Regional

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – Concerns about border security in southern New Mexico have prompted members of the state's congressional delegation to revamp a proposal for setting aside more than 560 square miles as wilderness and a national conservation area.

The legislation would protect the Organ Mountains east of Las Cruces and other scenic areas in Dona Ana County. The measure would create a 259,000-acre wilderness area and a 100,000-acre conservation area.

By KRWG News

El Paso – A residential fire in El Paso left a man and his 6-year-old stepdaughter dead and his wife with burns.

El Paso Fire Department Lt. Mario Hernandez says the 25-year-old woman early Thursday saved a younger daughter by lowering and then dropping the 4-year-old from a second-story window. That girl was not harmed in the fire.

Hernandez says the cause of the fire, reported shortly before 2 a.m. Thursday, is sought. Hernandez says the victims were in one apartment of a four-unit complex.

By KRWG News

El Paso – Law enforcement agencies have arrested more than 2,000 people in a 22-month investigation targeting Mexican drug trafficking organizations in the United States.

The probe, called Project Deliverance, focused on the transportation of methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and marijuana along the Southwest border.

Over 400 of the 2,000 arrests were made Wednesday. Attorney General Eric Holder has scheduled a news conference on the operation Thursday.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – A New Mexico State Police investigation has cleared three Las Cruces Police Department officials of allegations they took bribes for arranging a firearms contract.

State police Lt. Roman Jimenez (hih-MEHN'-ehz) says no criminal activity was found.

He says everything was accounted for, and the southern New Mexico police department's records were well kept.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – Yesterday, New Mexico Game and Fish Officers, assisted by Deputies from the Dona Ana County Sheriff's Department, caught up to a wandering black bear frolicking and "hanging out" in an irrigated Pecan Orchard in Garfield.

The male, 125 pound black bear, who authorities believe may have wandered from the Black Range, "went down easy," with the help of a tranquilizer.

The bear, reported to be in "good condition", will be transported to the Gila Snow Lake area.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – The New Mexico Supreme Court has expanded the authority of state and local law enforcement officers to enter tribal lands to investigate crimes committed off reservations by American Indians.

The court's unanimous ruling upheld the drunken driving conviction of David Harrison, a member of the Navajo Nation.

The Navajo Nation and Santa Ana Pueblo had submitted written arguments in the case, saying tribal sovereignty would be undermined if the DWI conviction was affirmed.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – The City of Las Cruces will hold two sessions of free swim admission at the East Mesa Bataan Memorial Outdoor Pool, 6141 Reynolds Drive and Laabs Outdoor Pool, 701 W. Picacho Avenue every Thursday during June and July.

The free swim session I will be held from 11:00am-1:00pm and session II will be held from 5:00pm-7:00pm.

The free admission is available to everyone not to exceed pool capacity based on New Mexico Environment Department Public Swimming Regulations.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – The Dona Ana County Sheriffs Department is investigating an alleged sexual assault at the county detention center.

On Saturday, June 5, Sheriff's Deputies were dispatched to the Dona Ana County Detention Center, after an inmate reported to authorities that he had been sexually assaulted while being detained in one of the "Holding" cells at the Detention Center, which he shared with nine other inmates.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – The New Mexico Commission for Community Volunteerism says its federal funding for such efforts will more than double this year to about $3.2 million.

The commission's executive director, Gregory Webb, says the money will mean more volunteers in the field in New Mexico.

The commission oversees AmeriCorps and other federal volunteer programs in New Mexico and administers grants to nonprofit and educational programs throughout the state.

More than 6,300 New Mexico residents have served with AmeriCorps since 1994.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – President Barack Obama has signed legislation that honors former Interior Secretary Stewart Udall by naming the Interior Department's building in Washington, D.C., for him.

The measure was sent to Obama for his signature last month after passing the House and Senate. The president signed the bill Tuesday.

Udall was secretary under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson.

By KRWG News

Silver City – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will provide $584,400 for an affordable housing project in Silver City.

Officials in the southwestern New Mexico community plan to use the funding toward construction of the Vistas de Plata, a 56-unit affordable housing project.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., announced the award Tuesday. He says the investment will help Silver City provide affordable housing options to residents.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – The Legislative Finance Committee reports there has been a more than 6 percent drop in state employees since New Mexico imposed a hiring freeze in late 2008.

The number of state workers declined by 1,664 from December 2008 to April of this year, according to a committee newsletter issued Tuesday.

There were 25,808 employees on the state payroll when the freeze was imposed to help the state cut expenses and balance the budget.

By KRWG News

El Paso – U.S. and Mexican officials are trading suggestions of misconduct as the shooting of a 15-year-old Mexican by a U.S. Border Patrol agent on the border with El Paso swells into a full-blown international incident.

Arturo Sandoval, spokesman for the Chihuahua state Attorney General's Office, says a shell casing was found near the body.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – New Mexico State University's Apache Point Observatory has been instrumental in solving a nearly 40-year-old lunar mystery.

On Nov. 10, 1970, the Russian unmanned Luna 17 mission landed on the moon, releasing a robotic rover, called Lunokhod 1, to roam the lunar surface. The rover carried an optical retroreflector, a device that reflects incident light precisely back in the direction from which it comes. The rover and its retroreflector were last heard from on Sept. 14, 1971.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – The New Mexico Supreme Court has cleared the way for a state regulatory panel to resume consideration of an environmental group's petition to establish a cap on greenhouse gas emissions in the state.

The justices reached their decision Monday in Santa Fe after hearing nearly two hours of arguments from lawyers for the group New Energy Economy, the state Environmental Improvement Board and critics of the emissions proposal.