Regional

Gov. Rick Perry has vetoed 24 bills and removed some parts of the state budget approved by lawmakers.  Among them is a Texas version of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which would have helped ensure employers provide women statewide with equal pay for equal work.

Perry also used his line-item veto powers to cut funding for the state's Public Integrity Unit, after the district attorney who heads it was convicted of drunk driving and refused to resign.

That was the only major change he made to the budget, however.

Affordable housing projects that serve 19 American Indian communities in New Mexico will share more than $16 million.

The funding comes from a grant program run by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Federal officials say the money will go toward a broad range of housing activities, from building new homes to the development of new approaches to provide more housing to working families who live on reservations or in other tribal communities.

Nationally, $563 million was awarded to programs that represent hundreds of tribes across the U.S.

The head of the New Mexico Game and Fish Department and members of the state Game Commission don't like the idea of turning over management of the Valles Caldera National Preserve to the National Park Service.

They met with representatives from U.S. Sen. Tom Udall's office on Friday to discuss pending federal legislation concerning the 89,000-acre preserve in northern New Mexico.

Udall and retired Sen. Jeff Bingaman first proposed the transfer in 2010 in hopes of getting more consistent funding to preserve the area.

A Texas lawmaker says the state may need new laws and regulations regarding the safe handling of hazardous materials after an explosion at a fertilizer plant in West highlighted the dangers.

Chairman of the House Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee Rep. Joe Pickett will hold on Monday the second hearing since the West Fertilizer Co. plant caught fire and blew up in April. Fifteen people were killed and hundreds injured.

  Small amounts of rain fell on the north and south side of the fire Friday, moderating fire activity.  Firefighters expect the same weather patterns this weekend, which will continue to be favorable to suppression efforts.  The fire is now at 21,789 acres.

The Northern Arizona Incident Management Team is hosting Congressman Steve Pearce, staff and his guests at the Silver Fire.  A tour and briefing are planned at the Incident Command Post in San Lorenzo, N.M.

  WASHINGTON – Today U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, along with Reps. Ben Ray Luján, Michelle Lujan Grisham, and Steve Pearce announced they have introduced legislation to improve tribal education and preserve Native American language in schools. Graduation rates for American Indians and Alaska Natives are less than 50 percent – lower than the graduation rates for all other ethnic groups in the United States.

  HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. – There’s no doubt that Holloman Air Force Base is home to extraordinary missions, but it's also an international training center.  People are aware of visits from the German Air Force, but who else is helping the Holloman Remotely Piloted Aircraft mission?

The Italian air force is an integral part of Holloman AFB’s RPA training mission and there is a strong collaboration between the forces.