- AIR POLLUTION-OIL DRILLING-TEXAS
Report: Air quality harmed as Texas oil production booms
DALLAS (AP) — An environmental group says the booming production of oil and natural gas in West Texas is exposing residents to unhealthy levels of air pollution.
The Environmental Integrity Project noted in a report released Thursday that the Permian Basin, which extends into New Mexico , is one of the most productive hydrocarbon regions in the world.
But the report says a consequence is dangerous levels of sulfur dioxide in the air around Odessa and other locations.
The project's associate director, Ilan Levin, says regulators need to have stricter oversight of air pollution permits while penalizing polluters who violate the permits. He also says more air quality monitors are needed.
A spokeswoman for the Texas Oil and Gas Association said the industry group is reviewing the report but is confident that Permian Basin production benefits Texas and the United States.
- INFANT INGESTS HEROIN
New Mexico parents arrested after infant ingests heroin
(Information from: The Santa Fe New Mexican, http://www.santafenewmexican.com)
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico couple is facing child abuse charges after police say their 11-month-old girl accidentally ingested heroin.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports 23-year-old Carlos Griego and 19-year-old Shayann Martinez were charged Tuesday with felony child abuse in connection with the girl who was saved by emergency room staff.
A police report says the girl was rushed to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center on Monday afternoon when she had difficulty breathing and her face turned purple. The report says Emergency room staff gave the child anti-overdose medication and she was later responsive and breathing.
Santa Fe Police spokesman Greg Gurulé says the girl was "doing fine" and had been released from the hospital to a guardian.
It was not known if the couple had attorneys.
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- PUBLIC EDUCATION-NEW MEXICO
New Mexico education secretary describes progress on reforms
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The Public Education Department says a program that adds five weeks to the elementary school year will expand to include at least 23,600 children this summer, far shy of goals outlined by state legislators.
Public Education Secretary Karen Trujillo gave state legislators a progress report Thursday on ambitious attempts to improve public school performance.
The Legislature and Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham have approved $500 million in new annual spending on public schools as a state district court threatens to intervene on behalf of frustrated parents and school districts. Architects of the reforms wanted 90,000 students in the extended elementary school year.
Trujillo said school districts had just six weeks to apply for the so-called K-5 Plus program. She expects the program will reach 70,000 students next year.
- SANTA FE OPERA-THE LATEST
The Latest: Gender-bending opera 'M. Butterfly' set for 2020
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The Santa Fe Opera will stage the world premiere in 2020 of the gender-bending story "M. Butterfly" from playwright and librettist David Henry Hwang.
Opera General Director Robert Meya announced Wednesday upcoming productions at the open-air summer opera stage.
The new operatic version of "M. Butterfly" is based on the Broadway play about a French diplomat's affair with enigmatic opera star in China. It is scored by Chinese-born Huang Ruo, whose prior work "Dr. Sun Yat-Sen" ran in Santa Fe and was banned in mainland China.
The Santa Fe Opera also is preparing the premiere in 2021 of an opera set in Victorian England based in part on Bram Stroker's "Dracula." Meya says "Lord of the Cries" addressed issues of repression and human nature with contemporary touches that can appeal to younger audiences.
Updated electronic seatback translation equipment has been installed at the opera north of Santa Fe.
- MEASLES-NEW MEXICO
New Mexico investigates possible measles case
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Department of Health is investigating a possible case of measles in Sierra County.
State health officials could not provide any details about the patient and it wasn't immediately clear Wednesday how soon officials would know whether it was indeed the measles or some other ailment.
If confirmed, it would mark the state's first case since 2014.
Nationally, officials have said more than 760 cases have been reported as of last Thursday. It's the most in the U.S. since 1994, when 963 were reported.
In all, 23 states have reported cases this year.
Measles was once common but gradually became rare after a vaccination campaigns that started in the 1960s. In New Mexico, more than 96 percent of kindergarten students are current with their vaccinations.
- IMMIGRANT CHILD DEATH
Teen's death raises new questions about US care of migrants
HOUSTON (AP) — Juan de León Gutiérrez told his mother he was calling from a warehouse in Mexico, hidden by a human smuggler who had been paid to take the teenager into the United States. He complained of a headache and difficulty sleeping.
He later died after officials at a Texas youth detention facility noticed he was sick. He is the third Guatemalan child to die in U.S. custody since December.
The death has heightened scrutiny of the U.S. government's ability to adequately care for the surge in migrant families and children crossing the border in recent months.
The two earlier deaths — of children aged 7 and 8 — had already prompted border authorities to change practices to ensure that sick immigrants were getting the proper medical care.
- EARLY CHILDHOOD HEALTH-NEW MEXICO
Maternal, infant health programs leave some needs unattended
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A new study from a key New Mexico legislative committee suggests more can be done to improve the wellbeing of young children and their mothers through greater collaboration among six Health Department programs.
An evaluation released Wednesday by the Legislative Finance Committee says the agency's early childhood and maternal health programs operate too independently at times.
The evaluation sees opportunities for data sharing and collaboration in the state's creation of an Early Childhood Education Department to oversee several existing state programs.
One relies on Medicaid funding to provide voluntary home visits to parents of newborn children and coordinate medical care and educational services.
The new childhood agency also will oversee the Families, Infant and Toddler program geared toward infants and toddlers at risk of developmental delays, including babies born to drug-addicted mothers.
- PEDIATRICIAN-SEX ABUSE
Feds, tribes meet after abuse probe of reservation doctor
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A White House task force is holding a consultation meeting with tribal leaders in New Mexico to address systematic breakdowns within the federal Indian Health Service to prevent child sex abuse.
A U.S. Attorney's Office spokeswoman says the meeting is planned for Wednesday afternoon in Albuquerque. It follows the Trump administration's announcement of the task force, which officials say was established to investigate how federal workers failed in preventing Stanley Patrick Weber from sexually abusing Native American children.
Weber was an IHS pediatrician for more than 20 years.
A federal jury in Montana found Weber guilty last year of sexually abusing two boys on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in the 1990s.
He also has been accused of abusing four boys after he was assigned to South Dakota's Pine Ridge Reservation in 1995.