Regional

By KRWG News

New Mexico – The New Mexico Forestry Division's fire information officer says 2010 is shaping up to have a more normal fire season than the last three years, when dry weather helped spark wildfires as early as January.

Dan Ware says most fires break out in May through July in a normal year, then fire season ends with the August monsoon rains.

This year, both the Lincoln and Gila national forests in southern New Mexico reported fires in March.

By KRWG News

Texas – The top judge on the state's Court of Criminal Appeals has been fined $100,000 for not fully reporting her income and property holdings as required by law.

The fine against Judge Sharon Keller is the largest ever imposed by the Texas Ethics Commission. The panel issued the order Wednesday.

Keller's sworn personal income statements for 2006 and 2007 didn't include properties valued at about $2.3 million and other income sources totaling about $183,000.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – Census workers begin going door to door Saturday to talk to New Mexicans who didn't mail back their census questionnaire.

That could be a big job, because New Mexico residents sent in their forms at a lower rate than any other state but Alaska.

The Census Bureau's preliminary state-by-state figures show 63 percent of New Mexicans mailed in their 2010 census.

That's below the mail-in rate in the last census in 2000, when the rate was 65 percent.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – New Mexico's outgoing spaceport director says there was nothing wrong with his efforts to purchase a ranch near the spaceport site.

Steve Landeene said today that he and his wife began considering whether to buy the Jornada Ranch in Sierra County for themselves after Spaceport Authority board members declined an opportunity to buy it for the state's use.

Landeene resigned two weeks ago, one day after a personnel hearing was called to investigate whether there was a conflict of interest.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – Some Las Cruces-area residents are concerned that vistas of the Organ Mountains are being compromised by graffiti.

Several large rocks and a wall along what remains of a potentially historic rock cabin on the west side of the mountains were recently painted by vandals.

The areas are near the Baylor Canyon Trail, which is used by hikers to reach the Aguirre Spring Campground on the east side of the Organs.

By KRWG News

Silver City – A Silver City man who severely beat a 19-month-old girl has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.

At a hearing Tuesday, 31-year-old Steven Sandoval apologized and told a judge that "alcohol got in the way."

But state District Judge J.C. Robinson called the beating "a horrific act" and said he couldn't see alcohol playing such a big role. The judge told Sandoval "the vast majority" of alcohol and marijuana cases he handles rarely has such a violent component.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – A state judge has ruled against portions of a state law that allows taxpayers to bring lawsuits on behalf of the state to recover damages for fraud.

District Judge Stephen Pfeffer said it's unconstitutional for the law and its damage sanctions to retroactively apply to actions that took place before July 2007, when the law went into effect.

Pfeffer made the ruling on Wednesday in dismissing claims brought by a former state pension investment officer, who sued financial firms over failed New Mexico investments.

By KRWG News

Texas – Governor Rick Perry says Arizona's tough new illegal immigration law wouldn't be right for Texas.

A new law in Arizona requires local and state law enforcement to question people about their immigration status if there's reason to suspect they're in the country illegally. The law also makes it a state crime to be in the U.S. illegally.

Perry said Thursday that such a law would turn law enforcement officers into immigration officials by requiring them to determine immigration status.

By Vanessa Dabovich

Las Cruces, NM – Several state businesses and community members gathered this week to urge Congress to take action and move the stalled climate and clean energy bill through the Senate. KRWG's Vanessa Dabovich reports

By Vanessa Dabovich

Las Cruces, NM – New Mexico U.S Senator Tom Udall has introduced legislation to improve vehicle safety. As KRWG's Vanessa Dabovich reports the bill would require equipment to record statistics.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman today asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to consider how New Mexicans traveling in Arizona may be affected by that state's new immigration law.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is currently reviewing the legality of Arizona's recently enacted law concerning immigration enforcement by state authorities.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – Currently the NMDOT has posted the following routes as CLOSED, due to low visibility and strong winds: I-10 between Deming and Lordsburg, NM-11 between Deming and Columbus, US-180 between Deming and Hurley, and NM-113 off of I-10 near Lordsburg in the Animas area.

The NMDOT and Law Enforcement continue to remind motorists to SLOW down and exercise extreme caution.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – New Mexico State University students, staff and faculty are putting together care packages for soldiers and airmen deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan in an effort called Project Hero.

Holloman Air Force Base sent a list of the most requested care package items to Michael Ruybal, resident director of NMSU Student Family Housing, in the hopes a targeted collection could be taken up from both the campus and local communities. Ruybal leads the coordination efforts for the project, now in its second year.

By Melissa Aguilera

Las Cruces, NM – A proposal to utilize New Mexico's natural resources revenue to fund education was announced this week. KRWG's Melissa Aguilera reports.

By KRWG News

Arizona – A Latino clergy group says it will file the first lawsuit challenging Arizona's tough new law targeting illegal immigration.

The National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders plans to file the suit Thursday in federal court in Phoenix.

A draft copy of the lawsuit obtained by The Associated Press shows the group will ask a judge to issue an injunction preventing authorities from enforcing the law.