is constitutionally acceptable.

The lawsuit was filed last year by two white students whose applications had been rejected.

In 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed universities to use race as one of many decision-making factors.

By KRWG News

El Paso – An unusual bulge around a man's waistline yielded nearly 2 pounds of crystal methamphetamine during a search at an El Paso border crossing.

Customs and Border Protection officers at the Ysleta crossing discovered two tape-wrapped food containers with the drugs.

Port director William Molaski says an officer had identified the pedestrian as someone who needed additional scrutiny.

The suspect, from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, was taken into custody following the search Friday.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – Engineers at a NASA research center in California are putting the finishing touches on the Orion crew test module that will be used early next year at White Sands Missile Range.

The Orion is the capsule being designed to take people back to the moon.

The tests are aimed at Orion's launch-abort system, which will whisk astronauts and the capsule to safety in case of a problem on the launch pad, such as a fire, or during the climb to orbit.

Tests will be conducted without anyone inside the capsule.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – Dozens of new homes are crumbling in Shiprock as the Navajo Nation continues its probe into a $9 million construction project gone awry.

Shiprock officials and representatives of the Navajo Housing Authority met this week to discuss an abandoned 91-home construction project that began nearly three years ago.

About 50 homes were built. They stand empty, vandalized and deteriorating near the existing Navajo Housing Authority community.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – A Hobbs woman has been sentenced to life in prison in the death of her 8-month-old daughter.

State District Judge Don Maddox sentenced 33-year-old Adriana Cabezuela on Monday.

She was convicted in July of abandonment or abuse of a child resulting in death in the June 2007 death of Mariana Barraza.

Such a conviction carries an automatic life sentence.

Emergency personnel had been called to Cabezuela's home because the baby was having trouble breathing. The baby died on the way to the hospital.