Regional

By KRWG News

New Mexico – The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded more than $10 million to explore geothermal energy projects in New Mexico.

Sens. Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall say the grants will be used for four projects in Albuquerque, Jemez Pueblo and Socorro.

Udall says geothermal energy is a carbon free energy source. He says New Mexico has known and potential geothermal resources, so the state is in a good position to develop the energy and create jobs.

Jemez Pueblo will receive nearly $5 million to locate geothermal reservoirs.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – Sen. Tom Udall is asking the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission to share plans for providing telephone service to Native American communities.

In a letter Friday to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, Udall writes that more than 30 percent of households in Indian Country do not have access to basic telephone service.

Udall says on the Navajo Nation, two out of three people cannot receive telephone service in their homes.

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – There's new information about one of the candidates for President at New Mexico State University.

The Raleigh, North Carolina News and Observer reports that former North Carolina State Chancellor James Oblinger brokered a severance package for his Provost Larry Nielsen.

Nielsen and Oblinger both resigned in the wake of a controversy over the University's hiring of former North Carolina first lady Mary Easley.

By KRWG News

Texas – A 1970s-era Texas law that allows parents to show "harmful material" to their children has come under fire.

That's after an Amarillo prosecutor said he couldn't charge a man accused of forcing his 8- and 9-year-old daughters to watch hardcore online pornography.

Randall County District Attorney James Farren has asked the Texas attorney general's office to review his decision not to pursue charges in the case. That case has prompted at least one lawmaker to vow to change the state's public indecency law.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – The New Mexico Human Services Department is asking poor homeowners who need help their energy bills this winter to apply to a state assistance program.

The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program helps families pay for natural gas, electricity and bulk fuels, like propane, firewood and wood pellets.

The department says nearly 70,000 New Mexico households participated in the program last year.

The one-time benefit this year is expected to average $150.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – Former Rep. Heather Wilson says she will not run for governor of New Mexico in 2010.

Wilson says in a statement Thursday that the governor's post has no significant national security role, which is an issue that is important to her.

She says New Mexicans have encouraged her to run for the last 10 months but her work in the private sector is satisfying.

By Vanessa Dabovich

Las Cruces, NM – This week New Mexico U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman outlined four steps congress can take to help create jobs in the current economic climate. KRWG's Vanessa Dabovich reports

By Vanessa Dabovich

Las Cruces, NM – New Mexico U.S. Senator Tom Udall says even though nuclear energy provisions haven't been mentioned publicly in the new climate bill they do play a big role in the legislation. KRWG's Vanessa Dabovich reports

By KRWG News

Alamogordo – Members of the New Mexico congressional delegation confirmed that the Holloman Air Force Base is being looked at as a possible home for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

The Air Force has informed the delegation that it will conduct environmental impact analyses on three bases, one of which will be selected to house a F-35 training mission. In addition to Holloman, the Air Force is looking at Luke (Arizona) and Eglin (Florida) Air Force bases.

By KRWG News

El Paso – An El Paso company has been chosen for a major federal stimulus project in New Mexico.

Licon Engineering Company of El Paso has been selected for Middle Rio Grande Flood Protection project.

The one million dollar contract using federal stimulus dollars .was granted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Albuquerque District.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – New Mexico health officials say five more people have died from swine flu in the past week.

The deaths include a 52-year-old Sandoval County man, a 51-year-old San Juan County woman, a 69-year-old Bernalillo County man, a 73-year-old Socorro County man and a 49-year-old man whose residence wasn't immediately determined.

All five victims had chronic medical conditions that placed them at higher risk.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – A New Mexico court says drug sellers must know they are in drug-free school zones in order to face the more serious penalties for trafficking in those areas.

Bernalillo County District Attorney Kari Brandenburg says the Court of Appeals ruling issued last week effectively guts the law on drug-free school zones. But she says it will affect only a small number of cases.

Her office handled more than 30,000 cases last year and the school zone drug enhancement applied in only about 15.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – The Motor Vehicle Division will allow domestic violence and sexual assault victims to obtain a driver's license with a confidential mailing address.

MVD Director Michael Sandoval said Wednesday the agency is implementing a confidential address program authorized in a 2007 law to reduce the risk that abusers will track down their victims.

By KRWG News

El Paso – A federal judge in El Paso has thrown out bribery charges against a lawyer and a district clerk in a public corruption investigation.

Attorney and former El Paso County Judge Luther Jones and District Clerk Gilbert Sanchez are accused in an alleged scheme to award a contract.

U.S. District Court Judge Frank Montalvo, in an opinion released Wednesday, dismissed both bribery charges, as well as one count of mail fraud.

By KRWG News

New Mexico – New Mexico national security initiatives in Los Alamos, Albuquerque and Socorro will receive $43 million in federal funding.

Sens. Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall say the money was contained in the 2010 Homeland Security Appropriations bill that was signed into law Wednesday.

The funding includes $23 million for New Mexico Tech's National Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center in Socorro.